Race around the world

[Freakuk]

croyde said:

Sums up my ex with our kids, 18 to 24.

Thinking about when the leading teams sometimes end up leaving the hotel at 4am in the morning and end up on the same transport as the later teams.

Why not time your arrival so you know that you'll leave when everything is open.

Might sod up the hold yer breath ending of each leg though

I'd be, right! we can see the hotel, so let's hole up in this cheap bar for a few hours.

I don't think this is the players/teams decision, how would the 2nd, 3rd, 4th team know what time the previous team(s) left?

It must be a TV/planning thing and I would imagine that they know the routes and the crossing, bus, train times etc to ensure people stay together for TV.

In an ideal world they would just add the time up from leg to leg and let them all go at the same time and you would see gains & losses etc.

We have to remember this is TV though, they have a film crew with them, probably first aid etc etc also. Plus they must ve given some knowledge of transport as how could you work out how to travel from country to country without some information, likewise the jobs, these must be arranged by the production company to add extra drama etc.

[Freakuk]

airsafari87 said:

Other than the brother and sister pairing and the mother and daughter that went home, I am really struggling to like any of the other couples.

That old guy is just awful, but his Mrs is ok.

The young lad who always wears his chain on top of his t-shirt is ok, but that horrible little pr!ck he is travelling with can get in the bin.

The daughter of the remaining mother daughter couple is a horrible piece of work, but her mother isn’t too bad.

The journey they are taking this time though is incredible.

I was sad to see the Mother/Daughter leave they were a nice team and the daughter clearly had some struggles which she was always thanking her mum for help with.

The young lad as you say is really annoying, maybe he has ADHD as his whole focus is on winning and not the experience, he is unable to enjoy the experience. I feel sorry for the other lad as he clearly wants to enjoy himself and has only managed to have minimal times to experience things so far.

The old couple annoyed me to begin with as they just didn't seem to understand the race element of the programme, somehow they didn't end up last on eviction week and I think they have a good blance in enjoyment and the race now. He is a little annoying, but they don't focus on them for too long.

Mother and Daughter, I actually think the mother is a horrible piece of work, always has an opinion and criticizes her daughter no end, whereas the daughter comes across as really intelligent and thoughtful, she needs a medal for putting up with her to be honest.

Finally brother and sister, I really like these pair. He's just a typical 20-something out with the lads and his world is so small, I'm glad they covered his background and how he was obsessed with cricket and dedicated years to try and get into the county/national team etc and his dreams were shattered... Maybe that explains his limited travel etc. Whereas Betty is the complete opposite and cares about him and wants him to broaden his horizons which I think she is doing a great job of.

[Philplop]

On previous series’ they’ve said that they have 36 hours at each checkpoint, so I assume it’s the same this time.

I’d like to see more of them finding their information and making a plan. A couple of the teams have lost their maps and yet they just leave the checkpoint and head straight to the next.

I imagine the jobs are actually voluntary, and it’s the crew that pays the wages. Foreigners can’t just rock up in Thailand and do paid work.

Really enjoying this series.

[Car bon]

I never really get the running race to a checkpoint - who really cares if you leave said checkpoint 2 minutes later ? One day it may make an actual difference I suppose.

[daqinggregg]

Teams will be in for a bit of a shock, the roads and driving standards are awful in comparison to anywhere they’ve already been, progress is also painfully slow.

Depending on the location of checkpoints, there will be at least 2, maybe 3, more ferries to take some of which are quite long and not particularly cheap, Sumatra to Java around £70 each, budget may become somewhat of an issue.

I expect all the teams will have to take part in some (imaginary) work, to make in to the end.

[Jordie Barretts sock]

I.like the two lads. The blond one has his head screwed on and his best mate is very much 'on the spectrum' but they are a good match. They are either miles ahead or capable of making up loads of time. Yet they are still seeing each country. Very very smart to take overnight buses. No accommodation and they are moving.

The old couple, he is someone I'd never tire of punching. Thinks if he talks loudly and slowly people will understand him. His wife has a lot to put up with.

Brother and sister are great, but ultimately not ruthless enough to win.

