This programme contains some strong language.
Hello. Steve?
Yes, who's this?
It's Rob.
Oh, hey, hey.
How are you? Good, how are you?
Yes, good, how's the show going?
Just finished, just starting the hiatus.
Yeah, I know, I spoke to your agent.
Listen, the Observer wants us to do more restaurant reviews over six lunches.
Really?
But this time in Italy, Marbella Italia, yeah?
Beautiful countryside, beautiful wine,
beautiful women, beautiful food.
What do you think?
Well...
And they'll fly you to Europe.
What, first class?
Or business or upper class Virgin.
This is according to the Observer, 'nowhere in Italy compares
'with Piemonte for travellers looking for a combination
'of fine wines, gastronomy and beautiful countryside.
'The area to explore is just an hour's drive
'down the Autostrade from Turin.
'From Bra, through Alba then Asti, takes you through
'a panoply of vineyards producing Italy's greatest red wines.
'Barolo, Barbaresco,
Barbera. Hanna-Barbera...'
MIMICS TWEETY: Sufferin' succotash!"
I tawt I taw a puddy tat.
I did!
The Trattoria della Posta, which is where we're going,
is set in rolling hills clad with vineyards.
This elegant Trattoria is the ideal place for a romantic evening.
You know I'm not a homosexual, don't you?
No, we're not having a romantic evening,
we are going to have a stimulating lunch. Good, good.
And if romance should occur, we'll deal with it as it happens.
The only time I'd ever snuggle up to you is if I was on the side
of the Eiger on a shelf
and not to do so would mean I'd freeze to death.
In that situation you know what you're meant to do?
You're meant to get as close... I know, you have to spoon.
Spooning, yes. I know. Yes.
You wee on each other, as well, and that's disallowed.
Well, that's where recreation meets survival.
I've also sorted out the music for the iPod.
I've gone for a broad selection, a lot of Italian stuff,
a lot of opera, obviously.
Good, good. Don Giovanni, Rigoletto,
Verdi, then a smattering of Wales
and the Welsh to tie in with the beautiful countryside.
Verdi's sounding very, very appealing right now I have to say.
I've got some Stereophonics and some Tom Jones.
We're not going to be doing any impersonations, are we, because we talked about that.
No, if I sing along that's not an impersonation.
It just so happens I bear an uncanny resemblance,
vocally and physically to Tom.
What because you look 75?
Why is this? Oh!
I promise you I haven't sabotaged the sound system
because of my aversion to your karaoke inclination.
Why is... There's nothing at all.
So you knew who it is.
Buongiorno. Buongiorno.
Buongiorno.
Uno. Grazie. Prego.
What's that? What are you saying? I've asked for one of each.
I've got to say I'm very impressed with the smattering of Italian.
I have brushed up a little. Yes, I was just saying
Could you tell? Yes.
Prego.
Grazie
That's actually, that is, that is nice.
I'll take your word for it.
Grazie.
Seriously? You're not drinking? No.
When did this come about? I've not drunk for about nine months.
So you're not going to drink at all on the trip?
Wow. I'll still have fun, you know, still have a laugh.
Just not as much of a laugh
I'm surprised the Observer wanted you to do this again, I mean...
Well... Neither of us know anything about, with respect, know anything about food.
Well, I know a little bit. Well, yeah but you don't...
When I wrote the last ones I concentrated not so much on the food.
It was more a journey, it was the culture, it was,
it was Wordsworth and Coleridge,
now it's going to be Byron and Shelley. They're not double acts.
It's not The Two Ronnies or Morecambe and Wise.
MIMICS RONNIE CORBETT: And more's the pity because I would adore
driving around Italy with you Steve,
in the next sketch dressed as busty ladies singing
a song with some choreography thrown into the middle.
HE LAUGHS
You know it's like second album syndrome, isn't it?
Everyone has this amazing, expressive first album where they put everything into it
and the second album's a bit of a damp squib.
It's like trying to do a sequel. It's never going to be as good as the first time. Godfather II.
Which is the one that people always mention when they try to search
for an example of a sequel that's as good as...
