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It is a sign of the times that the cost of living crisis has reached the seemingly untouchable televisual mainstay of the celebrity travelogue. It seems Channel 4 is trying to make the whole comedians-on-a-jolly format more palatable by tightening the purse strings. Joe and Katherine’s Bargain Holidays sees frugal Joe Wilkinson convincing luxury-lover Katherine Ryan that she doesn’t need to spend a fortune to have a good time.
Wilkinson and Ryan are old friends and old hands at this kind of thing. They have both featured on Travel Man and they appeared together on Taskmaster. They are funny and charming and I have no idea what they were thinking with this show, which mangles its budgeting advice to the point of offence.
The first episode takes place in Norfolk and very little of what Wilkinson and Ryan get up to will resemble most people’s idea of a budget holiday. There’s no self-catering, no free museums or walking tours, no packed lunches. Because they are jostling with the surfeit of travelogues packed with kooky activities, the duo do paddleboard yoga, visit a “rage room” where you pay to smash stuff with a baseball bat and perform at a local poetry night (of which we unfortunately see far too much).
They go “champing”, ie glamping in a church, which looks quite nice and affordable at £49pp (although bedding is extra). They order dinner from a food waste app but it’s hardly a good advert for the service: Ryan ends up with two burritos filled exclusively with white rice. The next night, they eat at a bowling alley where we’re told £26.50 is good value for nachos and a burger because they get 10 per cent off and a free game.
At this point, the idea of actual frugality has flown out the window but the show persists with money-saving tips that range from the insultingly obvious to just plain insulting. Wilkinson suggests we keep an eye out for money-off vouchers “at libraries and hotels” and advises Googling “discount codes” as though these would be revelations to viewers. Do we not deserve better than being told that 2-4-1 cocktails are a good deal? The worst offender is a segment proposing that travellers avoid paying for drinks on flights by decanting booze into miniature bottles – “100ml is two double gins!”. Presumably this is a joke but when other tips are presented as genuine, it feels wildly misjudged.
There are enjoyable moments, such as Wilkinson’s unbridled joy at an owl sanctuary, but the authenticity that sold Ryan’s recent show Parental Guidance is missing, sidelined in favour of contrivances like a pointless recurring bit about Wilkinson’s new photography idea of a “mousie” – a photo taken from the point of view of a mouse.
Apparently this whole trip cost £273 per person for four nights, including accommodation, food and entertainment (there’s no mention of car hire, petrol or travel costs), but if you do fancy following suit, an easy-to-miss line in the credits informs us that prices are correct “as of Summer 2022” so would probably be considerably higher today.
It is one thing to poke fun at Ryan’s excesses but in this case, it feels like the show’s makers are simply using the concept of budgeting as a convenient way to put a new spin on a tired genre – a crass move at a time when many viewers can’t afford the holiday they want (and deserve) right now. To present such patronising “advice” is disingenuous and to play it for laughs is tone deaf. As an audience, we have been thoroughly shortchanged.
Joe and Katherine’s Bargain Holidays review airs on Thursday at 10pm on Channel 4
