Video Documentaries

Rick travels down the Mekong River to Vietnam. The country's light and fresh food, prepared using an abundance of herbs, includes lots of freshwater fish and flavoursome soups made with thin strips of beef and rice noodles.  In Saigon, Rick visits the old stomping ground of his hero Graham Greene, and in Hanoi he meets up with a former employee who delights in the varied and delicious street food of Vietnam's capital city. For the ultimate in al fresco eating, Rick tries the night food stalls in the heart of Bangkok. Rick Stein takes the viewer on an epic culinary journey by sea, down rivers and overland to explore the Far East's diverse food cultures, which have soared to the heights of popularity the world over.

Rick Stein takes the viewer on an epic culinary journey by sea, down rivers and overland to explore the Far East's diverse food cultures, which have soared to the heights of popularity the world over.   Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey episode 1 He begins his odyssey in Cambodia, a country still recovering from the regime of the Khmer Rouge. Nevertheless, tourists are beginning to return to this land dotted with sugar palms, paddy fields and small villages. Rick discovers the joys of freshly caught swimmer crabs cooked with green peppercorns from Kampot, once the king of pepper. [caption id="attachment_5401" align="alignnone" width="600"] Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey episode 1[/caption] He learns how to cook the most famous dish in the country, fish amok, made with lemongrass and coconut, and he samples lok lak, an extremely popular and delicious dish made with stir-fried strips of marinated beef. Rick visits the awe-inspiring Angkor Wat t

In the final episode of their entertaining series of cultural city breaks, Dr Janina Ramirez and Alastair Sooke explore St Petersburg through its dazzling art and architecture. They want to see how art has been used to enhance prestige and power in this city, ever since it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great. Surrounded by vast palaces, gilded domes and imposing Soviet monuments, Janina and Alastair make a flying visit to their personal selection of imperial, communist and modern-day sights. They discover a city where art has always taken centre stage. [caption id="attachment_5297" align="alignnone" width="600"] An Art Lovers' Guide episode 6[/caption] From the intoxicating beauty of the state rooms at the Winter Palace to the bejewelled confections of Faberge; from the dark tunnels where curators guarded precious artefacts during the deadly siege of the city in the Second World War, to the apartment piled high with protest art painted by the outspoke

In this episode, Janina Ramirez and Alastair are on a mission to get to know one of the most popular cities in the world through its art and architecture. Although Barcelona is famous for its exuberant modernista buildings, the Gothic Quarter and artistic superstars such as Picasso, Janina and Alastair are determined to discover some less well-known cultural treats.  Escaping the crowds on the Ramblas, they seek out the designs of an engineer who arguably put more of a stamp on the city than its star architect, Antoni Gaudi. Alastair marvels at the Romanesque frescoes that inspired a young Miro, whilst Janina discovers a surprising collection of vintage fans in the Mares, one of the city's most remarkable but rarely visited museums. An Art Lovers' Guide episode 5 - Barcelona With a behind-the-scenes visit to Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, a session of impromptu Catalan dance and Alastair adding the finishing touches to some Barcelona street art, it is a fast-paced and colourful

In this episode, they head to Amsterdam, a city that pioneered so much of modern life, from multinational trade to the way we design our homes. To find out how, Alastair and Janina take us on a fast paced tour of the city's cultural hotspots. Picking their way through the crowds queuing to see Rembrandt at the Rijksmuseum, they also introduce us to the paintings of Jan Steen, a Dutch legend whose paintings capture the city's freewheeling lifestyle.  With sumptuous palaces, exquisite artworks and stunning architecture, every great city offers a dizzying multitude of artistic highlights. In this series, art historians Dr Janina Ramirez and Alastair Sooke take us on three cultural citybreaks, hunting for off-the-beaten-track artistic treats - and finding new ways of enjoying some very famous sights. [caption id="attachment_5268" align="alignnone" width="600"] An Art Lovers' Guide episode 4[/caption]

Nina and Alastair set off to Baku, capital of Azerbaijan. A former Soviet state, bordering the Caspian Sea, Baku offers a tantalising mix of the ancient and modern - at the crossroads of east meets west, on the ancient silk trading route. It is also an authoritarian state, where cultural life is tightly controlled. So, not their regular city break...  An Art Lovers' Guide episode 3 - Baku But it is a city looking westwards, eager to turn itself into a tourist destination. They discover a city for which oil has been both a blessing and a curse. The profits from oil transformed its architecture twice - first in the late nineteenth century, and again in the twentieth. As a result, Baku is full of buildings that feel like 19th-century Paris, but also gleaming new structures by architectural stars like Zaha Hadid. And all around, the traces of Soviet rule offer other surprising clashes of art and architecture. Nina and Alastair pick their way through this maze of influences and travel

