Monty Python comedian and television presenter Michael Palin has sparked a minor diplomatic incident with his latest series, New Europe.
Palin explored 20 countries that were once off limits behind the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe but when it aired in the UK last week, the brevity ofthe section on Slovakia had the country's embassy in London upset for supposedly portraying Slovaks as beer-drinking simpletons who slaughter pigs.
Palin was officially criticised by the Slovak embassy for his coverage in the final episode of his series, which is due to screen on TVNZ this year.
The 64-year-old yesterday said he was actually very fond of Slovakia.
"You can't please everybody, you really can't doing 20 countries, and also we're not there to be fair to all the countries.
"It's my journey and you have to be absolutely subjective about which stories we show."
Palin is said to have devoted only six minutes of the hour-long programme - which also featured Germany and the Czech Republic - to Slovakia and ignored its cultural landmarks in favour of showing villagers skinning a pig.
"I think [the embassy] see those people as representing the old Slovakia whereas the embassy wants to show you the new Slovakia with the biggest Volkswagen plant in Europe," he said.
"I do think we underestimated how interesting the journey would be and how fascinating each country would be in its own right.
"We were commissioned to do a six-part series and we just came back with so much material to show ... and we were given an extra hour to do a seven-hour series.
"And even then countries like Slovenia, Macedonia we just go through terribly quickly and I feel quite bad about that. But they are in the book and they will be on the DVD."
* Michael Palin will be in Auckland next week to speak at a series of events including the New Zealand Herald-Dymocks Literary Lunch on Monday.
