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On location: ‘The Trip to Italy’ with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon

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By Joanne O’Connnor

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

It might seem an unlikely format for a comedy series but The Trip , which saw Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon eating their way around northern England while indulging in unscripted banter and competitive Michael Caine impersonations, was a big hit. Now the pair are back for a second helping, against the somewhat sunnier backdrop of the Italian coast.

On location

The six-part series follows Coogan and Brydon as they embark on a road-trip from Piedmont, in the north of Italy, south to Capri. Ostensibly, they are travelling in the footsteps of romantic poets Shelley and Byron but, in reality, the food is the star of the show. The trip starts with a lingering lunch at the acclaimed Trattoria della Posta ( trattoriadellaposta.it ) in Langhe, 40km east of Cuneo, where they try guinea fowl and the local Barolo wine.

In a nod to The Italian Job (1969), the pair have chosen a Mini Cooper for their journey through sun-soaked vineyards. Elite Rent-a-Car ( eliterent.com ) hires out four different Mini models in Italy, including convertibles like the one driven by Coogan and Brydon (from €140 a day).

There’s time for a brief stop at Byron’s house in Genoa before heading south to the Italian Riviera and the charming seaside village of Camogli, where terracotta-coloured houses cling to steep hillsides overlooking the aptly named Golfo Paradiso. Nearby, the fishing hamlet of San Fruttuoso is a picture-perfect setting for a plate of fritto misto on the beach at La Cantina ( www.lacantinasanfruttuoso.it ).

Continuing their grand tour, Coogan and Brydon drive through the rolling hills of Tuscany, before stopping off in Pisa and then Rome, where they visit the Protestant Cemetery where Shelley’s ashes are buried, the Colosseum and the Spanish Steps, and enjoy a meal at German chef Oliver Glowig’s two Michelin-starred restaurant ( oliverglowig.com ) near Villa Borghese.

Next stop is the Amalfi coast, where the highlights include a visit to Pompeii and a long, boozy lunch on the terrace of the elegant Villa Cimbrone hotel in Ravello. The trip ends in Capri with yet another memorable meal, this time at Il Riccio, the breezy seafront restaurant of the Capri Palace Hotel.

Where to stay

In Camogli, Brydon and Coogan stayed at the seafront Cenobio dei Dogi ( www.cenobio.it ), which has elegant bedrooms and access to a private beach (doubles from €190). Villa Cimbrone ( villacimbrone.com ) in Ravello, a medieval palazzo perched above the Gulf of Salerno, has played host to many illustrious guests, from Virginia Woolf and DH Lawrence to Winston Churchill (doubles from €360). The Capri Palace Hotel ( capripalace.com ) is the grand dame of Italian hotels, with a spa, Michelin-starred restaurant and exclusive beach club (from €395). Tour operator Citalia ( citalia.com ) can provide a tailor-made self-drive holiday from Liguria to Capri with prices from £1,335pp for nine nights.

‘The Trip to Italy’ is being screened by the BBC in the UK; it will be shown in Australia and the US next month, and other countries later in the year

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The Trip to Italy Is Enjoyable, Even If It Aims Too High

Three years after the agreeably poky, faux-verite-style road comedy The Trip , actors, comics, mimics, and uneasy mates Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon return—or, rather, depart once more—in The Trip to Italy . Last time, Coogan (as “Steve Coogan”) was hired to write a newspaper feature about eating in the north of England, and he brought along Brydon (as “Rob Brydon”) as a last-minute replacement for his girlfriend. Even with the banter and the ludicrously foam-topped cuisine and the incessant impersonations (the classic was their dueling Michael Caines, each progressively more nasal and phlegmy and emphatic), the journey was a melancholy one. The promiscuous Coogan was increasingly swallowed in a fog of lonely self-absorption, while Brydon—his wife and baby in London—extemporized in a void.

In the sequel, they visit Umbria, Rome, and sundry vista-rich locations on the Italian coast, joking early on about how sequels are rarely very good with the obvious exception of The Godfather Part II —an observation that prompts the first of Brydon’s attempts at doing Al Pacino. Coogan has matured but seems, if anything, more depressed, his career in a stall, while Brydon moves to the forefront.

Brydon is very likable in small doses, but this is a big one. He’s a blabber, in this case consumed by the words (and the burial sites) of the Romantic poets, among them his near-namesake, Byron. And he’s beginning to chafe at the demands of his wife, who is none too pleased with his abandonment of her and their child for a holiday in the sun.

The ancient, sublimely morbid settings (particularly the remains of the victims of Pompeii, forever preserved at the moment of death) throw the men’s sense of mortality into even starker relief; Coogan is especially sad that at their age the beautiful young women—he quotes Garrison Keillor—“look right through you.” One girl has, he observes, “a lovely gait. Probably padlocked.” He begins the journey by eschewing wine but is soon imbibing alongside Brydon. It makes him even more sodden.

Director Michael Winterbottom cuts frequently to the kitchens in which their dishes are prepared, but the Italian plates don’t have the delicious absurdity of the ones in Yorkshire. The cutaways are rote gestures—or perhaps they’re to remind us once again that there are hardworking laborers behind each dish consumed by our haut-bourgeois protagonists. Their sense of entitlement is not especially attractive, although, to be fair, it’s not meant to be.

How is the banter. Mezzo-mezzo. When Brydon’s iPod won’t play, the pair listen to Alanis Morrisette, which leads to spirited banter on the subject of high-strung women. (Coogan: “[She’d be] volatile, sexy when you first meet her, but then it’s, ‘Could you just put the lid back on the jars, please?’”) They speculate on whose legs they’d like to eat if their plane crash-landed in the Andes. You’ll be pleased to hear that there is another funny Caine-off, this one pegged to The Dark Knight Rises , with additional good riffs on the subject of Tom Hardy’s unintelligibility. Brydon’s take on Hugh Grant’s lock-jawed ditheriness is peerless, but his Pacino isn’t as good as he thinks it is—and there’s a lot of it.

As befits its settings, The Trip to Italy aims higher than its predecessor—maybe too high—and isn’t as fresh. I enjoyed it, though. One of the shameless pleasures that movies offer is the chance to watch bright people in splendid places doing things (eating sumptuous food, giving in to sexual temptation) that we would love to be doing ourselves; and the dash of literary pretention in the form of quotes from Byron and Shelley (some read in the Welsh tones of Richard Burton) only adds to the savor. In other words: Mangia !

*This is an extended version of an article that appears in the August 11, 2014 issue of New York Magazine.

