Martin Clunes’ Islands of America

Celebrity-hosted travelogues have become a staple of British TV. In this four-part series, popular sitcom star Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) proves to be an amiable tour guide, visiting various islands surrounding the North American continent. Clunes starts his journey deep in the Pacific, arriving on Hawaii’s Big Island, where residents live in the shadow of volcanoes, and then moves on to Kodiak Island off the Alaskan coast, home to wild bears. Passing through the San Juan Islands off the Washington state coast, he proceeds to the Channel Islands near California to observe its herds of seals and sea lions, and then it’s on to Louisiana, where he samples the Tabasco sauce manufactured on Avery Island and also visits a site ravaged by a hurricane. Moving eastward, Clunes tries salsa dancing in Puerto Rico and goes to the Sea Islands off Georgia, where the people try to preserve the memory of slave traditions, while on the Outer Banks of North Carolina he explores the mysterious disappearance of the Roanoke Colony. On Chincoteague Island off the Virginia coast he watches a wild pony swimming ceremony before soldiering on to Manhattan, where he goes to the top of the Empire State Building and visits Ellis Island. Clunes also drops in at Martha’s Vineyard to see the location where Jaws was filmed, and his itinerary closes on Maine’s remote islands, where he engages with young students at a tiny school. Throughout, Clunes interacts affably with the locals and gamely accepts whatever challenges are thrown at him. Islands of America is overall a pleasant armchair travelogue that includes some sites that will be unfamiliar to most Americans. Recommended. Aud: P. (F. Swietek)