The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, BBC iplayer

COMEDIAN Romesh Ranganathan is having a bit of a moment it would seem. His new Dave series Judge Romesh seems him hold court over real-life disputes, casting his trademark acerbic wit over each in a neat take off of the more serious Judge Rinder. Add to this his recent appearance in the top 20 of the Radio Times' list of the hottest stars on British television and it's clear the 40-year-old is slowly becoming a household name, even if few can actually pronounce it.

It's hardly a surprise as Ranganathan is a genuinely funny bloke whose presence on one of the myriad panel shows he seems to turn up on usually guarantees a laugh or two as does his recent celebrity travelogue series The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan.

This genre has become rather overpopulated in the last few years, something Ranganathan pokes fun at as he lists the destinations he'd like to go to only to be told the likes of Jack Whitehall and of course Michael Palin have got there first. That leaves him with a group of countries that have pretty much fallen off the map in terms of tourism: Haiti, Ethiopia and Albania.

Not particularly keen to slum it, Ranganathan states his aim is to give an honest outlook on each of these countries and try to look beyond the prejudices each one holds in his (and our) minds. The first episode of the series saw him travel to Haiti, a country he’s only ever heard bad things about, in the hopes of finding more to the place than the ‘sensational headlines’. When it comes to Haiti that of course means violence, voodoo and earthquakes all of which Ranganathan tackles with deadpan humour. “Having spent the 14-hour flight imagining the myriad of ways I might get killed, I arrived in a state of high alert,” he says, before checking into a hotel with voodoo figures in the garden and later taking part in a voodoo ceremony for which he is required to but good-luck shampoo, rum and black fish. Obviously.

Unlike other shows of this ilk it never feels over-worthy or exploitative. Ranganathan doesn't particularly feel the need to change his manner depending on who he meets (the Albanians in particular have no idea how to take his humour) nor does he speak down to people or make judgements. It's just very, very funny and might just make you think differently about where to go for next year's summer holiday.