If you've never heard of Michael Palin, essentially he is a very pleasant, easy going chap, who was asked back in 1988 if he would like to recreate Phileas Fogg's fictional journey around the world in 80 days. Following the success of that series, someone at the BBC must have decided that his relaxed presentation, mild bewilderment and genuine amazement at the foreign places and customs he encountered, and his success in talking to complete strangers on trains, boats and camels and making good tv out of it, was worth repeating. Michael Palin is now an established BBC travelogue presenter, with 7 such series under his belt. You may also remember him appearing in something called Monty Python's Flying Circus, dressed up as a lumberack or a pet shop owner. That's another story, but there is at least one episode per programme of some random foreign person wandering up to Michael as he's being filmed, who says "Aaaaaaah Monty Python! " which completely breaks his concentration.

Michael Palin is excellent as a presenter because he's essentially an ordinary bloke, not a historian or an anthopologist. He does things we'd do on holiday, such as speaking loudly and slowly in English to people who clearly don't understand, looking worriedly at the odd food then getting tummy upsets, and bouncing on hotel beds the minute he enters the room. He doesn't confuse the viewer with too much cultural detail, but he shows real enjoyment of the places he goes and the people he meets, and while he leaves you with a desire to know more about the places he has visited, he also gives you the feeling that in a way you have been there with him. You get to share his frustrations when travel plans go awry, and you wish you'd been on telly so that people would want you to join in their festivals and family feasts. Travelling with Michael you climb mountains, cross deserts and seas, eat snake, wear silly hats and meet the Dalai Llama.

This boxed set should be bought by people who like travel, Michael Palin or both, and people who are fed up with the reality and house buying rubbish that are on every channel. If you want some inspiration for a trip, or you're planning a holiday to some far flung destination and you're after some background info, you could refer to the appropriate episode to see what you might get. We're now thinking about a trip to Nepal with exodus for next year's holiday. The programmes are however no less enjoyable for the armchair traveller.