Fabulous adventures
JOANNA LUMLEY’S SILK ROAD ADVENTURE ITV, 9pm “LACROIX sweetie, Lacroix!” A phrase uttered by Joanna Lumley many times when she played the absolutely fabulous Patsy Stone all those years ago.
And now, if you listen, you’ll get to hear it again.
She’s following the route of the legendary Silk Road, an ancient 7,000-mile journey from Venice to the Chinese border, and there are some sumptuous fabrics along the way.
Sumptuous, by the way, is one of Joanna’s words, along with “divine” and “extraordinary”. The actress has one of those soothing, breathy voices that would work well on a meditation app.
The Silk Road is a perilous network of paths that brought silk, printing and spices, among other things, to the West. Joanna has to cross continents, deserts and mountains to follow the route of those merchants who once lived and died on the route.
“It’s my most adventurous and most exotic journey yet,” she says.
She starts in Venice where she visits the last remaining loom fabric workshop, producing velvet at a mere 5,000 euros a metre.
It supplies the White House and the Kremlin, and Joanna nearly takes home a handbag – until she finds out the price.
Then she travels via Albania to Istanbul in Turkey and later a village famous for making cheese. “Can I see your arms?” she asks the muscular cheese maker, adding: “I’ll show you mine later.”
Not only does Joanna have a wicked wit, she also falls in love with every place she goes. It’s all rather hypnotising and makes her the most fabulous of all celebrity travellers.