Part 1 • 2018 • episode "S1E1" • Michael Palin in North Korea

44:00

From stunning heights, witness the mountains, rivers, and people that make up China's great interior. Visit celebrations at the center of the Buddhist world and on the edges of river cities, soar over the world's most famous peak 29,000 feet in the air, and dive into an ancient city submerged under a lake. China's heartland is a place where urban and rural communities embrace the challenges of a changing 21st century world.

S1E4 • China from Above • 2018 • Travel

198:47

James May charts the journeys of explorers through experiments and messing about in boats. Chapter 1: Christopher Columbus The host profiles famous explorers, beginning with Christopher Columbus. He may be celebrated as a national hero for 'discovering' the USA - but he never set foot there. James starts by travelling to south-west Spain, from where these world-changing voyages began. May takes the helm of his own sailboat to test the cutting-edge sail technology that allowed ships to travel further than ever - and the rudimentary navigation techniques that Columbus had to rely on. Chapter 2: Sir Walter Raleigh James follows Walter Raleigh's rise from rural Devon to London high-society. He meets top barrister Benet Brandreth KC at The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple to learn the techniques of persuasion that allowed Raleigh to talk his way to the top. James also explores the darker and more complex corners of Raleigh's legacy. Chapter 3: Captain Cook Captain James Cook was the last explorer in the age of sail - and one of the busiest, charting one third of the globe. His voyages brought huge advancements in navigation, biology, and geography, and in Britain he is generally thought of as a hero - but in other parts of the world, that's not the story. James May examines how this studious and serious son of a farmer broke through the class ceiling to become the greatest naval captain of his age.

2025 • Travel

58:55

The first leg of his journey begins in Istanbul, from which he travels along the Aegean coast to the hostile border with Syria. He meets refugees trying to start a new life and a billionaire taking advantage of a property boom. He moves on into the Taurus Mountains and the Black Sea Coast, and visits a community trying to keep an ancient language alive.

S1E1 • Turkey with Simon Reeve • 2017 • Travel

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

58:56

For Ray Mears there is one British pioneer who stands above all others in the exploration of Canada. That man is Samuel Hearne. In learning to travel using First Nations skills, he set the template for successful travel into Canada's wilderness. Hearne's story is defined by hardship and adventure, an inspiring tale made more powerful by the journal he left as a legacy. In a celebration of one of Earth's last great wilderness

S1E3 • Ray Mears's Northern Wilderness • 2009 • Travel

46:57

Levison travels through Armenia and Europe's forgotten war zone Nagorno-Karabakh, before heading into Iran towards Tehran, the Caspian Sea and the journey's end.

S1E4 • From Russia to Iran: Crossing the Wild Frontier with Levison Wood • 2017 • Travel