Bradley and Barney Walsh
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OPINION: ‘Bradley and Barney Walsh’s fourth series of Breaking Dad could be even better – here’s how’

Let's hope there's a fourth series!

Bradley and Barney Walsh were back on screens last night for the final leg of their European tour.

Breaking Dad has been thrilling and delighting us in equal measure since the first series was on in 2019.

And in the third national lockdown, series three of the road trip show became a real a tonic to sooth the stresses of having to put our travel plans on hold and forgo seeing our family and friends.

Series three was brilliant, but was there anything they could change for the fourth outing? Absolutely! Here are six ways they could make the next instalment of Breaking Dad even better.

The third series saw Bradley and Barney Walsh explore Europe (Credit: Hungry Bear/ ITV)

How could series four be even better?

Get them further afield

Series three was a little closer to home than it might have been if the coronavirus pandemic had never happened.

And while it’s undeniable that The Chase host and his son visited some truly breathtaking locations on the Continent – particularly the Contra Dam and the gorgeous Amalfi coast – it still felt a bit more domestic compared to what we’re used to seeing.

Read more: Bradley & Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad – will there be a fourth series?

For series four, restrictions allowing, let’s see them head to Japan or China. Or even somewhere in South America or Africa.

Barney’s reportedly keen to get his dad Down Under, so hopefully an Australia series is on the cards.

He said: “I would love to take dad scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef. I have a PAD license and I love scuba diving. I do it quite a lot when I’m away. That would be really cool to take dad to the Great Barrier Reef.”

The father-son-duo tried out gladiatorial combat in episode six (Credit: Hungry Bear/ ITV)

Give us longer episodes

This has been a bugbear among viewers for ages and it’s something ITV should definitely address. The episodes just fly by far too quickly.

A half-an-hour slot just isn’t enough. Give us an hour of this stuff!

Their European journey also took them through Germany (Credit: Hungry Bear/ ITV)

Series length and singing

Six episodes isn’t enough either

Producers switched up the number of episodes after the first series, which only had four instalments, when the father-son duo drove from LA to New Orleans.

Series two had six episodes, seeing the pair travel from Florida all the way up to Maine on the United States’ east coast.

I would love to take dad scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef… that would be really cool.

But every series ends with us feeling like we could have another couple of episodes, at least. Brad and Barney could easily do two more without the show feeling padded out. Give us eight episodes for the new series!

Both Brad and Barney have beautiful singing voices – although they weren’t great at yodelling (Credit: Hungry Bear/ ITV)

More singing, please

Bradley and Barney both have lovely singing voices and they treat fans to their little harmonies here and there.

It’s always such a joy to hear them sing, so let’s have it at the end of every episode! Why not? Their renditions are only short, so it wouldn’t feel like overkill.

Is there anything more smoothing than hearing Barney’s soft strumming and crooning alongside his dad’s heavenly warbling? It’s rhetorical as the answer is no, there isn’t.

Let’s cut Bradley a bit of slack (Credit: Hungry Bear/ ITV)

Bradley’s fear of heights

Cut back on the height-based thrills

Okay, so series three seemed to seriously ramp up the adrenaline factor, with Barney taking full advantage of the fact his dad is terrified of heights.

Read more: Breaking Dad viewers complain show is ‘too short’ as they beg producers to make a change

But it relied a bit too heavily on height-based activities, which included Barney’s terrifying bungee jump off the Contra dam (Brad, as viewers will know, pulled out), them walking down the side of a building, and Brad huffing and puffing his way up that gigantic climbing wall.

Give the man a break! At the very least with more ground-level thrills…

Poster

More like the Andrea Bocelli episode

Let’s see famous faces

The show is very much about Brad and Barney’s relationship, but it wouldn’t hurt to have more famous guests appearing with them from time to time.

The scene in series three involving Andrea Bocelli – in which the tenor reduced Brad to tears with Time To Say Goodbye – was amazing.

Moments that emotive will be hard to replicate, of course. But still, it showed there’s room for others on the trip!

ED! contacted ITV for comment.

What do you think? Are you looking forward to seeing Bradley and Barney Walsh in a fourth series of Breaking Dad? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor