''Paul Merton in China'' is a four-part television series broadcast on

Five 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...

commencing from 21 May 2007. It follows the journey of writer and comedian,

Paul Merton Paul James Martin (born 9 July 1957), known under the stage name Paul Merton, is an English writer, actor, comedian and radio and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill, Merton's humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and someti ...

and his interpreter Emma, as they travel across the vast country, exploring

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...

, expansion and changes from the rule of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

. The series was a hit for Five and Merton confirmed on

Michael Parkinson Sir Michael Parkinson (born 28 March 1935) is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other talk shows and programmes both in the U ...

's show that a second series entitled ''

Paul Merton in India ''Paul Merton in India'' is a travel documentary broadcast on Channel 5 (UK), Five in 2008. It follows comedian Paul Merton as he travels around various places in the country, such as Delhi and the Punjab (India), Punjab, sampling various offbeat ...

'' had been commissioned. The theme music from Channel Five's advertisement is

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...

'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 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

. All four episodes were released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in late-October 2008.

Production

*During filming in China, he was continuously escorted around by government appointed officials, as many documentary makers in the country are; therefore Merton was mostly limited to what the officials wanted him to see. *While staying in a Chinese hotel, the staff were told to expect the arrival of a "Western celebrity". When Merton and his interpreter arrived at the hotel, he was greeted personally by the owner who mistakingly believed he was

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

, the former

Canadian Prime Minister The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as such ...

; as "Martin" is Merton's real surname.

Ratings

The first episode was watched by 2,000,000 viewers and was the fifth-most watched programme on Channel 5. The second episode gathered 1,580,000 views and was the sixth-most watched show on the channel. The last two episodes received 2,000,000 and 1,850,000 viewers and were placed sixth and fifth respectively.

References

External links

* 2000s British comedy television series 2000s British travel television series 2007 British television series debuts 2007 British television series endings Channel 5 (British TV channel) original programming Television series by Endemol British travel television series Television episodes set in China Television series by Tiger Aspect Productions {{UK-tv-prog-stub