MIMICS AL PACINO: Just when I thought I was out, they put me back in
What's this licking thing you always do?
You look like some sort of small gecko.
That's what he does, just when I thought,
I'd made two terrific movies,
they go and make another,
I'm back in.
It's OK, he's just doing an impersonation, it's fine.
Look at Byron, you know, Childe Harold made him
the most popular poet in all of Europe.
And when he wrote that, he did the first two cantos right,
and he said, if this is a hit I'll write more.
If it's not a hit, I won't do any more.
You should do the same, promise the audience you won't do any more if they don't like it.
At the end of my successful tours and live shows?
Oh. Oh gosh.
Grazie.
Prego, buon appetito.
Grazie, grazie.
Mmm, that is lovely.
Childe Harold, Byron wrote, was a thinly veiled self-portrait.
I was aware of that.
I thought we could do a similar thing with you,
Childe Stephen, follow you on your travels and...
It wouldn't be a pseudonym, would it? I'm called Stephen.
Byron wasn't called Harold was he?
No, he was actually George Gordon Lord Byron.
Gordon.
Understandably he...
He ditched the Gordon. ..he ditched the Gordon.
It's not a romantic name. It's not a poet's name, Gordon, no.
Gordon Byron on line three. Oh, God, tell him I'm not in.
He does my head in.
So Childe Stephen, we'll do it as an article
and turn it into a Sunday night serial on BBC One.
Who plays you?
A Sunday night costume drama about my life?
Yes, yes. Who plays you? It could happen.
Who plays you? I'll play myself.
You couldn't do that, it's Childe, it's meant to be like a young man.
You could have Jude Law.
Jude Law's 40 plus.
He doesn't look it. He hasn't aged like you and I?
He's balding. Yeah, but he's got that face, he doesn't...
He's got that really young, bald look.
When you played Alan Partridge, you know when he was popular,
he was more known than you and, of course, he was older than you.
But with me with the Rob Brydon Show, my name is in the title,
I sort of push that. Yeah.
If I were in a bar in a hotel in Britain
and I wanted to have a drink with a girl, I couldn't do it.
because there would be an assumption, "What's he do?" Go and chat to Rob Brydon.
Yes, people think I'm affable. Affable. Well, you are.
I'm affable. I'm not disagreeing with you.
I'm an affable man. I'm not disagreeing with you.
But my public persona is even more affable than I actually am.
I'm not as affable as people think I am.
You've made an affable rod for your own back. Yes.
Yes, and I'm not saying I'm not affable.
I am affable.
But I'm not as affable as perhaps I've given people cause to think.
Crystal clear.
So out here, I can be off the leash.
I can, I can let my hair, what is left of it, down. Yeah.
And, you know, have a good time.
Oh, lovely.
Mmm...
Grazie mille.
Grazie.
You know there's a publisher who's very interested in putting these articles into a book.
How do they think they're going to get six articles and turn it into a book?
Well, we would also do the ones from the Lake District, from the English ones.
What did you think of them? I didn't read them. I was in America - acting.
They were a lightly fictionalised account of your adventures
in the north of England.
How were they lightly fictionalised? The names were changed...
What about my name? ..we kept your name but the girls' names were changed.
How do they know it's fictionalised if it says 'Steve Coogan's Adventures in the Lake District?'
Did you say, "brackets, penned by Rob Brydon?" No?
Not in the traditional sense, no, no.
But then I did do the work for you, didn't I?
Mmm, bellissimo.
What do you think on the Mini, then? Are you enjoying it?
I'm presently surprised. It's a nice car
and to drive it in Italy... Yeah?
What? You see what I'm getting at?
Yes, The Italian Job. Exactly yeah.
I was wondering whether you'd booked the Mini, in Italy,
for the Italian Job just to give you the opportunity to say,
MIMICS MICHAEL CAINE: You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!
But I've done it now. Hopefully that will be an end to it.
Do your Michael Caine.
Did you see him in The Dark Knight Rises?
And his voice gets even more emotional than it's ever
done in the past before.
I don't want to bury you, Batman, I will not
put you into the ground in a little box.
