About Alex
Alex Bescoby is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, author and presenter with a love of history, travel and storytelling.
In 2016 Alex co-founded independent production company Grammar Productions, to make innovative documentaries that delve deeper into history and how it affects the lives of people and societies around the world today. His latest project - The Last Overland - involved driving 21,000km from Singapore to London, recreating one of history’s greatest road journeys for a 2022/3 Channel 4 documentary series and book.
Since studying politics and history at Cambridge University, his work has taken him to some of the less-travelled corners of the world, including the back-country of Sierra Leone, the remote Peruvian Andes and the insurgent-ridden southern Philippines. His filmmaking projects combine his passion for history and adventure - you can learn more about those here.
In 2013, he began work on his debut documentary, We Were Kings. Telling the incredible true story of Burma’s lost royal family, it was the first ever winner of the Whicker’s World Foundation Funding Award, the biggest single documentary funding prize in the UK. Filmed through three seismic years in Burma’s history, it premiered at the British Library in 2017 and has since been broadcast all across the world.
In 2017, he set out to explore another little-understood chapter of world history - WW2 in south-east Asia. In Forgotten Allies: the search for Burma’s lost heroes, Alex discovered veterans from Burma who had fought for Britain, yet had never been acknowledged for their service. The film was made possible by an international crowd-funding campaign, endorsed by Dame Vera Lynn, the Royal British Legion and the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League, and resulted in a considerable rise in charitable support for veterans in Burma.
In 2019, Alex completed The Last Overland, crossing 23 countries in 111 days - his greatest adventure to date. You can read more about that here. The Last Overland Expedition was undertaken in collaboration with major brands including Land Rover, Singapore Tourism Board, Craghoppers, Bremont and Opihr Gin. It also raised funds for two causes close to Alex’s heart - dementia treatment and veterans care.
The full 4-part series is now available exclusively on Channel 4’s streaming service, All 4. Watch now.
Alex’s best-selling book about the journey is also on sale now.