Clip: Winterbottom’s The Trip Featuring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as Woody Allen

Without any info on the run time, I’m not entirely sure how much Michael Winterbottom will strip away from The Trip. The six episode BBC sitcom starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon will be shown at TIFF probably in a two-hour form, allowing it to be shopped to the same territories that may have picked up Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story. The mostly improvised project was one of the unexpected surprises selections for the festival, as not many people had a clue that the prolific director was even working on it. Apparently, the series is loaded with cameos, including the likes of Ben Stiller. Here’s a clip below that demonstrates how well Coogan and Brydon play off one another, you can see it in this road trip portion as well.

Synopsis: An improvised tour of the north of England reunites comedy favourites Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. In the style of Curb Your Enthusiasm, the story is fictional but based around their real personas.

When Steve is commissioned by the food supplement of a Sunday newspaper to review half a dozen restaurants, he decides to mix work with pleasure and plans a trip around the north with his food-loving American girlfriend. But when she decides to leave him and return to the States, Steve is faced with a week of meals for one, not quite the trip he had in mind.
Reluctantly, he calls Rob, the only person he can think of who will be available. Never one to turn down a free lunch (let alone six), Rob agrees and together they set off for a culinary adventure.

Over the course of six meals at six different restaurants in and around the Lake District, Lancashire and the Yorkshire Dales, the ultimate odd couple find themselves debating the big questions of life, such as how did I get to be here and where do I go next, over a series of culinary delights.

This six-part comedy series is directed by Michael Winterbottom and builds on the success of previous collaborations between Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan, A Cock And Bull Story and 24 Hour Party People.