An Idiot Abroad – Series 1 and 2
This show is about the travels of Karl Pilkington, a long-time colleague of the comedy writers/performers Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Karl is rather close-minded, glum and always seems to find the cloud wherever there’s a silver lining. However, his outlook on life, and his many comments on various aspects of life, are frequently very funny, and sometimes truly hilarious. This show involves Gervais and Merchant sending Karl around the world accompanied by a camera crew, catching his reactions and thoughts on what’s going on.
Series 1 involves Karl visiting various world Wonders such as the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids. Series 2 involves Karl doing things he picks from a concensus of the world’s most frequent Bucket List ‘to do’s, such as swimming with Dolpins or staying on a desert island.
OVerall, the entertainment value and number of laughs in this show is very high, it’s funny to see Karl comment on things that would also perplex most Englishmen abroad (such as no doors on the toilets in China, or use ice to wipe your bottom in Alaska), and often we laugh at this as much as laughing at him for being close-minded. I can no longer think of the Great Wall of China after seeing this, only the Alright Wall of China…
The only fault I can find is that sometimes it does feel like you’re watching someone being bullied into things they really don’t want to do, and also you sometimes feel Karl is playing up to his persona rather than being completely natural, but overall the entertainment value of this show is very high.
Rating: Good, 8.5/10