Am late to the party on the Pilkington phenomenon, so I've been catching up with this series on demand. Great stuff so far. I love travelogues, and a genuinely funny approach to this kind of show is always welcome. I think my fave moment is when he disappears round the corner to get away from the bull riding, there's a beat, then he comes running back to get away from bees.
It's 100% a character, because there's comedy timing involved, and there are moments each episode when he's clearly working from material. His analogies in particular are not off the cuff comments from an "empty headed chimp like moron", they're just not. Another giveaway is that although he's mostly amazing at staying locked in character, unlike say Sacha Baron Cohen, there are a few tiny moments of weakness, where if you pay attention you can see a fleeting glimpse of an unintended, intelligent smile. But that said, Pilkington is definitely great. I think the real feat is how subtle and line blurring his performance can be (hook this guy up with Ken Loach for some kind of hard hitting drama set among the northern working class, and he could win awards!). And that's combined with a great fish out of water concept- the ignorant and incurious "Little Englander" as world traveller, which is worked for maximum laughs. Some stunning images here too e.g. that timelapse shot of the sun setting on the beach (where the sunlight gets swallowed up by clouds) took my breath away.
