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It has robot nannies and the first female sumo wrestlers, but despite Perkins’ best efforts, this show barely goes deeper than ‘foreigners do funny things’
Sue Perkins is having to confront her failures – and shout about them. Which she is failing at. Perkins is attending a management training course for Japanese salarymen and one of the tasks is to voice your shortcomings. “I AM SUE,” she yells, gamely. “I AM VERY SHY AND I DON’T LIKE SHOUTING. BUT I HAVE COME HERE TO LEARN JAPANESE DISCIPLINE.” “TOO QUIET!” the instructor barks back. The TV presenter is making quite a career from travel programmes – Japan With Sue Perkins (BBC One) is at least her third.
Usually I find celebrity travelogues about as interesting as the holiday stories of people I know in real life, which is to say not very. But they show no sign of dying out, so somebody must be watching. I like Perkins, though, and she is an amiable traveller and presenter – there is an openness to her that puts people at ease, and an honesty that makes her intriguing to watch. Continue reading...