Radio Times: Review by:; Jane Anderson

When Chairman Mao died in 1976 there were just 300 museums in China. By 2015 there will be around 3,000. In five scintillating snapshots, caricaturist Roger Law asks what has led to this marked change in cultural priorities. On a simplistic level, there has been a shift in how China operates as a global power — it is easier to be open to other cultures if one is sure of one’s own.

So, a museum celebrating public security, with guns so cunningly disguised they could be in a James Bond film, happily co-exists near Mr Wang’s front room, where hundreds of three-inch shoes for ladies are displayed. As always, Law’s aesthetic sensibilities help him deliver exquisitely detailed pictures.

About this programme

1/5. Spitting Image co-creator Roger Law investigates China's sudden obsession with museums. New facilities are opening all over the country, and the caricaturist embarks on a quest to find out why, visiting some of the more unusual exhibits in the process. He begins in Shanghai, examining collections dedicated to opera, shoes and security.