Race Across The World Series 5 Thread 2

[TwentyKittens]

With only five posts left on the old thread, thought I'd start this so we can link between the two.

This thread carries on from the first:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/5314933-race-across-the-world?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

I loved the way the older contestants showed you can still grow and do things when you get older. All power to them, I think they did amazing. Loved the brothers’ wheely case they finally dumped!😭

See I love all the reading of the book, adds to the tension. It’s a race! Given the ratings the format as it is is clearly popular.

I think I must have blinked and missed how Melvyn suddenly ended up with a rucksack!

Melvyn’s case was one of those that turn into a rucksack.
I wanted Fin and Sioned to win. Was a bit gutted really.

I wonder if Melv’s suitcase is still lying there at the side of the beach at the tip of India, waiting to be picked up.

Wanted the brothers or S and F to win but didn't mind in the end .My least favourites were the sisters but again probably down to editing and too much of Letitia looking moody and giving her sister the side eye.
Also think there's a lot of inverted snobbery towards Caroline and Tom .Why shouldn't they join the race and if they won fair play to them.Back story or not she had amazing energy and was willing to get stuck in and Tom did seem a lovely lad.Being comfortable financially doesn't preclude having insecurities .

I think someone said the elimination was done to ensure the trip was a race, not just a holiday. £20000 isn’t a huge amount of money, not life changing, so you could just bumble along. Theres actually not really much incentive or benefit to winning each leg, apart from time advantage, and I’ve always wondered why there isn’t a prize. Even £1000 per leg would be better than nothing.

I only wanted the youngsters to win because it’s so hard to get on those days regarding housing and so on and 20 k is a big chunk towards a deposit and associated costs.
It’s not a huge amount of winnings considering they are away for nearly two months and how hard it is , but they all got a lot from it emotionally I think.

I was guilty of inverted snobbery when I first saw them for sure. My instant thought was I wasn't going to like them. They definitely saw that off though as the series went on. I just thought they were a bit dull really but I do think that's down to the production focusing on a boring non issue. Why couldn't they have showed them talking more about Thomas and what led him to being a labourer. That was a surprise! Why couldn't we have heard more about Caroline's horsey stuff? All that would have made them more likeable actually. Why do these reality shows insist on shoe horning in a sob story?

I’m quite sick of the inverted snobbery about Caroline and Tom as well. I’m pleased they won, but would have been happy if any of the couples won tbh.

I know they aren’t allowed phones etc, but are they allowed kindles? I’m not sure I could do that much travelling without a stack of books to read!

No idea why I posted this again

Really loved seeing the brothers relationship develop and how Fin and Sioned's confidence grew as time went on.

I agree with pp that there seemed to be hardly any working / homestays in this series. And actually in last week's episode, working is what seemed to put the brothers so far behind in the run up to the last leg, whereas in previous years, by the end, all the teams have been running out of money and have had to work. It would be good to see tighter budgets again next series.

I wonder where the next location would be. I'd love to see one across Russia but obviously impossible at the minute. Maybe across Central Asia / the Stans? I'd also love to see one across Africa but im not sure what the variety of infrastructure is like in terms of giving teams different options? I know in some parts of Africa there is very limited rail options.

It sounds like it's really not your sort of show. Watch something else if it annoys you so much.

Many people have commented on there not being much work done this time. Maybe it depends on the country? I imagine that in parts of India, there is lots of manual labour but the pay would be very poor, so hardly worth the time lost and money gained for the contestants. In any case, each country throws up different challenges. In Canada they had to rely much more on getting lifts. In other countries, language is much more of a problem etc.

I wonder if they do a reverse trip. Ie Singapore to France.

I enjoyed the show - really wanted Sioned and Fin to win as I felt they had done so well having relatively little life experience compared to the others, but I think Caroline and Tom were worthy winners. Tom in particular was very interesting and I thought it was lovely how supportive he was of his mum, and how much he loved and respected her. Also loved the fact he wasn’t embarrassed to read out his journal (and the fact he even had a journal was impressive!). I’m aware I sound quite patronising now 😳

In terms of back stories, I agree there was too much time on these, even with Brian and Melvyn who I think had the most interesting story. Apart from Gaz and Yin who I was gutted didn’t make it, as they seemed so interesting and like really good people.

