[TV] Race across the world

[hans kraay fan club]

I dunno - I couldn't stand the woman with the deaf husband that she basically bullied - yet I found it compulsive watching (especially when she lost in a photo finish........)

"I can't DO it, Robbie!"

 

[Mellotron]

"I can't DO it, Robbie!"

High drama.

 

[Badger]

I dunno - I couldn't stand the woman with the deaf husband that she basically bullied - yet I found it compulsive watching (especially when she lost in a photo finish........)

That was probably the highlight from ANY series.

Yeah Canada series comfortably the least interesting, as the only real options were buses or hitchhiking, and they were all basically taking the same route, little variety of scenery as well. Canada looks beautiful but you want some differences throughout a series.

Yeah, Canada was a bad choice. I live in the busiest city and I only have to go a couple of hours north before barely having any public transport options. Plus, a huge chunk of Canada between Ontario and West Alberta is just flat nothingness.


I did enjoy this series. As others have said, the sisters' backstory seemed a bit manufactured, so I was quite glad they didn't win it. I'd have been happy with any of the other teams to win it, but I don't think winning matters too much in this show.

I thought they did a really good job of showcasing India. It's not a country I've ever had a big desire to visit but there really is some spectacular scenery. It hasn't changed my view of the big cities though, they seem like unpleasant places to be.

 

[Mellotron]

That was probably the highlight from ANY series.



Yeah, Canada was a bad choice. I live in the busiest city and I only have to go a couple of hours north before barely having any public transport options. Plus, a huge chunk of Canada between Ontario and West Alberta is just flat nothingness.


I did enjoy this series. As others have said, the sisters' backstory seemed a bit manufactured, so I was quite glad they didn't win it. I'd have been happy with any of the other teams to win it, but I don't think winning matters too much in this show.

I thought they did a really good job of showcasing India. It's not a country I've ever had a big desire to visit but there really is some spectacular scenery. It hasn't changed my view of the big cities though, they seem like unpleasant places to be.

I was lucky enough to go to India when I was 14, and it was a transformative and amazing experience.

I think someone summed up India well by stating; "Awful place, amazing people."

The rural parts are breathtaking and you can get away from the crowds - whilst I did visit Delhi and another busy city (Shillong), we got up into the mountains and it was really beautiful and peaceful, and surprisingly cold in the evenings.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Agree with a lot of the comments about the sisters. The whole 'rebuilding' of their relationship seemed really odd because a) they didn't seem too distant anyway and never really had a PROPER barney to prove they were so different/distant and b) they agreed to the facking show in the first place! Why would you do that with a sibling you had a dodgy relationship with? Bugger that!

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Agree with a lot of the comments about the sisters. The whole 'rebuilding' of their relationship seemed really odd because a) they didn't seem too distant anyway and never really had a PROPER barney to prove they were so different/distant and b) they agreed to the facking show in the first place! Why would you do that with a sibling you had a dodgy relationship with? Bugger that!

I guess they just had to have a narrative, to get their place on the show.

If they'd applied and just presented themselves as two well-travelled, twenty-something, middle-class sisters from Sussex, the producers would have lobbed them in the bin and looked for someone with a 'story' to build around.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

I guess they just had to have a narrative, to get their place on the show.

If they'd applied and just presented themselves as two well-travelled, twenty-something, middle-class sisters from Sussex, the producers would have lobbed them in the bib and looked for someone with a 'story' to build around.

Totally agree – and there might have been genuine issues there, who knows? But it could equally be that the production team realised that it was a bit of a dodgy backstory, so had to play on it a lot. Don't get me wrong, I quite liked them and they have clearly been through some challenging times, but the strained relationship didn't really seem that strained to me. Apart from when it had to be repeatedly covered in every episode

 

[Dave the OAP]

Totally agree – and there might have been genuine issues there, who knows? But it could equally be that the production team realised that it was a bit of a dodgy backstory, so had to play on it a lot. Don't get me wrong, I quite liked them and they have clearly been through some challenging times, but the strained relationship didn't really seem that strained to me. Apart from when it had to be repeatedly covered in every episode

…and I didn’t think it was fair that one of them could actually speak mandarin which obviously helped in china

it is obviously one huge travel show, and it looks ask though there is another one similar coming up too.

glad the ones who won did, but shame the welshies didnt win as I really liked them.

 

[The Mole]

Loved this series… probably because I love India and have been to most of the places they went through although I think I have to go to Gir National Park and the tip of India.

I really like the selection of the contestants- none of the irritating ones that want to self publicise themselves

Also I was very sorry to hear about the death of Sam - especially shocking as I know that road really well.

 

[Badger]

…and I didn’t think it was fair that one of them could actually speak mandarin which obviously helped in china

That was actually quite amusing in the first couple of episodes. She could speak fairly good mandarin, but the woman who looked Chinese couldn't speak a word of it, having to convince the locals of that fact.

 

[Mellotron]

That was actually quite amusing in the first couple of episodes. She could speak fairly good mandarin, but the woman who looked Chinese couldn't speak a word of it, having to convince the locals of that fact.

