Ricky and Ralf's Very Northern Road Trip (BBC)

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[edit] General Information

Travel Documentary hosted by Sally Lindsay, published by BBC in 2020 - English narration

[edit] Cover

[edit] Information

Royle Family dad and son Ricky Tomlinson and Ralf Little reunite years after they last got together and set off on an epic camper van adventure across northern England. They're on a quest to unlock each of its regions' unique secrets and find out how much the north has changed in the 20-odd years since they first met.

[edit] Lancashire

The journey begins and ends in Ricky's hometown, Liverpool, but they're quickly on the road on the first leg of their trip, heading to real Lancashire hotspots. The first stop is Ricky's actual birthplace, Blackpool, for high jinx at some of the best-loved attractions in the town they call the Vegas of the North. They also catch up with his old pal, veteran comic Mick Miller, for the lowdown on the entertainment and comedy scene in the north's favourite seaside resort. The journey also takes them to Preston, where they visit a soccer school with a difference, named after the town's legendary player Tom Finney. Then it's off to the great outdoors in the breathtaking Ribble Valley, where they sample the fare at an eatery voted the UK's best dining pub and see how typical northern entrepreneurial spirit has turned a derelict mill into a thriving community hub and business.

[edit] Lake District

This time, they are driving their home from home through Cumbria's Lake District to see if life nearer the Scottish border makes for a different kind of 'northern-ness' - while taking in some of the most famously breathtaking scenery in the British Isles. Along the way, they get a taste of life in border town Carlisle, laying a bet or two at the town's famed racecourse with one of the natives, journalist and broadcaster Grace Dent. But there are plenty of other eventful stop-offs: making mint cake in Kendal, visiting the utterly unique pencil museum in Keswick (well, Cumbria is the birthplace of the pencil), boating on beautiful Lake Windermere and trying a taster menu at a Michelin-starred restaurant. As they cruise the countryside, the pair also discover they can both do a startlingly accurate impression of bearded acting legend and son of the north Brian Blessed - which becomes something of a recurring theme for them both as the trip unfolds.

[edit] North Yorkshire

This time, it's Yorkshire, and Ricky's joining Ralf for a boxing and fitness session at a men's community health group in Leeds. The results aren't pretty! But it does work up a monster appetite; if only Ricky can satisfy his with a dish he's always found too spicy… The pair find out at an award-winning restaurant in official UK curry capital Bradford. Ralf fulfils a childhood dream when he gets to stoke the engine on a traditional steam train on the historical Keighley & Worth Valley line, made famous in the film The Railway Children. Ricky opts for the more sedate option - sitting with the passengers... And after getting stuck in as willing Oompa Loompas in a real-life York artisan chocolate works, the pair end their trip in the beautiful east coast town of Whitby, a place linked inextricably with the Dracula story. Good timing, as it's Halloween - but will they be too scared to take a walking tour of its spookiest bits with sinister guide 'Dr Crank'...?

[edit] North East

Ricky and Ralf are in the north east, a part of the world they both love. It is where a bit-part acting gig got Ricky noticed for his breakthrough TV role on Brookside, and where Ralf's secondary career as a semi-pro footballer took off - on a TV charity match. The pair get their heads around the region's fanatical love of footy, talking to Middlesbrough legend, much-loved TV star and part-time singer Chris Kamara. There is more sport as Ricky and Ralf glean some secrets from two expert local trainers on the ancient pastime of pigeon racing. But things also get emotional with an evocative trip back in time to a working coal mine, now a museum to the industry decimated in the 80s. The pair also visit one of Ricky's favourite charities, which helps families still struggling in the wake of the industry's collapse. But the trip ends on a high as Ricky and Ralf visit the end of Hadrian's Wall in Newcastle's aptly named Wallsend and enjoy a Guy Fawkes fireworks display fit for a Roman emperor.

[edit] South Yorkshire

It's South Yorkshire for the duo this time. They start with a visit to an unsung beauty spot in Barnsley, working up an appetite for what claims to be the best yorkshire pudding in the area. Can it compete with their much-revered lancashire hotpots? There's musical inspiration in abundance, too, as the pair take up instruments to join the national champion brass band in Worsbrough for a rousing anthem. Later, they find themselves at Sheffield's beautiful botanical gardens greenhouse, busking a surreal and very funny song for bystanders with uniquely quirky son of the city John Shuttleworth. They also revisit the city's industrial history, grafting in one of the few remaining - and thriving - steelworks, and see the contrasting side of life in the beautiful countryside just over the border in Derbyshire. There, in the Peak District, they encounter a huge underground cavern with an amazing history and an interesting name. It could almost have been named just for Ricky...

[edit] Manchester and Liverpool

It's the final week on the road for Royle Family dad and son Ricky Tomlinson and Ralf Little as their hilarious and heartwarming camper van adventure across the north comes to an end - with a double homecoming. Ralf confronts his childhood demons and a food that he never got along with in his hometown - the famed black pudding at Bury Market. He always felt this dislike undermined his northern credentials, so how does it taste now he is nearly 40? The pair call in at the home of the duo's mutual rivals Manchester City, where they join a game of walking football for the older players - 80-year-old Ricky in goal! Then they visit a favourite haunt of the entire Royle Family cast back in the day, the hotel bar they always gathered in after filming, for some joyous reminiscences. After a stop-off at a the curiously ethereal Dream sculpture near St Helens, it is on to Ricky's own homestead, Liverpool, where TV dad shows TV son some of his favourite haunts - culminating with a country and western night at a social club. And as the two part company after evaluating the success of their quest to capture the spirit of the north, there's one final surprise for viewers back in their trusty camper van.