An Idiot Abroad

An Idiot Abroad
Also known as	Karl Pilkingtons' Seven Wonders An Idiot Abroad 2: The Bucket List An Idiot Abroad 3: The Short Way Round
Genre	Comedy
Format	Travel documentary
Directed by	Krishnendu Majumdar Luke Campbell
Presented by	Karl Pilkington
Starring	Karl Pilkington Warwick Davis (Christmas Special) Ricky Gervais Stephen Merchant
Opening theme	"7 Wonders" by Mentorn
Ending theme	"The Wrestler" by Mentorn
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	16 (+ 2 specials) (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Ricky Gervais Stephen Merchant Dan Goldsack
Producer(s)	Krishnendu Majumdar Luke Campbell
Running time	16 x 45 minutes 2 x 60 minutes
Production company(s)	Mentorn Media (Series 1) RiSK Mentorn International (Series 2)
Distributor	BBC Worldwide
Broadcast
Original channel	Sky1 Sky1 HD
Picture format	1080i (HDTV)
Audio format	Dolby Digital
Original run	23 September 2010 (2010-09-23) – present
Chronology
Related shows	The Ricky Gervais Show (podcast) The Ricky Gervais Show (animated series)
External links
Website
Production website

An Idiot Abroad is a travel documentary television series broadcast on Sky1, as well as spin-off books published by Canongate Books,^[1] created by and featuring Karl Pilkington and his former radio show colleagues Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.^[2] The ongoing theme of both the television series and the books is that Pilkington has no interest in global travel and so Merchant and Gervais make him travel while they themselves stay in London and monitor his progress.^[2][3]

Overview

An Idiot Abroad documents Karl Pilkington's journeys to foreign countries under the guise of visiting the New Seven Wonders of the World. Though the New Seven Wonders of the World include the Colosseum in Rome, this is not one of Pilkington's destinations because Gervais and Merchant thought that he might feel too comfortable in Rome; instead he visits the Great Pyramids in Egypt (which is the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World to remain intact). Despite the stated focus of visiting the wonders, most of each episode focuses on Pilkington’s reactions to cultural differences and idiosyncrasies in the countries he visits. To make things more interesting, Gervais and Merchant unexpectedly call Pilkington during each trip, to assign him tasks often not related to why he believed he was visiting the country in the first place. These include training as a luchador, traveling the desert on a camel, and dancing with a samba school in a Carnival parade. It was confirmed by the show's producers that Pilkington has no prior warning about these situations.^[4] Gervais commented: "This is a [more real] documentary than most others you'll ever see on television. We don't plan it, he doesn't know what's going to happen."^[4]. A book entitled "The Travel Diaries Of Karl Pilkington" was published shortly after the series. It was authored by Pilkington himself, and gives a deeper insight into his feelings on what he was experiencing.

The second series shows Pilkington performing activities from his "bucket list". Pilkington agreed to do a second series on the condition that he was to choose what he would do and that he got to use proper toilets. To keep the series interesting, Gervais and Merchant went behind Pilkington's back and arranged surprises for him to make him hate it even more than the first. He ends up visiting more places than he did in the first series, suffering through a number of detours. When asked why he had returned for a second series after being continuously adamant that he was not going to, Pilkington replied "I'm in a programme called "Idiot Abroad"; job offers ain't flyin' in.".

Despite saying that there will not be a third series Gervais will produce a Christmas special which was originally supposed to star Pilkington and Warwick Davis travel round England on a bike together, this is what Pilkington agreed to return for. It has now been put into 2 parts, and he has tricked Pilkington once again as it will now feature them abroad on a bike. As of February 2012 pre-production has started with Pilkington and Warwick. Gervais has said "We started planning the route for An Idiot Abroad 3: The Short Way Round, this week. It's only a two-part special but we've decided to make it a bit more global as opposed to "around Kent for a few days, Pilkington is starting to regret it already."

There is an official podcast^[5] to accompany the programme and book.

The program was originally broadcast in the UK's Sky1, but (as of 20 February 2012 (2012 -02-20)^[update]) is airing the second season on The Science Channel in the US.^[6]

Reception

Series 1

The very first episode of An Idiot Abroad aired on 23 September 2010 at 9:00pm on Sky1 and achieved an official audience figure of 1,241,000 viewers based on BARB. These audience figures were Sky1's best viewer numbers for a debuting show since Terry Pratchett's Going Postal four months earlier, making An Idiot Abroad the fourth most popular non-terrestrial program that day. The program has increased its viewing figures throughout its run with episode 3 attracting 1,850,000 viewers. Episode 7 attracted 1,918,000 viewers making it Sky1's most watched program.

