The celebrity travelogue has along tradition on TV from the former Python Michael Palin’s exhibitions across the wilderness to Stephen Fry’s recent trek through the United States in a black cab. It’s a strange concept in that not being “experts” per say but merely a famous face to sell the show they are expected to waltz about different locations while being playfully ignorant about everything they see even though they've probably been prepped about it all.
So comes the turn of improvisational funnyman and Have I Got News For You regular Paul Merton to try his hand at this ever increasing phenomenon by starting off with a series about China on Five (remember, it's not Channel 5 anymore in the age of pointless rebranding) in 2007 then following it up with this venture to the depths of India. A note of clarification: this is not about an entirely new series but a review of the repeat run.
Blind Cricket and Racketeering Eunuchs
As expected it’s a light-hearted fare in the second episode of the series as Merton is guided around parts of the country and samples the delights of local culture or traditions, making the occasional witty remark when necessary. When pestered by his camera crew to try a ride on an elephant or camal he quips: “Once the armchair was invented there was no need to get on these things”.
In his travels across the Punjab he joins in an inter-police force dancing competition designed to stop cops turning roly poly, dices with death on the notoriously dangerous Indian roads and partakes in a game of cricket with a team of blind players yet managed to go out for a duck 24 times in a row even after removing his blindfold. Ever the showman Merton makes no qualms about looking an idiot for the purposes of light entertainment.
The last 10 minutes featured a rather bizarre sequence in which the host follows a gang of eunuchs – figuratively speaking of course – that appear to be running a racketeering scheme based around giving blessings to store owners in exchange for money. Merton relates them to Oliver Twist being by Fagin and looked uncomfortably tense throughout until finally accepting their ways and loosened up at the end.
Paul Merton is Engaging as a Host
The programme did stray into the obligatory sentimentality when Merton visited the home of the Jaipur foot and some of the amputees receiving the free prosthetic but there were no shots of him pretending not to cry on camera, just gleeful nods about the service provided.
Far from breaking any mould Paul Merton in India can be considered a paint-by-numbers show but one that is fun, and it’s always great to see the likeable comic do anything on the small screen. With him it doesn’t really matter what he’s talking about whether it be silent movies or dancing eunuchs he has a great passion for relaying information in a blunt style that is easy to follow. What’s more it is nice for Five to air some home grown TV rather than another batch of copy and paste US imports.
The repeat broadcasts of Paul Merton in India are on Five every Thursday at 8pm.
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