*   The original version of this article incorrectly referred to Rob Brydon as Rob Bryden.

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Summary Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon reunite for a new culinary road trip, retracing the steps of the Romantic poets’ grand tour of Italy and indulging in some sparkling banter and impersonation-offs. Rewhetting our palates from the earlier film, the characters enjoy mouthwatering meals in gorgeous settings from Liguria to Capri while riffing on ... Read More

Directed By : Michael Winterbottom

Written By : Michael Winterbottom

The Trip to Italy

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What Makes a Good Road Trip, According to Comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon At Least

By David Fear

Remember that hilarious “Michael Caines” YouTube clip that went viral a few years back? The one with the two British gentleman trying to outdo each other with spot-on impersonations of The Italian Job star? You can thank British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon for that. The Caine-off comes from their film The Trip (2010), a loose, largely improvised comedy in which the real-life friends toured North England’s finest restaurants and rest stops. It was funny, fleet, and a foodie/armchair tourist’s dream. Naturally, they graced us with a sequel.

Premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival this past weekend, The Trip to Italy puts the duo on the road again, tooling around from Rome to the Amalfi coast in a Mini Cooper. (It opens in theaters this August.) We cornered Brydon and recent Oscar nominee Coogan (he wrote and stars in Philomena, up for Best Picture and Best Screenplay) in a Park City eatery, and asked them for a few road-trip tips. They were all too happy to oblige.

What makes a good road trip?

**Rob Brydon: **A comfortable car, for sure.

**Steve Coogan: **I like taking old cars on road trips, like a vintage Bentley. You don’t need a car that goes fast, just one that you won’t mind spending a long time in, slowly driving down long roads.

**Brydon: **The chance to see places you haven’t seen before helps. As does a good companion; you can end up learning as much about the person sitting next to you as you can about the places you visit. And you don’t want to road trip on your own, really.

Coogan: Maybe.

Brydon: [ Stares at Coogan ]

Coogan: Nothing against you, Rob, of course.

**Brydon: **Of course.

What’s the one rule of etiquette that must always be observed on road trips?

Brydon: Not mowing down pedestrians. Nothing puts a damper a road trip quicker than getting the authorities involved.

Coogan: He’s right, you know.

Brydon: [ Beaming ] Thanks, Steve!

Coogan: I’d say not always feeling like you have to keep a conversation going at all times. Sometimes it’s just really nice to enjoy the scenery in silence.

Ideal soundtracks for a road trip?

**Brydon: **You can’t go wrong with classical or jazz. We use a lot of Strauss in The Trip to Italy. It’s good driving music.

**Coogan: **Film soundtracks are always great. Anything by Ennio Morricone or John Barry. [ Pause ] Or anything by Alexandre Desplat, who composed the score for Philomena, my Oscar-nominated movie. [ Laughs ]

**Brydon: **It’s out in theaters now, folks!

Coogan: [ Feigning innocence ] Is it now?

What makes for a good roadside attraction or rest stop?

**Coogan: **Nothing is better than an old English pub, nice and rustic, serving hot food on a frosty winter’s night. It’s the best reason to pull the car off the road and stop.

**Brydon: **Especially if the place isn’t filled with idiots.

**Coogan: **The one I’m picturing is filled with very nice people, Rob.

Brydon: Do tell us what else you see in this imaginary pub of yours, Steve!

**Coogan: **There’s a warm, welcoming glow coming out of the window, as there’s a fire going and people are warming themselves. It’s almost sounds Dickensian, doesn’t it?

**Brydon: **The smell of wood burning is always lovely in a pub. [ Pause ] Though not if the fire is raging out of control, of course.

Coogan: It’s just in the fireplace, Rob.

**Brydon: **Phew.

Three words you’d need to know in any language when going on a trip?

**Coogan: ** Beautiful …

Brydon: Sorry …

**Coogan: **…and drugs.

Best meal you’ve ever had on any trip?

Brydon: Overall, the best meal I’ve had on any trip was when I went to Australia. There was a restaurant called Icebergs at Bondi Beach that served this salt-crusted ribeye steak with potatoes Dauphinoise. We ordered a nice bottle of wine with it and it was a beautiful day, right off of the shore. That whole meal was just…[ Makes lip-smacking noise ]

Best advice to someone planning a trip to Italy?

**Brydon: **You could do worse than to follow the route we were on. Start up north than head south. We saw some absolute spectacular places.

Coogan: If you’re driving through Italy, rent a small car. It’ll help with the winding roads.

**Brydon: **A Mini Cooper is nice. In fact, if anybody from Mini Cooper is reading this now… [ All laugh ]

What’s the one thing you can’t travel without?

Coogan: Mints?

Brydon: Gasoline? It does makes the car go, so…

**Coogan: **A good blanket is a must. I broke down once in the middle of the nowhere, it was foggy and freezing cold, and I couldn’t get any phone reception. I had to wait to flag a truck down, but because I happen to have a blanket with me, I could keep warm while I waited.

Brydon: Were you rescued?

Coogan: Well, yes. I’m sitting here right now, aren’t I?

**Brydon: **[ In mock ominous voice ] But are you, Steve?!?

**Coogan: **So, yes, a nice blanket. And water. [ Pause ] And lots and lots of ammo.

Brydon: He’s such a survivalist at heart, you know.

The Trip to Italy is in theaters this August.

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The Trip to Italy – TV review

"We're not going to be doing any impersonations are we, cos we talked about that," says Steve Coogan to Rob Brydon, as they drive their convertible Mini along a twisty Piedmond road near the start of The Trip to Italy (BBC2). Except they are, obviously, because Brydon has just slipped into Tom Jones. And Ronnie Corbett and Al Pacino – and of course Coogan can't help joining in.

Good, because the impersonations are one of the brilliant things about The Trip. Not so much the impersonations themselves, but rather the way Coogan and Brydon do them, slipping in a Wogan here, a Morrissey there. Or both doing Michael Caine in a Caine-off. And the other will take on an opposite role, a camp assistant director to Tom Hardy's incomprehensible Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, say. They've reinvented the art of impersonation in a way that makes it not just acceptable but also hilarious. Poor Rory Bremner.

Coogan, Bryden and director Michael Winterbottom have also reinvented the travelogue, the food show and scripted reality, so it's not much about where they are, il friggin' coniglio arrosto or whatever. And you never really know what's real. The Observer food columns they say they're writing are obviously not; but what about the the good-looking young people on the hotel terrace at the end? Real or placed there?

