Paul Merton reveals the mysteries of China to British viewers in this new four-part travel documentary series. He will be casting a wryly observant eye on the new cultural revolution taking place in China as he explores a country that is home to one in four human beings on the planet and has the fastest growing economy in the world. Each episode will see Merton giving his unique take on this vast country that is still associated in people’s minds with Chairman Mao and The Great Wall.

This week Paul arrives in Shanghai, China’s most dynamic and moneyed city. He has dinner with powerful socialites and visits a park where hundreds of parents gather to find a match for their sons or daughters. Being a wealthy westerner, it’s not long before Paul attracts quite a lot of interest.

Monday 11th June, Channel Five

Paul Merton reveals the mysteries of China to British viewers in this new four-part travel documentary series. He will be casting a wryly observant eye on the new cultural revolution taking place in China as he explores a country that is home to one in four human beings on the planet and has the fastest growing economy in the world. Each episode will see Merton giving his unique take on this vast country that is still associated in people’s minds with Chairman Mao and The Great Wall.

This week Paul travels through rural China to the famed Shaolin Temple, where he endures the physical demands of Kung Fu training. He then moves onto the Tibetan Monastery of Labrang, and finds some spiritual peace in the sight and sounds of Buddhist monks. He switches pace when he visits Chongqing, the largest municipality in the world.

Monday 28th May Channel Five

Comedian Paul Merton ventures into the unknown as he embarks upon a six-week tour of China for Five. Paul’s trip will take in the major cities of China, as well some of the most breathtaking countryside and remote backwaters that this vast country has to offer. In his own inimitable style, Paul will attempt to unravel the deep mysteries and baffling contradictions of this ancient country.

In the taxi from Beijing airport, Paul explains his long-standing desire to visit the world’s next superpower: “With the Olympic Games coming up, this is a really good, exciting time to come,” he says. A challenge soon presents itself, however, when Paul realises that his driver has no idea as to the location of his hotel. “I have a sneaking suspicion my driver only arrived in Beijing ten minutes before I did,” he says.

After eventually finding his hotel, Paul kicks off his trip with a visit to a night market – where he is confronted with an array of unidentifiable food. Later, in a speciality restaurant, he is called upon to sample a particular part of a male donkey that he would rather leave alone.

Having survived a few days by himself, Paul meets his translator Emma in Tiananmen Square, before encountering a group of hip-hop singers who rap about food. “In China we cannot do aggressive, radical lyrics,” one of them explains. Afterwards, Paul visits a farmer who makes robots out of scrap. Mr Wu’s creations vary in size from tiny dog robots to a man-sized android that can pull a rickshaw. “I feel privileged to have met Mr Wu, one of life’s true eccentrics,” says Paul.

Back in the city centre, Paul reflects on Beijing’s massive redevelopment. Most of these new skyscrapers, he explains, will stand empty because they are unaffordable for the average person. “Effectively, they’re being built solely to ensure Beijing looks shiny and modern when the world’s cameras arrive in 2008,” he says.

By way of a contrast, Paul then visits one of the remaining ‘Hutong’ districts – a labyrinth of tiny streets, courtyards and dilapidated houses – where he meets Mike Myer, an American teacher and the area’s only western resident. Mike says that the culture and social networks of the area will be lost if the district is demolished. Paul is grateful to visit a part of Beijing that tourists do not usually see, and is dismayed that the “beating heart of the city” is being replaced with empty steel and glass.

Leaving the capital behind, Paul’s next stop is a “jaw-droppingly bizarre” $50 million hotel replica of a 17th-century French chateau, seemingly devoid of guests. Paul is faced with a dilemma when he meets the prominent Communist Party official behind the project: “What do you say to a man who’s just wasted $50 million?” he wonders.

From the height of conspicuous wealth, Paul travels to the opposite extreme of China, to one of the few remaining Communist communes. This “last bastion of Communism”, the Nanje commune, is still proud to display giant pictures of Marx, Lenin and Stalin. In this regimented world, locals enjoy free food, healthcare and education, but women must consent to being sterilised after their first child, and everybody must attend compulsory self-criticism classes.

To bolster its economy, the commune has resorted to ‘Red Tourism’, attracting visitors from all over China. Paul accompanies one group of tourists on their visit, but his questions soon needle: “We’re clearly annoying them!” he declares, shortly before being thrown off the tour. Having satisfied his curiosity about the commune, it is time for Paul to move on, with a trip to a Buddhist temple ahead of him.

Monday 21 May, 21.00–22.00 On Channel Five

This eye-opening documentary follows five different families with one thing in common – all of them have more than ten children. Over the course of the documentary, we find out why each family chose to keep having children, and how they coped with the often bizarre living arrangements. We also get to grips with why some families who already have 12 children, are determined to have more, despite contrary medical advice and problems with conception. We are also made acutely aware of the trauma and financial difficulties experienced when one of the families is suddenly left without a father.

