Burma's Secret Jungle War with Joe Simpson: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

In this two-part series renowned mountaineer Joe Simpson, who told his story of near-death in the Andes in Touching the Void, travels to Myanmar (formerly Burma) to retrace the steps of his father Ian, who served with the Chindits - special forces who fought a guerilla war behind Japanese lines in 1944.

Accompanied by explorer Ed Stafford, the first man to walk the length of the Amazon, and using the secret diary his father wrote, Joe experiences the challenging jungle conditions which made this one of the toughest campaigns of WWII.

Half-way through his journey events in modern-day Myanmar threaten to derail Joe's plans. Granted special permission to travel in a part of Myanmar closed to tourists, Joe suddenly finds that the first free elections since 1990 are triggering hostilities that could thwart his 30 year-old dream of re-connecting with his father's experiences - and give him unexpected insights into modern life in a little-known country.

Series details

• Title: Burma's Secret Jungle War with Joe Simpson
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Premiere date: 2016-05-08
• Final broadcast date listed: 2016-05-15
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: BBC Two
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 16642
• TVDB ID: 311263

Cast and credited roles

• Joe Simpson — Joe Simpson
• Ed Stafford — Ed Stafford

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2016-05-08; final listed air date 2016-05-15; episode order: 2.

Source and licence

Adapted from Burma's Secret Jungle War with Joe Simpson on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.