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8 Episodes 2011 - 2011
Episode 1
Sat, Jan 21, 201245 mins
Compiled from what they consider universally standard lists, Ricky and Stephen provide Karl with a 100 item bucket list from which he can choose a handful for his next travel adventures. Karl has no desire to do anything he considers dangerous or stupid such as bungee jumping, and the list in general is comprised of things he wouldn't normally choose, but he does choose one night on a deserted island as his first bucket list travel adventure. Ricky and Stephen find a deserted island in Vanuatu in the South Pacific for him, but they figure he may as well have some adventures while he's traveling to get there. First stop: bungee jumping in New Zealand! They also send him to do such South Pacific activities as land diving and arseboarding. He also spends a night with a native tribe that worships Prince Philip. He finally makes it to a tribe that is one step away from his ultimate destination, they who provide him with his "Man Friday" who will help him with some basics before he leaves the island, as well as some typical clothing of the area. But Ricky makes sure that Karl isn't totally alone on his one night on what Karl calls his muffin island.
Episode 2
Sat, Jan 28, 201244 mins
The next adventure that Ricky and Steven convince Karl to do is take a trip on the Trans-Siberian Express, which is the least offensive of the bucket list items but which is still not very palatable to him. He dreads the train trip more after his encounter with one of the first people he meets in Moscow. His pre-train trip stay in Moscow is not helped by his encounter with a roomful of half naked men. But once on the train he begins to relax... for twenty minutes. At his first stop, he, in honor of the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's space flight, is to go into cosmonaut training. He is relieved by some news with this regard. Back on the train, he meets a man, whose gift he finds somewhat silly but still cannot be fascinated by. At the next stop, he learns about a natural healing process, which may be literally his most death defying feat yet, but one in which he ultimately feels very relaxing. He learns that he will take a side trip into Mongolia, where he must defend the honor of the family with who he will be staying. He dislikes the actual activity as much as the way he looks doing it. And he learns that the trip will end in a place to which he is not looking forward, but one where he may receive some redemption.
Episode 3
Sat, Feb 4, 201244 mins
Karl travels to Australia to swim with dolphins, but the trip doesn't turn out as expected. On the way, he stops in Thailand, where he meets some ladyboys and gets attacked by monkeys. In Australia, he swims with sharks instead of dolphins.
Episode 4
Sat, Feb 11, 201244 mins
Karl sets off to Alaska to go on a whale-watching cruise. Before heading out to sea, he journeys across a frozen landscape on foot, by snowmobile, and by dog sled. The cruise aboard a working deep-sea fishing boat proves difficult for Karl.
Episode 5
Sat, Feb 18, 201245 mins
Ricky's suggestion of the next bucket list item to do - meeting the endangered mountain gorilla in its natural habitat - does impress Karl, if only because of their likeness to humans (Ricky states they are 98% genetically identical to humans). Although the gorillas Karl will meet are located in Uganda, Stephen and Ricky think Karl should see other parts of the sub-Saharan African continent while he's there anyway. They first send him to South Africa to help with a charity advising local children and rebuilding huts, which ends up unnerving him primarily because he requires a security guard on his stay. While Karl's there, Stephen and Ricky encourage him to partake in an activity which he didn't do on a previous trip. Karl then drives to a residence, the owners who have a hippo as a pet that has access to the inside of the house. Next, he visits with the Ndebele tribe, where he will learn their painting techniques, while he cooks a meal for their king. He is next sent to take part is a major wildlife conservation project where a wild male rhino is being relocated for the survival of the local females. Finally arriving in Uganda, Karl is first tasked with purchasing second-hand clothes to wear for his gorilla meeting, the actual meeting which is not quite as Karl expects, but which he still takes away profound realizations of life.
Episode 6
Sat, Feb 25, 201243 mins
Karl isn't overly excited by his next trip, it to drive along Route 66, as he believes its general public mystique may be something manufactured by excitable Americans. He will drive the route west to east, starting in Santa Monica, California, but not in the type of convertible he was hoping. His first arranged stop he doesn't think will be a memorable one, but it ends up being memorable as what he considers one of the most embarrassing situations ever in his life. Two of the next three stops will show Karl that many man-made curiosities have popped up along the route. Those somewhat benign stops sandwich what ends up being an uncomfortable one, where, in a traditional hippie section of the route, he participates in cuddle therapy. Next, in a section of the route where the gold rush occurred, he meets with a modern day prospector, who has a few explosive off-road surprises for him. He trades up his vehicle at the next stop for a truck named "Nasty Boy" by its owner. He takes a 180 degree turn culturally when he lives the Amish way in Indiana. Feeling like Karl may be bored of driving, Stephen and Ricky arrange for Karl to see the last part of the route by air, from which he ends up having an interesting vantage point. They may ultimately have to resort to Plan B to finish the trip, depending on what is the lesser of two evils for Karl.
Episode 7
Sat, Mar 3, 201244 mins
Ricky and Stephen figure that if Karl won't climb Mount Everest, a good manageable substitute for him would be to climb Mount Fuji. Starting in Tokyo, Karl first visits a cat café, where for £15, he gets the luxury of petting cats while drinking his beverage. This relaxing but somewhat benign activity for Karl is contrasted by his next experience, partaking in the activity of sumo wrestling. Karl just hopes he will not be pinned under a fat arse while doing it. His first night in Tokyo is spent in cozy quarters, but it is the associated noise that bothers him. To get him refreshed after this night's sleep, Stephen and Ricky arrange for him to exercise, Japanese work styled. Karl's impression of Japan before arriving was high tech, and he does eventually see high tech items around in his travels, the experience of which he wants to utilize fully to show the viewing audience something useful in terms of an invention of his creation, regardless of Ricky and Stephen's wants. Ricky and Stephen send him back to ancient traditions to sample what was the forerunner to modern sushi. After that experience, they send him to visit with a zen Buddhist monk to relax, but the ritual he goes through is not what Karl would consider relaxing. Ricky and Stephen want to give Karl an idea of how mammoth an undertaking the climb will be by giving him an interesting vista of the mountain before the actual climb. Although that vista doesn't give Karl the view he had hoped, the actual climb does give him some perspective, and some inspiration for that much wanted invention.
Episode 8
Sat, Mar 10, 201244 mins
Karl Pilkington finally returns home after travelling around the world to see the Seven Wonders of the World. Back in Britain he's quizzed about his travels abroad by his friends Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who want to find out if he's actually learned anything from his experiences.