Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are taking their fine dining, gentle bickering, ruminations on getting old and endless impersonations of Michael Caine to Sky TV.

After two highly successful series of The Trip on BBC2, the third series will be broadcast on Sky Atlantic.

The series, created and directed by Michael Winterbottom, has seen Coogan and Brydon travel on restaurant tours of northern England and Italy.

This time, the destination is Spain. Coogan said: “Having thought long and hard about yet another sojourn into culinary distractions and middle age, I have reluctantly agreed to Eviva Espana.

“I have a hole in my diary; there will be free food and accommodation and Rob Brydon is surprisingly good company. I also like Michael.”

Coogan and Brydon play semi-fictionalised versions of themselves in the improvised comedy, although it is never exactly clear how blurred the line is between fact and fiction.

In the last series, Coogan talked mournfully about the double-edged success of Alan Patridge, calling him an “albatross around his neck”. Interestingly, Sky also has Partridge on its books, again poached from the BBC, with the second series of Alan Partridge’s Mid Morning Matters due to begin on Tuesday night.

Winterbottom, who last year made a documentary about Russell Brand’s anti-capitalism campaign, said of the new series: “It has been more than three years since the last Trip, and travelling with Rob and Steve is always enjoyable – so it seemed like a good idea to go on another journey together – before they get too old.”

Zai Bennett, director of Sky Atlantic, said The Trip was “as close to perfection” as you can get in comedy. “It’s a rare chance to watch comic masters, totally authoring their work with creative freedom. It’s an absolutely perfect fit for Sky Atlantic.”

Fliming will begin later in the year, with visits to top restaurants in Cantabria, the Basque region, Aragon, Rioja, Castile-La Mancha and Andalusia.