It doesn't matter though: there are plenty of truths about ageing, family, work – and friendship. Interesting what Brydon says about being less affable in real life than on screen. I interviewed him once. He was awkward, and I got nowhere; I interviewed Coogan who was friendly, forthcoming, affable even. The opposite of their screen personas.

Anyway, together they work. That's really what it is: a double act, a couple of middle-aged blokes arsing about in Italy, being funny – about eating Mo Farah's legs, and not eating Stephen Hawking's, after an Andean plane crash. Not just poor Rory B, but poor anyone trying to be funny on television. Because this is funnier.

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Drinking and Driving: On the Road Again With Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon

'the trip to italy' is 'sideways' meets 'my dinner with andre,' and the result is delectable.

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon have reunited for The Trip to Italy , Michael Winterbottom’s hilarious follow-up to 2010’s British road comedy The Trip , based on the BBC series of the same name.

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The premise of this installment is almost exactly the same as the first. Mr. Coogan and Mr. Brydon, playing themselves, are now coasting through the Italian countryside in a Mini Cooper—a tongue-in-cheek nod to The Italian Job —on a second restaurant reviewing assignment for London’s Observer newspaper. They stop along the way to eat mouthwatering meals as they improvise Godfather impressions, rock out to Alanis Morissette and quote Byron and Shelley.

It’s Sideways meets My Dinner With Andre —a low-key, sensual affair punctuated by off-the-cuff moments of brilliant wit and wordplay—and the result is delectable, in spite of Mr. Coogan’s self-conscious misgivings—meta-commentary on the film itself, one imagines—about repeating the trip.

“It’s like trying to do a sequel, isn’t it?” Mr. Coogan, whose star turn in last year’s Philomena has no doubt endeared him to American audiences, says at the film’s first meal, in which he and Mr. Brydon vow not to do impressions but quickly—and thankfully—break their oath. “It’s never going to be as good as the first time.”

In this case, it is and it isn’t. The Trip was a charmingly mellow and meandering film set amid Britain’s rainy, rolling farmland. But it wasn’t all clever mealtime repartee, even though Messrs. Coogan and Brydon may be the funniest comedic duo in Britain. The film had a dreary undercurrent tied to Mr. Coogan’s loneliness and self-doubt—about being a middling celebrity and maintaining a connection to his son. The contrast between the funniest Michael Caine impression you’ll ever hear and Mr. Coogan’s darker side may have made for some dissonance, but it also added necessary depth to an otherwise breezy film.

The Trip to Italy , which takes place over the period of a week, is a bit breezier, and the impressions are even more plentiful than the wine drunk at almost every meal. Mr. Brydon’s man-in-a-box routine gets some deserved attention when he engages in conversation with a fossilized corpse on Mount Vesuvius, and his Al Pacino is priceless, as is his take on Tom Hardy as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises . Mr. Coogan, whose graying hair is cut shorter than it was in the original film, does a marvelous Pierce Brosnan.

Mr. Brydon is still the jolly foil to Mr. Coogan, an acerbic wit whose competitive nature often gets the best of him, but this time around, Mr. Brydon is the introspective one, at least when he’s alone. His wife is distant, and he’s about to break into the American film market, which puts him in an awkward position with his family, as he will have to spend weeks away from them in Hollywood.

Eventually, Mr. Brydon’s impressions become overbearing and begin to drag, and the punch lines, largely improvised, test your patience. The movie, you feel, goes on a bit too long, like a dinner guest who’s overstayed.

These are, however, minor complaints. The real delight of The Trip to Italy is in the simple, satisfying pleasure of watching this pair, at every meal—and there are oh so many—eat and talk and argue and make jokes, and eat and talk and argue and make jokes, and eat and talk and …

• SEE ALSO : Will Keen On Playing Vladimir Putin On Broadway in ‘Patriots’

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Comedy series starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. The pair agree to review six restaurants on a road trip around Italy.

Il Riccio, Capri

All available episodes (6 total)

Supporting Content

• The first series of The Trip

There's something about Sicily — Il Riccio, Capri

Where do you stand on Michael Bublé? — Villa Cimbrone, Ravello

Rob's Audition — Hotel Locarno, Rome

Separating Byron from Brydon — La Suvera, Pievescola

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Lasting Impressions

By David Denby

It’s been said of great mimics that they capture not just the voice and the manner of their subjects but their very souls. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, master impersonators and stars of the new comedy “The Trip to Italy,” are after something less grand and, in many ways, funnier. The movie is a sequel to “The Trip” (2011)—both were directed by Michael Winterbottom—and it repeats the earlier film’s mixed tone of hilarity and melancholia, as well as its absurd premise: the two men (they play themselves) are on an all-expenses-paid trip for the Observer . Their tough assignment is to drive through beautiful country, eat lavishly, and stay in exquisite small hotels, all so that one or the other can write high-toned culinary drivel for the paper. (They don’t actually know anything about food.) “The Trip” was set in the bleakly magnificent scenery of the hills and moors of the North of England; this film is set mainly along the incomparable coast (Liguria, Amalfi) of Italy. As the men amble through paradise, savoring such dishes as polpo alla griglia and coniglio arrosto , they take turns topping each other with riotous impressions of movie stars. They aren’t interested in anyone’s soul; they see themselves simply as professionals in an exacting trade that requires getting Christian Bale’s guttural whisper and Roger Moore’s English-butter croon exactly right. They also try to one-up each other as men, vying for professional success and for the attention of the invariably lovely women they meet. Sharks have duller teeth than Coogan and Brydon. Both movies, in fact, are about the impossibility—and the necessity—of male friendship.

Each film began as a six-part series on the BBC, and what we see, presumably, are the highlights. Yet if I hadn’t known that the footage had been cut way down I wouldn’t have guessed it. Winterbottom laid out the gist of a given scene, and the men improvised the rest, often taking off on bizarrely intricate riffs. Driving, eating, checking into hotels, lying alone (and sometimes not alone) at night—the recurring scenes, like the refrain of a song, give the movie formal clarity and simplicity, while, within the scenes, the editors (Mags Arnold, Paul Monaghan, and Marc Richardson) smooth what must have been ragged exchanges into unbroken streams of conversation.

The pace almost equals that of Robin Williams doing standup, but Coogan and Brydon reprise their best sallies for rhythm and for emphasis, so you won’t miss anything that matters. Ogling the scenery in “The Trip to Italy,” you wonder if the men’s small car—a Mini Cooper—will drive off the edge of a cliff, or if, when they board a yacht in the Golfo dei Poeti, someone will fall overboard and drown. But the “plot” is no more than the men’s thorny emotional connection and their mutual fixation on death. The only conventional suspense is whether Brydon and Coogan will return to their families or remain among the young women of Sorrento and Positano, catching octopus and squid.

