Winterbottom books a table in Malaga
It all begins with a trip. An actor is chosen by a magazine to spend a week visiting different restaurants in the British countryside and comparing the food. The problem is that his girlfriend has left him and he doesn’t want to go on his own, so he starts ringing round his friends. His best friend says he can’t go, others come up with different excuses. Still desperate for company, he begins to contact people he is friendly with but doesn’t know very well. Finally, someone says yes.
That was the plot of the TV sitcom ‘The Trip’, an amusing series from prestigious director Michael Winterbottom (‘Welcome to Sarajevo’ and ‘Wonderland’), which brought together two British comedians: Steve Coogan (‘Night at the Museum’ and ‘Philomena’) and Rob Brydon (who has his own show, ‘Rob Brydon Live’).
The production for the BBC in 2010 was so successful that for the second season in 2014 the pair headed to Italy to do the same thing. Now, they are being brought together again for a third series directed by Winterbottom, but this time they will be sampling and comparing the food on ‘The Trip to Spain’. In fact, one of the programmes in this series will be set in Malaga.
The new series will consist of six programmes and for one of them the actors will be at the Parador de Gibralfaro hotel.
As well as Malaga city, the film crew will be shooting scenes on the beaches at Maro and in Comares and also in Granada, where the stars of the series will pay a visit to the Alhambra. That won’t be until October though, because the programmes will begin further north, in Cantabria, and then move steadily south through the Basque Country, Rioja, Aragón and Castilla-La Mancha before arriving in Andalucía.
Although the first two series were filmed for the BBC, this one will be shown on Sky Atlantic, which lost no time in signing up Michael Winterbottom when it became aware that the project was available. Revolution Films, Baby Cow and Small Man are the production companies involved in these six new episodes. The previous two series were also turned into films within a very short time of being shown on TV.
The project for ‘The Trip to Spain’ was presented in February but the specific locations selected by the director of ‘24 Hour Party People’ and ‘A Mighty Heart’ were not decided until April when he took a trip through Spain and finished up in Malaga, selecting the venues for the two presenters, who will be working together again for the first time in two years.
“Filming with Rob and Steve is always great and I thought it would be a good idea for them to do another trip together, before they get too old,” joked Winterbottom at the presentation of the series, to which Coogan drolly replied that he had only accepted the proposal because he didn’t have anything better to do at that time. “Plus there will be free food and drink and Rob Brydon is actually surprisingly good company,” said the actor, adding that “Oh, and I like Michael too, of course.”
For ‘The Trip to Spain’, Winterbottom has decided to test out the impressive Spanish gastronomy which has been capturing the attention of the world in recent years.
Each programme in this latest series will be set in one of the Parador hotels, which have all undergone major refurbishment in recent years. In Malaga, the comedians will be at the Parador de Gibralfaro, on the hill which overlooks the city. It is a favourite spot for the numerous production companies who come to Malaga and film the stunning views over the port, the park and the historic city centre.
On this occasion, however, the two stars of this new series will be filmed enjoying a great meal, with the views of Malaga as a backdrop.source surinenglish
