TWO WORDS.
FUCKING HILARIOUS!
I knew very little of Karl Plkington before I arrived at this series. I can now safely say I have indeed met my soul mate.
KARL is a wonderfully honest,hilarious doubting Thomas that leaves us begging for more of his eternal whingeing.
The idea for the show arised from good buddies Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant agreeing to send Karl to visit the Seven wonders of the world. Fair enough you say?
The trouble is Karl is a man who likes to stay in his comfort zone and has rarely left his hometown of Manchester for nearly 40 years albeit for some childhood Holidays in Wales.
Ricky cheekishly admits he WANTS Karl to hate every moment of it; if for his own amusement.
Accordingly Karl does and Ricky and Stephen are constantly sending their comrade up the garden path. Yelling at him down the line "this is not a holiday mate"-GET TO WORK!
Shoving him in caves,sticking him on camels and promising him a night in the Honeymoon suite. The suite turns out to "smell like shit" and have an ensuite shed. Here we see Karl hit an all time low.
What I love about this series is its commitment. It had a very clear vision and it was executed by Mr Pilkington with an innate precision.
Ive long debated whether Karl himself is a "character" that comically pandas to the needs of Gervais and Merchant.
If he is -so what! Give the guy an Oscar!
If he's actually himself-where do I meet him!?
It so refreshing to be introduced to someone who literally cant lie. He does not claim to be a well travelled Historian like his colleagues. Rather, a man with simple tastes who calls it as he sees it.
The reason it resonates is;its often what we the audience are actually thinking ourselves.
For instance,why take a 10 hour camel ride when you can drive there in half an hour!!???
Yes Karl you were certainly out of your comfort zone on several occasions. But you dug deep and as an audience member I'm truly grateful.
Despite the constant tyranny,there were moments of real tenderness. Karl was able to laugh at himself (not a common thing for Poms)He had a natural affinity with the people he came across and this was clearly reciprocated. I loved his meeting with the Elephant Baba. A potentially difficult interview which Pilkington breezed through. I also enjoyed his brief time with an Indian guru who insisted he swim in the Ganges and reminded Karl "to love himself".
Good advice for all.
When Ricky mentions to Karl that Sky 1 are keen to do another season-Karl VEHEMENTLY protests!
He feels he couldn't possibly after all the fuck ups.
Luckily for us there will be a new series based around the idea of a Bucket List. Things people want to do before they die. I heard a rumour Karl will be gracing Australian shores to swim with sharks......
An Idiot Abroad gets 5 stars from me. Sure not every episode had me rolling in the isles but most of the stuff here did. A deep throaty,thigh slapping laugh that simply heals.
Do yourself a favour people and introduce yourself to the uncompromising idiot abroad-
MR KARL PILKINGTON- NOT a simple man!
JAX
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