Japan to Siberia • 2020 • episode "S1E1" • Joanna Lumley’s Unseen Adventures

75:33

Most people hear "Romania" and immediately picture Dracula, the gothic myths of Bran Castle, or the grey, concrete remnants of the communist era. But the reality of this nation in Eastern Europe is far more complex, untamed, and beautiful.

2026 • Travel

46:38

Levison Wood and his guide Malang Darya travel through Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and the Gilgit Valley, and aim to get as close to the heavily militarised border with India as they can, a dangerous journey that involves crossing a raging river and being met with suspicion by the local authorities. They meet a nomadic tribe that has driven herds across the Himalayas for centuries and visit a valley that has been closed to foreigners for nearly 70 years.

S1E2 • Walking the Himalayas with Levison Wood • 2016 • Travel

47:03

Beginning in Afghanistan, he will push himself to his physical limits as he treks 1,700 miles across the roof of the world, teaming up with local guides and meeting soldiers, monks and nomadic tribes. As well as battling natural obstacles, from punishing terrain to altitudes above 5,000m, Levison has to tread carefully through one of the most fought-over areas of the world.

S1E1 • Walking the Himalayas with Levison Wood • 2016 • Travel

59:27

Simon travels through three of the world's most extreme environments as he takes in the salt flats of Bolivia, Brazil's Pantanal wetland region and Paraguay's Chaco Forest. In Bolivia, he meets a family making a living carving salt from the vast white expanse of the Uyuni flats, while in Brazil he has a close encounter with South America's apex predator, the jaguar. In Paraguay, Simon visits a Mennonites school, where traditionally clothed children are drilled in Bible texts and there are no smartphones to be seen.

S1E4 • Simon Reeve's South America • 2022 • Travel

58:29

As Ray travels across land and by canoe, he tells the story of one of the greatest companies the world has ever known - the Hudson's Bay Company that opened up Canada. Ray discovers how those early traders were pioneers who laid the foundations of the modern Canadian state. He also demonstrates local crafts and bushcraft skills that bring the landscape to life.

S1E2 • Ray Mears's Northern Wilderness • 2009 • Travel

58:39

The clean minimalism of the Japanese home has been exported around the world, from modernist architecture to lifestyle stores like Muji. But the origins of this ubiquitous aesthetic evolved from a system of spiritual and philosophical values dating back centuries. James visits one of Japan's last surviving traditional wooden villages, and the 17th-century villa of Rinshunkaku, and reveals how the unique spirit of Japanese craftsmen turned joinery into an artform - creating houses without the need for nails, screws or glue. Exploring some of the traditional arts of the Japanese home, James also investigates attitudes to domestic culture in modern Japan, meeting photographer Kyoichi Tsuzuki, chronicler of Japan's crowded cities and tiny apartments. Other highlights include a performance by calligrapher and artist Tomoko Kawao and a visit to the hometown of architect Terunobu Fujimori.

S1E3 • The Art of Japanese Life • 2017 • Travel