Brydon, who is largely unknown in this country, has a long pale face, a Bugs Bunny smile, and pitted skin like that of his fellow-Welshman Richard Burton. Brydon’s voice is like Burton’s, too—baritonal, musical, and expansive. When Brydon reads Shelley in his imitation-Burton voice, he sounds nearly as authoritative as the Master. (He also does a mean Ian McKellen.) Brydon’s voice can go up or down an octave, or shrink, through some glottal mystery, to the tiny sound of a man in a box, a favorite routine that he does on British TV. Perhaps the most extraordinary of his impressions is a long series in “The Trip” devoted to Michael Caine at different stages of his life, from a snarling young Cockney to the elderly, hyper-polite butler in the “Batman” movies. Even as Brydon delivers his rendition, however, Coogan disputes his technique. You have to talk through your nose, he says; you have to get the nasality right, and he honks through his Michael Caine. For both men, craft is a passion, and the voice is supreme. When Brydon does Hugh Grant, the meaning of the words gets lost in a thicket of Grantian hesitations, jokes, and daft circumlocutions, only to emerge victoriously in a proposal that few women could resist. An actor’s distinctive voice is not just an element of leading-man stardom (which the two know they will never achieve) but the main equipment of sexual prowess. Coogan and Brydon’s Hollywood envy keeps the comedy free of sycophancy and appropriately hostile. Imitating well is the best revenge.

Coogan is best known here for his work in the Stephen Frears movie “Philomena” (2013), in which he played the real-life journalist Martin Sixsmith, an argumentative skeptic who helps Judi Dench’s Philomena Lee, a forgiving Catholic Irish woman, search for her long-lost son. Working in a softened version of screwball comedy, Coogan and Dench bantered with spirit but without sentiment. Yet, even in that relatively gentle role, Coogan, frowning, his pursed lips bordering on a sneer, came off as an articulate grouch. In the “Trip” films, playing a version of himself, he’s intelligent and dyspeptic, a man too clever to live by illusions but too ambitious to give them up. He’s dissatisfied with everything—his career, his relationship with his children, his waning sexual attractiveness—and he takes it out on his friend. In return, Brydon, in “The Trip to Italy,” concocts no fewer than three fantasies of murdering him, including a precise reënactment of the famous retaliation scene from “The Godfather: Part II.” As a portrait of male friendship, the “Trip” films are a triumph of the lean British comic style over the maunder and the mush of American bromance—Jason Segel and Seth Rogen pinching each other’s blubber.

Both films pursue the high and the low: a complicated deep-running sadness courses through the cynical, sybaritic adventures. In “The Trip,” Coogan and Brydon visit the villages where Wordsworth and Coleridge lived; they invade the poets’ tiny rooms, and recite, under gray skies, stretches of their early work, most of it devoted to loss and grief. The readings are done straight, with love and skill. Yet we’re meant to notice the diminution: from nature as spiritual necessity to tourist site; from poetry to show business; from inspiration to career worries. Coogan and Brydon abhor self-aggrandizement and self-promoting bluster—they know that what they do isn’t poetry.

The implicit comparisons recur in Italy, where the men visit the towns in which the sexual outlaws Byron and Shelley lived, shortly before their deaths. The comics perform funerary obsequies for the poets and again recite in their own and others’ voices. “The Trip to Italy,” for all its japes, is haunted by mortality, as was its namesake, “Viaggio in Italia” (1954), the Rossellini masterpiece starring George Sanders and Ingrid Bergman as a warring couple dismally on tour. Like them, Coogan and Brydon visit the museum at Pompeii, with its plaster casts of the bodies of the dead. Rossellini showed us a couple who died locked in embrace when Vesuvius exploded, a harsh reflection on the modern couple’s marital anguish. Here, in a blasphemous reduction, Brydon summons his man-in-a-box voice to play a Pompeian lying in a glass case; the two carry on a discreet gay flirtation. It’s not that the end is nigh for these men, but death, for them and for Winterbottom, is always present in life. Over and over on the soundtrack, Winterbottom plays the beginning of “Im Abendrot,” the last of Richard Strauss’s “Four Last Songs,” composed in 1948, a year before he died, at the age of eighty-five. The use of classical music in movies normally makes me wince, but in this film the glorious Strauss farewell fits every time.

James Agee, writing in The Nation , in 1946, noted that Groucho Marx, working with “extremely sophisticated wit . . . has always been slowed and burdened by his audience, even on the stage. He needs an audience that could catch the weirdest curves he could throw, and he needs to have no anxiety or responsibility toward even a blunter minority, let alone majority.” That audience now exists; it has been created during the past forty years by British and American television, particularly by cable television. Whether such people go to the movies anymore is a vexed question. On the opening day of “The Trip to Italy,” I sat in a New York art house among a gathering of decidedly mature viewers, who were apparently expecting a beach-and-mountain travelogue. For a hundred and ten minutes, watching some of the funniest comedy in years, they maintained a puzzled silence. The British, in their curious game of cricket, don’t throw weird curves; they deliver fast bowls. The two Winterbottom-Coogan-Brydon movies deserve an American audience, ready for wit, that can play along. ♦

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By Michael Schulman

By Anthony Lane

By Brendan Loper

By Louisa Thomas

Rob Brydon's guide to Italy

The Trip to Italy is back for a repeat visit this weekend, so we get the lowdown on the best restaurants, finest wines and biggest laughs to be had on a road trip from Piedmont to Capri...

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Comic duo Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan embark on a Grand Tour-style journey through Italy this weekend (The Trip to Italy begins at 11pm, Friday 17th April, on GOLD ). Travelling to Piedmont, Tuscany, Rome and Capri in a Mini Cooper (naturally), the pair stop often to indulge in some fine Italian grub. Brydon explains how we can follow in their footsteps...

1. Piedmont

A bottle (or two) of Barolo

"Filming the first series, I put on eight pounds, so on this trip I didn’t tuck in with as much gusto and almost unbelievably I came back without having put on any weight," explains Brydon. "The wine was my weakness — the restaurants would always recommend one and they seemed to get it right from where I was sitting. I’m partial to a glass of barolo. It’s quite full-bodied but I’m no Jilly Goolden... I imagine Steve [Coogan] thinks he’s more of a connoisseur."