Series 2

The show returned on 23 September 2011 at 9:00pm on Sky1 with 2,659,000 viewers, making it the most viewed Sky1 program since 2005.

Episodes

Original series

Special

DVD release

The first series was released in the UK on 15 November 2010 for DVD and Blu-ray.

The second series was released in the UK on 21 November 2011 for DVD and Blu-ray.

The first series was released in the US on 10 January 2012 for DVD.

List of countries, locations and events featured

This is a list of countries, locations and events that Pilkington experiences over both series one and two of An Idiot Abroad. China and the USA are the only countries that he visits more than once.

Series 1 - The Seven Wonders:

• China – Great Wall of China (Episode 1)
• India – Taj Mahal (Episode 2)
• Jerusalem – Western Wall (Episode 3)
• Bethlehem (Episode 3)
• The Dead Sea (Episode 3)
• Jordan – Petra (Episode 3)
• Mexico – Chichen Itza (Episode 4)
• Egypt – Great Pyramid of Giza (Episode 5)
• Brazil – Christ the Redeemer (statue) (Episode 6)
• Peru – Machu Picchu (Episode 7)

Series 2 - The Bucket List:

• New Zealand – Bungee jumping (Episode 1)
• Vanuatu (Episode 1)
• Russia – Trans-Siberian Railway (Episode 2)
• Mongolia – Trans-Siberian Railway (Episode 2)
• China (Episode 2)
• Thailand (Episode 3)
• Australia (Episode 3)
• United States of America (Episode 4)
• South Africa (Episode 5)
• Uganda (Episode 5)
• U.S. Route 66 (Episode 6)
• Japan – Climbing Mount Fuji (Episode 7)

The Short Way Round:^[7]

• Italy - Venice
• Eastern Europe
• India
• China

Books

An Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington is the fourth book written by Karl Pilkington. This book is an accompaniment to the television series An Idiot Abroad. It was released through Canongate Books.

A second book will be published to due the success of the first according to Ricky Gervais due to be released Autumn 2012.^[8]

International broadcast

• In Australia, the series airs on One HD and Network Ten.
• In Belgium, the series airs on Discovery Channel.
• In Brazil, the series airs on GNT as Um Turista Idiota (An Idiotic Tourist).
• In Bulgaria, the series airs on Discovery Channel.
• In Canada, the series airs on Discovery Channel.
• In the Czech Republic, the series airs on Discovery Channel.
• In Denmark, the series airs on TV3+.
• In Estonia, the series airs on Discovery Channel.
• In Romania, the series airs on Discovery Channel
• In France, the series airs on Planete No Limite as Stupide Touriste (Stupid Tourist).^[9]
• In Finland, the series airs on YLE Teema as Ääliö Ulkomailla (Moron Abroad).
• In Hungary, the series airs on Discovery Channel as Egy idióta külföldön.
• In Indonesia, the series airs on Travel and Living Channel (TLC).
• In Iceland, the series airs on ITC Skjarinn.
• In Ireland, the series airs on Sky1.
• In Latvia, the series airs on Discovery Channel.
• In the Netherlands, the series airs on Discovery Channel.
• In New Zealand, the series airs on TV3
• In Norway, the series airs on NRK as Ein idiot på tur (An Idiot on Tour).
• In Poland, the series airs on Discovery Channel as Idiota za granicą.
• In Russia, the series airs on Discovery Channel as Prostak za granitsey.
• In Serbia, the series airs on Discovery Channel.
• In Slovakia, the series airs on Discovery Channel.
• In Slovenia, the series airs on Discovery Channel.
• In Spain, the series airs on Canal+ Spain.
• In Sweden, the series airs on Sveriges Television as En idiot på resa (An Idiot on the Road).
• In Turkey, the series airs on Discovery Channel.
• In the United States, the series airs on Science Channel, American site
• In Southeast Asia and Taiwan the series airs on TLC.

References

External links

• An Idiot Abroad Homepage
• An Idiot Abroad at the Internet Movie Database
• British Classic Comedy Review