A wretched characteristic of UK light entertainment has been its obsession with sending our own grands hommes and dames of the television establishment overseas to make programmes. This serves two purposes: it provides some respite from veteran cravat-wearers whingeing about ageism on television and helps executives use up all the expensive spare time on those eye-watering contracts. This gives us the opportunity to see vaguely familiar thespian types mincing about in foreign kitchens or being condescending about the curious customs of the locals.
A joyous byproduct of this is watching the amusement in the faces of a benevolent foreign host as Jasper or Jemima tries to remain insouciant when confronted with les ballons de cochon in a wee sauce soubise. Other shows are frayed versions of the ones Alan Whicker used to do. Occasionally, you get a show such as the one Michael Palin is doing on Channel 5 about life inside North Korea. Half a battalion of Pyongyang’s finest are looking over his shoulder and his passport resides in the desk of a local state excellency. So we can be sure we’ll discover about as much about life beyond the 38th parallel as an open-top bus tour around Possilpark.
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