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Mutiny in the Med

"Camogli is a little port with these wonderful tall, thin, old-fashioned italian buildings — all painted yellow, mustard or gold," explains Bryson. "We stayed in a hotel just up a little hill from the harbour. At night you’d hear the pebbles on the beach being swept up by the waves. It was very atmospheric. From there we chartered a yacht and channelled Anthony Hopkins in The Bounty (as you do)."

Visit Italy with Radio Times Travel, see here for more details

Just the two of us

"We stayed at a beautiful converted monastery in Pievescola that I’d stayed at previously with my wife," remembers Brydon. "People often ask: 'Was that your real wife on the end of the phone?' to which I reply: 'that’s absurd.' there’s nobody else that’s real in The Trip. it’s just Steve and me. For example, in the series I have one daughter aged two or three. In reality, I have five children who are 19, 17, 14, five and two."

Mini roadtrip

"It’s not overstating it to say the scenery from Rome down to the Amalfi coast is breathtaking," says Brydon. "I’d always imagined it to be a bit twee but it was majestic. And if you’re going to navigate the Amalfi coast, a Mini is the perfect car because the roads are so narrow and windy. Steve is disdainful of my driving in the show, and he’s fairly disdainful in real life as well. For the record, it’s worth adding that on the two occasions that we’ve been on Top Gear I’ve beaten him. I’m not a stickler but I do think that fact should be noted in Radio Times ."

5. Campania

Making a good impression

"Ravello is famous for being the place where Gore Vidal saw out his days — and I very much enjoyed honing my impression of him while I was there," says Brydon. "Ravello was also the setting for Beat the Devil, a John huston film starring humphrey bogart. In fact, we filmed at Villa cimbrone, which is where some of the scenes in that film take place and where all the actors and huston stayed. Villa cimbrone is a hotel way, way up high — up above the clouds. It has almost a literal heavenly feel."

Giving in to temptation

"My favourite restaurant, Il Riccio, was perched on a cliff on the Isle of Capri from which the diners can feast on a vista of sparkling sea," says Brydon. "The seafood linguine (I have a particular fondness for seafood) was out of this world. When you come to your dessert, they have a chilled, temperature-controlled room full of neapolitan delicacies. I believe it’s called the 'temptation room'. you wander round, choose what you want and take it back outside into the warmth. I put my money where my mouth is and my wife and I have already been back since filming."

The Trip to Italy is repeated at 11pm, Friday 17th April, on GOLD

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Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan's Italian road trip

The Trip We were there in June - just before it gets too packed. And it was glorious. We drove in an open-topped Mini, from Piedmont in the north, and then down all the way to Capri. The plot is that I've been asked by the Observer to review restaurants in Italy. In the last series, Steve called me up and asked me to come, but this time I'm phoning him. So off we go! Down to the Amalfi Coast - five weeks it took. What an incredible experience, and with so much fantastic changing scenery. Did you know you can see the Alps from Piedmont? The snow-capped Alps! From Piedmont, it was to the coast, where we went to a place called Camogli, which I loved. It felt very real - oh, and we went on a yacht, which was terrific fun. What kind of yacht? Um, it was a boat. A restored teak boat. A yacht, you know. So that was Camogli, and from Camogli we went inland to near Siena, around Tuscany - then to Pisa and from there to Rome.

My Mate Steve We have this great chemistry and the ability to bounce off each other. There's a nice bit of rivalry between us - which of us knows more about the culture, or the food and the wine. I took some Italian lessons before I went. But the reality is that we wouldn't actually have those conversations - we wouldn't sit there niggling at each other and doing impressions. The crew often stayed in another hotel down the road, so we'd find it was just Steve and me in the evening, eating again in a nice hotel - and those would actually be very civil, cordial meals.

The Crew A lot of people seemed to think that the last Trip was a reality show, a sort of fly-on-the-wall documentary. It's not - it's a confection, a fiction, with some truth in it. Michael Winterbottom, right, is the author - he writes the outline and Steve and I colour it in. So it's Michael who decides we're going to Italy. It's Michael who decides we'll follow in the footsteps of Byron and Shelley. And it's Michael who decides what happens on the journey. And then we improvise. Lots of actors go and film in nice places, but it's the way we work with Michael that makes it so special. His wife Melissa is the producer, and they had their little boy Jack with them (he's two). I'd worked with a lot of the crew before, so it's like a road trip with friends.

The Culture #1 It was a sort of Grand Tour, following in Shelley and Byron's footsteps. We went to the Protestant Cemetery in Rome, where Shelley's ashes are buried. And we went to where Shelley's body was washed up. We did the Colosseum and the Spanish Steps, below, and went where Gregory Peck lives in Roman Holiday , and where Audrey Hepburn walks up a street.

The Food #1 I put on eight pounds during the last series, eating in restaurants across Yorkshire. So I was much more aware this time that I wasn't just there to have a nice meal. I was there to do some work. Mind you, I remember a very satisfying stuffed onion - creamy potato and ham. It was just exquisite. And we had some great Barolo wines. Michael ordered lobster linguine in Genoa - and it was out of this world. I want to go back. Food like that - it's a sensuous experience, it's sensual, like a feeling.

The Food #2 On the Amalfi Coast, it's seafood, seafood, seafood. Wonderful. There was a little family-run restaurant at Praiano and it had this seafood risotto - it was like nothing you've ever tasted. Mmmm.

The Culture #2 So I was expecting Pompeii to be just one street, but it's huge. You get such a feel for what it was like there. At one point Steve said, 'It's amazing to think that this is where Frankie Howerd filmed Up Pompeii all those years ago.' And then we were looking at one of those plaster casts of bodies, in a glass case, and I did my 'Small Man in a Box' impression. Steve walked away in disgust.

Amalfi I thought the Amalfi Coast would be a little twee, but it's actually enormous. It's overwhelming. It's very glamorous. Very label-centric. Very expensive. Ravello was one of my favourite places, and we stayed near Positano, in a place called Praiano. And then finished in Capri.

The Food #3 The very last restaurant was in Capri - a fantastic place called Il Riccio, twinned with the Capri Palace. It was glorious. They actually have a room called the Temptation Room - it's chilled, and spread out before you are these amazing puddings. I had profiteroles. And crispy things with something soft inside. Mmmm.

The Trip to Italy will be broadcast by the BBC in the spring/summer.

