Tim Moore decides to visit the worst places in Great Britain, or at least those with the worst reputation. Taking as his guide various surveys and his own preconceptions his itinerary takes in run down seaside resorts (Great Yarmouth, Skegness, Southport and Rhyl); fallen industrial giants (Hull, Middlesbrough, Merthyr); dead end towns (Barrow, Hartlepool); and many points in between.
To add to his sorry trip he stays at hotels and eats from establishments with the worst Trip Advisor ratings and visits ‘attractions’ with the most rubbish reviews. He buys an old Austin Maestro (the worst of a bad bunch of British Leyland models) to make the trip and compiles a playlist of the most mind numbing music to play en route.
If that doesn’t sound fun, in Moore’s capable hands it is, as he mercilessly lampoons the places and the people who live and work there. Some stops last barely an afternoon, so it is hardly an in depth or even fair assessment of some challenging environments. But it is funny, provided you don’t live there.
Despite the laughs,
it paints a sorry picture. However the conclusion does acknowledge that at
least these places have (or had) identity and character (be it bad, sad or
dangerous) and it is with an element of regret that Moore records the demise of
the distinctive and its replacement by the bland.
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