The Birmingham comic is joined by Bill Bailey to eat tomatoes and form a punk band in his debut as the new host of Channel 4’s holiday show. But Ayoade fans may miss his trademark quirks
Richard Ayoade brings a strange sense of dislocation with him everywhere he goes – as a presenter on The Crystal Maze, a panellist on quizshows and in characters such as Moss in The IT Crowd and Dean Learner and Thornton Reed in Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. It jibed particularly well with his stint as Channel 4’s eponymous Travel Man, a role from which he has stepped down. His detached oddity added a much-needed freshness to the travelogue format and gave his weekly companion a challenge to which to rise, lending each episode of the nine series he hosted a bit of bite.
This episode welcomes the new presenter, Joe Lycett, with what is effectively a Christmas special. Travel Man: 96 Hours in Iceland follows the usual format, but the participants – Lycett’s companion here is the suitably trollish Bill Bailey – get double the usual 48 hours to sample the delights of their destination.
