The Trip to the Northern Lights: Coogan and Brydon Head North for One Last Bite

Image: Sky TV Press

By Jon Donnis

After more than five years away, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are getting back in the car for another long, meandering, argument-filled journey. The Trip to the Northern Lights is the fifth chapter in their much-loved Sky Original series, once again directed by Michael Winterbottom, and this time they're swapping souvlaki and summer sun for smoked fish and icy skies. The new series takes them through Scandinavia, stopping at sculptural hotels in Sweden and remote fishing huts in Norway, all in the hope of catching a glimpse of the aurora borealis. Not that it's really about that.

As always, the food is impeccable, the scenery stunning, and the conversations somehow both pointless and profound. At 60 and 59, Rob and Steve are now firmly into what they both would likely describe as the "late middle" of middle age. They talk about podcasts, retirement, legacy, old awards, and who still gets recognised more. The same rhythms are there, the playful jabs, the long impersonation duels, the affectionate digs wrapped in just enough truth to sting. It still works because they still work, not just as a double act, but as a complicated, very British portrait of creative ego and friendship.

Coogan, never shy about playing with his public image, described the return as squeezing the last few drops of comedy out of a bottle they both assumed was empty. Brydon, always a little more cheerful, said he was glad to be doing another Trip while they still had most of their faculties intact. It's that tone, somewhere between self-deprecating charm and barely concealed competition, that continues to give the show its edge.

There's no big reinvention here, and that's the point. Fans of The Trip already know the rhythm. The laughs come in subtle bursts, the emotional beats are tucked beneath layers of irony, and nothing ever really resolves. The difference now is the location, and the growing sense that this could be the last one. It feels a little colder in every sense, and more aware of time ticking away.

Still, if this really is the end, it looks set to be a good one. The pairing of Coogan and Brydon remains one of the most quietly reliable things in British television. Even when they're arguing about who does the better Bond or mocking each other's careers, there's a warmth underneath it that feels real. They're not quite who they play, but they know those characters well enough to make it convincing.

The series will begin shooting later this year and will air on Sky and NOW in the UK and Ireland. No premiere date yet, but if previous series are anything to go by, expect it to be both ridiculous and strangely moving. No one else does this sort of thing better, and no one else would dare try.