refreshing reality TV that seeks adventure instead of fame

Race around the world (BBC One) is a reality show where, refreshingly, the contestants live the adventure rather than 15 minutes of fame. This is the third series, after a break during the pandemic. Don’t worry if you haven’t seen the first two: no prior knowledge is required.

Five couples must get from point A to point B without using a smartphone, credit card, or anything more sophisticated than a paper map. This year’s trip crosses Canada, from Vancouver on the edge of the Pacific Ocean to St John’s in Newfoundland on the Atlantic coast. It’s a 16,000km journey through several checkpoints and they must make it without getting on a plane, with a budget to match the price of the air fare (£2,498.13), with the winners getting £20,000. This entails a lot of lifts.

Can the program single-handedly trigger an uptick in people standing in gas station ramps holding a cardboard sign? Drivers seem much more prone to picking up strangers in Canada, although the presence of a TV crew may provide some reassurance that they’re not letting an ax killer in their car.

The race portion of Race Across the World is by far the best – it’s really nerve-wracking when they’re rushing to get somewhere before a deadline (say, the last ferry from Vancouver Island), and when it hits the last leg, your stress levels will be off the charts. But the show also mixes in some travel experiences, which doesn’t fit the purpose of the show, because when you’re racing to get somewhere, do you really have to take a detour to see some bears, no matter how good bears are?