I noticed something which I think is slightly odd recently about one of my favourite TV personalities: Micheal Palin seems to have been stolen by Chanel Five. I used to love his travel documentaries, and grew up watching series like Full Circle and Pole To Pole. They really made me want to go out and see the world for myself. The thing is, they were all made for and aired by the BBC, usually on Sunday evenings, and they all had books accompanying them. The odd thing is – at least, I find it odd – Palin has now started making very similar programmes for Channel Five. I noticed them a couple of days ago and naturally started to binge-watch.

On the face of it, they’re very similar shows, and Palin once again doing the travelogues I’m so fond of. I found his programme on Iraq especially interesting. The thing is, I can’t help noticing a difference in format. These new series seem to be a few episodes shorter than the ones for the Beeb; there also doesn’t seem to be any accompanying book. More to the point, Palin himself seems less energetic than he used to be. Overall, then, I’m afraid I can’t help getting the impression that these shows are essentially knock-offs. As interesting as the places they focus on may be, this is just a commercial television channel gobbling up a well loved and respected presenter and getting him to make the same type of programmes he once made for their non-commercial rival. Whereas I seem to recall the BBC series had a bit of a cultural buzz about them, including hardback books, book signings and primetime Sunday night airings, these new shows have no such aura: I personally barely noticed they existed, and took them in casually on Channel Five’s online viewing platform. There also seems to be no mention of them on Palin’s official travel website. To be honest, this departure seems rather sad: a man whose travel documentaries I once loved seems to have been gobbled up by a commercial TV channel to essentially make echoes of his past series.