STANLEY Johnson premiered his documentary 'In the Footsteps of Marco Polo' in Bristol on Friday, showcasing his seven-week journey on the Silk Road.

Exmoor's famous resident, 83, worked the red carpet at the Scott Cinema in Bristol, on July 26, and stopped before entering the screening to take photos with Waitrose staff.

The documentary, created by One Tribe TV, tracks Stanley and his youngest son Max Johnson, 39, on their 2023 road trip to the Forbidden City in Beijing, the end of the Silk Road.

Stanley’s "Silk Route journey" began in 1961 when he set out to travel from Venice to Beijing on motorbikes with two colleagues from Oxford.

However, the students ran out of time when they reached the border with China and had visa issues. More than 60 years later, Stanley returned to "complete his dream of finishing the journey West to East across China", One Tribe said.

The pair picked up where the "Oxford expedition had left off", starting in the Karakorum Mountains in far West China.

The 2,500-mile journey was made in a 4x4 rather than on motorbikes, covering "some of the most beautiful locations on Earth".

Speaking about why he'd chosen to make the documentary, Stanley said: "When you get to my age, what's the alternative, the alternative is washing up."

He added: "For me, it has been a really interesting and moving venture.

"You could always tell when you'd done something 'worth it' in cinematic terms, as Peter, our director of photography, would raise his eyebrow at me.

"When I got on the yak, or when I got off the yak, I heard him mutter 'pure gold'."

Director Dale Templar added: "I was thinking thank god he hasn't died. That wasn't planned, like a lot of things."

Stanley told the County Gazette: "I am absolutely thrilled that the premiere is taking place here in the West Country. 

"I've lived in Somerset since 1951, and of course my Mother's family the Williams' they were absolutely Somerset, they were Dulverton.

"The old boy Sir George Williams, he walked away from Dulverton, to Bridgwater, walked to London and set up the YMCA."

The documentary was the first cinema release by the production company One Tribe TV, based in Bath and Chepstow.

Earlier in the month, Stanley held a London premiere for the documentary at Curzon Mayfair, attended by his son Max, Boris, and Chinese ambassador Zheng Zeguang.