Rob Brydon has been lifting the lid on the latest instalment of his comedy series The Trip, revealing that age, icy landscapes and a renewed focus on health have all shaped his newest adventure.
The six-part series, titled The Trip to the Northern Lights, reunites Brydon with long-time sparring partner Steve Coogan for their first Trip together in more than five years.
This time, the pair travel through northern Europe in search of fine food, wry conversation and a glimpse of the elusive aurora borealis.
Directed once again by acclaimed filmmaker Michael Winterbottom, Brydon and Coogan found themselves immersed not only in dramatic scenery but also in Scandinavian traditions.
“We also stripped down to our pants quite a lot,” Brydon told The Times of their time filming in Norway.
“There were plenty of saunas and cold plunges in crystal Nordic waters,” he said, describing it as “wonderful”.
Brydon also revealed a highlight which unfolded away from the cameras, when he took Coogan for a drive along the mountain roads in a classic car he had rented.
“I gave Steve my phone and asked him to narrate me driving as Alan Partridge,” Brydon said.
Coogan duly obliged in the famous nasal voice of the fictional Norwich broadcaster: “Now, I wouldn’t call Rob’s style ‘sports driving’ exactly, but it’s certainly very spirited.”
“If Michael had been there, the cameras would have rolled,” Brydon said, although he added he was glad the moment remained private.
“It was a moment just for us. Because from my side at least, there is a lot of warmth and real love to our relationship and a lot of people don’t get that.”
Now both aged 60, Brydon said the tone of their conversations had subtly shifted. Health, he admits, is a much bigger topic than it once was.
“That is something else Steve and I talk about a lot in real life,” he said. “Health. ‘What are you taking for this or that?’ You tend to at our age.”
Gone are the days of The Trip to Italy in 2014, when long lunches and heavy drinking fuelled the banter.
“In some scenes, I’m totally smashed. We’d never do that now.”
Staying fit is essential for Brydon, who has a packed upcoming schedule.
Alongside the new series of The Trip, he continues his podcast Brydon &, appears regularly on Would I Lie to You?, and has further television and publishing projects in the pipeline.
In February, he begins filming a new sitcom, Bill’s Included, in which he plays Bill Beam, a middle-aged divorce who fends off financial ruin by renting out his spare rooms to students – an arrangement that sparks plenty of intergenerational friction.