BBC iPlayer: The Trip (2010) Ep 6 - The Angel At Hetton

Words: Paul Dean

'The Trip' Episode 6: 'The Angel At Hetton'

SYNOPSIS: "Comedy series starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. Steve and Rob visit Bolton Abbey and breakfast at The Angel at Hetton. On their way back home to London they stop off at Steve's parents' house." (bbc.co.uk)

The weather's changed. The sun came out and it dried the jokes up. I'm glad that I watched 'The Trip' and, at the beginning, it made me laugh a lot, but I've just finished watching the final episode and I'll be completely honest with you, it's actually an effort for me to remember what happened in it. I barely smiled once and, without the humour, I've come to realise that there's very little plot to engage the viewer, particularly as each episode follows a very similar structure.

BBC iPlayer: The Trip (2010) Ep 5 - The Yorke Arms

Words: Paul Dean

'The Trip' Episode 5: 'The Yorke Arms'

SYNOPSIS: "Comedy series starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. Steve and Rob visit the world-famous Malham limestone pavement before eating at the Yorke Arms." (bbc.co.uk)

Perhaps the feature length version of 'The Trip' will be better. The big screen edit that's set to be released in some territories next year will no doubt feature the very best moments of this series, while chopping out the faff and the repetition. I really think that needs to be done, too. Much as I hate to say so, I think this series has stalled and, at times, even come close to outright nose-diving. Its funniest moments came too soon and there are few surprises left for us now.

Not only has the spontaneity gone, but the dialogue is dying too. Though the humour was supposed to come from how mundane and petty the leading duo's quips and quibbles were, they really are verging on the dull now. They crack few new jokes and have little more to say to each other than they did in previous episodes.

BBC iPlayer: The Trip (2010) Ep 4 - Hipping Hall

Words: Paul Dean

'The Trip' Episode 4: 'Hipping Hall'

SYNOPSIS: "Comedy series. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon continue their restaurant-reviewing road trip at Hipping Hall in Kirby Lonsdale, in the Lake District." (bbc.co.uk)

Spending much of my week with a nose leaking like a tap and a throat gurgling like a drain, I was very much looking forward to the fourth installment of 'The Trip' and holding the hope that it might go some way to lifting me out of my painful malaise. Instead, going beyond its alternating playfulness and petulence, I think it has finally crossed over into the realm of genuine bitterness.

BBC iPlayer: The Trip (2010) Ep 3 - Holbeck Ghyll

Words: Paul Dean

'The Trip' Episode 3: 'Holbeck Ghyll'

SYNOPSIS: "Comedy series starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. Over the course of six meals at six different restaurants in and around the Lake District, Lancashire and the Yorkshire Dales, this ultimate odd couple find themselves debating the big questions of life over a series of culinary delights." (bbc.co.uk)

"Do you think we just have the same conversation every restaurant?" asks (fictional) Rob Brydon. He wonders if he and (fictional) Steve Coogan are destined to spend the rest of their time together repeating an endless cycle of impersonations, awkward exchanges, nervous chuckles and cantankerous critiques of each other, all while eating. They may have found themselves trapped in a not entirely unpleasant purgatory, or perhaps that's only Coogan, since it seems this trip gives him far too much time to ruminate on where his life leaves him unsatisfied, something only brought into starker contrast by Brydon's own contentment.

BBC iPlayer: The Trip (2010) Ep 2 - L'Enclume

Words: Paul Dean

'The Trip' Episode 2: 'L'Enclume'

SYNOPSIS: "Comedy series starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. Over the course of six meals at six different restaurants in and around the Lake District, Lancashire and the Yorkshire Dales, this ultimate odd couple find themselves debating the big questions of life over a series of culinary delights." (bbc.co.uk)

I am terrible for endlessly re-watching favourite sketches or scenes from old comedy shows that I love. Some of them probably aren't funny any more, or perhaps never even were, but I can't help myself. It likely annoys the hell out of other people and gives them the impression that I have the narrowest of tastes and a complete inability to move on.

Well, I can now refute those claims entirely by showing everyone how I've embraced 'The Trip' and how I ride the wave of contemporary comedy. Then I can go away and privately watch parts of it over and over, until I'm old and bent and wrinkly, endlessly babbling the dialogue to any relatives compassionate enough to still come and visit me. Won't that be nice?

BBC iPlayer: The Trip (2010) Ep 1 - The Inn At Whitewell

Words: Paul Dean

Episode 1: 'The Inn At Whitewell'

SYNOPSIS: "Comedy series starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. Over the course of six meals at six different restaurants in and around the Lake District, Lancashire and the Yorkshire Dales, this ultimate odd couple find themselves debating the big questions of life over a series of culinary delights." (bbc.co.uk)

It's such a simple idea I wonder why I haven't seen it done before. Two comedians argue about how to do impressions, while performing those very impressions, sat at dinner, in public and in all too raised voices. Nowhere else in time or space will you see Michael Caine arguing with Michael Caine or Anthony Hopkins trying to out-yell himself.