Few British documentary series have been granted the access that Art of Persia enjoys. Across its 2020 run, broadcaster and journalist Samira Ahmed travels through Iran to trace how a people, a culture and a history took shape, filmed in places that outside cameras rarely reach.
What is Art of Persia about?
The series is structured as a journey rather than a lecture. Ahmed moves through the country from site to site, letting landscapes, monuments and objects carry the argument: that the Persian story is one of repeated conquest and remarkable continuity, in which each new ruler absorbed what came before rather than erasing it. Episodes of around an hour give room for architecture, poetry, calligraphy and craft to be examined closely, and for the people who live among these monuments today to speak for themselves. The tone is curious and respectful, aimed at a general audience that may know Iran mainly from news headlines. Directed by Richard Downes, the programme avoids present-day politics as far as a travel documentary can, keeping its eye on the long sweep of centuries and the ways art records the ambitions of empires and the resilience of ordinary people.
About the cast
Samira Ahmed, a British broadcaster and journalist, is the sole on-screen presence and the series' guide. Her approach is that of an informed outsider: she asks the questions a curious visitor would ask and allows local experts, craftspeople and residents to answer. Richard Downes directs, and the series was produced in the United Kingdom.
Context & significance
Western television has produced surprisingly little on Iranian art and history compared with coverage of Egypt, Greece or Rome, partly because filming permissions are so difficult to obtain. That makes Art of Persia unusual: a mainstream British documentary series that treats Iran as a civilisation to be understood on its own terms. For Iranians abroad, it doubles as a visit home, with familiar sites photographed at a scale domestic television rarely affords them. For non-Iranian viewers, it fills a gap in the standard story of world history. Catalogued under Documentary and Historical, with episodes of roughly 59 minutes, it has been warmly received since its 2020 release.
Watching Art of Persia on Ktime
Art of Persia is available on K-Time with both a Persian dub and Persian subtitles, so viewers can hear the original English narration with Farsi text or switch to a fully dubbed track. This page is free to read; streaming requires a K-Time account and login. K-Time serves Persian speakers outside Iran with a Farsi interface, and a series about Iran's heritage sits naturally in that catalogue.