Palin travel show 'portrayed us as simpletons' say Slovaks

by PAUL REVOIR

It has taken a very long time but Michael Palin has finally managed to upset someone.

Actually, he has annoyed more than just someone, he has got a whole country hopping mad.

After visiting every corner of the globe and charming locals and viewers alike, the traveller's winning ways appear to have run out in Slovakia.

His latest show has, his Slovak critics claim, made them look like beer-drinking simpletons who slaughter pigs.

Yesterday the Slovak embassy attacked the BBC for allegedly misrepresenting their proud nation.

Officials even compared the episode, entitled Journey's End, to Quentin Tarantino's movie Hostel II, about U.S. students who are abducted by killers in Slovakia.

The former Monty Python star visited the country along with the Czech Republic and Germany in the last episode of Michael Palin's New Europe, screened on Sunday.