I will not do it, Master Bruce, I will not do it.
I'm not going to bury another Batman.
Another Batman? How many Batmans has he been burying?
How many are there? I've buried 14 Batmen... I've buried 14 Batmen...
...put their little pointy ears in a box...
I'm not going to bury another nylon cloak with pointy ears
that people wear at birthday parties.
With the little belt, the very wide belt that is flattering to a man with an expanded girth.
I won't do that to you, Master Bruce. I would not do it to you.
And I won't make the voice like that.
The voice goes even more like that.
He's basically yodelling.
HE YODELS
And then Christian Bale says, "You wanted to see me."
And when he says that he puts his tongue over.
"I want to be a mad man, I don't want to be a normal guy."
But you sound deaf.
INAUDIBLE ANSWER
Just so nobody can recognise him.
I can't understand a word you're saying, Master Bruce.
Talk to me as Master Bruce, not as Batman. Why, why does he?
INAUDIBLE ANSWER
So he can have the cloak of anonymity...
But he doesn't though. He said, "Here's that bloke in the cloak who sounds like he's deaf again."
It's not anonymous, is it?
No wonder when Batman arrives and starts speaking like that
everyone starts looking at their shoes.
They're all thinking, "Why does he talk like that, poor fella, you know.
And what about Tom Hardy as Bane?
They're like competing to see who's the most, the least understandable.
INAUDIBLE CONVERSATION
Bane, take off your mask love, I can't catch a word you're saying.
INAUDIBLE REPLY
He's a wonderful actor, don't get me wrong. No, he's very good.
Tom Hardy's very muscular so he's a terrific actor. Terrific actor.
No, no, he's good, he's scary good, scarily good. But...
INAUDIBLE
I don't, I don't, I don't...
Do you know what I think that is?
I think that they both are very formidable actors. Yes
Very charismatic, a little bit scary. Yes.
Can you imagine a first AD going up to one of them going,
"The director thinks he can't quite understand what you're saying,
"do you want to try a different voice?
"Do you want to try a different voice?"
"The director's a little worried that maybe people can't understand what you're saying."
MUMBLED REPLY
"OK, all right, all right, no...
"Tom says he's quite happy with the voice he's got at the moment,
"he's happy to go with that."
INAUDIBLE REPLY
No, I'm just relaying what the director said.
IRATE INAUDIBLE REPLY
No, I understand. I understand.
Yeah, they're both upset now.
Is this not something we could fix in post?
Because I think you've opened a can of worms.
I know, I know, I'm on your side.
I know I understand perfectly Tom, and Christian, no you too.
Yes, no, I understand.
I know that's what I told him, I think
he's, I think he, yes, shall I?
He says it's fine, just, just go with the voices.
Yes, OK.
I like Tom Hardy, I couldn't do what he does, I couldn't do it and neither could you.
But he couldn't do, he couldn't do what I do.
When you're saying something like, "See in store for details."
No way he could do that. No, no.
Sorry, where do I look for details?
And when you have to talk quickly with the disclaimer at the end.
Your home may be at risk if you don't keep up repayments, terms and conditions may apply.
No projection, if you project you add time. Yeah. Now Hardy...
MUFFLED SPEECH
You got through it. Well, yeah, I'm a pro, I'm a pro, I can't be any other way.
your average family in the middle of Coronation Street,
"What the hell is that!"
They're throwing things, throwing the remote at the screen. No, I'm with you.
I can hardly understand what he's saying.
I wouldn't say that to his face though.
No, never, no, no...
Never, if I see him, "Loved Batman."
Some people said they couldn't understand you, but they're just wrong. Yeah.
You imagine if I said there are great savings at B&Q,
with that sort of a voice...
Exactly. I'd be laughed out of town.
Of course you would. Just try it.
MUFFLED SPEECH
That's why... Have you lost your mind?
That's why Tom Hardy doesn't do B&Q voiceovers.
He hasn't got the B&Q gig, has he? No, he hasn't no.
But, equally, if I was Bane,
"I'm going to smash you to smithereens Batman
"and leave you lying at the bottom of a pit."
