The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan - Episode Guide

In this first episode, Romesh gets an insider's guide to Haiti to find out if his preconceptions about the Caribbean island are right, or if there is more to the country than the "sensational headlines" he's seen on the news.

For years all that most people in Britain have heard about Ethiopia is famine. And drought. And Bob Geldof singing about famine and drought. Now comedian Romesh Ranganathan is heading to East Africa to discover if this reputation is justified. Is Ethiopia really a food-starved dust bowl? Or will Romesh find a warm welcome and place of unique natural beauty there?

Met by local anthropologist Mike Tamerat, Romesh heads on a journey across this vast country, visiting ancient rock churches, scientific oddities, Rastafarians and camels to get a unique insider's guide. Along the way he experiences local wellness treatments that he worries will damage his reproductive capacity, an eye cleansing doctor and traditional rhyming jazz musicians who have a lot of fun insulting him in front of an audience.

But as he tries to get to grips with the country, he also encounters a side to Ethiopia that makes him question its undoubted beauty and fun - an oppressive political regime that has resulted in decades of turmoil and a country that stands on the brink of change. Bob Geldof wanted to feed the world and asked if they know it's Christmas time. Ethiopians do know it is Christmas time - they have one of the largest Christian populations in the world. But will he find any food? And beyond his stomach, will he find anything worth traveling there for?

Comedian Romesh Ranganathan travels to Albania to get an insider's guide to the country and to find out whether his own preconceptions about the Eastern European outpost are right. From a brief glance at anatlas, Albania has everything - it has beaches on the same coastline as Greece and Croatia, hills to trek in and stunning mountains. But for some reason all the average Brit knows about Albania is the old black and white clips from the communist era. And most of those have been mistaken for clips shot in Moscow.

On arrival, Romesh does indeed discover a country that is bleak and miserable, but then again, it is raining. And even his native Crawley seems a bit lacklustre in the rain. Guided by local TV presenter and journalist Erjona Rusi, Romesh is taken on a whistle-stop tour of the country. He visits the beaches (apparently stunning in the summer, but when Ramesh arrives it is -10 degrees) and is hosted on a unique homestay in a beautiful isolated shepherd's village, where he is sent out on overnight wolf patrol and then embarks on a treacherous seven hour journey into the mountains.

Along the way, Romesh tries to discover why Albania has remained a stubbornly unfashionable holiday destination, while many other formerly communist nations have leapt ahead. Romesh meets those at the extremes of this unique country, from the rural farmers to the billionaire playboys who live in the cities next to supermodels. He ends up with sheep poo mysteriously smeared across his back and, in a move he will doubtless come to regret, a tattoo emblazoned across his forearm. He finds a people desperate to throw off their reputation as the home of eastern mafia gangs, lots of Raki and a level of hospitality that he describes as 'second to none' as he gets an insider's guide to Albania.

Romesh Ranganathan heads to one of the coldest environments on earth. He gets an insider's guide of the Canadian Arctic and finds out if his preconceptions about it are right.

Romesh travels around Zimbabwe, gets caught in biblical lightning storms, re-enacts the film Titanic on a Lake Kariba houseboat and tries the home-brewed beer he made in a bathtub in Bulawayo.

Romesh Ranganathan travels to Mongolia – a country which he has almost no prior knowledge of, save for the fact that it is famously in the middle of nowhere.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rom meets the Bosnian who claims to have discovered the world's largest pyramid and stays overnight in a 'war hostel'.

Romesh spends a week traveling around Colombia. He sees stunning Colonial cities, beautiful Caribbean beaches and, in a scene that inexplicably makes the cut, a Jesus statue shop.

In a festive special, Rom visits the Sahara Desert. Guided by Bobo, a local of Berber descent, Rom discovers a place that is vast and inhospitable - at once impossibly bleak and impossibly beautiful.

Everyone Romesh has ever met has told him how amazing the Scottish islands are - but nobody he knows has actually ever been there. Now, in a year when travel abroad has been all but forbidden, he is heading to the Hebrides to find out if you can really have a proper adventure so close to home, spending a week visiting the isles of Skye, Harris and Lewis.

