Accidental Tourist is all about getting Deal Or No Deal‘s Stephen Mulhern out of his comfort zone, who’s in almost everything these days, as is Ant & Dec… who are also in this.
Before this aired, some have said it looks like Karl Pilkington’s An Idiot Abroad. But I can’t stand Karl Pilkington. And Ricky Gervais stopped being funny after Extras ended, with the David Brent movie being particularly bad. So, this must be a step up, right?
Personally, I hadn’t been away for years until quite recently, when I took a trip to Vienna in July, and loved it! As Stephen says, “It’s time to make a change”, and for him, it’s a random place for which he’s apparently not told the destination until shortly before… South Korea!
Although, since it was just announced listed as “Korea”, initally, this causes his brother, Vincent, to ask, “North or South?” Well, Michael Palin went to North Korea, and it was a fascinating series.
However, rather than just letting him find his own destinations within, Ant & Dec tell him where to visit, including where to eat, such as with the trend of mukhbang (shovelling tons of crap down your gob), and with raw fish – which he hates. It’s turning my stomach, too! And that was BEFORE he was told to “touch the penis fish” :O
Mr Mulhern also moans about “double-dipping” while eating, and sharing the dip with someone else. If it was someone I was dating, fine. A stranger? Erm…. nope.
Add in a sauna, his fear of needles – regarding accupuncture, as well as walking across a high-up bridge… except that they didn’t even state which one. Google tells me there’s both Sogeumsan Mountain Suspension Bridge (Wonju) and the Gamaksan Suspension Bridge (Paju) in South Korea, and I could work out that the one featured is the latter, but why not even name it?
Well, this is one of the problems. Too little of the details, and too much time wasted flicking back to home base and having random chats with all three together, rather than seeing the sights – even breaking away from something like the suspension bridge segment, just for more endless waffle. Whoever did the editing of this needs the sack!
I assumed Stephen would be taking his wife and kids, but never knew he was single, so he’s on his tod. Peace and quiet for some, then, as he IS quite a drama queen.
Accidental Tourist also spends far too brief a time in each spot, and shows that Stephen Mulhern is clearly NOT Michael Palin, although they could tweak this and still make it work with Mulhern in it. However, this could’ve been so much better.
Accidental Tourist is now on ITVX.
It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but when it is, it will be listed on the New DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K releases UK page.
Director: Mus Mustafa
Producers: Robyn Limond, Mus Mustafa
Presenters: Stephen Mulhern, Anthony McPartlin, Declan Donnelly
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.