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

This was my least favourite show so far. I like a bit of backstory about the players, you need to get to know them but they kept rehashing their ‘stories’ over and over.

i’m much more interested in the actual physical journey, where they stay, wash, what they eat, and the places they visit.

So far the Canadian one has been my favourite. The scenery was stunning. India went on and on. 🙄

I second this.
I’ve found the thread unpleasant in terms of attacks on one person.

Happy Sioned and Fin didn’t run out of money. I thought they’d be stuck at the last hurdle like the couple who didnt have enough money for a lift to the top of a tower one year.

I thought C&T made a mistake going coastal but their lead setting off earlier obviously gave them the advantage for the win. They took longer on this leg than others but ultimately Raced a good Race.
I spent most of the last mad dash trying to work out how much the sun had risen to see who was first. It was very tense, great fun. C and T were my first choice, i think they played the game well and gave viewers a few laughs along the way

Thanks for the thread @Twentykittens, it’s been enlightening

Agree
None of them had enough backstory so yes. Boring to keep going over it.
I think the camera guys with them were just a bit crap asking the same old same old ( appreciate the editing was also an issue )

I wanted more bartering, more stuff on accommodation, buying food etc.
We saw really very little of that

So agree. Not so great this time round

They had lots of money on this series guess they didn't need to use it for accommodation only transport
Remember the women last year stretching to buy an ice cream
Would be good if some made money by busking or selling stuff
Good research and design by those putting trip together the last leg seemed to have lots efficient travel options and taxis to take away the delays

I spent most of the last mad dash trying to work out how much the sun had risen to see who was first.

Me too! At least I knew from the blazing sun that the brothers had no chance - I'd been hoping they'd pull a miracle out of the bag.

I didn't like this series as much due to the relentless repetition of sob stories. We got the information the first time - it didn't need to be repeated over and over again. Although Caroline is a very similar age to me, I just couldn't equate with her at all.

Not sure where they could (safely) go for another series.

I’m with you Betty (from the last series)…

I’m just thinking back over this series compared to previous. In the first and third (?) series we saw far more in geographical terms. I remember the first leg of the first series, they travelled from London through Europe to Athens, then each week through so many different countries. Likewise in series 3, through all the different countries of the South American continent. Whereas this series we had a lot of China and India with a brief flash of Nepal in the middle. Just personal preference but I love more variety in the journey.

Also wondering where might be next. Africa hasn’t been covered yet, that would be interesting to see. Also more of Asia but down into Australia, NZ, the Pacific islands - this would be a great challenge in budget terms!

I would love to apply for this, I think of it each year but I don’t know anyone who would be willing to come with me. Wonder if they would ever allow solo contestants?!

I would like to see them banning taxis - anyone can get a taxi!

Well I agree with her point, but it still takes up too much screentime. I bet if they stitched all the time 'the family home was lost' sentence was said together, we'd have a good 20 minutes that could have been better spent.

I get her point but I don’t think that’s what most people are criticising. Every person on earth has life experiences, struggles, traumas, joys, privileges.

In Betty’s case I remember well she had a medical issue that left her unable to have children biologically. It struck a chord with me because I’m also unable to have children, and I spend a lot of time travelling the world, trying to fill my life with adventure to fill the gaping void that I would have preferred to fill with being a mother.

But the thing is, I don’t travel the world talking about that or any other life struggles each day. Yes, it does come up sometimes, but not all the time. I think many people are criticising that a lot of the broadcasting time is given to these stories rather than to the journey and adventure. It’s interesting to hear once or even twice within the series, but in this series certainly, we’ve heard something of everyone’s life battle in each episode.

Yes, absolutely ….. but that is the point. Take any 8 people/pairs and, unremarkable as we are, we all have our stories, our challenges ….
For me, the best thing about this programme is that, just like the previous series, I pretty much ended up rooting for them all. I really was able to see the best in all of them.

Agree. The brothers were the only ones I could be sure were later in the day than the others. Although I did wonder at one point maybe they were the day before
it was quite tense and edited well

They can’t if they don’t have the money. That’s where the strategy comes in. In the Canadian series one couple had to pull out because they ran out of money because they took taxis all the time. Speed needs to be balanced against cost which is why sleeper trains/coaches are a godsend.

and there was me willing C&T to just jump in a taxi and not wait so long for that bus that delayed them.

I really liked Betty and her brother. I absolutely take her point about thinking about what you write - these are real people who may see it. None of the contestants deserved to have their characters assassinated.

However, the human stories and personalities are part of the show. It's set up to make you buy into the people themselves not just the journey.

The producers will have looked at that before choosing who goes on it, it's not a lottery system is it? They will have effectively 'auditioned' and something about them and their story or personality will have been deemed interesting to the viewers. They are clearly not just followed round by a camera either, there are various interviews to camera which I imagine have someone the other side asking questions and prompting them. That person will presumably have an idea of what will make a good bit of TV.

The downside of all this is that sometimes you just don't warm to the people who are on it. That's a situation the programme itself creates.

This post doesn't sit well with me at all. Everyone has a life story, losses experiences etc. DH and I were joking last night about what our sob stories could be (DH has about 5 he could use) but it's Not Bloody Relevant To The Bloody Race. It's not what viewers are watching it for, it's a bloody race

Not sure, I think it is relevant - I think it’s why we are invested in the whole thing, exactly because we learn about the contestants and their stories.

The two words that stick out are RACE Across the WORLD.
I want to see more of the places they visited and where they stayed. We rarely saw anyone struggling to find reasonable accommodation as in previous series.
Far too much personal information.

I have always been rather sceptical of the very close finishes after 51 days

I think it's relevant too in getting to know the contestants. What I don't understand is the vitriol on this thread. I used to look at TV threads for a bit of relaxing chat.

One of my DDs kept asking me to apply for this with her …. looking at the comments on here and elsewhere about Caroline I’m not sure I could cope with all the negativity.

plus I’m not great without food and sleep 🤣, so I’m sure I’d come across like an old hag!

You and me both!

I don't mind a bit of backstory either - this series just seemed to hammer the viewer with it though and it was too much.

I was just saying to DH there is no way I could go on this - I'd love to do the travelling, just don't want to be picked apart! Plus I'd definitely have a sense of humour failure or two along the way (probably when I got hangry!).

I am glad C&T won, I actually liked all the contestants this year (unusually!) but was glad for the winners as I think they did both find themselves a bit more and their confidence grew.

I felt there was not enough showing them working this time, no one seemed to try and find alternative transport, no one stayed with random people, all the stuff previous series have had.

For sob stories - see also The Piano.

It is SO tiresome.