Karl Pilkington Karl Pilkington is a travel presenter and author. After be

 Karl Pilkington Karl Pilkington is a travel presenter and author. After being sent around the world three times by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant for An Idiot Abroad, Karl Pilkington went it alone on a journey of self-­‐discovery. As Karl turned 40 and officially hit middle age, he was ready to re-­‐assess his life. The Moaning of Life saw Karl set off around the world to experience how other cultures faced up to life’s big issues as he made plans for his future. The Moaning of Life was Sky 1’s most successful home-­‐grown show in 2013 with over 2.3 million people watching the first episode, as well as generating record On Demand and Sky Go viewing figures for non-­‐scripted programming on Sky. An Idiot Abroad 3 followed Karl and Warwick Davis over the course of an epic journey following the footsteps of famous explorer Marco Polo from Venice to Eastern Europe, India and China as they got stuck into different cultures and traditions, illuminated by Karl’s trademark observations about the world and Warwick’s varying experiences as a little person in different countries. The three part special broadcast on Sky 1HD from November 2012. An Idiot Abroad 2 saw Karl travelling around the world to fulfill a list of ‘Things To Do Before You Die’. Broadcast on Sky1HD from September 2011, it soon became the channel’s third highest rating show of all time. The first series of An Idiot Abroad was broadcast on Sky1HD from September 2010. It was a smash hit success and saw Karl embark on a journey to discover the Seven Wonders of the World. The series is the channel’s most successful factual series ever. The Idiot Abroad brand has grown from strength to strength. The second series was nominated for a BAFTA® Television Award, adding to previous nods from the British Comedy, National Television, Royal Television Society, Broadcast and Broadcasting Press Guild awards. The series have been sold to over 200 territories worldwide. The accompanying DVDs (distributed by 2Entertain) have sold over a million copies and books (published by Canongate) have sold over a million copies in the UK alone, hitting the Top Ten in hardback in the autumn of 2010 and the No.1 spot on the paperback list in the autumn of 2011. The books spent 50 weeks in total in the Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller lists. Most recently the accompanying The Moaning of Life book also spent 10 weeks in the Sunday Times best seller list in both hardback and paperback. The third series of The Ricky Gervais Show premiered on HBO in the US in April 2012, returning to E4 in the UK in May 2012. US-­‐based producer Media Rights Company (MRC) along with Wildbrain, the animation studio behind YoGabbaGabba, made the show. The Ricky Gervais Show started out life as a radio programme on London station XFM, which began in 2001 and aired weekly for months at a time during 2002, 2003 and 2004. Karl was an off-­‐air producer for Ricky and Stephen but he didn’t stay off-­‐air for long and his antics and opinions along with his fascination for odd stuff, distrust of animals and dislike of crowds meant that he became a much more vocal part of the show and became the cult hero of the XFM broadcasts. A series of record-­‐breaking podcasts with Ricky and Stephen followed, making Karl a household name around the world. The podcasts went to number 1 in 14 countries including America and became the most downloaded in history according to Guinness World Records, having gained an average of 261,670 downloads per episode during its first month. The podcasts have remained at the top of the charts, outselling, albums, TV and film, currently having been downloaded over 300 million times. Karl’s classic quote, “I could eat a knob at night,” has spawned dance records, merchandise and a thousand online discussions – one such discussion leading to the conclusion that Karl isn’t real but is in fact a comedy character invented by Ricky and Stephen. The real thing was first seen in all his glory in a twenty-­‐minute interview, which appeared on Ricky Gervais' live stand-­‐up comedy DVD, Politics. Karl is the author of six books: The World of Karl Pilkington; Happyslapped by a Jellyfish; Karlology; An Idiot Abroad; The Further Adventures of An Idiot Abroad and The Moaning of Life. For more information please contact Tiffany Agbeko at [email protected] or 0207 428 8400.