Nina and Alastair explore Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon. This fascinating crossroads between east and west has a rich history, and a troubled recent past. It's the most diverse city in the Arab world, with 18 recognised religious sects. Its French influence gave it the reputation as the Paris of the east during the mid 20th century. But this diversity turned to division in 1975 when the city became embroiled in a 15-year civil war.    An Art Lovers' Guide episode 2 - Beirut In a place of so many identities and memories, art plays a unique role - as Janina and Alastair discover at the start of their journey, taking a cable car to the mountains that ring the city. Here, a stunning brutalist Christian cathedral of the Maronite Church overlooks the city's suburbs. It's an impressive expression of both the city's unique demographic mix, and of the identity of the Maronite community - one of Beirut's biggest minorities. On their travels around the city they dis

Dr Janina Ramirez and Alastair Sooke take us on three entertaining and revealing cultural city breaks. Nina and Alastair head to Lisbon, rapidly becoming one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations. Winding through the city's cobbled streets, from its steep hills to the picturesque shore line, the cultural riches they encounter reveal the city's fascinating history.  From a spectacular monument to the maritime globetrotting of Portugal's 'golden age' to the work of a photographer documenting the city's large African population, they discover a complex history of past glories and a darker, slave-trading past. Their journey also uncovers the impact of twentieth-century dictatorship on the city's artistic and cultural life, through the work of contemporary artists Paula Rego and Joana Vasconcelos. An Art Lovers' Guide episode 1 - Lisbon Along the way, Alistair also takes a boat trip on the River Tagus to discover how Portuguese sailors establishe

This episode examines the British Raj and India’s struggle for freedom. Wood reveals how in South India a global corporation came to control much of the subcontinent, and explores the magical culture of Lucknow, discovering the enigmatic Briton who helped found the freedom movement. He traces the Amritsar massacre, the rise of Gandhi and Nehru, and the events that led to the Partition of India in 1947.   The world's largest democracy and a rising economic giant, India is now as well known across the globe for its mastery of computer technology as it is for its many-armed gods and its famous spiritual traditions. But India is also the world's most ancient surviving civilisation, with unbroken continuity back into prehistory.Like other great civilisations - Greece or Egypt for example, over the millennia it has enjoyed not just one but several brilliant golden ages in art and culture. Its great thinkers and religious leaders have permanently changed the face of the globe. But whi

The Story of India episode 5 - The Meeting of Two Oceans The documentary series about the history of India charts the coming of Islam to the subcontinent and one of the greatest ages of world civilisation: the Mughals. Michael Wood visits Sufi shrines in Old Delhi, desert fortresses in Rajasthan and the cities of Lahore and Agra, where he offers a new theory on the design of the Taj Mahal. He also looks at the life of Akbar, a Muslim emperor who decreed that no one religion could hold the ultimate truth, but whose dream of unity ended in civil war.   The world's largest democracy and a rising economic giant, India is now as well known across the globe for its mastery of computer technology as it is for its many-armed gods and its famous spiritual traditions. But India is also the world's most ancient surviving civilisation, with unbroken continuity back into prehistory.Like other great civilisations - Greece or Egypt for example, over the millennia it has enjoyed not just one b

The Story of India episode 4 - Ages of Gold Documentary series about the history of India. Presenter Michael Wood seeks out the achievements of the country’s golden age, discovering how India discovered zero, calculated the circumference of the Earth and wrote the world’s first sex guide, the Kama Sutra. In the south, he visits the giant temple of Tanjore and sees traditional bronze casters, working as their ancestors did 1,000 years ago. The world's largest democracy and a rising economic giant, India is now as well known across the globe for its mastery of computer technology as it is for its many-armed gods and its famous spiritual traditions. But India is also the world's most ancient surviving civilisation, with unbroken continuity back into prehistory.Like other great civilisations - Greece or Egypt for example, over the millennia it has enjoyed not just one but several brilliant golden ages in art and culture. Its great thinkers and religious leaders have permanently cha

The Story of India episode 3 - Spice Routes and Silk Roads In this episode he traces India in the days of the Roman Empire. In Kerala the spice trade opened India to the world, whilst gold and silk bazaars in the ancient city of Madurai were a delight for visiting Greek traders. From the deserts of Turkmenistan Michael travels down the Khyber Pass to Pakistan to discover a forgotten Indian Empire that opened up the Silk Route and at Peshawar built a lost Wonder of the World.   The world's largest democracy and a rising economic giant, India is now as well known across the globe for its mastery of computer technology as it is for its many-armed gods and its famous spiritual traditions. But India is also the world's most ancient surviving civilisation, with unbroken continuity back into prehistory.Like other great civilisations - Greece or Egypt for example, over the millennia it has enjoyed not just one but several brilliant golden ages in art and culture. Its great thinkers and

The Story of India episode 1 -  Beginnings Michael Wood journeys through the subcontinent, tracing the incredible richness and diversity of its peoples, cultures and landscapes. Through ancient manuscripts and oral tales Michael charts the first human migrations out of Africa. He travels from the tropical backwaters of South India through lost ancient cities in Pakistan to the vibrant landscapes of the Ganges plain. In Turkmenistan dramatic archaeological discoveries cast new light on India’s past. The world's largest democracy and a rising economic giant, India is now as well known across the globe for its mastery of computer technology as it is for its many-armed gods and its famous spiritual traditions. But India is also the world's most ancient surviving civilisation, with unbroken continuity back into prehistory.Like other great civilisations - Greece or Egypt for example, over the millennia it has enjoyed not just one but several brilliant golden ages in art and culture.

