Tour film for BBC Three

Seann Walsh has made a tour film for BBC Three.

Seann Walsh: One For The Road was shot during a fortnight of gigs around the Scottish Highlands and islands.

The film follows the comedian with his support act and driver Mark Simmons as they navigate their way from show to show without a tour manager, no internet or map reading skills and no way of coping with the local wildlife.

Producers describe the film as exploring 'the highs and lows of being on tour in one of the most stunning but remotest parts of the UK'.

The pair visited some of the country's smallest, furthest-flung venues on the journey, which began straight after the Edinburgh Fringe. The tour included the Shetland hamlet of Hillswick, Stromness in Orkney, Portree on Skye, Wick in the far north of the country and Ullapool.

Scotland's Highlands and islands have become a favoured stop for big-name comics to polish and extend shows ahead of a tour, with Walsh following the likes of Bill Bailey, Al Murray and Ed Byrne in playing the under-the-radar circuit in recent years. 

He also retains a reputation for being accident-prone on tour. He postponed the Stornoway and Elgin dates in September because he lost his voice, then had to reschedule a gig in Swindon last month when his foot mysteriously swelled up. And in 2014, he had to rearrange a show in Hertford after travelling 125 miles in the wrong direction to Hereford.

Seann Walsh: One For The Road will be made available on iPlayer on Wednesday, the day after he appears on Live At The Apollo on BBC Two. Also on Tuesday night's Christmas episode are Romesh Ranganthan and Kerry Godliman.

The One For The Road documentary is directed and produced by The Moaning of Life's Simon Smith and made by Me&You Productions, the company behind Karl Pilkington's various travelogues. The executive producers were Lindsay Hughes and Richard Yee.

Walsh hosts a movie podcast with Simmons and is becoming an increasingly prolific filmmaker.

He is about to release a follow-up to his short The Drunk, entitled The Drunk Getting A Taxi, and successfully crowdfunded the short Roger with Game of Thrones star John Bradley.

He makes his feature acting debut with Marek Larwood in the forthcoming family film 2:Hrs and made his own short as part of Sky Arts Irish-themed comedies earlier this year.

Walsh is still on tour with One For The Road until Sunday, before resuming in February – kicking off with the postponed Scottish dates.

- by Jay Richardson   

Published: 15 Dec 2016