Raising the flag: John Bishop's Australia.

In 1992, John Bishop undertook the mammoth feat of cycling from Sydney back to his home in Liverpool, England. Since then he's become one of Britain's most-loved comics on the back of his dry anecdotes and observations about life and his family. Last year, at age 47, he revisited the Sydney to Cairns leg of the trip, cycling with a BBC camera crew in tow over eight weeks, tackling beaches, bikies and koalas with chlamydia.

How did the original trip come about and why retrace it?

In 1992, I was going out with a girl and I didn't want to get married so I came up with this idea that I'd do my last big adventure, which was to ride a bicycle back from Australia. It took me 10 months and when I got home, I married her [wife of 22 years, Melanie], but you would do if you spent 10 months on a bicycle, you'd marry anyone. Then when I got into showbusiness and the life that I lead now, Australia was something that kept nagging at me - it was unfinished business because I'd never been since. When you travel with a camera crew, it gives you access to things you don't get otherwise. There were parts of Australia I skirted through last time, this time I was able to embed myself in - that was the thing I was looking for.

On the road: John Bishop recreated a cycling trip he did 22 years earlier.

The scenes with the koala being tested for chlamydia are pretty gruesome. Did you know what you would be facing?

Advertisement

No. And what surprised me was that I'd neven been that close to one and I've got an Englishman's view of a koala, I think it's a small little cuddly thing but they're massive. I mean, that was like a man in a koala suit, this big bloke lying down.

What do you want the program to reflect about Australia?

The impression I had of Australia in 1992 is the same I left with now. It's the people. I just think the people are amazing, there's a real warmth and friendliness. We did the stereotypical things, the snakes, the spiders and stuff, but when you get further into the series it's the people that dominate. You can travel wherever you want to in the world and you will always connect with somebody but in Australia it feels like you connect with everybody.

Continued here:

Beaches, bikies and koalas with chlamydia: John Bishop's Australian adventure