...while Noble does Australia

Paul Merton has filmed another travel series for broadcaster Five – but this time a lot closer to home.

Having visited India and China for previous shows, he visited some out-of-the-way places in Europe for his new six-part series.

The show begins in Ireland, where his mother was born, and he also visits Germany, where he bathed in a bath full of beer, meets a Frenchman who careers down Alpine roads on wheels attached to his body, and encounters a Spaniard who throws himself off mountains.

Merton In Europe was today unveiled as part of Five’s autumn schedule – and it isn’t the only comedian-fronted travelogue in the line-up.

The station will also be airing Ross Noble In Australia, a six-part series that follows the Geordie stand-up on his 60-date tour across the island continent.

He traversed the Outback on his motorbike, meeting Australian characters en route, and performing gigs each night.

The show is bound to draw comparisons with Billy Connolly’s World Tour Of Australia which followed a similar format more than a decade ago.

Published: 10 Sep 2009