The Trip/The Trip to Italy - Michael Winterbottom [DVD]

Double bill of TV series following road trips taken by Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. In 'The Trip' (2010) Coogan and Brydon tour the north of England, sampling the best restaurants of Lancashire, Yorkshire and the Lake District. Gorging themselves on ever more elaborate dishes in the region's fanciest restaurants, they ruminate on masculinity, identity, love, relationships, ageing, fame and the nature of success - not to mention who can do the best impersonation of Michael Caine. 'The Trip to Italy' (2014), directed by Michael Winterbottom, follows Coogan and Brydon as they travel to Italy to retrace the steps of the legendary Romantic poets Byron and Shelley. The poets, who left England following persistent outrage and threats relating to their social and political views, found refuge in Italy and particularly Pisa, where they often dined, hunted and discussed poetry together.