Mum and daughter, mother is a needy spoilt piece of work. The daughter is doing her best to not bite the end of her tongue off.

Agree, felt sorry for the first two out, they seemed the most 'balanced' but we didn't see much of them.

Anyone remember the lad in South America who wanted to do the Escobar tour and his mother basically gave into everything? Or the last series across Canada with 'we'll just get a taxi' chap. Destined to fail. I don't see any obvious candidates for that this series.

[croyde]

Wasn't that the tall lad with Asperger's/Autism?

Reminded me very much of my now 21 year old son.

[Jordie Barretts sock]

He might have. I just remember his mother indulged him in absolutely everything and he was a brat. That was nothing to do with autism.

[Mark83]

Freakuk said:

I don't think this is the players/teams decision, how would the 2nd, 3rd, 4th team know what time the previous team(s) left?

It must be a TV/planning thing and I would imagine that they know the routes and the crossing, bus, train times etc to ensure people stay together for TV.

In an ideal world they would just add the time up from leg to leg and let them all go at the same time and you would see gains & losses etc.

We have to remember this is TV though, they have a film crew with them, probably first aid etc etc also. Plus they must ve given some knowledge of transport as how could you work out how to travel from country to country without some information, likewise the jobs, these must be arranged by the production company to add extra drama etc.

The production was briefly covered on a Q&A episode of The Rest is Entertainment podcast. Richard Osman said there's a support crew with medical and local fixers etc in vehicles following them but they are left alone and get no help. The one point that stuck with me was that a camera operator has to travel with them at all times so if there's only two tickets left for a train/bus, they cannot catch it. Jobs are listed out in a book so the detours for jobs are available to all contestants.

[MiniMan64]

Mark83 said:

Freakuk said:

I don't think this is the players/teams decision, how would the 2nd, 3rd, 4th team know what time the previous team(s) left?

It must be a TV/planning thing and I would imagine that they know the routes and the crossing, bus, train times etc to ensure people stay together for TV.

In an ideal world they would just add the time up from leg to leg and let them all go at the same time and you would see gains & losses etc.

We have to remember this is TV though, they have a film crew with them, probably first aid etc etc also. Plus they must ve given some knowledge of transport as how could you work out how to travel from country to country without some information, likewise the jobs, these must be arranged by the production company to add extra drama etc.

The production was briefly covered on a Q&A episode of The Rest is Entertainment podcast. Richard Osman said there's a support crew with medical and local fixers etc in vehicles following them but they are left alone and get no help. The one point that stuck with me was that a camera operator has to travel with them at all times so if there's only two tickets left for a train/bus, they cannot catch it. Jobs are listed out in a book so the detours for jobs are available to all contestants.

I read something similar. I also read a pair of production teams pre-race the route with the same conditions to see what works and what doesn’t and to plan out the potential work stops. I guess it also gives them a rough idea of times between checkpoints so they can book rooms in the hotels for appropriate gaps.

I did wonder about the stop offs this series though. As someone said earlier, previously they always left 36 hours after they arrived, which led to some awkward travel moments trying to get out of town at 3am. Unless I missed it, I haven’t noticed any middle of the night departures or mentions of the enforced amount of stop over time in the series though.

I was wondering if they’ve tweaked it slightly and just releasing them during the day with arrival gaps set between them.

[Jordie Barretts sock]

Last episode I think the leaders left at 0400, so that's still a thing.

[MiniMan64]

Jordie Barretts sock said:

Last episode I think the leaders left at 0400, so that's still a thing.

Ah fair enough, I definitely haven’t been paying enough attention then!

[daqinggregg]

I also read that two people from the production team also do the route before hand, one who knows the route and another who doesn’t, but needs to do all the planning.

Also the pair have a budget of around £50 per day. As programs go, it’s got to be fairly difficult to plan and execute, to ensure they keep the teams together. Basically, teams are given two route options to choose from.

Would imagine as a production it’s fairly expensive to produce, wonder if it’s syndicated to other countries? I’m sure the ‘Amazing Race’ is.

