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Joanna Lumley’s Greek Odyssey – PRESS PACK
Series Overview
Joanna Lumley sets out to explore one of the most diverse and surprising countries in Europe, where
much of western civilisation began. On her odyssey, Joanna encounters both the ancient and
modern aspects of Greece, touching on how the origins of drama, democracy, science, philosophy
and medicine can be found here, and how they have left an enduring legacy on the fabric of our
everyday life.
Following in the footsteps of the ancient Greeks, she visits some of the most significant sites of their
empire, exploring the history, gods, beliefs, myths and legends which hail from this profoundly
significant chapter in European history. Delphi, Ancient Olympia, the Gates of Hades and Mount
Olympus all feature within her travels. So too does the British influence on this land, from the
occupation of Corfu to its connection with the most romantic of all poets, Lord Byron.
Joanna provides a glimpse of the diversity of cultures within Greece and provides an insight into the
range of lifestyles existing there today. She meets Nana Mouskouri, the most famous of all Greek
singers, who performs for Joanna at Epidaurus, and the flower-throwing hedonistic nightclub goers of
Athens, as well as venturing off the beaten tourist trail to find the remote villagers of the Mani
Peninsular who eek out a living from the land, cooking wild asparagus picked fresh from the hillside.
She spends time with the shepherds of Crete whose forefathers helped defeat the Nazis, meets a
rare breed of islanders who are continuing to speak with one another using an old language based on
whistling, and she explores the remote border lands of Greece, home to established Muslim
communities who grow tobacco to make a living.
Episode 1
THE LAND OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS
Joanna begins her Greek odyssey at the Parthenon in Athens, which was created by the ancient
Greeks two and a half thousand years ago. This was the dawn of western civilisation, which saw the
birth of democracy, language, science and medicine.
From here Joanna travels around the southern region of Greece from Athens to the Peloponnese,
visiting spectacular mythical and historic sites left by this great civilisation. These were places of
theatre, death, sport and religion to the Ancients and they represent the very cornerstone of this
empire. The Greeks flocked to these sites and Joanna follows in their footsteps.
En route she meets modern Greeks who are still influenced by this ancient era.
From the marble cutters on the Acropolis who continue to use the same tools as their ancestors, to
the Englishman who now worships the god of Apollo at Greece’s most sacred place, Delphi.
Joanna’s route takes her off the tourist trail to places where ancient myths and cultures live on. She
meets villagers who communicate by whistling, a lady who lives a solitary life in an almost deserted
village, surviving by eating wild plants and shrubs and a fisherman who takes her to the gates of
Hades, the underworld, where the Ancients went when they died. Joanna finds inspiration in the
isolated peninsula of the Mani, where its haunting tower house settlements and barren landscape
seem unchanged for centuries.
Joanna also takes part in a Bouzoukia, a hugely popular singing club where, in a modern twist on an
old tradition, the audience spends a fortune on flowers that they throw in appreciation.
And finally Joanna meets perhaps one of the most famous singers in the world, Nana Mouskouri, at
Epidaurus, one of the best surviving amphitheatres, where, in order to demonstrate the perfect
acoustics, Nana gives a rare performance to Joanna.
Episode 2
GREECE’S BORDERLANDS
Joanna is travelling across the northern most regions of Greece, through an area that has been vastly
influenced by the world around it, more so than anywhere else in the country. Her route is from the
western Ionian island of Corfu to the turbulent eastern border it shares with Turkey and Bulgaria. It’s a
frontier-land where foreign invasion and occupation have left a fascinating legacy.
The British ruled Corfu for 50 years. Joanna discovers how they left their mark with cricket, brass
bands, ginger beer and the staunchest local anglophiles in “Kensington-on-sea”.
Crossing to the mainland, Joanna retraces the steps of another lover of Greece. Lord Byron’s
inspirational journey through the western highlands by horseback became the stuff of legend and, just
like the great poet, Joanna also gets caught in a ferocious rainstorm.
Travelling across a land shaped by generations of invading empires to its far eastern corner, Joanna
discovers traditions and cultures inspired by their occupation.
Oil wrestling is still a big hit in one isolated community. Another Muslim village has largely remained
hidden from the modern world for decades, only now do the youngsters think of leaving to work in the
city and beyond. Joanna also joins young Greek army recruits on a border outpost to try to
understand the pressure on the soldiers and their belief that Greece may still be invaded today.
On this journey, one place above all reveals more about this country’s turbulent history than any
other. The port city of Kavala was subjected to a religious exchange of peoples. It was emptied of
Muslims and the population replaced with immigrants from Turkey. 400,000 Greek Muslims left the
region and 1million Turkish Christians took their place. She meets one of the last known survivors,
Minas Zaxariadis, who reveals a dark secret.
Episode 3
THE ISLANDS
In this episode Joanna explores some of the fourteen hundred Greek Islands that make up this
maritime nation. Each has a story to tell, often a fascinating history spanning thousands of years.
Tthe Greek islands are a familiar destination for many a British holidaymaker. Yet beyond the deck
chairs and white sands is a culture which has created one of the greatest seafaring nations of the
world.
Hitching a lift on board a shipping magnate’s yacht, Joanna’s route begins on the ancient island of
Crete, where she learns about a way of life that has transcended centuries, spending time with the
shepherds in the high, remote mountains of the island. The shepherds played a key role fighting
alongside the Resistance against the Nazi occupation of Crete with the British SOE Agent, Patrick Le
Femour, whose exploits became the basis for the film, Ill Met by Moonlight.
Crete is also Zeus’ birth place and the home of Raki, a local firewater that fuels traditional Cretan
festivities. On the island of Kos she explores the birth place of Hippocrates, the father of modern
medicine, before ascending the only active volcano on the island of Nisyros.
Episode 4
MOUNT OLYMPUS AND BEYOND
This week Joanna meets the people and discovers places in the mountainous region of northern
Greece. Here the hills are alive with ancient stories and legends. Some familiar, others long since
gone untold.
Where better to start than a climb up Mount Olympus, the country’s highest peak. Here, the ancient
Greeks believed that the gods had their dwelling place, where they meted out punishments and
blessings upon the mere mortals, thousands of feet below. She meets the modern gods of today,
sporting athletes who taking part in the brutal challenge of the Mount Olympus marathon.
Joanna travels east to discover more legends and traditions off the beaten track. She is quite
unprepared for a women’s rude fortune telling festival, which has origins dating back to Homer.
Poems are read out to large crowds, telling of someone’s future, but often these revelations are quite
shocking and vulgar.
Joanna also explores a magnificent church that was built in just forty days and discovers the
otherworldly landscape of Meteora, where Orthodox monks still inhabit the monasteries in the sky.
Joanna Lumley Interview

