Paul Merton boards the world’s largest cruise ship, endures foam parties in Ibiza, becomes an ambassador for an unrecognised Florida republic, tows a caravan through Dorset, submits to Alpine colonic irrigation and bungee-jumps in the Highlands, all while maintaining the same deadpan disbelief that made him famous on Have I Got News for You. Each of the six hour-long films, narrated by Merton and produced by Tiger Aspect for Channel 5, pairs him with long-time improvisers Stephen Frost and Peter Anderson, whose off-camera laughter often leaks into shot.
The format is simple: Merton is deposited in a holiday he would never book, given a thin brief and left to improvise. In Ibiza he is dressed by a transsexual stylist in neon hot-pants; in Florida he is ordained by the Universal Life Church and marries two strangers on a paddle steamer; in the Alps he is wrapped in hay and beaten with birch twigs by a septuagenarian therapist who speaks no English. The camera lingers on his silent blinks rather than the scheduled activity, turning the programmes into a masterclass in reactive comedy rather than travelogue.
Channel 5 buried the series in a late-autumn schedule and never repeated it, yet the episodes circulate among comedy obsessives who prize Merton’s unfiltered asides. The show’s refusal to disguise its contrivance is its charm: when a cruise director forces him to perform in the passenger talent show, Merton simply walks offstage, leaving the ship’s dancers to fill the silence.
Production Details
5 / 1 Season / 6 Episodes / 2011
Main Cast
Paul Merton as Self
