Catch ‘An Idiot Abroad’

To hear travel influencers embellish it, travel is nothing but perfect sunsets, transformative experiences and hot stone massages. Ask Karl Pilkington and he’ll tell you he’s been to the ‘Alright Wall of China’ and fished a chunk of phlegm out of his belly button in the Dead Sea.

The star of Sky 1’s ‘An Idiot Abroad’, a British travel show streaming for a limited period on Netflix, Pilkington is brought to us by his friends, collaborators and comedians Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.

Described by Merchant as “some kind of real life Homer Simpson”, Pilkington reluctantly takes us on a tour of the world’s seven wonders amidst endless episodes of the “the sh*ts” brought on by his stomach’s refusal to truly appreciate anything east of tea dunked biscuits.

Though he seems like some sort of character courtesy of the deranged minds of Gervais and Merchant, the truth is Pilkington is a real person.

Deadpan, hilarious and completely unimpressed by everything the rest of the world seems to be gawking at, Pilkington is your quintessential moaner tempered somewhat with a dash of brilliance.

Summing up the majesty of the pyramids as akin to “a game of Jenga that got out of hand”, wondering where to draw the line between food and insect on the streets of China and lamenting people just dying to see the Amazon when there are fish in there that would rather swim up and settle in a penis, Pilkington is strictly filter sold separately.

Though the laughs are huge and sometimes guiltily had given the man’s political incorrectness, what really seems to excuse it all is that Pilkington comes off as a little soft in the head.

Odd looking, mouth often half open, with a noggin like an orange and constantly bullied by Gervais and Merchant who assume the roles of meddlesome handlers who drop in via phone to articulate some or other spanner in the works, Pilkington is a somewhat sympathetic character.

Hilariously scuffing up the rose tint inherent in travelogues, ‘An Idiot Abroad’ is armchair travel like you’ve never experienced it before.

Exploring the seven wonders in the first season, picking a few items off other people’s bucket lists in season two and introducing Warwick Davis (Willow!) in a three episode special, the series is a cure for wanderlust in that it both shows you the world and shines a light on what a pain in the a**e travel can actually be.

Stream this for a laugh and to make a new mate because, by the end of it, Pilkington – odd, incorrect and offensive as he may be – will have won you over.

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