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All Seasons

Season 1

  • S01E01 The Visit

    • March 6, 2008
    • BBC Four

    The Panchen Lama, the highest ranking Buddhist living in Tibet today, pays an unexpected visit to the local monastery and throws the monks into turmoil. A local hotel owner is worried about the lack business. In the nearby village of Tangmai, a young farmers wife is rushed into hospital with complications with her pregnancy.

  • S01E02 Three Husbands And A Wedding

    • March 13, 2008
    • BBC Four

    It's autumn and everyone is pulling together to get in the harvest, as Dundan worries about hailstones flattening his crops. The local government has installed guns to disperse the clouds and this has put the shaman Tseden, who used to protect the fields with spells, out of a job. Tseden is also helping a local family to arrange their daughter's wedding.

  • S01E03 Faith, Hope and Charity

    • March 20, 2008
    • BBC Four

    The monks begin preparations for New Year, one of Tibet's biggest festivals. Lhakpa, a local rickshaw driver, struggles to earn money as winter approaches. He embarks on a scheme to buy and sell puppies, with disastrous consequences. Hotel owner Jianzang gets involved in a court case which has a surprising outcome. In Tangmai, the doctor cannot cure Lhamo's crippling stomach pains.

  • S01E04 Monks Behaving Badly

    • March 27, 2008
    • BBC Four

    In the Pel Kor monastery, the director Choephel discovers that some irreplaceable statues have been stolen and the theft gives the local Communist Party an excuse to put in a government 'work team' to weed out monks they think are behaving badly. Lhakpa heads north in search of a lucrative job on a building site, and Butri gets an unpleasant surprise as she approaches her retirement.

  • S01E05 A Tale of Three Monks

    • April 3, 2008
    • BBC Four

    Deputy head lama Tsultrim has to juggle running the monastery whilst complying with a myriad of government restrictions. Young monk Tsephun lives and works with his master Dondrup, a curmudgeonly old lama. Tsephun helps his master with the day-to-day jobs of cleaning and tidying; in return, Dondrup teaches Tsephun the sutras and scriptures, an essential part of becoming a monk.