You see that's clear, but lacks character.
And it lacks menace, it's too reasonable. It's too reasonable.
I'm a reasonable villain.
Oh wow, look at that.
Grazie.
Look at that, do you know what?
That's just...
There's a lovely... Mmm. Lovely...
Game...
We're both eating game. Mmm.
Game's very good for you. Mmm.
Because living in the wild, it's had lots of nutrition,
it's been eating wild. It's been...
Been exercising, exercising. On the run, very fit, exercise.
So if you were to eat Mo Farah... Yeah.
it would be fantastically beneficial. Exactly.
It's the equivalent of eating Mo Farah if you were in a plane crash with him. Yeah, yeah.
If you were in a crash with him... ...in the Andes.
In the Andes. I'd eat him first, if he was dead.
What if he was mortally wounded, you know there was
no chance of him surviving and he'd lost all feeling in his lower body?
Would you start to eat those fantastic legs? No, no, because that would be rude.
Keeping the freshness. No, there's no rudeness, he's going to die,
he's already paralysed from the waist down.
"Mo, mo, you know you're not going get up again."
If you put a tent up half way along and you distracted him by chatting to him.
Possibly. About his glories at the Olympics, reliving those moments,
you united the nation Mo, you were wonderful.
Well, you know what, it's a bit of a silly conversation,
but given the choice...
I'd rather eat Mo Farah's legs than yours.
And that's not... There's more benefit in them, I'd be the first to admit.
Only a fool would eat my legs over Mo Farah's legs. Yeah.
I'm trying to think who I'd eat your legs over.
Um... Stephen Hawking.
Yes. Yes?
Although I'd definitely eat his brains first, before yours.
I'd then use his chair to escape down the hill, down the Andes.
If he was in the crash. The crash is me, you, Mo Farah
and Stephen Hawking.
We'd all been travelling to Argentina to do a celebrity Krypton Factor together.
We crash, we're thinking, "How are we going to get out here?"
And that's how we do it.
And then realise it was all part of the Krypton Factor.
Yeah, it was a challenge and bloody hell we've killed Mo Farah.
And we've eaten a fair chunk of his thigh.
But in all seriousness, you get back to England,
you've survived the plane crash, you're on TV being
interviewed by one your mates, like Wogan, or someone like that.
Yeah. And Wogan's saying, So, Rob, how did you,
how did you survive the crash in the Andes?
You must have been pretty hungry
when you were sitting there in the snow.
And wondering, where am I going get my next beer from?
A little bird tells me that you, that you ate Mo Farah's legs.
Is that true? Did you eat his legs? No, I've heard this.
I think this is a rumour put around by Steve Coogan,
as he recuperates.
Ah, the old Steve Coogan, the old Alan Partridge,
that's a funny, that's a funny fella.
Funny fella. And in real life, just as funny, Terry.
I'm sure he is. An absolute ball.
But to get back to the point though...
No, let's talk about Steve. Let's talk about...
In real life he's a delight. Let's talk about you... He's the kind of guy you want...
No, let's talk about you eating Mo Farah's fucking legs.
Tell the fucking truth about eating Mo Farah's fucking legs.
At which point we get taken off the air. Do you think Terry'll eff and jeff like that?
Imagine the switchboards. I know, I know.
And I escape Scot free.
Oh, Rob Brydon, always good to welcome him in.
Here's Chris Rea.
No, grazie.
Grazie. Prego.
The inside of this when you turn it around,
look the beginning of a Bond film.
Let's have a look.
You know why those swirly things are?
When you see them, when you're looking down the barrel of a gun,
you know what that is, don't you? No.
That's the rifling on the inside of the barrel.
Rifling? Yeah.
Rifling through your wife's handbag. It's the same thing.
Going around and around and around. Really?
Rifling was what they introduced after the muskets
which had no rifling.
On muskets the lead ball fired straight out. You know a lot about guns.
It's just, I just pick stuff up.
You just picked it up, Mr Coogan?
Both of these weapons were found underneath your bed
on the night of the offence. Well, a shotgun has no rifling in it,
that's why you can't call a shotgun a rifle.
