Rob and Rylans Grand Tour

[TellyUsername]

This is adorable! I love the two of them as individuals but seeing them in a show together is heart warming. They just seem to fill each others cups so much and so genuinely.

I love Rylan but I'm not too much of a fan of Rob so don't know whether to watch it or not

Didn't realise he had written a book! What's it called please?

i enjoyed this also, not a rylan fan but the programme was interesting, and agree about Rob being vulnerable

Saving the show for my holidays. Rob is also brilliant on Amazing Hotels. That said I also liked Giles Coren on that show!

I think Robert's fictional book is called ' The trial ' as I saw an ad for it the other day.

Finished watching the other episodes today. I wonder why they didn't show their accommodation in Rome? They showed it in both Venice and Florence.

Was surprised to see Rob so confident about posing for the still life painting. Also didn't know about Rylan's aversion to singing!

The one part which really stood out for me is when they said that Rob is a head/thinking person and Rylan is a heart/feeling person. I thought that summed them both up perfectly! Very opposite.

Love Rylan. He seems very articulate and in tune with himself. Rob is also very cultured and I thought they made a great team, both bringing different things to the partnership ❤️

The Florence and Rome episodes have not been shown yet !

You have to state it in the title now, if you want the thread to be just TV paced

I agree it is tacky but that's part of its charm I think. It's trying so hard to be high/low culture

Huge plot twist with Rylan turning out to be a frustrated architect and doing the voiceover for the Duomo diagrams. Excellent subversion of our expectations.

@LadyIsabellaWrotham yes, that really was a surprise!
And Rob seemed less introverted in general, and certainly during the life painting session.

I'd always suspected there was more to Rylan than meets the eye. This series started out as Rob being the clever, cultured one, and Rylan being the showbiz guy who knew nothing. In fact, Rylan is intelligent, clever, insightful, kind and deeper than he pretends. This has probably gone unnoticed because of what we think an intelligent person looks like.

I like them both, and was really
looking forward to the Venice episode in particular.
I seem to be in the minority that I found it followed a rather tedious overtly gay theme. Interesting content, being in Venice, but overshadowed by shoe-horning the gay narrative into absolutely everything. Sadly stereotypical,
Maybe I'm missing something, and that's the premise of the series 🤷‍♀️

I tip my hat to your username, as I recognise it as a reference to The Incomparable! 😀

I also loved this programme - it was lovely seeing Rylan realise that something he would have mentally categorised as “not for the likes of me” could genuinely arrest his interest and stir a response. And I also loved seeing their genuine chemistry - I’m surprised to hear they weren’t good friends before this series. Although I was bemused that they were staying in completely different places in Venice. That makes more sense knowing the background.

I think the very overt gay focus is a bit OTT, like the blind dates Rylan set up.

it followed a rather tedious overtly gay theme. Interesting content, being in Venice, but overshadowed by shoe-horning the gay narrative into absolutely everything

I agree with these two comments really. I love a travel show but sometimes the characters or pretext can be a bit laboured. I like both Rob and Rylan though. I want more about the place and its history/culture and a bit less about R & R's love life.

I didn't like the 'dates' sections because they were very obviously set up, particularly in Venice. Although the drag section serve a purpose for Rob.

(I know it's all 'set up', but once I start to notice that it dilutes the interest for me.)

When they were interviewed they said they were thinking about where they'd like to visit for their next series (I don't know if it has actually been commissioned). I did wonder how that would work, because by the end of this one I probably know all I want to know/they want to tell about R&R's lives so it would be a different type of series.

I think that's the deliberate choice they've made.

The thing that Rylan and Rob have in common, despite their many differences, is that they're gay men who grew up in times of widespread homophobia (especially Rob) and now find themselves in a different world, so they are doing a show which is, amongst other things, about gay male life and culture.

Might not be a subject that interests you, I personally find the historical stuff and especially the Artemisia Gentileschi segment more interesting, but it's a legitimate take. I can see why you might be disappointed if you'd really have enjoyed a different show in the same locations but such is life.

It's great TV, enjoying it.

I've always liked watching Rob Rinder, but haven't watched anything with Rylan in it, he does make me laugh with some of his comments.

They're not far apart in age.

I think entering secondary school in the late eighties would have been noticeably more homophobic than the mid nineties. There have been measurable changes in social attitudes year on year.

Rob was born in 1979 so around for some of the HIV crisis in the 80s/90s (or the gay plague as the tabloids liked to call it). And of course there was Thatcher's Section 28. The atmosphere was fairly hostile and didn't really start to improve until the Blair years.

So I am the same age as RR and when we were in our mid teens it was common for people who were gay not to come out and either have a partner of the opposite sex or lie.

RR and other gay men I was at College with often did either of the above. Many came out when they went to Uni but not before.

To be fair Blair got elected the first year we were at Uni so that matches the timeline.

I've just finished this and I absolutely loved it. I have a big soft spot for Rylan anyway and he was wonderful in this. The two of them together had such a lovely connection. I'm really surprised they weren't close friends before they did this.

So much in this series to enjoy. And now I really want to go to Italy!

Saw a bit of this on Goghlebox - looks lovely 😍