Pete and Tracy from Bournemouth have been married for 23 years and have 13 children. Although they wouldn’t change their situation for the world, Pete admits that it is “a total financial nightmare” involving relentless forward planning. It is also hard to grab a peaceful moment, says Charles, the couple’s only son. “It does get really loud,” he says cheerfully. To keep the household running smoothly, Tracy spends at least 40 hours a week doing housework. “We’re like the manager and manageress of a hotel,” she grins.

Forty-eight-year-old Aubrey and his 25-year-old partner Kelly live in Orpington, Kent, with their six children and Aubrey’s seven other children from his previous marriage. “I never wanted a large family,” says Kelly, who claims that she fell pregnant despite the use of contraceptives. Because neither Kelly nor Aubrey work, their 15-member family lives on benefits. The council initially placed them in a three-bedroom house but, after five years, paid their next-door neighbours to move away so the two houses could be knocked into one seven-bedroom home. But with Kelly dishing up more than 100 dinners every week, it is still quite a feat managing this household, and the couple are not taking any chances: they sleep in separate beds, and Kelly is hoping to be sterilised soon.

By contrast, the Wilsons from Lincoln are keen to add to their 13 children. “I can’t imagine not having little ones running around,” says mum Shirley, whose family gets through around 20 pints of milk a day and 500 bags of crisps a week. “Getting up and knowing that you’re needed… that’s my life.” Shirley recalls how it took four years of trying before she fell pregnant with her first child. A combination of an operation and hormone treatment did the trick back then. Now 44, will she be able to conceive the 14th child she so desperately desires?

Greg and Aggie from South-East London, who have ten children, believe that the calm atmosphere in their household is due in no small part to the family’s strong Catholic faith. “Religion is the most important part of our lives,” says Greg. In line with the Church’s teachings, the couple do not agree with widely used forms of contraception. Instead, they have successfully planned their family using a method that involves avoiding intercourse during the most fertile time in Aggie’s menstrual cycle.

Forty-five-year-old mother of ten Dawna from Derby no longer has a partner to help her with the rigours of family life. Since her husband Gary died of cancer a year ago, she has had to continue running her home while dealing with a great deal of emotional trauma. “It’s hard when you’ve got ten constant reminders,” she says tearfully of her much-loved children. Serious financial hardship only adds to the pressure: without Gary’s salary there is a very real danger of the family home being repossessed. But despite her difficult circumstances, there is one thing that brings a smile to Dawna’s face: the prospect that she might have more children – “at least another ten!” – with a future partner. “I love children, and the more I have the more I love it.” But with so much recent heartache and her biological clock ticking, can Dawna find new happiness in time?

Monday 19 March 9pm on five

This series of observational documentaries explores a variety of complex medical conditions and treatments at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital. Cameras follow 13 children and their families as doctors diagnose and treat their conditions using cutting-edge techniques. In this programme, we meet seven-year-old Kyle, who has an extremely rare immunodeficiency disease, and 17-year-old Leanne, who suffers from pulmonary hypertension.

Young Kyle’s condition, CD40 ligand deficiency, is found in only one in a million male births. It makes him highly susceptible to infection, and his lungs and liver have already been damaged. But Great Ormond Street now offers the hope of a cure, in the form of a bone-marrow transplant. A matching volunteer donor has been found and hopes are high, but there is no getting away from the fact that this will be a risky procedure. “We’ve given him a 50% chance of success, which is not good,” admits consultant Paul Veys.

Before the transplant, Kyle must undergo chemotherapy to prepare his body. A new therapy using two relatively gentle drugs will mean chemo can be kept to a minimum, but Kyle’s immune defences will be weakened to prevent the rejection of the new cells. This means he will be extravulnerable to potentially life-threatening infections. “Even though you know it needs to be done, you can’t say you’re ever ready for it,” says distraught mum Gloria as she sees Kyle in pain and throwing up.

After 24 hours, Kyle is moved to a specialist isolation ward where he and his mother will live for a month, keeping a video diary to chart their feelings and experiences. Gloria says that she and her husband are always very honest with Kyle about what his treatment will entail. “We couldn’t put him through all this without him knowing what was involved,” she insists.

Finally, it’s the big day when the bone marrow is introduced into Kyle’s blood via a drip. “It’s a very big fight for me,” Kyle realises. He is right, since this stage of the treatment brings new risks: the donor cells could fight Kyle’s own cells and attack his weak liver and lungs It will be two weeks before tests reveal whether the new cells have taken. Meanwhile, there is the constant risk of infections, so Kyle is confined to the isolation ward.

Despite the family’s optimism, the results of the lab tests are disappointing. “We are not seeing any donor cells at the moment,” admits Paul Veys. It’s left to a tearful Gloria to tell Kyle that they are back to square one. She is wary of giving the gruelling procedure another go, so all that remains at the moment is for her and her husband to help their spirited son live life to the full.