I don't doubt whether you can call it this, that or the other,
what I want to know is why your finger prints were found around the trigger?
HE CHUCKLES
You say Mr Brydon was a friend of yours,
yet when his bloodied corpse was found at the foot of your stairs,
you claimed you'd had very little involvement with him.
What was it about Mr Brydon that made you so want to kill him?
And don't say, "Where should I start?"
I didn't want to kill him. Occasionally I found him annoying, but no more than that.
Might he ever have found YOU annoying, Mr Coogan?
Might he ever have found you a little, shall we say, pompous,
aggrandising, self-conceited
and up his own, shall we say, arse?
I think we shall, I think we have. I dare we say we might.
I'm sure any relationship has its ups and downs
and ours had perhaps more downs than ups.
But nevertheless we had a friendship which was...
..stimulating.
Stimulated by the thought of killing him?
Because you wanted to kill him didn't you, Mr Coogan?
I'm sure on occasion any of us who have a robust relationship
with a friend may on occasions say, "God, I wish I could kill you."
How can one wish to kill Mr Brydon?
A man who brought such great joy to the nation with his small
man in a box, his voiceovers for reputable DIY outlets,
and his impressions of 50% of the Two Ronnies,
how could anybody wish ill on such a cherubic figure, Mr Coogan?
Erm...
I'm not quite sure where the question's leading.
Prego. Grazie.
Grazie. Grazie.
So Steve, you made it through to the final round where we ask you,
how much was the meal?
Are you going to go, Steve, don't answer yet,
are you going to go for A...
200 Euros. 3 Euros.
Are you going to go for B, 5 Euros,
or are you going to go for C, 152 Euros?
Well, 152.
152 Euros?
152, you've won the car.
You can drive a Mini away from here.
Well, that was just right.
Shall I drive?
You've had three glass of Barolo, I haven't had any. All right.
Well, I am going drive at some point on this trip.
Perhaps...to be discussed.
I can drive in the mornings, have a bottle at lunchtime,
and then slump in the passenger seat in the afternoon.
What are you doing in the boot? Just getting some music.
One CD. Sounds ominous.
It's not Tom Jones, is it? Alanis Morrisette.
You're kidding me?
It's Sally's...
..my wife.
Shall er... shall we?
Nah.
PHONE RINGS
Hello? Hey, Dad, it's Joe.
Oh, hello, how are you? I'm OK, where are you?
I'm in Italy with Rob, Rob Brydon. Buongiorno.
That's him talking Italian, like a native.
So maybe it's better you and I talk later on Skype at the hotel?
All right, OK.
Good, all right, speak to you later, bye.
Teenagers...
He's in Ibiza with his mum and Amy.
Ah...
I wondered why you were so willing to come away
when you could have been with your kids.
You don't get to see them very much do you?
Well that's...
That's why I'm quite glad that Pathology hasn't
been picked up for a third series.
Yeah. So, plus I'm just tired of LA.
So your hiatus has been indefinitely extended?
Yes, through the summer to the autumn,
but, hopefully, not as far as the winter.
So mid-life hiatus? Your mini hiatus
is a mid-life hiatus.
I know a lot of guys retired at 50
and they say it's the best thing they ever did.
I'm not retiring, I'm 47.
Yes, but the time you get round to doing it you'll be 50,
fantastic, you'll have time on your hands to do whatever you want.
Maybe I'll end up doing a Crunchy Nut Cornflakes ad yet.
ROB CHUCKLES
Glory days, glory days.
They've now passed me by, they didn't renew the contract on that,
which is a great shame because they were ludicrously tasty.
What doth it profit it a man if he gain an endless
supply of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, but sells his soul?
Well...
Quite a lot of money, quite a lot of money.
Incrementally increasing year on year.
Yes but it came to an end, didn't it?
Yeah, I worked for two years, so it incrementally increased for two years.
Well, one year, the first year. That's one increment.
Yes, that's technically true.
Do you still want to get your photograph taken outside Byron's house?
Yes, the publishers want photos for the book.
We can't have too many.
