The World of the Chinese

Frontline: China, The U.S. & The Rise of Xi Jinping

December 2025 •English

Tracing Xi Jinping's defining moments, how he's exercising his power and the impact on China and relations with the U.S.

Chasing Flavor

December 2025 •English

Carla Hall travels around the world to track down the unexpected lineage and international origins of America's favorite dishes.

Faith of the Century: A History of Communism

December 2025 •French

Communism spread to all of the continents of the word, lasting through four generations and over seven decades. Hundreds of millions of men and women were affected by this political system, one of the most unjust and bloodiest in history. Using newly discovered propaganda films and archival photos, these four episodes explore the mysteries of this totalitarian political machine that lured its share of important followers into the fold. Known as the red church, communism seduced its ardent followers like some earthly religion.

THE SECOND BIRTH OF THE CENTRAL EMPIRE

December 2025 •Russian

Michael Palin: Into Iraq

December 2025 •English

Michael Palin embarks on an epic, revelatory journey through Iraq, one of the most dangerous and complex countries in the world. Following the Tigris river for over 1,000 miles, from its source in eastern Turkey to the Persian Gulf, Michael wants to discover what life is like for the 40 million people who live in Iraq.

Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days

December 2025 •English

Michael Palin attempts to copy the exploits of fictional character Phileas Fogg, by trying to travel around the world (without flying) in 80 days.

Pole to Pole

December 2025 •English

Michael Palin undertakes an epic journey of 23,000 miles, traveling from the North to the South Pole across 17 countries with a minimum of air travel, all on a tight deadline.

Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure

December 2025 •English

Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure is a 1999 BBC television documentary presented by Michael Palin. It records Palin's travels as he visited many sites where Ernest Hemingway had been. The sites include Spain, Chicago, Paris, Italy, Africa, Key West, Cuba, and Idaho. After the trip was over Michael Palin wrote a book about the journey and his experiences. This book contains both Palin's text and many pictures by Basil Pao, the stills photographer who was on the team.

On the Roam

December 2025 •English

Follow Jason Momoa as he travels the country chasing art, adventure, and friendship through the lens of craftsmanship.

Art of China

December 2025 •English

Andrew Graham-Dixon undertakes an epic journey to uncover the art of China.

James May: Our Man in…

December 2025 •English

James May embarks on a remarkable journey across Japan, from its icy north to its balmy south. He’ll see the sights, meet the locals, and eat the noodles in a bid to truly understand the Land of the Rising Sun.

Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School

December 2025 •English

In a unique experiment, five teachers from China take over the education of fifty teenagers in a Hampshire school to see whether the high-ranking Chinese education system can teach us a lesson.

The Great Shokunin

December 2025 •Chinese

The Hidden Kingdoms of China

December 2025 •English

From its highest mountains and plateaus, to its thickest jungles and bamboo forests, CHINAS HIDDEN KINGDOMS will reveal the wild side to China that few knew existed.

China's Mega Projects

December 2025 •Chinese

Joanna Lumley's Hidden Caribbean: Havana to Haiti

December 2025 •English

Joanna Lumley travels across two of the most enigmatic countries in the Caribbean Cuba and Haiti to explore and uncover the hidden gems that these countries have to offer

Empire

December 2025 •English

Empire is a unique programme that reports on and debates global powers on behalf of an international citizen. It does so in a way whereby it questions those geopolitical, geoeconomic, corporate, and other forms of power that influence citizens across borders. Many of those are not held accountable by any one government or any one nation, and so looking at the world as the global village it has become - with its integrated societies - we try to answer the questions on the minds of many of our viewers: why and how does global power act, react? And how does it throw its weight around?

Veronica and the Chinese millionaire

December 2025 •Swedish

Veronica is 30 years old when she disappears. At home in the apartment in Högsbo in Gothenburg, 3-year-old Marcus is waiting for his mother. Today Marcus is 22 and is looking for his father. In the wake of the parents' love story, the mystery grows and discovers a dramatic tangle of events in China, Thailand and Sweden, with disappearances and murders.

TikTok: Under the Influence

December 2025 •French

The most downloaded app in the world is raising serious geopolitical concerns. How did TikTok become a central player in the ongoing trade and political tensions between Beijing and Washington? As a key decision looms regarding its future in the United States, this documentary offers an in-depth look at the platform and sheds light on the growing global battle over data control.

Joanna Lumley in the Kingdom of the Thunderdragon

December 2025 •English

A journey of discovery for Joanna Lumley as she travels through the beautiful but little known country of Bhutan in an attempt to rediscover the route taken by her grand parents more than sixty years ago.