Ale and farewell

THE last time Paul Merton went abroad for our benefit, he joined a transsexual protection racket, took part in a street party wearing nothing but ash and an old woman’s hat, and kicked a man between the legs for about 20 minutes.

It was a curious audition process for the crown of Michael Palin and Alan Whicker, as king of the travelogue.

Now, after touring India and China, Merton heads to Europe. This may sound a more sedate and leisurely affair but, as he says, “things didn’t turn out quite as expected”.

He’ll be seen exploring some of the lesser- known areas of the continent. “Prepare to see Europe like you’ve never seen it before,” he promises.

The tour begins in Berlin, the capital city of Europe’s biggest economic power.

“I must admit, I don’t know much about Berlin except that, until 20 years ago, the city was divided by a wall,” says Merton.

Other than a small section of the wall left intact for posterity and a few souvenir stalls, little evidence now remains of Berlin’s brutal division.

Following reunification in 1990, the city was reborn, with billions of pounds pumped into rebuilding it as a modern capital.

The result is an eclectic mix of buildings, with old and new juxtaposed.

Berlin’s difficult past is not just reflected in the architecture. Paul visits the Holocaust memorial – 2,500 stone monoliths arranged over five acres in the heart of the city.

After leaving the memorial, he stumbles upon what looks like a neo-Nazi rally, but is surprised to find the protestors’ uniforms adorned with apples instead of swastikas.

A protestor called Henry explains that they are the Apple Front, a peaceful organisation that holds demonstrations outside the offices of far-right parties.

“We are making fun of Nazis,” he says Before leaving Berlin, Merton is treated to a ringside seat at a “chess boxing”

match. This uniquely German phenomenon sees two fighters engage in physical and mental combat over 11 alternating rounds.

Finally, after a tough start to his tour, Paul tries a spa treatment that involves sitting in a tub full of beer, before being tucked up in a bed of straw.

THE title gives the game away. Delia Through The Decades is a romp through the recipe book of the popular TV cook. In the five-part series, she returns to her favourite recipes from separate decades and brings them up to date, with the help of archive footage.

The first part looks at the Sixties, with a young Delia determined to bring homely cooking back to the attention of the British public after being inspired by her mother and grandmother.

She returns to the restaurant where she once waitressed, then called The Singing Chef, and cooks roast duck with cherry sauce – a meal she often created while working there.

KIRSTY YOUNG fronts a new series focusing on the evolution of the British family.

Beginning in the post-war era and concluding in the present day, The British Family explores the changes that have taken place in how we live, with each episode focusing on a different theme.

Future editions will explore our attitudes to children, money and sex, but Young kicks off with a look at marriage.

She discovers that, although the period following the Second World War may be seen as a golden age for the traditional family, marriage was actually in crisis.

The shame attached to illegitimacy and illicit sex drove some couples to tie the knot in haste and repent at leisure, but a growing number were choosing to divorce.

Their decisions eventually led to changes in the law that were to have a profound effect on other families.

Meanwhile, organisations such as the Marriage Guidance Council were attempting to make people view their unions as a relationship, rather than an institution.