Channel 5 has announced the commission of another travel adventure series with Sir Michael Palin.
The Monty Python star’s next journey finds him exploring “one of the most fascinating, politically-charged and historically complicated areas on earth” – the Philippines.
The new three-part factual series follows the success of his previous Channel 5 trips to Venezuela, Nigeria, Iraq, and North Korea.
“I find these journeys for 5 irresistible and revealing,” commented Palin.
“Rarely does anyone have the chance to get as close to the great issues of a country as we did in the Philippines. I was a little nervous of taking on yet another journey, especially one so testing on the energy levels, but what we heard and saw was extraordinary and very different from any of the journeys we’ve done so far. A cracker, though I say it myself.”
Series producer Neil Ferguson has described filming Michael Palin in The Philippines as “the most ambitious shoot we’ve ever done with Michael,” saying that “the Philippines exceeded all our expectations.”
“It’s a country of stunning contrasts and we often experienced paradise one day, followed by something much darker the next,” said Ferguson. “And whether it was political protest marches, military flights to remote islands, sleeping on the deck of overnight ferries or swimming with thousands of sardines, Michael took it all in his ridiculously nimble stride. It’s a real adventure.”
The official synopsis for the series reads: “As soon as he arrives in the capital of Manila, Michael discovers a country on the edge. Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos’s son, Bongbong, is now strangely President, despite his family being exiled 40 years ago. And the previous president, Rodrigo Duterte, is under arrest in the international criminal court in the Netherlands, accused of the deaths of 30,000 Filipinos and ‘Crimes against humanity’.
“Michael explores life in this vibrant and fascinating city challenged under this unusual political situation, before flying out to the militarised island of Pagasa in the middle of the contested South China Sea. China is aggressively asserting its claims over one of the most important shipping lanes in the world and Michael suddenly finds himself in the middle of a conflict between a Philippine and Chinese coastguard ship.
“Michael will also see some of the most beautiful parts of the country’s 7,641 islands, sleeping in remote beach camps in El Nido, travelling through underground rivers and swimming with thousands of sardines in Moalboal. But as he arrives in the southern island of Mindanao, Michael will experience a very different part of The Philippines, a centre of Islamic extremism and an area on the UK Foreign Office’s ‘do not travel’ red list. Under military escort, Michael explores the extraordinary and haunting remains of the destroyed city of Marawi, and on the island of Jolo he meets a member of the terrorist group, Abu Sayyaf.
“It’s the only country in the world where you still can’t get divorced, and extreme poverty makes life very hard for millions. But despite the challenges and at the end of this epic journey, Michael discovers the people in the Philippines are some of the warmest and friendliest he has ever met.”
Michael Palin in The Philippines will premiere in the UK on Channel 5 later this year.
