Intrepid world-traveller, audio diarist, and upper-class twit documents his adventures around the globe. His enthusiasm is matched only by his naivety; he is well-meaning, but is definitely treated like the butt-monkey by those around him.
Played by Marcus Brigstocke, based on a character he did doing stand-up comedy, written by Brigstocke, Jeremy Salsby, and Graeme Garden, and first broadcast on BBC Radio 2002-2011.
Tropes that appear in this work include:
- Bait-and-Switch: His trip to India episode starts with Giles at a market, lots of Indian voices calling out, Indian music playing, only to reveal he's in Birmingham, before he leaves England.
- Butt-Monkey: Giles is well meaning, but hamfisted, and is treated as a buffoon by other characters.
- Catchphrase: When something goes awry, expect Giles to utter an exasperated:Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
- Cloudcuckoolander: When asked what his ideal career is, Giles replies:Giles: Pudding Taster, Corduroy Model, or Neil Diamond!conversant: Is Neil Diamond a career??Giles: Twenty-four/seven!
- Comically Missing the Point: While in Thailand, he gets lost, only to find himself in the middle of a (very illegal) hemp plantation.I didn't think there was much of a rope and sacking industry.
- Fish out of Water: Whether taking a large amount of fishing gear to drought-ridden Sudan, getting stuck in a research station in the Arctic, or going on a student trip to Cuba, Giles never quite knows what he's getting himself in for.
- Local Reference: Giles often makes incongruous comparisons between things he encounters on his travels and things in his beloved hometown of Budleigh Salterton.
- "Metaphor" Is My Middle Name: Comes up a couple of times.Adventure is my middle name! Well, between St.John and Leonard.
- Neil Diamond: Giles and his family are big fans.
- Never Heard That One Before: Done a couple of timesWhen meeting the yogi (holy man) at an ashram in India:Yogi: I am the resident yogi.Giles: Then I'll be the resident Boo-Boo!Yogi: Pardon?Giles: Nothing...Yogi: Did you do the Yogi Bear joke?Giles: ... Yes.When in a spice market in ZanzibarGiles: You must be a spice girl!Spice seller: Yes, bwana, nice spices.Spice seller (now cross): And please don't ask for a zig-a-zig-ah. I don't sell them - I don't even know what they are. and I don't understand why every tourist thinks it's so funny to ask for them.
- Noodle Incident: Most of how Giles has managed to get himself wherever he is are these.
- ... One thing led to another, and here I am!
- Recounting school: I did archery... Someone got hurt. So I did quilting... Someone got hurt. So I did sitting quietly... I got a B in that!
- He's not allowed alone in his office, because the last time he was, there was an international incident. With the Dead Sea Scrolls. And some custard.
- Shout-Out: When shot at in the Thai hemp plantation:Are you the farmer? I sound like Withnail...
- Snap Back: Several episodes end with Giles apparently facing certain death, only for him to be back to normal for the next episode, with no explanation or acknowledgement.
- Toilet Humour: Reference in his Thailand journey, where he goes for a journey of self-discovery. The listener is spared the details, except to be told about...spending the night, squatting over a tiny hole, spraying pint after pint of boiling-hot magma down the back of your legs. ... Still, it should be easier to find myself, now that half of me has been liquidised and despatched down that...
- Upper-Class Twit: Giles is this in spades.