Why did you agree to go to Greece - was there any personal reason?

First was the notion of the Olympics Games coming here, but also how little one knew of
Greece. I’ve been there before and filmed there, spent Easter there, stayed with friends, but I
didn’t really know Greece and couldn’t really join it up. I couldn’t think where places were and
how many times it had been invaded and overrun by different empires. The whole thing
seemed fantastically thrilling – gods and legends and myths – and how much our country and
the whole of the western world owed to Greece. It seemed ripe for a visit. Any excuse…but
this was a pretty fine one.

Which places did you most enjoy visiting and why?

The Mani peninsula, south of the Peloponnese. When we went there it was spring and it was
as if the whole of the Chelsea Flower Show had tipped its flowers on the ground. I’ve never
seen such a blizzard of wild flowers. Because they have no spray or chemicals down there
and I realised that this is how nature intended it to be. That was very thrilling.

Throughout filming what I found staggering was to be in the same place as all the myths and
legends and gods that have such a place in history. I couldn’t believe I was on the spot
where the Delphic Oracle sat, with the rain slicing down as it was when we were there. You
almost have to pinch yourself.

What surprised you most during your visit?

Nothing didn’t surprise me. The mountains surprised me. I had forgotten that Greece had so
many and the sheer beauty of them. I had kind of got used to the notion of Greece being a
place for beach holidays. I hadn’t expected this extraordinary range of places and culture,
this tapestry of, nightclubs in Athens, tobacco growing Muslim villages high up in the hills,
vineyards, vast pebble beaches, finding out about the British influence from the occupation of
Corfu. It all seemed utterly unexpected and it all made me go, “Good grief, why didn’t I know
this?” It’s fascinating and one just wants to know more, but hopefully what we’re able to show
will whet the appetite of people watching.

The encounter with Nana Mouskouri, seemed to move you intensely. What made it so
special?

I’ve always admired her and thought she was great. But I was struck by this sense of her
never having sung at Epidavrus. Because she was trained as a classical singer and she was
meant to sing there when she was young, but was turned down because she was a pop
singer. They were very snooty [about her pop career] so as a young girl she went away and
cried because she was so upset. And then there she was for the first time singing for us with
no orchestra, on a Monday evening with very few people there and light rain falling. And I just
couldn’t stop myself from crying, I think at the thought of what it must have meant for her.

The weather didn't seem brilliant.

We had gorgeous days and we had days when it rained as well. But I quite like the idea that
we don’t think of places as purely picture postcard holiday destinations. I think there’s more
to Greece than that.

How bad was your vertigo when you were filming the reconstruction work going on
high up on the side of the Parthenon?

It was literally a near death experience. I did manage to mask it, because I’ve watched it
back, but I became almost petrified. They asked me if we could do more filming up there and
I just said no. My heart was humming, my pulse was going at one hundred and ninety a
minute for about an hour afterwards.

With vertigo, first of all you’re worried that you’re going to fall off and die, but also you have a
compulsion to jump over the railings and die. Even talking about it now I feel strange.

What do you try to give to the viewer when filming a programme about a journey like
this one?

The viewer is my best friend when I’m making these programmes. I think of myself as if I’m
talking to the individual person watching. I want them to be interested, so what I want is if
anyone watching goes, ‘I didn’t know that, I’m going to go to the library to find out more,’ or if
it makes them decide to Google for more information, or, best of all, think, “I’ll get a ticket, I’ll
go there.”
PRODUCTION DETAILS
JOANNA LUMLEY’S GREEK ODYSSEY is made for ITV1 by Tiger Aspect Productions Ltd, an
Endemol company.
Executive Producers: Joanna Lumley and Clive Tulloh
Series Producer: Matt Bennett
Directors: Rob Farqua and Dominic Ozane
Producer: Sarah Taylor