<p class="introText paragraphLabel">

We were there in June - just before it gets too packed. And it was glorious. We drove in an open-topped Mini, from Piedmont in the north, and then down all the way to Capri. The plot is that I've been asked by the Observer to review restaurants in Italy. In the last series, Steve called me up and asked me to come, but this time I'm phoning him. So off we go! Down to the Amalfi Coast - five weeks it took. What an incredible experience, and with so much fantastic changing scenery. Did you know you can see the Alps from Piedmont? The snow-capped Alps! From Piedmont, it was to the coast, where we went to a place called Camogli, which I loved. It felt very real - oh, and we went on a yacht, which was terrific fun. What kind of yacht? Um, it was a boat. A restored teak boat. A yacht, you know. So that was Camogli, and from Camogli we went inland to near Siena, around Tuscany - then to Pisa and from there to Rome

My Mate Steve

We have this great chemistry and the ability to bounce off each other. There's a nice bit of rivalry between us - which of us knows more about the culture, or the food and the wine. I took some Italian lessons before I went. But the reality is that we wouldn't actually have those conversations - we wouldn't sit there niggling at each other and doing impressions. The crew often stayed in another hotel down the road, so we'd find it was just Steve and me in the evening, eating again in a nice hotel - and those would actually be very civil, cordial meals.

A lot of people seemed to think that the last Trip was a reality show, a sort of fly-on-the-wall documentary. It's not - it's a confection, a fiction, with some truth in it. Michael Winterbottom, right, is the author - he writes the outline and Steve and I colour it in. So it's Michael who decides we're going to Italy. It's Michael who decides we'll follow in the footsteps of Byron and Shelley. And it's Michael who decides what happens on the journey. And then we improvise. Lots of actors go and film in nice places, but it's the way we work with Michael that makes it so special. His wife Melissa is the producer, and they had their little boy Jack with them (he's two). I'd worked with a lot of the crew before, so it's like a road trip with friends.

The Culture #1

It was a sort of Grand Tour, following in Shelley and Byron's footsteps. We went to the Protestant Cemetery in Rome, where Shelley's ashes are buried. And we went to where Shelley's body was washed up. We did the Colosseum and the Spanish Steps, below, and went where Gregory Peck lives in Roman Holiday, and where Audrey Hepburn walks up a street.

The Food #1

I put on eight pounds during the last series, eating in restaurants across Yorkshire. So I was much more aware this time that I wasn't just there to have a nice meal. I was there to do some work. Mind you, I remember a very satisfying stuffed onion - creamy potato and ham. It was just exquisite. And we had some great Barolo wines. Michael ordered lobster linguine in Genoa - and it was out of this world. I want to go back. Food like that - it's a sensuous experience, it's sensual, like a feeling.

The Food #2

On the Amalfi Coast, it's seafood, seafood, seafood. Wonderful. There was a little family-run restaurant at Praiano and it had this seafood risotto - it was like nothing you've ever tasted. Mmmm.

The Culture #2

So I was expecting Pompeii to be just one street, but it's huge. You get such a feel for what it was like there. At one point Steve said, 'It's amazing to think that this is where Frankie Howerd filmed Up Pompeii all those years ago.' And then we were looking at one of those plaster casts of bodies, in a glass case, and I did my 'Small Man in a Box' impression. Steve walked away in disgust.

I thought the Amalfi Coast would be a little twee, but it's actually enormous. It's overwhelming. It's very glamorous. Very label-centric. Very expensive. Ravello was one of my favourite places, and we stayed near Positano, in a place called Praiano. And then finished in Capri.

The Food #3

The very last restaurant was in Capri - a fantastic place called Il Riccio, twinned with the Capri Palace. It was glorious. They actually have a room called the Temptation Room - it's chilled, and spread out before you are these amazing puddings. I had profiteroles. And crispy things with something soft inside. Mmmm. The Trip to Italy will be broadcast by the BBC in the spring/summer.

By Annabel Sampson

By Laetitia de Belgique

By Rebecca Cope

By Ben Jureidini

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Steve is asked to review restaurants for the UK's Observer who is joined on a working road trip by his friend Rob who fills in at the last minute when Coogan's romantic relationship falls ap... Read all Steve is asked to review restaurants for the UK's Observer who is joined on a working road trip by his friend Rob who fills in at the last minute when Coogan's romantic relationship falls apart. Steve is asked to review restaurants for the UK's Observer who is joined on a working road trip by his friend Rob who fills in at the last minute when Coogan's romantic relationship falls apart.

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• Trivia Steve Coogan states in his autobiography that he and Rob Brydon both initially disliked the pitch for the series, but went along with it anyway due to their friendship with Michael Winterbottom .
• Alternate versions A 90-minute feature version was shown at film festivals a few months before the screening of the TV series.
• Connections Edited into The Trip (2010)

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The Trip to Italy: How to recreate Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan's gastronomic journey through the European countryside

• MailOnline Travel visit the restaurants and landmarks from the 2014 hit film
• From pasta in Pisa to cocktails in Capri - the ultimate foodie break revealed
• Italy's Amalfi coast, Rome, Pievescola and more visited on tailormade tour 

By Sofia Zagzoule For Mailonline

Published: 05:03 EDT, 25 October 2015 | Updated: 15:01 EDT, 25 October 2015

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Millions watched The Trip to Italy – not for the Michael Caine impressions really – but for those drop dead gorgeous views of the country, and for the food, mostly for the food. 

Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan were ostensibly following in the footsteps of romantic poets Shelley and Byron but in reality the actors were eating their way around a country famous for its food and the show must have given the tourist board a massive boost. 

It certainly made me determined to see more of Italy. To find out if such a trip was manageable and affordable without being paid for by TV wigs I sought the assistance of Citalia, the Italian Holiday Specialists who have 85 years' experience of arranging tailor-made trips, and here are my findings.

Bagni Di Pisa  

Nestled in northern Italy's tumbling olive groves lies the luxurious 18th century restored palace Bagni Di Pisa 

The hotel's many thermal pools are rich in sulphur, calcium and magnesium and pumped out at 37 degrees

A seven-minute walk from San Giuliano Terme station, this hotel is four miles from the Leaning Tower of Pisa

In keeping with the grand ethos Rob and Steve become accustomed to during their trip, Bagni Di Pisa is an 18th century restored palace and the ancient summer residence of Grand Duke of Tuscany. 

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Nestled in northern Italy's tumbling olive groves think soft Tuscan hills, marble bathtubs, antique furniture, and 17th Century artwork just 10km from Pisa airport. 

We learn we've just missed Elton John and Billy Idol and that the poet Shelley was a guest back in the day at the 60 room five-star residence. No surprise given the splendour of our room which has two floors, an iron spiral staircase with original frescoes decorating a ceiling dripping in chandeliers. 