When trying to place Sierra Leone, Romesh finds it impossible to think of anything other than the country's dark history - a horrific civil war, child soldiers, blood diamonds and Ebola. But with the green light to travel for the first time since the start of the pandemic, he is exploring the country to find out whether Brits could and should plan their next holiday here.

Rom is picked up by Gwyn Jay Allen, a local musician who's agreed to spend a week showing him around and opening his eyes to incredible places, either unknown or forgotten.

They venture through spectacular national parks, hoping to witness extraordinary and rare wildlife such as the elusive pygmy hippo, sample the national drink poyo, take in miles and miles of the most incredible beaches and meet locals living truly off-grid. They then settle down for the night at a once-in-a-lifetime camping spot on a remote archipelago.

But as safe as the country feels, creatures aside, Rom can't avoid its complex and brutal past, which has lasting effects today. Visiting Bunce Island's slave fort, the capital Freetown, a diamond mine and the incredible athletes that make up the Flying Stars amputee football club, he learns about the trauma endured by Sierra Leonians - their unbelievable resilience and astonishing hopes for the future, of which tourism forms a key part.

As with most Brits, the headlines that flash into Romesh's mind when he thinks about Romania are those around communism, the 90s orphan crisis, maligned Roma and its greatest celebrity export, Count Dracula. But is this image justified? Or does Romania have more to offer? Landing in Bucharest, the only place in the country he's heard of, Romesh meets political activist and media expert Angi Serban at the parliament palace, the astonishing architectural behemoth built on the command of the communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

Failing to warn him about the miles they're about to clock, she takes Rom out of the capital to explore many amazing things that are overlooked in this vast slice of eastern Europe.

Romesh and Angi embark on a journey through the country's seemingly endless and varied landscapes. Along the way, they sample Romania's ghoulish side, seeing Transylvania and Vlad the Impaler's castle and paying their respects in a 'merry' cemetery. They also witness cars rolling up hills, drive along the spectacular yet dangerous Transfagarasan Highway, dance to world-famous Roma music and take part in a spiritual ceremony in Romania's traditional heartland.

But whilst Romesh realises the beauty of Romania, he also learns how the hangover of the communist regime remains, what challenges are still faced today and why more people visiting would help the country to continue to move forward.

Romesh Ranganathan explores Uganda, its people and culture, its past and its modern complexity, to find out whether Brits should add this this visually stunning, landlocked country the size of the UK to their holiday bucket list.

With his guide, Bugandan princess Alex, Romesh learns about Uganda's history before and after Idi Amin and how Uganda got its name, before sampling traditional rural village life by getting blind drunk on banana gin (of unknown alcohol strength).

Rom is awed by Uganda's natural beauty but is unable to ignore an ugly truth. Will the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community in Uganda in the wake of the widely supported and recently passed anti-gay laws force him to come to an uncomfortable conclusion about his time in the country?

Romesh crosses the border from Uganda into Rwanda, a country he feels has been defined by Westerners almost entirely by the 1994 genocide. More recently, the British government announced plans to send refugees seeking asylum in the UK to Rwanda.

Rom's affable guide is performance artist, genocide survivor and peace activist Hippo, who initiates him the cultural significance of sharing milk, puts him to work helping to maintain the pristine streets of the capital, Kigali, and shows him where Rwanda plans to house asylum seekers sent from Britain.

Leaving the busy capital behind, they venture east to a village where they try to create indigenous art. In Akagera, the country's largest national park, they encounter incredible wildlife, including giraffes, impala and lions. After trying to take on the women's national cycling team, the pair head to the National Genocide Memorial Museum to learn more about what happened in 1994.

Romesh is blown away by Rwanda's unique culture and welcoming people but troubled by reports of alleged human rights abuses, including suppression of dissent and invasive surveillance methods. He and Hippo end their Rwandan adventure via a magical encounter with a family of wild gorillas.

Romesh travels to Uganda, Rwanda and Madagascar to find out what each place has to offer.