Lads on tour

Men Behaving Badly co-stars Neil Morrissey and Martin Clunes celebrate 40 years of friendship with a fun trip around France

- JEN PHARO

They found fame in Men Behaving Badly - and now Neil Morrissey and Martin Clunes have the chance to be just that as they set off on a boys' tour around France.

Neil & Martin's Bon Voyage is a new three-part series following the duo as they mark 40 years of friendship with a trip to some of the country's most beautiful regions including the Dordogne River, the vineyards of Bordeaux and the peaks of the Pyrénées.

Along the way they see the famous white horses of the Camargue, try to paint like Van Gogh in Arles and enjoy a tipple on top of Europe's largest sand dune.

But their favourite part of the trip was simply being together for the longest amount of time since the 90s. Neil said: "Fame came so quickly it was like being shot out of a cannon."

He added: "The best thing about this trip was we were given licence to hang out together for three weeks. In the past, we've seen each other for a meal or a weekend here, weekend there. To be brought together was just great."

The pair first met four decades ago backstage at a production of Peter Pan in Bristol where Neil was playing a pirate and Martin was visiting a friend who was playing the title role.

While Martin was still unknown in 1984, Neil was already on TV, playing Rocky in the STV drama Boon.

Neil, 62, recalled: "We got it together and there were certain haunts and our careers were on a similar sort of pathway..."