Revisit your favourite reads with Academy Award nominee Richard E. Grant

Set sail on a fabulous literary voyage with BBC Select, as actor and Oscar nominee Richard E Grant guides you through this sumptuous arts documentary. Book lover Richard traverses France, Spain and Italy, following in the footsteps of authors whose work was inspired by the locations’ culture and history. Can he discover the secrets of literary greats like Dickens, Hemingway and F Scott Fitzgerald?

Watch Write Around the World and more acclaimed documentaries on BBC Select today. Restrictions apply*.

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Watch Simon Schama's Shakespeare and Us on BBC Select

Simon Schama's Shakespeare and Us

A Bard’s tale. How Shakespeare united the intellectual and populist like no one else.

Watch Frankenstein and the Vampyre: A Dark and Stormy Night on BBC Select

Frankenstein and the Vampyre: A Dark and Stormy Night

The house party that invented modern horror: How Frankenstein was born.

Watch Harry Potter - A History of Magic on BBC Select

Harry Potter - A History of Magic

They’re the fastest-selling books in history. But what inspired the enchanting world of Harry Potter?

Watch Simon Schama's Shakespeare and Us on BBC Select

Simon Schama's Shakespeare and Us

A Bard’s tale. How Shakespeare united the intellectual and populist like no one else.

Watch Frankenstein and the Vampyre: A Dark and Stormy Night on BBC Select

Frankenstein and the Vampyre: A Dark and Stormy Night

The house party that invented modern horror: How Frankenstein was born.

Watch Harry Potter - A History of Magic on BBC Select

Harry Potter - A History of Magic

They’re the fastest-selling books in history. But what inspired the enchanting world of Harry Potter?

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Travel documentaries

All aboard! Join a star-studded cast of travel guides as they take you to some of the most remote and fascinating corners of the globe. BBC Select is home to BBC travel documentaries you can watch in the US and Canada today.

Watch Joanna Lumley in the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon

Joanna Lumley in the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon

Ab Fab's Joanna Lumley takes a personal odyssey to retrace her grandad's steps in Bhutan.

Watch Oceans Apart: Art and the Pacific on BBC Select

Oceans Apart: Art and the Pacific

The momentous impact of the West's contact with the peoples and cultures of the Pacific.

Stream The Silk Road on BBC Select

The Silk Road

The world's first superhighway that carried goods and ideas between Europe and China.

Watch Joanna Lumley's Unseen Adventures on BBC Select

Joanna Lumley's Unseen Adventures

Ab Fab legend Joanna Lumley takes viewers behind the scenes of her epic travels.

Watch Joanna Lumleys Greatest Cities of the World

Joanna Lumley’s Great Cities of the World

Joanna Lumley explores Berlin, Paris and Rome

Watch The Mekong River with Sue Perkins on BBC Select

The Mekong River with Sue Perkins

An Englishwoman abroad: Sue Perkins traverses the Mekong – one of Asia’s greatest rivers.

Watch The Art of Spain on BBC Select

The Art of Spain

Territory, politics and religious conflict: the untold history of Spain’s cultural legacy.

Watch Cuba with Simon Reeve on BBC Select

Cuba With Simon Reeve

Cubans reveal what life is like in the communist state as it flirts with capitalism.

Stream Brazil with Michael Palin on BBC Select

Brazil with Michael Palin

From the lost world of Amazonia to buzzing Rio de Janeiro, Michael Palin explores Brazil.

Watch Joanna Lumley's Britain on BBC Select

Joanna Lumley’s Britain

Explore Great Britain in this charming travel series

Watch Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean : Havana to Haiti on BBC Select

Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean: Havana to Haiti

Ab Fab superstar Joanna Lumley soaks up the sun, sights and sensations of Cuba and Haiti.

Watch World’s Most Luxurious Holidays on BBC Select

The World’s Most Luxurious Holidays

Need a getaway? Discover the most exclusive holiday hotspots where the mega-rich unwind.

Stream Joanna Lumley - Trans-Siberian Adventure

Joanna Lumley's Trans-Siberian Adventure

From China, Mongolia and Russia with love: Join Joanna Lumley’s Trans-Siberian Adventure

Stream The Persians - A History of Iran on BBC Select

The Persians: A History of Iran

How was the world's first empire born and what led to its ultimate destruction?

Stream Africa with Ade Adepitan on BBC Select

Africa with Ade Adepitan

It's Africa, but not as you know it. Ade Adepitan explores a constantly evolving land.

Stream Secret Cities on BBC Select

Secret Cities

How much can the artistic history of a great city tell us about its character?

Stream Archaeology - A Secret History on BBC Select

Archaeology: A Secret History

Better living through archeology. How can our past make sense of our present?

Stream Hotel Secrets with Richard E Grant on BBC Select

Hotel Secrets with Richard E Grant

A-list attraction: Behind-closed-doors secrets of the world’s most exclusive hotels.

Kolkata with Sue Perkins on BBC Select

Kolkata with Sue Perkins

What’s life like in an Indian megacity? The Great British Baking Show host finds out.

Stream Amazing Hotels - Life Beyond the Lobby on BBC Select

Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby

How does a hotel become extraordinary? Our food critic and chef duo meet the pioneers.

Stream Joanna Lumley's Japan on BBC Select

Joanna Lumley's Japan

A fantastic voyage around Japan with British national treasure Joanna Lumley.

Stream Pilgrimage with Simon Reeve on BBC Select

Pilgrimage with Simon Reeve

The vice, thrills and dangers that awaited those adventurers who embarked on pilgrimage.