An Idiot Abroad is a British travel documentary series broadcast on Sky1 and Science, as well as derivative books published by Canongate Books, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, featuring Karl Pilkington in the lead role. The constant theme of both the television series and the books is that Pilkington has no interest in global travel, so Merchant and Gervais make him travel while they stay in the United Kingdom and monitor his progress.