Documentary

When Does This World Season 22 Come Out? Is It Renewed?

This World Season 22 doesn't have an official release date yet. Based on the roughly 12-month gap between previous seasons, expect it around July 2025.

TMDB

6.0

Seasons

14

Episodes

123

This World poster

Diagnostics

Network
BBC Two
First aired
2004-01-04
Last aired
2025-02-17
Runtime
60 min

Predictive Logic Analysis

This World has demonstrated remarkable longevity as a BBC Two documentary series, maintaining a consistent release cadence across 20+ years. The show's format as an anthology—each season exploring different global stories and themes—provides editorial flexibility and allows the BBC to refresh the program without narrative constraints. With 14 seasons and 123 episodes completed, the series has proven its ability to attract both audiences and commissioning support at a publicly funded broadcaster that values long-term documentary franchises.

The February 2025 air date for Season 14's conclusion is recent enough that a formal renewal announcement may not yet have been publicized, particularly for a BBC non-fiction program where renewal cycles operate differently than fiction. The TMDB metadata flagging the show as "Returning Series" is a credible institutional signal that BBC production databases already anticipate continuation, though this is not an official confirmation. BBC Two has historically sustained strong documentary anthology programs for decades when they maintain editorial quality and audience interest, and This World's track record suggests it remains in that category.

However, without explicit renewal signals from BBC News or trade sources, confidence must remain moderate. Budget constraints, editorial shifts, or changing documentary trends could affect commissioning. The absence of any recent news coverage—positive or negative—makes it difficult to assess current institutional momentum beyond the show's historical resilience.

What is This World about?

This World stands as BBC Two's flagship international documentary series, offering viewers an unflinching window into the most pressing social and political issues reshaping our global landscape. Each episode embarks on a different geographic and thematic journey, whether investigating humanitarian crises, exploring the human cost of conflict, examining systemic inequality, or unpacking the cultural and economic forces that define contemporary life. The series succeeds because it refuses easy answers, instead placing viewers directly into complex situations where abstraction gives way to human testimony and on-the-ground reporting that demands attention and empathy.

The programme's distinctive strength lies in its commitment to sustained investigation rather than surface-level tourism. By partnering with filmmakers, journalists, and producers who have deep ties to their subjects, This World achieves a level of access and insight that distinguishes it from more conventional news-based documentary. Its tone balances journalistic rigor with narrative intimacy, allowing personal stories and structural realities to coexist without undermining one another. The series inherits the legacy of Correspondent, its predecessor, while establishing its own identity as a vehicle for independent voices and perspectives often marginalized in mainstream media coverage.

Over two decades of broadcast, This World has earned considerable critical recognition for its editorial courage and storytelling craft. Audiences have consistently valued the programme for treating global affairs with the seriousness and nuance they deserve, while avoiding the condescension that can plague international documentary. The series has cultivated a devoted following among viewers who seek substantive engagement with world events beyond headline cycles.

As a longstanding pillar of British public service broadcasting, This World occupies a vital cultural position. It represents a commitment to documentary journalism at a moment when such investment has become increasingly rare, demonstrating that there remains an appetite for thoughtful, rigorous examination of how the world actually works. The show's longevity and recurring status affirm BBC Two's role as a platform for the kind of ambitious, uncompromising factual storytelling that commercial pressures often eliminate elsewhere.

Is This World renewed or cancelled?

Working toward renewal

high

20+ year track record and institutional prestige at BBC Two

medium

TMDB returning series status

medium

Anthology format provides editorial flexibility and lower renewal risk

medium

Recent Season 14 air date suggests active commissioning cycle

Working against it

medium

No formal renewal announcement from BBC or trade press

This World Season 22 Release Date

If renewed, Season 15 would likely air in late 2025 or early 2026, following the typical BBC Two documentary commissioning and production timeline. This World's anthology structure allows for relatively rapid turnaround between seasons compared to scripted drama, though documentary production itself—location shooting, editing, post-production—typically requires 6–9 months. Without an official announcement, the precise timing remains speculative, but the February 2025 conclusion of Season 14 suggests the BBC has already greenlit or is actively deliberating Season 15 within its annual commissioning round.