The beautiful hotel boasts a large spa with natural hot springs and a pool set in San Giuliano Terme, Italy

The spa programmes at the hotel have been developed to solve several problems caused by a bad nutrition

As well as an incredible spa and the hotel's many thermal pools – rich in sulphur, calcium and magnesium pumped out at 37 degrees - the indulgent five course dinner at the Restaurant Dei Lorena is what we talk about for days afterwards. 

Although there is a healthy option carefully selected for those on the spa's weightloss programme, we steadfastly avoided that.

We opted instead for the five course feast featuring heavenly tomato and cheese ravioli, full-fat mozzarella, Parma ham and a spicy fish soup packed with everything from mussels, clams, lobster and prawns to seabass and bream.

Relais La Suvera, Pievescola  

Located in stately medieval stone buildings, this hotel is close to the 17th-century Villa Cetinale's gardens

Perhaps our favourite stop was this extraordinary five-star villa in South Tuscany once belonging to the descendants of the King of France before being donated to Pope Julius II in the 16th Century - the ornate collection of furniture and art here is testimony to the status of the owners. 

If you're a history, architecture or art buff - La Suvera is the place for you. 

There's also a heated pool, a spa with an ancient medieval cistern and a well-equipped gym if you need to work off all that pasta. Stay in one of 35 rooms or suites in the Papal Villa, the converted farmhouse or stables.

Steve and Rob enjoy a cocktail in the hotel's gardens and then breakfast here after Rob has roped in a staff member to help him audition for a new Mafia drama in episode 3. 

Each room is adorned in the name of a historical figure, perfect for anniversary vacations or honeymoons

Steve and Rob enjoy a cocktail in the hotel's gardens and then breakfast here after Rob has roped in a staff member to help him audition for a new Mafia drama in episode three

Enjoy the exact same spot in Bar Limone that they did overlooking the incredible Tuscan countryside of vineyards and olive groves or take a stroll across the grounds viewing a church, a museum revealing the castle's history, endless fountains and ancient aviaries.

The food here is a major player with the bar and restaurant serving delicious evening meals the highlights of which included tagliatelle with homemade pesto and the best aubergine parmigiana we have ever tasted. 

When you have the added option of pairing the meals with organic, estate-grown wines there really isn't much reason to move.

If you should wish for a change of scene there's a village with the family run Ristorante Locanda Antica Pieve ( www.ristoranteanticapieve.eu ), eight minutes away complete with a framed newspaper cutting telling us the chef once served as Nicole Kidman's private cook. 

The standard of the food lends the claim some gravitas, here we enjoyed exceptional homemade ravioli, gnocchi , antipasti and delicious gelato.

Hotel Donna Camilla Savelli , Rome 

Set in a converted 17th-century convent in Trastevere, this hotel lies a minute's walk from a local bus stop

The area is streaming with live music and bars which are perfect for people watching in Rome

If you're seeking rooms in the Eternal City and want to do it style without breaking the bank, the four- star Hotel Donna Camilla Savelli Rome features a Fully Restored 16th Century Monastery and is situated in the Trastevere area, basically the Soho of the Italian capital. 

Even though this was my fourth trip to Rome it was by far the best thanks to the area which I can't stop recommending to every poor soul I hear heading that way. 

We were completely spoilt for choice for where to eat and drink and enjoyed gigantic and deliciously cheesy pizzas for €7 as street restaurants compete for the trade of hordes of tourists and locals along the main Via Della Scalla, a long winding street with a square at its centre.

Sofia said: 'We were completely spoilt for choice and enjoyed gigantic and deliciously cheesy pizzas'

The hotel is in walking distance is the Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum and Fontana dell'Acqua Paola

For art buffs the Rafael frescoed ceilings and walls of renaissance Villa Farnesina (above) is a well-hidden gem

If you're bar hopping most places bring you a board of generous antipasti to go with your drink. The area's also teaming with live music and perfect for people watching. Grazia & Graziella, Taverna Della Scala and Il Tarallo Allegro all enjoyed our custom.

The hotel offers a roof terrace and is within walking distance is the Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum and Fontana dell'Acqua Paola which affords incredible views across the city. 

Of course Rob and Steve enjoy an indulgent dinner at Oliver Glowig's Michelin starred restaurant in the picturesque Villa Borghese if your budget stretches that far.

For art buffs the Rafael frescoed ceilings and walls of renaissance Villa Farnesina - a short walk from the hotel – is a well-hidden gem that will give you respite from the crowds and room to admire the painted floors, walls and ceilings. Take refuge in the beautiful lemon gardens after ( villafarnesina.it ) 

Minori Palace , Amalfi Coast 

The historic and picturesque town of Rapello is just a few miles away from Minori Palace on the Amalfi Coast

The Minori Palace offers 44 bright rooms with furnished balconies, a nice bar area and a hall

The picturesque little town of Minori is an ideal base to explore the Amalfi region.

The historic and picturesque town of Rapello is just a few kilometres away, the beautiful coastal town where Greta Garbo found refuge in the Thirties, before Gore Vidal made it his home. 

There is a local bus that will take you along the winding roads that are a riot of colour -though having experienced this I would recommend one of the pricier taxis. 

Taking a stroll in the stunning grounds you will see the 'Terrace of Infinity' a natural balcony providing a breathtaking but stomach-flipping view of the Amalfi mountainside

Once here you'll find Villa Cimbrone that Steve and Rob visit in episode 5 and which has played host Virginia Woolf, DH Lawrence and Winston Churchill among others. 

Climb some steep steps to access it while admiring spectacular views of the Amalfi Coast snaking below, enjoy a two-course meal for two for around €80 at the restaurant.

Then take a stroll in stunning grounds and see the 'Terrace of Infinity,' a natural balcony providing a breathtaking but stomach-flipping view of the Amalfi mountainside and Tyrennhian Sea below. The structures date back to at least the 11th century AD and provide the perfect selfie spot. 

The Capri Palace , Capri 

Capri, an island in the Gulf of Naples, is known for its rugged landscape, beach resorts and high-end shops

Suites offer private pools, Egyptian-cotton counterpanes on four-poster beds, sound systems, and plasma TVs

Skip the crowds of day-trippers and get an early morning ferry from Naples or Amalfi to Capri (around 40 – 60 minutes). 

Ride around Anacapri in an open-top taxi marvelling at the luxury all around you. 

If sumptuous dining is what you're after The Capri Palace ( capripalace.com ) is the grand dame of Italian hotels, the place to see and be seen and the island's five-star flagship with a spa, Michelin-starred restaurant and exclusive beach club (featured in The Trip's final episode).

