Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure
{{EngvarB|date=November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox television
| alt_name = Rory and Paddy's Even Greater British Adventure
| image = Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure.jpg
| image_size = 250
| caption = Title screen from Series 1
| director = Marc Heffernan
Jamie Goold
| presenter = Rory McGrath
Paddy McGuinness
| country = United Kingdom
| network = Five
| num_episodes = 10
| num_series = 2
| producer = Marc Heffernan
Jamie Goold
| company = IWC Media
| first_aired = {{start date|2008|8|13|df=y}}
| last_aired = {{end date|2010|10|10|df=y}}
}}
Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure is a television documentary series presented by comedians Rory McGrath and Paddy McGuinness. The series was broadcast on Five between 13 August and 3 September 2008.{{cite web|url=http://demand.five.tv/Series.aspx?seriesBaseName=RoryPaddysGreatBritishAdventure|title=Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure|publisher=Demand Five|date=3 September 2008|accessdate=4 September 2008|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080904003050/http://demand.five.tv/Series.aspx?seriesBaseName=RoryPaddysGreatBritishAdventure|archivedate=4 September 2008|df=dmy-all}} The series follows McGrath and McGuinness travelling around Great Britain, taking part in "strange but quintessentially British sporting events". Examples of sports that appeared in the series include cheese rolling, pie eating, bog snorkelling, Eton Fives and Egg Throwing. A second series, Rory and Paddy's Even Greater British Adventure, began on 20 September 2010 and ended on 18 October 2010.
Plot
Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure saw McGrath and McGuinness competing against both the public and themselves in unusual sports around Britain. For the first series, the contest was split into four parts: Middle England; Scotland and Northern England; Wales and the Shires; and Southern England. In each edition, McGrath and McGuinness go head-to-head at different sports, and also take part in a separate sport each. The results were recorded in their "Black book", with McGrath and McGuinness fighting each other to see who is best.
In the second series, the contest was split into six parts, with results recording their "Red book". The separate sports were removed from the show, so now each contest is a head-to-head between McGrath and McGuinness.
Reception
The series received mixed reviews. The programme was originally broadcast during the 2008 Summer Olympics, which resulted in some media outlets saying that Britain should play in sports depicted in the show, rather than actual Olympic events.{{cite news|last=Shennan|first=Paddy|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/echo-columnists/2008/08/16/that-s-proper-sport-100252-21542922/|title=That's proper sport!|work=Liverpool Echo|date=16 August 2008|access-date=4 September 2008}} Andrew Tong wrote in The Independent on Sunday that; "we mustn't play them at their own game. Rather we should regale them with all the sports we invented but which the IOC won't allow in the Olympics. Not cricket and rugby, but games at which we're the best in the world, such as toe wrestling, mountain bike bog snorkelling, egg throwing and, of course, worm charming."{{cite news|last=Tong|first=Andrew|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/news-and-features/andrew-tong-chinese-are-no-match-for-russian-roulegg-913868.html|title=Andrew Tong: Chinese are no match for Russian Roulegg|work=The Independent on Sunday|date=31 August 2008|access-date=4 September 2008}}
Noam Friedlander in Metro gave the programme four stars out of five, saying: "The pair packed a lot into the hour but a swifter romp through Middle England would have been more welcome. At least the eccentricities that make Britain 'great' got their minutes of fame. It makes a change to give these genuine characters airtime rather than the caterwauling wannabes we'll be seeing on this weekend's The X Factor auditions."{{cite news|last=Friedlander|first=Noam|url=http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/article.html?in_article_id=263718&in_page_id=9&in_a_source=|title=Eccentric England with Rory and Paddy|publisher=Metro|date=13 August 2008|access-date=4 September 2008}}
However, James Walton in the Daily Telegraph was more critical of Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure saying, "that a sense of almost existential pointlessness had soon settled over the entire programme – a sense not banished by perhaps the least alluring pre-advert announcement in TV history. "Coming up," said Paddy, 'Rory's a no-hoper at tiddlywinks.'"{{cite news|last=Walton|first=James|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/08/14/nosplit/bvtv14last.xml|title= Last night on television: Who Do You Think You Are? (BBC1) – Rory & Paddy's Great British Adventure (Five)|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=14 August 2008|access-date=4 September 2008}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
Episodes
=Series 1: Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure=
| class="wikitable" |
| Episode
! Air date ! Sports ! Winner |
|---|
| 1 – Middle England
| 13 August 2008 |
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| 2 – Scotland and Northern England
| 20 August 2008 |
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| 3 – Wales and the Shires
| 27 August 2008 |
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| 4 – Southern England
| 3 September 2008 |
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=Series 2: Rory and Paddy's Even Greater British Adventure=
| class="wikitable" |
| Episode
! Air date ! Sports ! Winner |
|---|
| 1 – Scotland
| 20 September 2010 |
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| 2 – Wales
| 27 September 2010 |
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| 3 – The North
| 4 October 2010 |
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| 4 – The South
| 11 October 2010 |
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| 5 – The Shires
| 18 October 2010 |
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| 6 – The South West
| 25 October 2010 | |
Footnotes
References
{{Reflist|2}}