Michael Winterbottom on sending Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon to Italy's Amalfi Coast for The Trip 2
In the three years since Michael Winterbottom packed Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon off on their critically-lauded, largely improvised gastronomic tour of northern England, much has changed. Coogan has been busy transforming Alan Partridge into a film star and bagging an Oscar nomination for Philomena, while Brydon, no slouch either, has popped up in Gangsta Granny.
However, something about two middle-aged men swapping Roger Moore impressions over haute cuisine struck a chord with the viewing public and, as such, the pair have done us all a favour and headed out on the road again for The Trip To Italy.
“In the new series we talk about the problems of doing a second anything – second series, second film, second album, second holiday,” director Winterbottom tells ShortList. “We’ve deliberately structured it in a very similar way to the first series, but they’re three years older and at a slightly different situation in their lives.”
Winterbottom adds, “You can expect more impressions, too. There are one or two new ones [including this clip of Coogan doing Tom Hardy as Bane], though I wouldn’t expect too many. They are very good at what they do, but they have quite a narrow range…”
So, with Italy and ‘The North’ now stamped in their culinary passports, could The Trip become a trilogy and, if so, where to next? “Well, after the first one we all felt we’d never do a second one,” claims Winterbottom. “And now after the second one we feel we’d never do a third.
“But if we were to do one more, I think Steve would quite like to do America, and Rob would quite like to do Australia." Our vote’s for Oz. We’ve got a feeling Brydon’s Paul Hogan would be spectacular.
The Trip To Italy will air on the BBC later this year