Yes genuinely a funny idea to send a really cockney lady to an area where she looks like she could easily pass as native.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Totally agree – and there might have been genuine issues there, who knows? But it could equally be that the production team realised that it was a bit of a dodgy backstory, so had to play on it a lot. Don't get me wrong, I quite liked them and they have clearly been through some challenging times, but the strained relationship didn't really seem that strained to me. Apart from when it had to be repeatedly covered in every episode

Quite, but is that a reason to dislike them?
I find some of the comments on here a bit strange….
As I mentioned, I preferred them over the others, until yesterday I hadn’t realised they were from Worthing and Lancing…… must be a East Sussex/Hampshire thing

 

[Tony Towner's Fridge]

Thoroughly enjoyed this series and the scenery was more than spectacular. Agree about the sisters, liked them at first but they let their jealous guard down in episode two or three when they were knocked off top perch and didn't like it, being quite nasty in the process. Liked the brothers too. and glad the winners were the mother and son combo. She really found herself which was good to see.
I would love to do it but my knees would object.....


TNBA

TTF

 

[mikeyjh]

I was lucky enough to go to India when I was 14, and it was a transformative and amazing experience.

I think someone summed up India well by stating; "Awful place, amazing people."

The rural parts are breathtaking and you can get away from the crowds - whilst I did visit Delhi and another busy city (Shillong), we got up into the mountains and it was really beautiful and peaceful, and surprisingly cold in the evenings.

Absolutely, a difficult country to understand and to cope with but I've always felt the people in general have an incredible generosity. Well, the less well off anyway, in my experience the wealthy tend to be even bigger arses than our upper classes....

 

[mikeyjh]

I wanted the brothers and then the mum and boy, so not to bad. Three missus and I love the program. However, it pissed me off when the brothers and the sisters all stayed overnight on the last leg allowing the others to catch up and create a close finish. Why would the sisters need to get a bed for the night when they just done a sleeper bus? Any other leg fine but the last one, no its a race.

I really do like the series but I'm convinced there's some jiggery pokery to make it a close run thing....

 

[Greg Bobkin]

I really do like the series but I'm convinced there's some jiggery pokery to make it a close run thing....

Yeah, there definitely is. I realised that very early on in the first series I watched – and I'm cool with that.

 

[bhafc99]

Great series, with undoubtedly the most stunningly scenic route yet.

Once married now divorced couple. Struggled to race effectively, and probably deserved elimination. Backstory was an interesting one, with the potential to have developed, but there was also something a little sad and maudlin at the heart of it. Especially him - a nice guy but clearly adrift in life, and while he yearned for reunion, she didn’t.

Welsh couple. I slated them in early episodes for the relentless references to “ooh it’s not like this in our little Welsh village”, but once they got over that, actually warmed to them a lot as the series went on. By the end, they were resourceful and their bond had grown even stronger. Would have happily seen them win. Though lose the tache, mate, or grow a proper one - off with the bum fluff.

Brothers. Great TV, the researchers hit absolute gold with this two - particularly the dynamic between slightly posh and down-to-earth. Seeing them become closer again was a joy to watch, and their unstinting cheerfulness and willingness to get stuck in was refreshingly genuine and entertaining. Again, if they’d won it would have been well deserved.

Sisters. The Mandarin-speaking advantage didn’t sit well with me, and - as others have said - the backstory seemed somewhat forced and over-egged. Often felt like they were being made to emphasise it more than was true, which lent an air of ‘performance’ to some aspects. Otherwise likeable enough, if a little forgettable.

Mum and son. Boy did she want to win! Perhaps a little too competitive for the format, but in the end her ‘realisation that she’d missed out’ arc was honest and perhaps unexpected, and it was insightful for him to see his mum’s life in ways he probably hadn’t before. The more the series went on, the more obvious it was they’d likely win, but they were always good to watch and no complaints that they did.

 

[bhafc99]

I really do like the series but I'm convinced there's some jiggery pokery to make it a close run thing....

The Canada one was blatantly fixed to let the older women win.

 

[Arthur]

Great series, with undoubtedly the most stunningly scenic route yet.

Once married now divorced couple. Struggled to race effectively, and probably deserved elimination. Backstory was an interesting one, with the potential to have developed, but there was also something a little sad and maudlin at the heart of it. Especially him - a nice guy but clearly adrift in life, and while he yearned for reunion, she didn’t.

Welsh couple. I slated them in early episodes for the relentless references to “ooh it’s not like this in our little Welsh village”, but once they got over that, actually warmed to them a lot as the series went on. By the end, they were resourceful and their bond had grown even stronger. Would have happily seen them win. Though lose the tache, mate, or grow a proper one - off with the bum fluff.

Brothers. Great TV, the researchers hit absolute gold with this two - particularly the dynamic between slightly posh and down-to-earth. Seeing them become closer again was a joy to watch, and their unstinting cheerfulness and willingness to get stuck in was refreshingly genuine and entertaining. Again, if they’d won it would have been well deserved.

Sisters. The Mandarin-speaking advantage didn’t sit well with me, and - as others have said - the backstory seemed somewhat forced and over-egged. Often felt like they were being made to emphasise it more than was true, which lent an air of ‘performance’ to some aspects. Otherwise likeable enough, if a little forgettable.

Mum and son. Boy did she want to win! Perhaps a little too competitive for the format, but in the end her ‘realisation that she’d missed out’ arc was honest and perhaps unexpected, and it was insightful for him to see his mum’s life in ways he probably hadn’t before. The more the series went on, the more obvious it was they’d likely win, but they were always good to watch and no complaints that they did.

Agree with all of this especially the bit about the tache!

 

[Mellotron]

The Canada one was blatantly fixed to let the older women win.

That felt VERY VERY telegraphed, and another reason I felt that series was the weakest.

Their narrative felt so obviously set up to pay off with them winning, that the wife and I called it about halfway through.