Inside China: The Battle for Tibet

Narrated by Caroline Catz, documentary cameras go undercover inside Tibet to investigate China’s growing control over its population. Watch on ITVX.

Under fear of arrest and facing Beijing's highly-advanced state surveillance, the filmmakers reveal what life is like inside one of the most heavily-guarded and underreported regions in the world. As he reaches 90 years-old this year, the succession of the Dalai Lama - Tibet's exiled spiritual leader - is approaching a critical point. 

The film investigates the mystery of a missing boy, the 11th Panchen Lama, abducted by Beijing 30 years ago whose role now holds the key to the Dalai Lama's successor and to Tibet’s future. At stake is the unique culture of some seven million Tibetans as evidence grows that it faces being wiped away under Chinese rule.  Featuring ground-breaking footage, testimony and interviews with recent Tibetan escapees, this documentary - from the makers of ITV’s BAFTA and Emmy-winning 2019 film Undercover: Inside China’s Digital Gulag - tells the definitive story of the Dalai Lama’s succession and reveals the restrictions Tibetans face daily under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s rule.