Ruddy hell! Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon making a comedy together with Michael Winterbottom as director? Why hasn’t there been more of a fuss over this creation? The Trip is the sort of thing that even if it turns out to be utterly terrible the Beeb should still advertise this to death for ratings purposes alone. Stuff like this gets comedy fanboys/girls all tingly downstairs...as their iPhones go off to inform them of incoming tweets. A lazy pull back and reveal by an over-opinionated TV reviewer; you have permission to let out a discontented sigh.
The Trip BBC Comedy
The Trip, starring the aforementioned comic greats as screen versions of themselves, can be summed up quite simply: You know that bit in the opening of A Cock and Bull Story where they engage in a spot of improvised banter and constantly try to outdo each other? Well The Trip is like that, except it goes on for ages adding a road trip feel a la Sideways.
Coogan has unbelievably been given the duty of touring around the UK writing restaurant reviews for a newspaper and when his girlfriend is unable to go decides to call up his mate Rob Brydon as a last resort. That’s the plot in a sentence allowing more room for views rather than being packed full of synopsis and exposition. Don’t you just hate that sort of thing?
The Trip, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon Impressions
Being somewhat improvised, the dialogue doesn’t provide a nonstop stream of hilarious one-liners but it sounds exactly like the sort of futile conversations these two would have when left alone for extended periods of time.
However, once the wine arrives to the table during their meal it acts as the catalyst that sets off a fantastically funny scene of one-upmanship and arguments that, perhaps a little predictably, turns into a wonderful battle of impressions. Brydon gets in early with his famous Ronnie Corbett impression, which never fails to raise a smile, while Coogan goes into detail about how his Michael Caine has the correct nasal qualities to be far more accurate than his opponent's.
Fair enough, they have done this many times before but in this instance it gets points for adding a surprising Flight of the Conchords reference midway. Obviously they can’t fall back on impressions every week, though it does work as a means of easing an unsure audience into the series.
Coogan and Brydon Comedy
The Trip, intentionally or not, has given Steve Coogan the opportunity to finally work on something fresh and interesting in front of a camera to counter his latest string of, let’s not beat around the bush here, terrible films or kicking what remaining few laughs can be spewed out by his Alan Partridge character (now being used to sell you a particular brand of Australian lager).
Coogan though seems all too aware of his fate based on a self-referential phone conversation with his agent that contains couple of knowing lines. “I don’t want to do British TV,” he’s says before responding to the point that he has momentum that people only get that when going downhill. How very post-modern. Brydon, following on from A Cock and Bull Story, proves to be the perfect foil for the egotistical character Coogan has crafted for himself.
Here comes the obligatory summary: The Trip isn’t consistently funny and could be viewed as a letdown in that sense but it’s a pleasant means of spending a half hour in front of the googlebox, as Winterbottom’s direction making this look sleeker than the typical TV comedy output. It's also one of those rare cases of something that lives up to repeated viewings.
Now, a quick unrelated note for the attention of the BBC now (who won’t be reading this but the author is moaning pedant who has to have his say and was reminded as the subject of this small rant proceeded this show), if you can provide something monumentally pointless such as MasterChef: The Professionals in HD then why isn’t the latest must-see series of Spooks not given the same treatment? We need more explosions in high definition!
The Trip is on BBC Two and BBC HD every Monday at 10pm.
Steven Cookson - Steven Cookson is a writer and attempted journalist based in Howden. Originally from Chester, that Hollyoaks place in North-West of ...
