The Trip: middle-age, mortality and Mick Jagger
‘Two middle-aged men looking for adventure, like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.” That’s how co-star Rob Brydon pitched The Trip to Spain (Sky Atlantic), although I don’t recall Cervantes’s epic novel featuring so many Michael Caine impressions.
Brydon and his friend-cum-rival Steve Coogan returned as fictionalised versions of themselves for another culinary road trip, this time driving a Range Rover 1,000 miles down the length of Spain to review restaurants. Nice work if you can get it. Just don’t mention Gibraltar.
Aboard the ferry from Plymouth to Santander, “Commodore Coogan” bagged the bigger cabin – partly to accommodate his ego. Taking in the Cave of Altamira, they tried to gain VIP entrance to a closed section. Brydon resorted to using his 2 million Twitter followers as a bribe. Pleasingly, the local tour guide was utterly unmoved.
Finally, they filled their famous faces at acclaimed bistro Txoko in the picturesque Basque port of Getaria. A cinéma vérité scene unfolded when a sudden downpour sent diners on the patio scurrying for cover. Waiters hurried the food, wine and crockery inside, before the rain ceased and they could resume their expert tableside sole-filleting. All the while, Coogan and Brydon’s barbed back-and-forth banter didn’t skip a beat.
They had in-car singalongs (a hearty rendition of The Windmills of Your
Mind was oddly affecting) and did uncanny impersonations of everyone from Pacino to Parky – and even Mick Jagger attempting to do Caine.
Beneath the comedy sparring and competitive mimicry, this was also a bittersweet meditation on the nature of male friendship and the melancholy of ageing – a mood enhanced by Michael Nyman’s haunting piano theme over the closing credits.
Despite Coogan’s insistence that the fiftysomething pair were “in our prime, at the sweet spot of life”, reminders of mortality were everywhere – from their desperation to stay young (Bryon’s hair transplant, Coogan’s chasing of younger women) to endless conversations about death.
In this period of narratively intricate dramas, such as Line of Duty and
Broadchurch, it was refreshing to meander, relax and enjoy the ride. No rug-pulling twists or complex plotting here. Just two men talking and occasionally stopping for some lunch. The classy mash-up of Top Gear,
MasterChef and Curb Your Enthusiasm was beautifully crafted by director Michael Winterbottom. It’s a shame this third series has moved from BBC Two to Sky Atlantic, where it will be seen by a much smaller audience. Still, it’s sheer springtime joy to have the two bickering amigos back.
Can you imagine anything more shudder-inducing than four days living with your in-laws, without the human shield of your spouse? Root canal work or waterboarding, possibly. Yet that was the set-up on Alone with
the In-Laws (BBC Two), a frothy documentary from reality specialists Studio Lambert, whose early hit Wife
Swap this closely resembled. Chris and Stacey from Bristol are getting hitched this summer. Planning for their big day – a £30,000 party at a medieval manor – was in hand but how could they prepare for married life beyond? They foolishly agreed to move in with each other’s parents to discover more about their partner.
The experiment was overseen, rather randomly, by Reverend Kate Bottley – the Gogglebox favourite who is popping up everywhere as TV’s vicar du jour. To make matters even more awkward, Bottley gave the couple a list of intimate questions to ask their prospective in-laws, covering everything from finances to fidelity.
Chris split his time between Stacey’s divorced parents and learned what caused their break-up. By contrast, Stacey stayed with Chris’ happily married folks who resembled from an Aardman animation.
Uptight Chris was told that he should be more open – then refused to take part in a salsa class and threw an undignified sulk. Meanwhile, sparky Stacey was unsettled by Chris’ parents’ fusty views on gender roles. His mother ironed the bedsheets and had dinner on the table when father got home.
Tears were shed on both sides and it looked like the wedding wouldn’t go ahead. Ultimately, though, the couple reached a compromise and were reunited. It seems cruel to confess but I was hoping it would go the other way, just for dramatic purposes.
I can easily see this one-off episode being rolled out into a full series.