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Paul Merton in China

2007

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1

EP1 Episode 1 May 21, 2007

In the first instalment Merton samples fried donkey’s penis (‘Well, I can tell he wasn’t Jewish’), then hijacks a karaoke party held at a faux 17th-century French chateau by singing Unchained Melody in his dressing gown. Beneath the daft facade, however, Merton has clearly done his homework.
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EP2 Episode 2 May 28, 2007

Paul tries his hand at kung fu at the Shaolin Temple, famed as the birthplace of Zen Buddhism, before visiting a Tibetan monastery and meeting nomads who live on the plains. Paul then takes in two of the most populous cities in China: Chongqing, the largest and fastest growing metroplis in the world, and historic Chengdu, where he meets a businessman with a chain of dog grooming parlours.
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EP3 Episode 3 Nov 04, 2007

Our man in the Panama hat and socks-with-shorts combo continues his bizarre travelogue. But wait, Merton's looking down in the mouth. Too much travelling and a bad cold have soured his mood and China is starting to get him down. "You get sick of the s*** and spitting and the staring," he confides bitterly, recovering his sense of humour to add, "And that's just the crew." Merton rallies to deliver a programme of two halves: marvels in the first half - the sublime beauty of the Li river, the paddy fields of the "Dragon's Backbone", a scene where he is massaged by six people at once - but then a slide toward bathos for the second half as he visits Guangzhou (or Canton, as was) and mingles with less-than-scintillating expats. But as a quirky glimpse of a nation full of wonders, this continues to be an enjoyable eye-opener.
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EP4 Episode 4 Jun 11, 2007

It's the end of the road for Paul Merton as he visits Shanghai, the final destination on his Chinese trip. On the whole, when he hasn't been pressed into doing silly things, Merton has been an affable and thoughtful guide who's managed to show us little-reported social aspects of this immense and complicated country. He's packed a lot in, too, and this last episode is no different. It's overstuffed with small treats, from Merton trying and failing to become a ballroom dancer, to a trip to the very weird, Prisoner-type community of Thames Town, a largely fake place packed with pristine facades of British buildings - a cathedral, pubs, shops. Only a handful of people actually live on Thames Town's housing estate (which looks so suburban it could be anywhere from Esher to Preston) and the place is, oddly, mainly used as a backdrop for wedding photographs.
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7.9| 0h30m| en| More Info
Released: 21 May 2007 Ended
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Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
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Synopsis

Paul Merton in China was a four-part television series broadcast on Five commencing from 21 May 2007. It follows the journey of Paul Merton, comedian and writer, and his interpreter Emma, as they voyage across the country, exploring Chinese culture, expansion and change from Mao Zedong's reign. The series was a hit for Five and Merton confirmed on Michael Parkinson's show that a second series entitled Paul Merton in India had been commissioned. The theme music from Channel Five's advertisement is Michel Legrand's Di Gue Ding Ding, which was also used as the theme music to Heston Blumenthal's series In Search of Perfection aired concurrently on BBC Two. All four episodes were released on DVD in late October 2008.

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Reviews

thud-5 Well, let's start with a comparison: Michael Palin has had a good lock on these "travel with me" documentaries for a number of years, but as refreshing as his were in the beginning, they have become a predictable and seem to be a bit "I can do this but you probably never will"; Paul Merton — probably best known for his work on Have I Got News For You and Room 101 — provides a fresh look and feel and one more in line with what the average traveler can experience. Paul has never been to China, doesn't speak the language, and has a look of perplexity about him when hit with new situations. But, the man is a very intelligent comedian and puts a good skew on everything that happens to him or in front of him. He seems to know when to be serious and when to make light of a situation.His six-week travels are compressed into four 1-hour programs, each fairly well paced and full of interesting things. The sort of things and experiences that I imagine I would have if I were to visit China. With the same amount of "I'm loving what I'm seeing, but I feel a bit uncomfortable and slightly out of place" that most people would experience. And, he tends to go the same sort of places I would go — and you would too (probably) on your first visit. All in all this series is a good bit of fun. It isn't as magnificently photographed as a Palin epic, but it is well worth your while to search it out in repeats or when it comes out on DVD.