Michael Palin in the Philippines: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Michael Palin's latest adventure is an epic 2,500-mile journey across the islands of the Philippines. Known as an idyllic tropical travel hotspot, Michael also delves deeper to reveal a surprising, darker side. The legacy of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos' spending, not just the shoes of legend but billions spent on monumental architecture, still haunts the country forty years on. Their son, Bongbong Marcos, is now President, and forty percent of the urban population lives in poverty, thirty thousand people have been lawlessly killed by vigilante anti-drug 'death squads', and a third of the country is on the UK Foreign Office 'do not travel list'. But despite all of this, Michael also experiences the Philippines as, ironically, one of the happiest and certainly the most beautiful countries he has ever visited.

Series details

• Title: Michael Palin in the Philippines
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Genres: Adventure, Travel
• Premiere date: 2026-09-28
• Status in TVmaze: Running
• Network listed by TVmaze: 5
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 94560

Cast and credited roles

• Michael Palin — Michael Palin

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2026-09-28; final listed air date 2026-10-12; episode order: 3.

Source and licence

Adapted from Michael Palin in the Philippines on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.