Dynamic Coast • 2018 • episode "S1E3" • China from Above

134:03

Information Alexander Armstrong's amazing journey into the extraordinary world that is South Korea. Chapter 1: Seoul Alexander journeys across South Korea, one of the most influential and successful countries on earth, known for its manufacturing strength and cultural exports. He arrives late at night in bustling downtown Seoul, and kicks off his epic Korean adventure in Gangnam, the fabled district immortalised by Psy's Gangnam Style video. Helping to keep modern Korea on the global map are its YouTube stars, and Alexander wolfs down noodles with Heebab, a record-breaking Mukhbang 'bulk-eater', and meets Korean Billy, whose English accent impersonations are an online sensation. Chapter 2: Ulsan Alexander continues his exploration of the bustling capital Seoul, where he marvels at the splendour of the 14th century Gyeongbokgung Palace and takes in the colourful changing of the guard ceremony, before heading to the famous Yangnyeongsi herbal medicine market. Later, he takes a quick detour away from Seoul to the country's industrial capital Ulsan, where visits the cultural museum to find out the origins of South Korea's international hit series, Squid Game. Chapter 3: Busan On the last leg of his South Korean adventure, Alexander heads to the bustling port of Busan, where South Korea's biggest fish market is to be found. Alexander gets to try some of the weirdest seafood he has ever seen, fresh from the sea, including a couple of sea creatures that are so fresh they are still moving as he bites into them. Later, travels 180 miles across the Korea Strait from Busan to the island of Jeju, where he embarks on an exhilarating climb up an extinct volcano known as Sunrise Peak.

2022 • Travel

50:20

The cherry blossoms are out, and James hits the streets of Tokyo with his new guide Yujiro. As James discovers, this unique city is home to some of Japan’s greatest eccentrics and ideas. From obsessive trainspotters, musicians and baffling hi-tech gadgetry to cat superfans, penis festivals and mind-blowing computerised art shows, James tries to understand what makes Japan tick.

S1E3 • James May: Our Man in Japan • 2019 • Travel

58:37

He begins in Libya - a country well off the tourist trail and torn apart by revolution, insurgents from the so-called Islamic State and western air strikes. Simon visits the Mediterranean city of Sirte, which has been the scene of heavy fighting. Here Simon witnesses some of the worst destruction he has ever seen, with entire neighbourhoods of the city completely flattened. He also visits the remains of Leptis Magna - one of the world's best-preserved Roman cities which many feared could fall into the hands of IS - and meets the young volunteers who risked their lives to protect it. Travelling west along north Africa's Mediterranean coast, Simon arrives in Tunisia, a country that - unlike its neighbour - has long been a tourist destination. He travels to the spectacular fortress village of Chenini, where houses were carved into the mountain by the Amazigh - better known as the Berbers. Today Berbers are a small minority in Tunisia, but Simon finds one man who is keeping the traditions alive by harnessing camel power to make olive oil and excavating rock by hand to build new Berber homes. From Tunisia, Simon boards the overnight ferry to the island famous as home to the mafia, Sicily. In recent years, a government crackdown and public rebellion has substantially weakened the mafia's grip on the island, but in the countryside there are worrying signs of a comeback. The mafia is trying to take advantage of rural Sicily's population decline, but Simon soon discovers that migrants and refugees who have traveled across the Mediterranean to Europe are finding new homes in Italy's emptying villages. Simon meets three inspiring sisters who - despite constant intimidation, including the skinning of their much-loved dog - are making a defiant stand against the mafia.

S1E3 • Mediterranean with Simon Reeve • 2018 • Travel

47:10

Five months into his journey, Levison Wood faces a 1,300-mile walk across the Sahara, one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, to reach the Egyptian border. He's joined by a Sudanese guide, two nomads and three badly behaved camels. Together they encounter some of the most spectacular sights of the mission, camping among the ancient Meroe Pyramids. The explorer then tackles his toughest physical challenge - crossing the Bayuda volcanic field - where temperatures can reach 55C. Trekking 20 miles a day through blinding sandstorms, Lev soon starts to run out of water.

S1E3 • Walking the Nile with Levison Wood • 2015 • Travel

58:51

his leg takes Ade to the east of the continent, from Tanzania, through Ethiopia and on to war-torn Somalia. Ade begins in Tanzania, in Selous Game Reserve – a game park the size of Switzerland. He is on the lookout for elephants. But the numbers in this park have fallen by 90 per cent over the last few decades. As well as poaching, one of the big problems is that elephants trample and eat crops – so the locals don't like them. But a new collaring programme is helping numbers to recover. Ade's next stop is Ethiopia's far north. He travels to the hottest place on the planet where he spends a night with some of the toughest people on earth - the Afar. He joins them doing what their ancestors have done for centuries – hacking blocks of salt from a dried-up salt lake and loading them onto camels. But change is finally coming to this place – thanks to another of its resources, the fertilizer potash. It is a sign of Ethiopia's development, which Ade sees more of in the capital, Addis Ababa. Having grown up with images of starving children in the famine-plagued 80s, Addis is nothing like Ade expected. The city is booming. And it is driving Ethiopia's economy - now one of the fastest-growing in the world. Ade gets a guided tour from perhaps the world's greatest-ever long distance runner, Haile Gebrselassie. Haile is now a businessman, with investments in coffee and construction. The real fuel in Ethiopia's boom is manufacturing. Asia is still the workshop of the world, but with wages there on the rise, Chinese companies are increasingly looking to countries like Ethiopia to set up factories – as Ade discovers on a visit to a shoe factory. Leaving Addis, Ade travels on Ethiopia's new high-speed Chinese built train, which whisks him all the way to neighbouring Djibouti, a vital port for Ethiopia's export-led economy. The final stop on this leg of Ade's trip is war-torn Somalia. He joins the African Union troops on a mission out of Mogadishu and discovers a country in ruins, thanks to decades of conflict with Islamist group al-Shabab. Even in areas ruled by the government conservative Islam dominates and women face restriction on their freedom. Back in Mogadishu, Ade shoots some hoops with a group of women defying the odds by playing basketball. His final encounter is with a female doctor who worked for the NHS for 30 years, and has now returned to Somalia to rebuild her country. She is prepared to give her life, if necessary, in her efforts to provide quality maternity care for new mothers.

S1E3 • Africa with Ade Adepitan • 2019 • Travel

59:14

Simon travels from Texas to southern Mexico, meeting a woman who risks her life to take supplies to migrants stranded on the Mexican side of the border in Reynosa, one of the country's most violent cities, which is dominated by a powerful criminal organisation. He also ventures into the rainforest to explore the Maya city of Yaxchilan, and meets the modern-day descendants of this civilisation, who are increasingly marginalised and treated as second-class citizens.

S1E4 • The Americas with Simon Reeve • 2019 • Travel