The hotel is the place to be seen and the island has a spa, Michelin-star restaurant and exclusive beach club

If sumptuous dining is what you're after The Capri Palace is the grand dame of Italian hotels

The Island of Capri is one of the most picturesque and visited locations in Campania, Italy

Should you wish for something a bit cheaper Le Arcate Ristorante is the highest rated place for pizza in Capri on trustworthy trip advisor and is a three minute walk. 

Here you'll find pages and pages of good honest Italian fare, pizzas and pastas, for around €6-€14.

Complete with suites offering private pools The Capri Palace Hotel (from €395) offers Egyptian-cotton counterpanes on four-poster beds, sound systems, plasma TVs and marble bathrooms. 

Pretty much the reserve of honeymooners or super rich but a delight to visit - a bit like going to the Ritz in London – and a cocktail on the terrace here watching the sunset is a Capri must-see. 

Dotted with exclusive Italian, international and contemporary art - including plastic mermaids and a boat made of TVs - don't miss the pool turned art installation you can peer into through its aquarium-like windows at the side. And take a dip if you dare. 

TRAVEL FACTS 

Leading Italian specialists Citalia (01293 731 753, www.citalia.com ) can arrange an Italian road trip taking in Liguria, Tuscany, Rome, the Amalfi Coast and Capri, on a B&B basis.

Starting from £1,189 per person including return flights from Gatwick, resort transfers and 10 nights car hire. Based on departures 2 May 2016. 

The BBC Trip To Italy is out now on Blu-ray. 

Share or comment on this article: How to recreate Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan's The Trip to Italy

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Rob Brydon reveals ‘mistake’ he does not want made in Gavin And Stacey finale

By Naomi Clarke, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter

Rob Brydon has said he feels it would be a “mistake” to reveal what happened on the infamous fishing trip in the upcoming last-ever episode of Gavin And Stacey.

The Welsh actor is set to reprise his role of the naive but well-meaning Uncle Bryn when the hit BBC sitcom returns for one final Christmas Day special this year.

A key storyline for his character was the enduring mystery around a fishing trip which he took with his nephew Jason, played by Robert Wilfort.

Viewers have never been told what happened on the excursion except that the two men were close before the incident and that the mention of it makes both of them uncomfortable.

Asked if the mystery will be solved in the last episode, Brydon told The Zoe Ball Breakfast show on BBC Radio 2: “I hope not because I think it’s great that it’s this thing.

“I think it would be a mistake because then people will stop asking, won’t they?”

Speaking of his hopes for the episode, he said: “Just more of the same, really. I always love it.”

He said he particularly enjoyed a speech in the last script where he talks about meeting a woman at a service station who claimed she had lost her wallet and needed to buy a phone.

“He’s so gullible, so that’s lovely to play because the words are just beautiful, I mean it’s a gorgeous script,” he added.

“And then you get to play that and I was playing it to the rest of the cast because we’re all at the pub, they’re all sat there, so you’re looking at the other components then, you can see Matt Horn, you know the way he does his great reaction shots, that sort of double take.”

Brydon admitted he does not have any specific requests for things he would like included, adding: “I just can’t wait to read it and see what they have done.”

The hit TV series, co-written by James Corden and Ruth Jones, last aired in 2019 for a one-off festive episode which ended on a cliffhanger as Nessa (Jones) proposed to Smithy (Corden).

The pair announced in May that the show will return one last time by sharing a photo to Instagram of them holding a 2024 script titled: “Gavin and Stacey: The finale.”

Alongside the post Corden wrote: “Some news… It’s official!!! We have finished writing the last ever episode of Gavin and Stacey. See you on Christmas Day, BBC One. Love Ruth and James.”

Welsh actress Jones had previously shut down rumours that the series would return, telling RTE Radio 1 in February that it was “sadly a rumour”.

The comedy followed the two titular characters Gavin and Stacey, played by Mathew Horne and Joanna Page, as they pursued a relationship across Essex and Wales.

Running for three series from 2007 to 2010, the festive special in 2019 ended with viewers wondering if Smithy would yes say to Nessa’s proposal.

The festive episode scored the highest overnight Christmas ratings in 12 years when it aired, attracting an average audience of 11.6 million viewers, making it the biggest festive special since Christmas Day 2008.

By the new year, it had been viewed by 17.1 million people, making it the biggest scripted programme of the decade at the time.

On the Radio 2 show on Friday morning, Brydon also took his name out of the running for the 2024 Strictly Come Dancing line-up.

He said: “I’ve seen my face come up on stuff and they say: ‘Oh, yeah, he’s doing it’ and I can tell you, apparently, I’m not.”

The actor explained that he would not sign up for the dancing competition as he feels his knees would give way on day one of rehearsals.

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Gavin & Stacey's Rob Brydon shares fishing trip hopes for Christmas special

Gavin & Stacey star Rob Brydon has revealed his hopes for the TV show's reunion and a possible return to one of its biggest mysteries.

After months of speculation, creators of the hit sitcom – Ruth Jones and James Corden –confirmed Gavin & Stacey would return for a Christmas special one last time.

It picks up after the bombshell of the 2019 Christmas episode, in which Jones' character Nessa proposed to the father of her child, Corden's Smithy.

It's not the only unanswered question fans are sure to want resolved, with the looming uncertainty of what exactly happened on the fishing trip between Uncle Bryn (Rob Brydon) and Stacey's brother Jason (Robert Wilfort)

However, Brydon is hoping that the juicy details are left to our imaginations. Speaking at a press junket for his new show My Lady Jane , he told Metro : "I just hope that – and I know they will – they’ll give me some of the juicy things to do."

He continued: "I hope we don’t find out about the fishing trip. That would be a mistake.

"They should keep the mystery. You must never resolve that. That’s the thing. It is the not knowing."

BBC's director of comedy Jon Petrie teased what fans can expect - or rather, what they might expect, as even he hasn't seen the final script yet.

"They are really keeping it under wraps and don't want people to see it outside of their very, very tight circle until they're 100% certain of it," he shared (via Daily Mail ).

"I think it will be hard when they are filming it because it's such a huge show and everyone will want to watch, everyone in all the locations where it's shot, it will be obvious what's being shot," he added.

Corden also offered his own update, telling Zoe Ball's Radio 2 Breakfast Show : "Ruth and I, we have to do one last pass and clean up of [the script] really, because the cast are like, 'When can I read it?' And we're like, 'Ahhh'."

Gavin & Stacey series 1-3 are available to stream on BBC iPlayer. The Gavin & Stacey 2024 Christmas special will air on Christmas Day on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.