This World seasons

Season 20042004 · 17 ep
  • 1. Hells Angels2004-01-04
  • 2. Ethiopia: A Journey2004-01-11
  • 3. Football and Freedom2004-01-18
  • 4. American Virgins2004-01-25
  • 5. Access to Evil2004-02-01
  • 6. Iran, a Murder Mystery2004-02-15
  • 11. One Day of War2004-05-27
  • 12. LAPD - Protect and Serve?2004-06-03
  • 13. The Secret Swami2004-06-17
  • 14. Child Rescuers2004-06-20
  • 15. The Boy from the Block2004-07-08
  • 16. Saudi: the Family in Crisis2004-07-15
  • 17. The Real Bangkok Hilton2004-07-22
  • 21. Dolphin Hunters2004-11-09
  • 22. Guinea Pig Kids2004-11-30
  • 23. Locked in Paradise2004-12-07
  • 24. If ... We Could Stop the Violence2004-12-22
Season 20082008 · 13 ep
  • 1. The Boys From Baghdad High2008-01-08
  • 2. Baghdad: A Doctor's Story2008-01-14
  • 3. Girl Racer2008-02-19
  • 4. Diamonds and Justice2008-02-26
  • 5. Deep South Divide2008-03-04
  • 6. Miss Gulag2008-03-11
  • 7. Lethal Solution2008-03-18
  • 8. Bannatyne Takes on Big Tobacco2008-07-01
  • 9. Battle of the Bishops2008-07-21
  • 10. Murder in the Snow2008-11-10
  • 11. The Man Who Armed the World2008-11-17
  • 12. American Time Bomb2008-11-24
  • 13. Forced to Marry2008-12-01
Season 20092009 · 7 ep
  • 1. Mandela at 902009-01-31
  • 2. Escaping North Korea2009-04-06
  • 3. The Madoff Hustle2009-06-28
  • 4. Gypsy Child Thieves2009-09-02
  • 5. An Iranian 'Martyr'2009-11-24
  • 6. Can Obama Save the Planet?2009-11-25
  • 7. Stalin's Back2009-12-02
Season 20102010 · 10 ep
  • 1. Closing Guantanamo2010-01-03
  • 2. Obama and Me2010-01-19
  • 3. Tsunami: Five Years On2010-01-27
  • 4. Mexico's Drug War2010-02-07
  • 5. Stolen Brides2010-08-11
  • 6. Surviving Haiti2010-08-18
  • 7. The Wounded Platoon2010-08-25
  • 8. Hostage in the Jungle2010-10-20
  • 9. Tea Party America2010-11-01
  • 10. Pakistan's Flood Doctor2010-12-13
Season 20112011 · 9 ep
  • 1. The Paedophile Hunters2011-01-30
  • 2. Geert Wilders: Europe's Most Dangerous Man?2011-02-14
  • 3. Nicolas Sarkozy: President Bling-Bling?2011-03-21
  • 4. Chilean Miners: What Happened Next2011-03-28
  • 5. The Invasion of Lampedusa2011-06-14
  • 6. Italy's Bloodiest Mafia2011-07-13
  • 7. Thailand - Justice Under Fire2011-08-07
  • 8. Spain's Stolen Babies2011-10-18
  • 9. Return of the Lost Boys of Sudan2011-12-12
Season 20122012 · 12 ep
  • 1. Egypt - Children of the Revolution2012-02-03
  • 2. Inside the Meltdown2012-02-23
  • 3. The Fastest Changing Place on Earth2012-03-05
  • 4. Interviews Before Execution: A Chinese Talk Show2012-03-12
  • 5. The Mormon Candidate2012-03-27
  • 6. Norway's Massacre2012-04-15
  • 7. The Shame of the Catholic Church2012-05-01
  • 8. Michael Portillo's Great Euro Crisis2012-05-09
  • 9. Aung San Suu Kyi: The Choice2012-09-22
  • 10. Obama: What Happened to Hope?2012-11-04
  • 11. Cuba with Simon Reeve2012-12-11
  • 12. The Great Spanish Crash2012-12-16
Season 20132013 · 12 ep
  • 1. America's Poor Kids2013-03-06
  • 2. A History of Syria with Dan Snow2013-03-11
  • 3. Iraq: Did My Son Die in Vain?2013-03-20
  • 4. South Africa: The Massacre that Changed a Nation2013-04-24
  • 5. The Mafia's Secret Bunkers2013-05-01
  • 6. India's Supersize Kids2013-08-13
  • 7. America's Stoned Kids2013-08-24
  • 8. Terror in the Desert2013-08-31
  • 9. Dan Snow's History of Congo2013-10-09
  • 10. No Sex Please, We're Japanese" "The Great Japanese Retirement2013-10-24
  • 11. World's Busiest Maternity Ward2013-10-31
  • 12. Don't Panic - The Truth About Population2013-11-07
Season 20142014 · 10 ep
  • 1. The Tea Trail with Simon Reeve2014-01-12
  • 2. The Coffee Trail with Simon Reeve2014-01-26
