Weekend adventurer Warwick Davis: 'I was kidnapped by pirates in Cornwall!'

Life’s Too Short star Warwick Davis reveals his family are more like the Griswolds than the Osbournes in his new ITV holiday programme Weekend Escapes with Warwick Davis (Friday, April 11).

Why have you taken your family on a UK road trip in this new six-part series?

“You have to make programmes that mean something to you. I really want to champion the great British holiday, which I firmly believe is a better option than going abroad – if the weather’s good! You don’t have to travel a long way to find fantastic days out. I love those Chevy Chase ‘Vacation’ movies where he drags his family, the Griswolds, on road trips. This gave me a chance to be the Griswold dad!”

You visit plenty of places - Cornwall, Sussex, Norfolk, the Lake District, north Wales and Lancashire. What did you discover?

“My wife, Sam, and children Annabelle (17) and Harrison (11) and myself explore typical things like a traditional holiday camp in Blackpool. But we also uncover unusual things, from druids in the Lake District, which was magical, to lawnmower racing in Billinghurst – I loved that, it was like being a kid again! We also learned to fall down stairs and be James Bond at a stunt school in Lancashire, which was pretty cool! I was even kidnapped by pirates in Cornwall!”

What ingredients would you say make a British holiday special?

“More often than not it’s the people you meet, who are wonderfully eccentric and fun. They make British activities and trips as good as they are. The secret to a good holiday is not to make too many plans. We usually take dice with us and roll it to decide where we go and what we do. But for this trip we did a bit more planning than we normally would.”

Holidays at home are infamous for rain, though...

“We were so lucky with the weather and only had one wet day in Blackpool. I was glad of it in the end because it’s not really a British holiday without rain!”

Family holidays usually involve some bickering. How did you all get on?

“We’re actually quite patient with each other, so there’s never a full-blown argument. We had the odd moment, but it’s not The Osbournes! We set out to make a holiday show about this country, not a reality show. That said, you still do get an interesting glimpse into our family..."

 

 

Elaine Reilly
Writer for TV Times, What’s On TV, TV & Satellite Week and What To Watch

With twenty years of experience as an entertainment journalist, Elaine writes for What’s on TV, TV Times, TV & Satellite Week and www.whattowatch.com covering a variety of programs from gardening and wildlife to documentaries and drama.

 

As well as active involvement in the WTW family’s social media accounts, she has been known to get chatty on the red carpet and wander into the odd podcast. 


After a day of previewing TV, writing about TV and interviewing TV stars, Elaine likes nothing than to relax… by watching TV.