When the kind fellows at Sky One invited the heyuguys.co.uk team down for a preview screening for the first episode for the eagerly awaited second series of An Idiot Abroad we were quite naturally chomping at the bit.

Ever since Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s unveiled the lovable round-headed twat that is Karl Pilkington, the World has embraced him with open arms.  From a XFM radio show to a ridiculously successful podcast; the trio branched into a television show that allowed Gervais to take part in “the most expensive practical joke he’s ever done“. Whisking dear Karl around the planet to visit the 7 Wonders, we were treated to the Manc’s genius views on the Pyramids (“a massive game of Jenga that has got out of hand”), Brazil’s Christ The Redeemer (“He looked like Jimmy Hill”) and the Great Wall of China (“It goes over the hills and stuff ….but so does the M6“).

For Season Two, we switch from the Seven Wonders to the Bucket List, forcing Karl to experience the most popular things to do before you die – Not that the grumpy former radio producer ever shares their sentiment.  Expect jumping from planes, swimming with dolphins and bungee-jumping; as an incredibly entertaining and reluctant Pilkington trudges his way into every kind of situation that Gervais and Merchant can muster up in their cauldron of calamity.  Episode One fires the bald one straight into the sandy deep end, having to spend a night alone on a desert island…but not before trying out ‘Land Diving’ – the insanely dangerous original version of the bungee-jump, and joining not one, but two tribes; who Karl continuously notes aren’t ones for wearing underwear, preferring fetching but rather revealing grass skirts.

Although it’s very much the same format as Season One, watching Karl surprised at every step of his journey with well placed phone calls from Ricky and Stephen, to drop yet another bombshell upon Karl’s increasingly pissed off khaki-shorted lap is a joy.  The fact that An Idiot Abroad is Sky’s highest rated show of the last three years is no surprise.  It is ingeniously funny, relying on Karl’s dry comic timing that flips from the bashfully uncomfortable to the damn right hilarious in a matter of Manchester muttered seconds.  Some may mention the similarity of Season Two’s Episode One to the a few of the previous; but as you seesaw between laughing with and at Karl, it’s very much the case of if it ain’t broke.

Matt Hamm
@jadedlittlepill