Someone said upthread they couldn’t understand why Caroline talked about loneliness when she’s married - it’s possible to be lonely even in a room full of people, or with a life full of friends. I think your child growing up and away from you and being an empty nester is one of the most difficult emotional situations to manage, having recently done it myself.

Hope the next series focuses a little more on the journey, the budget, the accommodation etc and a little bit less on the back stories!!

As an aside I am amazed S & F didn’t run out of money and even had enough for a taxi!!! And what a lovely lad they met who bought them a bag of goodies.

You an employee or something?

I was happy enough to see Caroline and Tom win, although I was hoping for the teenagers or the brothers. I didn't warm so much to Caroline or Tom at the beginning but I ended up enjoying seeing Caroline's joy at everything and Tom's newly found respect for his mum as a person and not just his mum. The fact he not only wrote what he did in his journal but felt confident enough to share it with his mum and on camera was lovely. It is a shame they didn't mention her achievements in life as she has achieved a lot, maybe for some reason she hasn't seen these as achievements in the same way a paid career might have felt. I think what a PP said that having money and the privilege that comes with that doesn't make you immune to feeling insecure or unfulfilled in life for whatever reason.

I do think these programmes are made all the better for some human aspect and am happy to hear the back stories - to a certain extent. But, I do hope the producers have listened to the feedback online that they maybe didn't quite get the balance right this time. I also want to hear more of the culture, the people, the food and how they afford it, especially if anyone has any food allergies (it would have been good for anyone with diabetes to see how Fin managed that), the budget, where they stay and how they find a good place to stay. More scenes of where they are and more snippets of the history and modern day lives of the people who live there.

I am a massive RATW fan but would be sad if it became just another reality show that spent too mcuh time focusing on the contestants back stories and relationships than the amazing countries and the complexities of the race elements.

I did love seeing the South of India. When they first arrived in India I felt overwhelmed just watching it and I have been to Kathmandu where it is similar but not as busy. Some great scenery in all the countries they went through and as always it made me want to visit them. I'd actually love to do RATW but not as th tv programme, just travelling.

I think the first series crossed the stans.

Oooh ok! I thought I'd seen them all but maybe we started with s2? Will need to go back and watch in that case!

I have only ever watched the celebrity version before. I did enjoy this but, like many others, wanted to see far more of the scenery, the food they ate, the accommodation they stayed in etc etc. I didn't mind a bit of their back stories but there was far too much and I found it boring.

Why does every programme now have to be stories (usually sob stories) about the people in it? I have stopped watching The Repair Shop for this reason. I want to see skilled people repairing treasured items. I don't want a sob story for every item

Agree. We’ve seen 8 hours of material, of which maybe 1/5 tops is directly from each couple, probably less. So 1-2 hours of actual screen time of each couple, from over 50 days and long interviews beforehand, during which they presumably ask them about all their worries and insecurities. They will all have far more nuance and caveats than are shown in the edit.

My teens really liked all of the couples by the end - they all did so well. Looking forward to hearing more about how they all got on next week.

I’ve been an avid watcher since the first series and love the show, but the back stories/“journies”!are getting more bothersome. It’s too much now.
I tune in to see more travel, food, racing, overcoming problems in different cultures. I don’t tune in for the back story. It’s of no interest to me.
Woukd have been happy for any of the couples to win as they were all nice. I loved Melvyn’s humour the most.
BBC - less back story, more travelling next time please

Disappointed that the brothers didn’t win and would also have liked Finn & Sioned to win but overall, I really enjoyed it.
Off the back of this thread and enjoying this series, we’ve downloaded all the previous ones and finished watching series 1 the other day and what a difference in the way it’s shown. Much less back stories but enough for me as a viewer to get a good sense of each contestant and their relationships but much more about managing their budget, their accommodations and food and on their travel, which was great.
With this series that’s just finished, I too would have liked to see more about all the things shown in series 1, when we start on the others, it’ll be really interesting for us to see how all that is played out to compare.

I remember because the toilets in Uzbekistan were particularly disgusting.