We’re no stranger to a travel show on our TV screens here in the UK.
From watching some of the nation’s favourite famous such as Billy Connolly, Michael Palin, and Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan trek the globe in various shows over the years, to the popular tv shows of the moment like Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father, Richard Ayoade’s Travel Man, and of course the cult-phenomenon that is An Idiot Abroad, we’ve got some real stand-outs to tuck into.
But have you ever come across or found yourself watching a travel show from another country?
Even better, a travel show from another country visiting our city?
Well that’s exactly the position that Reddit user Strubo found themselves in when they uncovered a Manchester episode of a popular Russian-speaking Ukrainian TV travel show on YouTube called Oryol i Reshka (Орел і Решка), or as we would say, ‘Heads and Tails’.
ADVERTISEMENT
The concept of the show is a little more complex than just taking in the sights and sounds of a new city.
As well as doing a pretty good job of showcasing our brilliant city and everything it has to offer, ‘Heads and Tails’ – which first aired back in 2014 and has been a hit with Russian-speaking audiences ever since – actually has an interesting budget element to it too.
ADVERTISEMENT
It sees the show’s two hosts toss a coin which determines who gets to receive a credit card with unlimited credit – called the ‘Golden Card’ – while the other has to spend the weekend with just £77 ($100 USD) including all expenses.
The show also then hides a bottle with another £77 ($100) in each visited location for travellers to find.
The Manchester episode of the show – which amazingly has clocked over three million views on YouTube alone – has everything you’d expect to see a travel show feature in the city, from football and food delicacies, to shopping, nature and more, as well as some spectacular aerial shots of the surroundings too, but with the budget restrictions also playing a key role, this means that some hidden gems are highlighted also.
ADVERTISEMENT
And as you can imagine, when you get to view Manchester from the eyes of someone who hasn’t ever been before, it’s actually a really intriguing watch.
A couple of Reddit users who commented on Strubo’s original post in r/Manchester said that they found the show a great watch from a Mancunian’s perspective and others with Russian-speaking relatives also emphasised that it is a really popular show in other countries, so who knows just how many people from across the world have seen what our city has to offer.
If you’ve got an hour to kill and don’t mind reading subtitles, then you can watch the Manchester episode of ‘Heads and Tails’ on YouTube here:
Trending
The player celebrations from Stockport County’s League Two trophy presentation are glorious
Danny Jones
If you’re a Stockport County fan, you’ve had a very good year as the Hatters have just been crowned League Two champions and will be back in the English third tier next season – safe to say they’ve been making most of the trophy celebrations.
Players and staff very much included.
Edgeley was filled with flares and even people climbing on rooftops when they officially secured promotion back to League One for the first time in 12 years – the second time they’ve managed to go up in three seasons – and there was a great attendance in Stockport town centre for the bus parade.
But it was last week’s trophy presentation back at the stadium that produced some of the most memorable scenes, with County topping off a season of impressive and often high-scoring performances on the pitch with plenty more pageantry. Cue the music.
We still haven’t stopped laughing at Kyle Knoyle.
From bringing Isaac Olaofe’s ‘Tanto’s on fire!’ chant to life to hammering home puns on names like Fraser Horsfall, no matter how obvious, these are the kind of deeply unserious celebrations we expect from a trophy presentation.
County fan or not, you’ve got to admit it looks like a good party.
It’s moments like these that players, fans and staff work hard all season for; to prat around like muppets in front of their adoring supporters. They even got assistant coach, Clint Hill, in the mix and, as it turns out, he proved to be one of the biggest ring-leaders.
We sincerely hope the Hatters keep trickling out more of these party scenes as we know there’s plenty more that fans would love to watch back.
We’re still yet to see captain Paddy Madden, who won Player of the Month for April, and the gaffer himself, Dave Challinor, who has comfortably secured his legacy as one of the club’s all-time greats.
Challinor and the club have made no secret of seriously eyeing up the Championship and who knows what else at County’s momentum continues to build, especially with a huge stadium redevelopment kicking off soon.
What do you reckon, Hatters – do you reckon a third promotion could be on the cards?
Liam Gallagher says he’ll ‘gig in Lidl’ if Co-op Live still isn’t ready – and they sound pretty game for it
Danny Jones
Following the ongoing palaver with Co-op Live, Liam Gallagher has joked that he’d happily play his scheduled gigs in a Lidl if the arena still isn’t ready – at least we think he’s joking…
With Liam Gallagher having been named as one of the first acts booked to play Co-op Live last year, many are now wondering whether the venue will even by June, with the former Oasis frontman set to play four Definitely Maybe 30th-anniversary sets. That being said, he’s come up with a solution if not.
Vintage LG, we’ll give him that.
Obviously a bit of a tongue-in-cheek quip at the venue being sponsored by a supermarket and convenience store chain, it could have been any other competitor that the ever-witty youngest Gallagher brother picked but it somehow made it extra funny that he chose a budget brand like Lidl.
However, with the 51-year-old already having fun with stunts like voicing the tannoys on the Metrolink last year, for instance, we wouldn’t put it past him to take this joke a little further.
Better still, not that we’re getting carried away or anything but Lidl themselves seem pretty keen on the idea too; they even spent the time to build an entire setlist for the fictional show. Fair play.
Can you imagine? Liam Gallagher swapping the occasional tambourine shake for beeps from a barcode scanner as he moves back and forth on the conveyor belt. We know it’s absolute nonsense and we definitely shouldn’t be even remotely considering it… BUT it’s the stuff of dreams and strange things have happened.
A lot of stranger things have happened this week alone. As for the latest with Co-op Live, the Chairman and CEO of key-backers Oak View Group, Tim Leiweke, issued a full statement sharing his “sincere apologies”and insisting that they understand “there is work to be done to rebuild your trust in us.”
With the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Peter Kay, The Black Keys and more having their gigs pulled by the venue due to numerous issues, including an air conditioning unit falling from the ceiling, fans are understandably fearful that other upcoming events could face delays or general misfortune.
Much like the venue itself, we imagine we’ll be playing catch-up on this whole saga for the foreseeable, but here’s a recap of the story so far: