The Naked Pilgrim

Documentary series on the Catholic pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

The Naked Pilgrim
GenreDocumentary
Directed bySteven Green
Presented byBrian Sewell
Theme music composerSrdjan Kurpjel
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producerMartin Durkin
Original release
NetworkFive
Release1 July 2003 (2003-07-01)

The Naked Pilgrim is documentary series produced by British broadcaster Five and presented by art critic Brian Sewell. First broadcast in 2003, the series follows Sewell on the Catholic pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

The series, ostensibly an arts travelogue about the pilgrimage route, was notable for Sewell wrestling with his own loss of faith and for his emotional responses to the pilgrims he encountered. Each episode features a leg of the pilgrimage route with a diversion in the third episode to visit the shrine at Lourdes.

The series was a success for Five and was watched by more than one million people - the channel's biggest audience for an arts programme.

The series won the prestigious Sandford St. Martin Trust award for Best Religious Programme. It was released on DVD in 2004.

In the show, Sewell drives on the pilgrimage a bronze 1988 Mercedes-Benz C126 560SEC coupe (registration E132 NWP), that previously belonged to 1992 Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell.[1][2]

Locations

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
  • Bordeaux, Poitiers, Lourdes
Episode 4
  • Roncesvalles, Bermeo, Guernica, Bilbao
Episode 5
Episode 6

References

  1. ^ "Portrait of a driver: Brian Sewell". The Telegraph. 2 November 2002. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  2. ^ "1982 Mercedes-Benz 500SEC C126 and 1986 560SEC - reliving Eighties F1 with the ex-Senna, Manseil and Rosberg cars". Drive. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2023.

External links

  • The Naked Pilgrim at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
Critical Reception
  • The Guardian, "Sewell bares body and soul for Five" (TV Preview), Ciar Byrne, 19 June 2003.
  • The Guardian, "The life of Brian" (TV Review), 2 July 2003 (paragraphs 1-5).
  • The Guardian, "My kingdom for a hearse" (TV Review), Nancy Banks-Smith, 22 July 2003 (paragraphs 6-11).
  • London Evening Standard, "Anguish of the TV presenter," Brian Sewell, 1 July 2003. (version archived 6 June 2011)
  • New Statesman review
  • The Scotsman, "Not so much the Naked Pilgrim as the haughty hagiographer" (review), 30 June 2003.
  • The Scotsman, "Naked brilliance of braying Brian" (review), 2 July 2003 (paragraphs 1-7).
  • Times review (1) (logon required)
  • Times review (2) (logon required)
  • Times best television programmes of 2003 (logon required)


  • v
  • t
  • e