Richard E Grant's Very Modern Odyssey Review
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- Richard E Grant hosts "Very Modern Odyssey," a four-part travelogue that traces Odysseus's journey across the Mediterranean, beginning in Malta's Grand Harbour and Valletta — a location not on Odysseus's actual itinerary.
- Grant visits landmarks including the Phoenecia hotel, St John's Co-Cathedral (built by the Order of St John in the 16th century, which he calls more spectacular than the Sistine Chapel), and a cave on Gozo potentially linked to the nymph Calypso.
- The opening episode concludes at the bronze age ruins of Troy, described by the show as "almost certainly" the site of "a real, bloody war," with a local historian arguing The Odyssey remains relevant to "refugees, climate change, political crisis."
- The reviewer frames the travelogue as a deliberate counterpoint to the Christopher Nolan adaptation discourse, praising Grant's "loose-limbed, easygoing" approach and willingness to treat Homer's myth as "an act of the imagination" rather than historical fact.
- Grant is described as a "one-man brass section of patrician glee" who gushes over Michelin-starred pigeon, licks his plate, and roars that he is "utterly bewitched by every detail," though the reviewer notes a slight "fuzziness" to his delivery.
- The reviewer's verdict lands firmly in favor of Grant's show, calling it "far more thrilling" than Nolan's "borefest" blockbuster and closing with a celebratory "Lime mocktails all round."
Why it matters: For viewers fatigued by the protracted discourse over Nolan's Homer adaptation, this review positions Grant's travelogue as a refreshingly unserious alternative — one that prizes charm and curiosity over scholarly rigor. Grant's enthusiastic host style contrasts directly with the blockbuster's solemnity, giving Channel 4 a distinct cultural lane during the same news cycle dominated by Odyssey debates.
