Before Coogan and Rob Brydon’s third foodie adventure, they talk about the perils of ageing – and why they would never do a Trump impersonation

The Trip returns to screens next month – and this time, Steve Coogan and fellow comedian Rob Brydon take to the roads and restaurants of Spain.



But while the location and the channel may have changed – it has moved from the BBC to Sky Atlantic – it will, according to Brydon, have similar preoccupations as its previous outings in the Lake District and Italy.

“Again, it’s all about ageing and mortality, which, at 51, is something I’m personally obsessed with,” said Brydon.

“What I like about doing it every few years is that we do really look older. We’ve aged far more than I would have expected, though we both take more care of ourselves now.”

In the words of Coogan, the show is “Last of the Summer Wine … for Guardian readers”.

Directed by Michael Winterbottom, The Trip to Spain repeats the now-beloved format of a semi-unscripted comedy, based around the interaction between exaggerated versions of Coogan and Brydon as they joke, bicker and impersonate celebrities. While a template of the plot is laid out by Winterbottom, most of the conversation is improvised by the pair.

This third season is also a gastronomic adventure, as the foodie alter-egos of Brydon and Coogan review Spain’s best restaurants for the New York Times and the Observer.

Much has been made of the blurring of fact and fiction in the past series when it comes to Brydon and Coogan’s characters.

“There’s a modicum of truth in the way we portray ourselves, but it really is a small residue,” clarified Coogan. “We do crank up stuff. In real life we are far closer in our tastes and our attitudes, so for the show we try and seek out acrimony and conflict.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘Rob and I spent the evening together recently, genuinely, and it was quite dull. We just chat about things in that boring, middle-class way.’

“Rob and I spent the evening together recently, genuinely, and it was quite dull. We just chat about things in that boring, middle-class way everyone does.”

Brydon chipped in: “I would never in a million years sit at a dinner doing impersonations, arguing over the merits of Wales v the North. It’s ludicrous.”

Brydon said that while he didn’t mind people mistaking the show for a true depiction of events, it had caused him issues in the past, particularly over a storyline where he had a fling in Italy.

“I was worried about the philandering in series two,” he said. “The day after the episode went out, my real wife was taking the boys to school and the teacher came up to her and put her arm around her shoulder and said, ‘This must be a very difficult time for you’.”

Brydon and Coogan’s talents at impersonations, which have come thick and fast throughout the previous two seasons, are similarly prominent in The Trip to Spain, with everyone from Mick Jagger and Roger Moore to David Bowie and Barry Gibb making a vocal appearance.

There is one Brydon impression, however, that Coogan dislikes.

“It annoys me when Rob does me,” said Coogan. “Not in a way that makes me anxious, but I don’t like it.”

Brydon looked surprised. “Really? I couldn’t impersonate someone I didn’t like. I’ve been hearing Trump, who is an impressionist’s dream, but as soon as I try I think, ‘Oh god no’, and it’s the same with Farage. So if I impersonate someone it’s because I’m really fond of them.”

“It still annoys me,” Coogan shot back.

Eight years ago, it took considerable cajoling by Winterbottom to get Coogan and Brydon to agree to the show. Now, three series in, both said they would be open to a fourth if “in a few years we have something else to say”. Ireland has been floated as a possible location.

“It’s all Michael [Winterbottom’s] baby really,” said Brydon. “It’s well known that we improvise loads in it but all the plot things, all the things that happen, are all his ideas and it’s very much his voice. In the end, it all comes down to him.”

The Trip to Spain returns to Sky Atlantic in April