English actress Joanna Lumley OBE is best known for her role as the hedonistic Patsy in the classic British sitcom deep web url Absolutely Fabulous. She is also a television presenter, former model, author, and activist.

In this two-part series, she explores the hidden beauty of Cuba and Haiti. From tranquil beaches loved by Hemingway to infamous revolutionary cities, she uncovers a world beneath the surface.
What is Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean?

Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean is a brand new ITV show that sees the actress jet off to explore Cuba and Haiti. The Absolutely Fabulous star will be sharing her discoveries and uncovering hidden gems in this two-part series. The episode premieres on 10th March, so be sure to tune in!

Joanna is a British actress who has starred in numerous television shows and films. She has a long-standing love of travel and has travelled the world extensively. She has presented a number of documentary and factual TV shows, including Joanna Lumley’s Trans-Siberian Adventure, which saw her travel across 6400 miles from Hong Kong to Moscow on the Trans-Siberian railway. She also hosted Joanna Lumley’s India, a four-part travel show that saw her explore the country’s vast and varied landscapes.

In addition to her acting career, Lumley is a well-known travel enthusiast and supports a number of charitable causes. She is an ambassador for the UK-based charity Earth Restoration Service, which aims to improve wildlife habitats and green spaces in the country. She is also a patron of the Prospect Burma charity, which offers grants to students from the country. She has also been a long-time supporter of the Gurkhas, who served with the British army.

Lumley is known for her upper-class roles, and she has been in several notable film and television productions, including The Avengers, Sapphire and Steel, and the British TV situation comedy Absolutely Fabulous. Her performance as the aging Patsy in Ab Fab, created by Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French, earned her a BAFTA Award nomination.

She has been a vegetarian for over 40 years, and she is also a supporter of animal welfare charities. She has also narrated a number of audiobooks and provided forewords to works by other authors. She is a patron of the Born Free Foundation and is passionate about the campaign to free Tibet.

Joanna was born in Srinagar, in the last days of the British Raj and has family connections in both Pakistan and India. Her father was an officer with the Gurkhas, and her mother worked in the Indian civil service. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Trustee of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. In the 1995 New Year Honours, she was awarded an OBE for her services to drama and entertainment. She was made a Dame in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to charity and humanitarianism. She has a son, James, and lives in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. She is a patron of the Gurkha Justice Campaign and supports a number of other charitable causes. She is an advocate for the preservation of endangered species, and has a passion for reducing plastic waste. She has spoken on the subject at various events and has been a guest of the WWF in London.
What is Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean like?

Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean is a two-part travel documentary series that will see the Ab Fab actress travel across Cuba and Haiti. The show will showcase the hidden gems that these two enigmatic Caribbean countries have to offer. From rum to voodoo, boxing to the rhythms of rhumba, this series will explore all things Caribbean. The filming of the series began in February 2018, with Joanna travelling to Havana and then on to Haiti.

In the first episode of the series, Joanna takes in the backstreets of Havana and visits a female boxing star on the rise. She also explores the cigar factory where she watches workers have novels read to them. Joanna also discovers a cabaret that she simply cannot resist calling “fabulous”.

The episode continues as Joanna heads out of the capital to the rural tobacco region of Cuba where she meets the family who have made it their business to preserve the original form of rhumba. Joanna will also learn about the history of the island through a man who has created a museum dedicated to the slave trade. The final part of the episode sees Joanna meet a young woman who is fighting for her life after a horrific car accident.

Joanna Lumley is an accomplished actress who has appeared in a variety of television shows and films. Her acting career began in 1969 with a minor role in the film Some Girls Do, and she has since played a Bond girl in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, a nurse in the TV series Class Act, and the character of Elaine Perkins in Coronation Street. She has also appeared in the sitcom Jam & Jerusalem and the drama Sensitive Skin. In addition to her acting career, Joanna is a patron for several charities and is passionate about animal welfare. She has donated books to Book Aid International, and is a supporter of the Gurkha Justice Campaign and Survival International. She has spoken out in favour of the Tibetan people and government, and has supported the Prospect Burma charity that offers grants to students in Myanmar. In the 2022 New Year Honours, Joanna was awarded a Damehood for services to drama, entertainment and charity. She is currently a Patron of the Earth Restoration Service, which supports environmental restoration in UK schools by planting trees and wildflower meadows. She is also a patron of the Trust in Children charity, which helps children from poorer backgrounds access education and opportunities for non-academic development. She has also narrated several audiobooks and provided forewords for various authors. Joanna is also a patron of the National Literacy Trust. Her other interests include gardening and photography. She is married to conductor Stephen Barlow and has a son named James. She has a house near Penpont in Dumfriesshire, Scotland.
Where is Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean?

The star of Paddington 2 and Ab Fab jets off to two of the Caribbean’s most enigmatic countries in this illuminating two-part series. She encounters voodoo, boxing and rhumba as she explores the hidden hotspots that Cuba and Haiti have to offer.

In her first episode, Joanna Lumley explores Havana’s back streets as she meets a female boxing star on the rise and visits The National, a hotel that pre-dates the revolution. She also gets to know a rural tobacco region in Vinales, where workers have novels read to them whilst they roll cigars.

She then makes her way to Santiago de Cuba, Fidel Castro’s hometown, where she meets two twin sisters who follow very different careers, and pays a visit to Hemingway’s favourite beach. Before hopping on a plane to Haiti to see the small port town of Labadee where luxury cruise ships dock. Joanna meets a family group who have made it their business to preserve the original form of rumba, an infectious rhythm that carries with it heavy African influences brought by enslaved people.

As she travels around, Joanna is greeted like a long-lost relative. Maybe it’s her quasi-royal aura or perhaps it’s the fact that she gushes breathlessly and often exclaims ‘Fabulous!’ at everything she sees. Either way, the locals treat her with the utmost respect.

Despite the fact that their country is struggling with food shortages and poverty, the locals are still proud of their culture, history and language. They are eager to share their story and welcome Joanna into their lives.

Joanna isn’t afraid to delve into the country’s dark past, and visits a museum which celebrates those who have lost their lives to revolutionary violence. She’s also able to observe how the people have made the most of their limited resources and built their own beautiful, self-sufficient communities.

She then heads to Cap-haitien, where she explores a beach teeming with metres of washed up plastic, and discovers the history of Haiti’s ancient fortress Citadelle Laferriere. She tries her hand at some voodoo and a street performance from a large group of local dancers before flying to Miami to meet with a designer who has been helping Haitians create their own branded perfumes.