Michael Palin's Philippines journey opens on Channel 5, from Tondo to the palace
Traffic Cops drew the biggest crowds of fifteen uploads, with a disqualified driver who would not stop and a car taken straight off a Derbyshire forecourt.
Channel 5Story of Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.
From Manila's Tough Slums To The Presidential Palace 🇵🇭 | S1, E1 | Michael Palin in the Philippines
Where does Michael Palin start a 2,500-mile journey across the Philippines? At a protest march in Manila, as it turns out, before a visit to Tondo, one of the capital's toughest neighborhoods, and then, by contrast, a meeting with President Marcos at the Presidential Palace. The first episode of Michael Palin in the Philippines went up on October 2, and while it opened more slowly than the channel's police shows, it is now gathering views almost as quickly as they are. The series description promises a darker side behind the travel-brochure islands, which fits a presenter who has been turning journeys into television since Around the World in 80 Days.
The police shows still drew the most viewers. Two new Traffic Cops episodes each passed 80,000 views: in one, Karl Jackson's number plate camera flags a possibly disqualified driver who refuses to stop, and in the other PC Andy Swift goes looking for a car stolen from a Derbyshire dealership. Under the chase episode, viewers mostly talk about a suspect who tried hiding on a roof while the police helicopter, with its heat camera, hovered overhead. A few also ask whether high-speed pursuits through residential streets are worth the risk.
The newest arrival, a Police Interceptors episode on shoplifting gangs in Burnley, is barely a day old and already the fastest video on the channel.
The rest of the fifteen uploads covered bailiffs, rich-poor house swaps and Royal Navy recruits training at HMS Raleigh with JJ Chalmers and Kate Humble. Daily views ran well below their usual level, about 3,000 people subscribed, and most of the TV channels nearby gathered more views over the week. Foxtel and BBC Archive had the busiest weeks in the group.
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- Channel
- Channel 5
- Subscribers
- 664,000 ▲ 3,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 697,716
- Videos published this week
- 15
- Video published
- October 2, 2026
- Video views so far
- 38,069
- Views on its first day
- 11,373
The numbers
Here is how Channel 5's week looks in figures.
💡 Test your knowledge
Before his travel series, Michael Palin was a member of which comedy troupe?
Palin was one of the six members of Monty Python, whose Flying Circus began on the BBC in 1969.