1822 to 1823.
He stayed one year in Italy.
That's just a holiday. It was just before he died.
He was essentially on the run from England
because he'd, you know, slept with his sister,
sodomised his wife and some young boys.
Yes, some of that is out of order.
Go back a bit further, I want to see the sign.
But you're looking straight at my nose. You and the sign.
But you're looking straight..isn't that too low? But you want both in.
Yes, but what do I look like?
It is Alarnis or Alanis? It's Alarnis.
How do you know that? Because I just decided and that's enough.
That's good enough. All right.
In America people call themselves what they want.
I'm sure her dad's probably called Alan.
In which case it would be Alanis.
Er, not necessarily.
I wouldn't be surprised if there's a lot of blokes in America called Alan,
say it's Alarn.
I'm Alarn. There's some properties, I want you to take a look.
And Morrisette, it's probably that she was a Morrissey fan
and decide to call herself a Morrisette.
Is he still going? Does he still sing now?
# He's still singing about things that make him sad
# and sometimes happy.
# Now he lives in Los Angeles
♪ where it doesn't rain any more, any more. ♪
Excellent, you're doing voices,
I'm doing voices. All is well.
She's not American though, I will pick you up on that.
Alanis is Canadian.
Avril Lavigne in many ways
is the young person's Alanis Morrisette.
You know, I don't want to do down a young performer
but she's no Alanis Morissette.
Alanis Morissette is authentic, an authentic voice.
So you do like Alanis Morissette?
Relative to Avril Lavigne. Go on, then.
All right, let's have a nostalgia trip back to 1995,
when we were both but 30 years old.
That's why Sally loves it, she was only 20 then.
♪ Do I stress you out? ♪
Yes you do.
# My sweaters on backwards and inside out
♪ And you say, how appropriate. ♪
How appropriate. You know I can see the appeal in a woman like this.
Volatile women are always sexy when you first meet them.
But two years down the line you're sort of saying things like,
"Can you put the lids back on these jars, please."
I admire you taking a stand against society's laws
by wearing your jumper inside out. Yeah.
But enough is enough.
And I am frightened by the corruptive ways of this land,
if only I could meet my maker.
And I am fascinated by the spiritual man.
I am humbled by his humble nature.
Do you know what?
It is music that appeals to neurotic teenage girls,
but it's actually rather good.
Byron appealed to teenage girls. Very true, very true.
What's this place called? Cenobio Dei Dogi.
The dodgy hotel?
Dogi, Dogi means ruler.
This was the ruler's summer palace.
The Royal Hotel in Manchester. That's a dodgy hotel.
Look at that, it doesn't get much better than that, Rob.
Absolutely stunning, gorgeous.
The Dolce Vita.
We're living the dream.
It's funny isn't it, women that age just look straight through us don't they?
Non-threatening. No, they don't even find us threatening.
They don't even find me lascivious because they think I couldn't possibly be thinking like that.
The one in blue top looks like a younger me.
A younger, idealised version of me.
A lovely hybrid of Springsteen and Petula.
He's like you, after a computer has corrected all your deficiencies.
He's an airbrushed me, isn't he? It's like the best surgeon in the world
has been given a year with you. Yes, thank you, thank you.
There was a time when I used to make eye contact with a woman
and she'd flash a smile back.
And...
That's all it would be, just a little moment.
Those women just, the smile you get from them is the smile
they give to a benevolent uncle.
Or a pest.
They think we're two elderly homosexuals on our last tour of the Riviera before we die.
What do you think they're saying? "Look at those two guys over there,
"they think they're really cool.
"They don't realise this isn't a place for old bastards like that."
"What about the guy on the right in the white jacket?
"I see him on the television, he in the advert for the stand-up bath.
"He's really cool." Stand up bath?
That's where they think they see you before.
"I see him advertising stand up bath with door.
"I see him advertising pet insurance policies for the over 50s."
Let's just look this way.
Nature never disappoints you, no rejection.
Quite rough though. Yes.
We're supposed to be getting a boat tomorrow going to the Bay of Poets. Are we?
Yeah, where Byron swam.