[Mojooo]

In every single season and episode the contestants have always come generally within 24 hours of each other at each checkpoint. I think the longest I remember was a 36 hour gap

Given that some seasons run over 50 days and allowing for people stopping off for fun, work and generally missing transport and just being badly organised - there is no way you wouldn't at least have a few situations where the AT LEAST one team is a few days behind.

I think all have also fully completed within a day of one another - again highly unlikely over 50 days IMO.

[Philplop]

daqinggregg said:

Basically, teams are given two route options to choose from.

I did wonder about that. When they were in Cambodia it was said they could either go west around the Tonle Sap lake and through central Thailand, or go east around it and go through northeastern Thailand, despite it only being a 20 minute drive between the two scenarios.

[Mark-C]

Mojooo said:

In every single season and episode the contestants have always come generally within 24 hours of each other at each checkpoint. I think the longest I remember was a 36 hour gap

Given that some seasons run over 50 days and allowing for people stopping off for fun, work and generally missing transport and just being badly organised - there is no way you wouldn't at least have a few situations where the AT LEAST one team is a few days behind.

I think all have also fully completed within a day of one another - again highly unlikely over 50 days IMO.

I think the worst was the two lads in Canada that were asleep in a tent hundreds of miles away when everyone else had finished the leg ...

At the end of the day it's TV so a bit of "jeopardy management" is to be expected.

[Car bon]

I think that's maybe why they do the occasional 'last one is eliminated'

[bristolbaron]

Philplop said:

daqinggregg said:

Basically, teams are given two route options to choose from.

I did wonder about that. When they were in Cambodia it was said they could either go west around the Tonle Sap lake and through central Thailand, or go east around it and go through northeastern Thailand, despite it only being a 20 minute drive between the two scenarios.

It wouldn’t surprised me if they were given a breakdown of each route/ETA’s either - Average 5 days 2 hours the dull way with better paid jobs/cheaper travel or 5 days 6 hours the scenic way with lower paid jobs/more expensive travel. Teams then choose what they put more value into.

We know they get an itinerary/jobs pack once they’re released from the 36 hour stopover, just not how much info is in them.

The wife and I enjoyed the last leg the most with more stopovers at workers family homes etc, bringing locals into play and reliance on goodwill makes the whole experience more captivating.

I’d like to see the mother and daughter resolve their issues but think that might take more than a couple of episodes, the couple seem to be working better together now but for me it’s still between the lads and the siblings.

[Jungleland]

Enjoying this series more than the last, which I am just remembering as a load of hitch-hiking, saved by Monique and Ladi who were lovely.

The older guy, yes he is irritating at times but I have warmed to him to an extent, I think he's a good guy in essence.

Mum and daughter, I think they are just very different personalities, probs as I think the daughter went to a private school and mum seems a bit more salt of the earth as it were.

I agree with others, would have liked the other mum and daughter to stay as they both seemed to be lovely - I actually never knew dyslexia could be that inhibiting.

My faves are Betty and James. Seem like good eggs and think they're from my neck of the woods too so biased a bit.

The two lads are fine, don't have any huge opinions.

I do love this show, but of travel show and some actual genuine reality element which never seems contrived.

[llewop]

Mojooo said:

In every single season and episode the contestants have always come generally within 24 hours of each other at each checkpoint. I think the longest I remember was a 36 hour gap

Given that some seasons run over 50 days and allowing for people stopping off for fun, work and generally missing transport and just being badly organised - there is no way you wouldn't at least have a few situations where the AT LEAST one team is a few days behind.

I think all have also fully completed within a day of one another - again highly unlikely over 50 days IMO.

nope

series 1: the eventual winners were 38.5h behind the first to the end of leg 4, I think they didn't arrive until after the leading team left and the last to complete were over a day behind the winners

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_Across_the_Worl...

and in series 3 there were 2 teams that were nearly 2 days behind the leaders at one check point. So at least one team has been up to a couple of days behind, but if you look at the timings there can be serious swings within a leg, so good/bad choices play out, but maybe get normalised by the jobs and most of the races seem to have pinch points like ferries or trains that close things up.