  • 3. How China Fooled the World - with Robert Peston2014-02-18
  • 4. Copacabana Palace2014-05-12
  • 5. The Secret Life of Your Clothes2014-07-14
  • 6. Clothes to Die For2014-07-21
  • 7. Ireland's Lost Babies2014-09-17
  • 8. Life in Solitary2014-09-21
  • 9. Terror at the Mall2014-09-24
  • 10. Rwanda's Untold Story2014-10-01
Season 20152015 · 9 ep
  • 1. Surviving Sandy Hook2015-03-04
  • 2. Secrets of Mexico's Drug War2015-03-11
  • 3. Quelle Catastrophe! France with Robert Peston2015-03-13
  • 4. Britain's Jihadi Brides2015-04-08
  • 5. Kill the Christians2015-04-15
  • 6. World's Richest Terror Army2015-04-22
  • 7. Outbreak: The Truth About Ebola2015-06-01
  • 8. The Bin Laden Conspiracy?2015-06-17
  • 9. Don't Panic - How to End Poverty in 15 Years2015-09-23
Season 20162016 · 7 ep
  • 1. Three Days of Terror: The Charlie Hebdo Attacks2016-01-06
  • 2. World War Three: Inside the War Room2016-02-03
  • 3. The Great Chinese Crash? With Robert Peston2016-02-17
  • 4. Inside the Billionaire's Wardrobe2016-04-26
  • 5. The New Gypsy Kings2016-06-16
  • 6. Frat Boys: Inside America's Fraternities2016-06-23
  • 7. Unarmed Black Male2016-11-02
Season 20172017 · 9 ep
  • 1. Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?2017-01-12
  • 2. After Brexit: The Battle for Europe2017-02-09
  • 3. Russia's Hooligan Army2017-02-16
  • 4. Born Too White2017-02-23
  • 5. The Attack: Terror in the UK2017-03-02
  • 6. Colombia2017-04-16
  • 7. North Korea: Murder in the Family2017-08-13
  • 8. Calais, The End of the Jungle2017-10-24
  • 9. The Balfour Declaration: Britain's Promise to the Holy Land2017-10-31
Season 20182018 · 6 ep
  • 1. Murdered for Love? Samia Shahid2018-02-21
  • 2. Burma (Part 1)2018-05-13
  • 3. Nigeria's Stolen Daughters2018-05-15
  • 4. Burma (Part 2)2018-05-20
  • 5. Japan’s Secret Shame2018-06-18
  • 6. Escape from Dubai2018-12-06
Season 20252025 · 1 ep
  • 1. Gaza: How To Survive a Warzone2025-02-17
Season 20242024 · 1 ep
  • 3. Why Trains Crash2024-07-18

AI Verdict

Likely Renewed72%medium confidence
72%renewal
renewal probability
Verdict history72% → 72%
May 17May 17

This World is a long-running, prestigious BBC Two documentary anthology series that has aired 14 seasons over two decades with strong institutional support. The recent Season 14 conclusion in February 2025 and the TMDB status of "Returning Series" suggest continuity, though no formal renewal announcement has been detected. BBC Two's track record of sustaining quality non-fiction programming and the show's consistent output make renewal probable.

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Interest steady

Verdict updated 1 month ago

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    Frequently asked

    When does This World Season 22 come out?
    This World Season 22 doesn't have an official release date yet. Based on the roughly 12-month gap between previous seasons, expect it around July 2025.
    Is This World renewed or cancelled?
    This World is a long-running, prestigious BBC Two documentary anthology series that has aired 14 seasons over two decades with strong institutional support. The recent Season 14 conclusion in February 2025 and the TMDB status of "Returning Series" suggest continuity, though no formal renewal announcement has been detected. BBC Two's track record of sustaining quality non-fiction programming and the show's consistent output make renewal probable.
    How many seasons of This World are there?
    This World has aired 14 seasons so far.
    How many episodes of This World are there?
    There are 123 episodes of This World across 14 seasons.