Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Paul Merton in China

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Directed by
  
Barbie MacLaurin

Composer(s)
  
Rohan Stevenson

Original language(s)
  
English Chinese

First episode date
  
21 May 2007

Presented by
  
Paul Merton

8/10
IMDb

Narrated by
  
Paul Merton

Country of origin
  
United Kingdom

No. of series
  
1

Final episode date
  
11 June 2007

Genre
  
Comedy

Paul Merton in China httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen992Pau

Nominations
  
British Academy Television Award for Best Factual Series

Similar
  
Paul Merton in India, Andrew Marr's History of, The Revenge Files of Al, Paul Merton in Europe, Metro‑Land

Paul merton in china 1of4 beijing hdtv part 1


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.

Contents

Paul merton in china 1of4 beijing hdtv part 5


Production

  • During his time making the documentary in the country he was continuously escorted around by government appointed officials, as many documentary makers in the country are, thus Merton was mostly limited to what the officials wanted him to document.
  • 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 thinking he was Paul Martin, the former Canadian Prime Minister, as Martin is Merton's real name.

    • Ratings

    The first episode was watched by 2 million viewers and was the 5th most watched show on Channel 5. The second episode gathered 1.58 million views and was the 6th most watched show on the channel. The last two shows gained 2 million and 1.85 million viewers and were placed 6th and 5th respectively.

    References

    Paul Merton in China Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA