Race Across The World: Trailer, certificate and where to watch
Ordinary people rise to the challenge of getting from A to B
Year: 2019-
Certificate: pg
We're now up to series five of this exhilarating contest, which sees ordinary people take on epic treks without the mod cons.
In the first race, five pairs of contestants had to navigate from the Meridian Line in Greenwich, London, to Singapore more than 9,000 miles away. In the second, the five eager teams had to get from Mexico City to Ushuaia in Argentina and the most recent series saw them travel the breadth of Canada, from Vancouver to Newfoundland.
The rules are rigid. They can only travel by road, rail or sea, and must relinquish their mobile phones. They're not allowed a credit card or any other means of getting cash, but they're each given £1,300 and a basic world map. And if they run out of money they can work en route.
The first series featured childhood friends Sue Last, 57, and Clare King, 58, who last donned rucksacks when they were 21 for an Interrailing tour. The stars of the second included diabetic mum Jo and her son Sam, who has ADHD. And in the third, two pairs of fathers and daughters grew closer over their gruelling races.
In the first episode of each series, they all face the daunting task ahead of them in high spirits - but how long will that last? Not everyone makes it to the finish line. The show's great fun and is one of those rare things: a programme that can be enjoyed by all the family. The most recent fifth series starts at the Great Wall of China. (Five series)