The small island of Bonaire is a Caribbean diving destination that boasts a unique collection of shipwrecks transformed into makeshift coral reefs. These artificial habitats provide a haven for marine life in a constantly changing ecosystem. The ocean floor is home to centuries' worth of sunken vessels integrated into marine habitats. Explore extraordinary wrecks around the world and learn how these artificial structures have become a part of the ecosystem--and in some cases, a vital tool in reversing the effects of human impact. Bonaire Bonaire is an island in the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Together with Aruba and Curaçao, it forms the group known as the ABC islands, less than one hundred miles off the north coast of South America near the western part of Venezuela. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, the ABCs lie outside Hurricane Alley. The islands have an arid climate, which helps tourism, as visitors to the islands can reliably expect warm, sunny weather. Bonaire

Adventurer and broadcaster Simon Reeve heads to beautiful and troubled Burma - or Myanmar, as it is now officially called - for a new two-part series. Cut off for decades under military rule, the country now has a democratically elected government led by world-famous Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. But in August 2017, the world was left stunned when a brutal military operation drove hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya Muslims from their homes. Burma with Simon Reeve Part 1 In this first episode, Simon travels to Burma to find out the roots of this crisis - as well as heading to Bangladesh to witness the drama that is still unfolding. He begins his journey in the biggest city in the country, Yangon, and drives north into Burma's Buddhist heartlands and the stunning ancient capital of Bagan - a sight that rivals the great wonders of the world. He meets the monks who supported the people through the darkest days of dictatorship. And he is granted an audience with some of the mos

Los Angeles is synonymous with glitz, glamour and the American dream. But, just a few miles east of the Hollywood sign lives America’s largest concentration of Mexican immigrants. Jamie isn't in LA living it up; he’s living the LA lifestyle for real. Join Jamie Oliver on the adventure of a lifetime and ultimate road trip – travelling around the USA on a journey of discovery into parts of that vast country that few visitors ever see. On his trip, Jamie delves into the underbelly of American society to uncover fascinating personal stories, try real American food and meet the most interesting but unsung chefs and food producers the country has to offer. This epic journey takes Jamie to the heart of America: its people, culture, music and most importantly, its food.

In Hairy Bikers’ Mediterranean Adventure ep.3: the bikers' Corsican adventure begins in Bonifacio in the south of the island. They head straight for one of the best delis in town to scope out the local cuisine, including the legendary sausage figatelli. Tony, the owner, tells them that there is a holy trinity of ingredients that makes up the basics of Corsican food - meat, cheese and chestnuts. He suggests that the best way for the bikers to understand what makes Corsicans tick is to meet the producers. This gives them a clear mission for their trip across the island, starting with a world-class meat producer. Jacques Abbatucci raises a unique breed of cattle, the vache tigre or tiger-cow, a breed recognisable by its distinctive stripes. His free-range and organic approach results in some of the best meat that the bikers have ever eaten. Their next foray into the island's interior takes them to the high plateau where another producer is raising rare-breed pigs. Again, the anima

Rick’s road trip reaches a conclusion as he arrives in Istanbul, just in time for the bluefish season, which allows him the chance to enjoy a fishing expedition on the Bosphorus, one of the world's most strategic waterways, which divides the city into two continents.  Rick also cooks two much-loved local dishes - lavish kofte kebabs with pistachios, and kapuska, a hearty traditional Turkish cuisine stew from the Black Sea region, whose name is derived from the Russian word for cabbage. Rick Stein embarks on a new gastronomic road trip from Venice to Istanbul through the countries of the former Byzantine Empire - a melting pot of east and west.

Continuing his journey from Venice to Istanbul, Rick Stein arrives in the Greek Peloponnese and samples some memorable dishes and the best home-made moussaka he's ever had. Back in his Symi island kitchen he cooks Galaktoboureko, Greece's all-time favourite dessert. Rick Stein embarks on a new gastronomic road trip from Venice to Istanbul through the countries of the former Byzantine Empire - a melting pot of East and West.

Rick Stein embarks on a new gastronomic road trip from Venice to Istanbul through the countries of the former Byzantine Empire - a melting pot of east and west. The chef continues his gastronomic road trip from Venice to Istanbul taking in the countries of the former Byzantine Empire - a renowned melting pot of East and West. This instalment finds the gastronome in the city of Ravenna, where he discovers Piadinas, a thin Italian flatbread street food dating back to Roman times. He then crosses the Adriatic Sea to Croatia - a first for Rick - and a gets a chance to discover new a wealth of dishes such as pasticada, goat stew with peas and lamb peka.