We're only up to episode two (on free-to-air TV) here, but already this series has yielded some gloriously funny material. I have to admit to watching the first episode purely because it had motorcycles in it, but now I'm utterly hooked; trouble is, I can barely recall much that Ewan says or does, as I'm watching and waiting for Charlie to dig himself a new hole to clamber into.
Charlie is the unintended star here for all the wrong reasons. He has clearly led an over-privileged existence for so long that putting him out in the real world carries a measure of risk that the producers quite clearly hadn't envisaged, otherwise they wouldn't have done it. But to go back a step, the brow began to furrow quite early in the piece, when it emerged that, despite the noble intention to raise money for UNICEF, neither of these wealthy men were prepared to stump up for so much as the cost of a motorcycle helmet each. The first Spinal Tap moment comes when motorcycle manufacturer KTM, the pair's ride of choice, decides not to provide free bikes. Charlie clutches his head, groans, and staggers around the office like a man who's just heard that his house has burned down. But then BMW come to the party, triggering a flurry of embraces and tearful emotion. We then proceed through the process of the preparation for the trip itself, which anyone with a grasp of mental arithmetic will have realised is not going to be an exercise in restraint, while Charlie, a man who clearly doesn't believe in allowing a thought to pass through any sort of mental filter before leaving his mouth, provides many a verbal gem. We meet the American producer, a yuppie from Central Casting who we just know is in for a bad time, and the money continues to flow as the lads get fit, go to the pub, pop into the office for more hugs and fall off their bikes at really slow speeds in a field.
So far, (and we're only on episode two here), Charlie has (a) clipped a doorway and damaged a pannier while pushing his brand-new bike into a garage, (b) fallen off the bike before getting to the end of the street at the beginning of the trip, (c) completely forgotten to present the essential carnet at a border, causing great cost and delay, (d) squirted petrol into Ewan's eyes at a filling station, (e) enraged the crew, leading one of them to comment that he'd like to pummel his head in and (f) been completely lost for word or thought when confronted with some of the very children they're raising money for.
Charlie's the man to watch here, and I suspect he's going to come up with the goods reliably. Ewan, who mostly comes across as a thoughtful and well-meaning fellow, must have had good reasons for choosing this buffoon as a travelling companion, but what these reasons were are not particularly clear.
Roll on the rest of the series.
Charlie is the unintended star here for all the wrong reasons. He has clearly led an over-privileged existence for so long that putting him out in the real world carries a measure of risk that the producers quite clearly hadn't envisaged, otherwise they wouldn't have done it. But to go back a step, the brow began to furrow quite early in the piece, when it emerged that, despite the noble intention to raise money for UNICEF, neither of these wealthy men were prepared to stump up for so much as the cost of a motorcycle helmet each. The first Spinal Tap moment comes when motorcycle manufacturer KTM, the pair's ride of choice, decides not to provide free bikes. Charlie clutches his head, groans, and staggers around the office like a man who's just heard that his house has burned down. But then BMW come to the party, triggering a flurry of embraces and tearful emotion. We then proceed through the process of the preparation for the trip itself, which anyone with a grasp of mental arithmetic will have realised is not going to be an exercise in restraint, while Charlie, a man who clearly doesn't believe in allowing a thought to pass through any sort of mental filter before leaving his mouth, provides many a verbal gem. We meet the American producer, a yuppie from Central Casting who we just know is in for a bad time, and the money continues to flow as the lads get fit, go to the pub, pop into the office for more hugs and fall off their bikes at really slow speeds in a field.
So far, (and we're only on episode two here), Charlie has (a) clipped a doorway and damaged a pannier while pushing his brand-new bike into a garage, (b) fallen off the bike before getting to the end of the street at the beginning of the trip, (c) completely forgotten to present the essential carnet at a border, causing great cost and delay, (d) squirted petrol into Ewan's eyes at a filling station, (e) enraged the crew, leading one of them to comment that he'd like to pummel his head in and (f) been completely lost for word or thought when confronted with some of the very children they're raising money for.
Charlie's the man to watch here, and I suspect he's going to come up with the goods reliably. Ewan, who mostly comes across as a thoughtful and well-meaning fellow, must have had good reasons for choosing this buffoon as a travelling companion, but what these reasons were are not particularly clear.
Roll on the rest of the series.