Tonight’s programme also follows 17-year-old Leanne, who suffers from pulmonary hypertension. This rare condition affects her lungs and puts pressure on her heart. Left untreated, it would probably have killed her within three years. Now, she is fighting a daily battle to stay alive.

Up until the age of 13, Leanne was the picture of health. “I was such an active, super-fit person,” she says. “To wake up one morning not being able to breathe or climb the stairs… Wow, it was a shock.”

There is no cure for Leanne’s condition, although a range of treatments help her manage it. She may need a lung transplant in the future, but this is a high-risk operation. For now, she follows a strict regime of tablets. In addition, the medication needed to open up the blood vessels in her lungs must be administered to her system directly throughout the day. A small pump pushes the medication through a tube that enters Leanne’s body via a needle stuck into her stomach tissue. Every ten days, Leanne must reposition the needle to keep the drug diffused throughout her body – a painful procedure.

But administering drugs this way seems to be getting less effective for Leanne, and her health is declining. Luckily, another visit to Great Ormond Street throws up a whole new procedure that promises to improve the quality of Leanne’s life…

Channel Five, Wednesday 7th March, 8PM

This new series of observational documentaries explores a variety of rare and complex medical conditions and pioneering treatments at one of the most famous children’s hospitals in the world –

London’s Great Ormond Street. Filmed over eight months, the series follows 12 children and their families at home and in the hospital, as doctors diagnose and treat their conditions using cutting edge techniques. In this programme, we follow six year-old Alex, who has a bone disease so rare only 200 cases have ever been recorded, and 11 yearold Matthew, who has flown in from New York for life-saving heart surgery.

Doctor Penelope Brock has been treating Alex since his diagnosis and referral to the hospital. He has Gorham Stout syndrome, or ‘vanishing bone disease’ – an inflammation inside the bones which causes the destruction of normal bone tissue. He has already undergone surgery to remove his lower jaw, and has been given a tracheostomy to ease his breathing. The next steps, however, are less clear.

In her 25 years as a paediatrician, Dr Brock has never seen the condition before, and she is forced to return to her medical books in an effort to find the best course of treatment – there is no conventional cure. Comparing the condition to some forms of cancer, she decides that a combination of steroids and chemotherapy will give Alex the best chance of survival. “He’s a guinea pig really,” says his mother, Tammy Stoakes. “If he’s going to be my little miracle, then he’s in the right place.”

Dr Brock remains optimistic but highlights the desperation of Alex’s case. “We had to do something to stop the progression of the disease or it would become life-threatening to him,” she explains. Alex already endures a punishing daily routine involving regular dressing-changes and vast quantities of medicines, but he is now admitted to hospital for chemotherapy. On his arrival, however, there is a worrying discovery. A large piece of bone has become exposed inside his mouth, considerably raising the chances of infection.

Despite the risk, craniofacial consultant David Dunway decides that the treatment must continue. After six weeks of intensive treatment, Dr Brock decides to reduce Alex’s medication – but he doesn’t react well. His jaw begins to swell and he is readmitted. Alex’s family then awaits the results of a new MRI scan, which will reveal if the disease is back under control. The results are mixed: the disease is still active, but Dr Brock’s medication appears to be keeping it at bay.

Another child requiring the expert attention of Great Ormond Street’s doctors is 11 year-old Matthew, born without a pulmonary valve and now requiring urgent surgery to replace it. His parents have re-mortgaged their house to fly with him from New York, where the only treatment available is a painful operation with a lengthy period of recovery. Time is running out for Matthew, whose father explains why the failing valve is so dangerous. “If we don’t do something now,” he says, “the heart could deteriorate to the point where blood would flow back up into the lungs.”

At Great Ormond Street, however, an amazing technique has been developed that will spare Matthew any painful surgery. Paediatric cardiologist Professor Philipp Bonhoeffer has designed a revolutionary method of replacing the pulmonary valve through the patient’s leg. Using a stent and a small balloon, the valve is inserted into a vein in Matthew’s thigh and guided up to the heart during the operation. A few months later, Matthew is back home in New York playing baseball with his older brother.

Alex, meanwhile, is doing well on a reduced level of medication. He has had his hated tracheostomy removed, and the doctors of Great Ormond Street have given his family hope.

Tonight Channel Five At 8PM

Gaby Logan is all set to present Channel Five’s newest reality Tv show which will follow 18 pregnant mums in the run up to their births.

The show will have live footage of natural labours, and will include testimonies from celebrity mums such as Meera Syal and Nancy Sorrell, wife of comedian Vic Reeves.

The show will be filmed at the maternity unit of Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham. Footage of a new caesarean section technique will also be screened, along with what has been called a “comprehensive” guide to childbirth.

“Some of us have very big reservations about this. If they really want to show the wonder of birth, why don’t they film it and then transmit it once they know everything has gone well and mother and baby are fine?” a senior member of staff at the hospital said.

“Childbirth isn’t always that simple and things can go wrong. Imagine if there was some disastrous complication, live on TV, where perhaps the mother or the baby was in serious danger.”