MICHAEL PALIN EXPLORES VENEZUELA FOR LATEST TRAVEL SERIES ON 5

5 today announces Michael Palin’s latest major series, to air later this year. Michael Palin in Venezuela (wt), produced by ITN Productions is a new three-part series with broadcaster and writer Sir Michael Palin. 

The series is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed and multi award nominated previous epic journeys for 5 to North Korea, Iraq and Nigeria. Michael has never visited Venezuela, and he’s long been fascinated by its story, cultures and significance within South America.

Michael will be visiting Venezuela at a crucial moment in the country’s history. It is often called the most dangerous country in South America, where soaring inflation and high murder rates have led over seven million people to flee the country in the last ten years. After a controversial election, the country is once again under the rule of the President Nicholas Maduro, and many in the West say Venezuela is becoming a totalitarian state.

But this country is also a tropical paradise, and home to the longest coastline in the Caribbean. Michael will discover that Venezuela is a country of unmatched and undiscovered natural beauty. With stunning beaches, the Andes mountains, deserts and the Amazon rainforest, it should be one of the most visited countries in the world.

Locations Michael visits throughout series include Caracas and Petare, Canaima, Los Roques and Merida.   Sir Michael Palin said: “Venezuela is a spectacular country. So much to see and do. The journey was a real adventure, tough but rewarding.”

In many ways, Venezuela has it all, it is the land where Christopher Columbus first landed in South America mainland and is also the birthplace of Simon Bolivar, who vanquished its Spanish colonial ruler 300 years later. It has the largest oil reserves in the world and was once the richest country in South America, but after more than a decade of hyperinflation, life is tough for many Venezuelans.

Guy Davies, Commissioning Editor, Unscripted, 5 added: “It’s with great pleasure that we announce yet another extraordinary journey with Michael. Fresh from the shoot, Michael and the team are in the edit putting together a series which will be as rich, insightful and entertaining as his other three hit 5 series. No one does it like Michael, and we’re so proud he continues to choose to work with us.”

Neil Ferguson, Series Producer and Director at ITN commented: “We’ve just returned from Venezuela, and it was one of the most exhilarating, exhausting and exciting journeys we have ever filmed. Venezuela is a country of stunning contrasts and should probably be one of the top tourist destinations in the world, but the political and security situation make it off limits to most travellers."

"If one word sums up the trip it would be ‘adventure’ and the entire crew were amazed at how much Michael threw himself into it, whether it was walking under epic waterfalls, sleeping in hammocks or the endless and increasingly bumpy boat rides, nothing phased him."

Transmission details will be announced in due course.