Himalaya (North By Northwest)

DVD, Himalaya (North by Northwest)

A good start to another (arguably the last great one) Michael Palin documentary. Filmed in 2003 and released on BBC One in 2004, this proved one of the hardest journeys for the ageing presenter, who was sixty at this time! There's plenty to enjoy in this first episode, with beautiful widescreen photography that puts, for example, his last series 'Sahara' in the shade. In that you had less variety of visuals, but here we see amazing mountain peaks, winding and treacherous roads, towns, camps and grass.

The gun shop was interesting, particularly the James Bond bullet-firing pen, although the scene where they walk through a street and someone fires a gun off behind them looked staged. For me the bull races were the most interesting aspect of this episode, with amazing shots in slow motion, and the exciting moment when a pair of bulls ran towards the camera! And the build up and showing of the big Polo match makes the sport seem positively thrilling!

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