Euro trek with the Whitehalls
JACK WHITEHALL: TRAVELS WITH MY FATHER Netflix
“MY birthday is coming up and I thought it would be fun to go abroad, show Jack there is more to life than telling jokes about his penis.”
No, Michael Whitehall does not mince his words, and his dry delivery and all-consuming grumpiness is what has made the former TV producer and actors’ agent a star on screen.
His son, of course, is Jack Whitehall, posh actor and comedian, always around for a middle-class joke or two about Waitrose or private health cover. After their successful Back Chat series on BBC3, the chalk and cheese father and son duo were such a hit that they embarked on a “gap year” together in South East Asia.
Now they are back on the road, but this time it’s Michael taking the lead.
And he wants to take Jack on a cultural journey around Europe.
“I think it’s time to share some of my wisdom with him,” says Michael, 78.
But Jack, 30, would rather ditch the museums and history, find some beer and perhaps hunt out a few adrenaline sports.
The result is part travelogue, part scripted sitcom, as the pair visit various places and “accidentally” land themselves in bonkers situations.
From the stunning ice-capped mountains of the Bavarian Alps to the intoxicating mystery of Istanbul, they run the gauntlet of beer bikes in Budapest and camper vans across rustic corners of Romania, as well as dodging gun-toting Cossacks and marching clowns in Ukraine.
For Michael especially, the comforts of West London never felt so far away.