On the planet Gandahar where peace reigns and poverty is unknown, this utopian lifestyle is upset by reports of people at the outlying frontiers being turned to stone. Sylvain is sent to investigate this mysterious threat.
In feudal Korea, a group of starving villagers grow weary of the orders handed down to them by their controlling king and set out to use a deadly monster under their control to push his armies back.
The country is occupied by the Japanese imperialists. Koppun is selling flowers at the market to get some money to buy medicine for her sick mother. Her brother is imprisoned, her father dead and her sister blind.
As diplomatic relations between DPRK and South Korea begin to slightly thaw after decades of hostility, comedian and world traveler Michael Palin is allowed to visit North Korea for two weeks and, to a limited extent, explore the country.