Beast in the East
CLEARLY there is nothing more entertaining than watching people carrying huge backpacks running around foreign cities in a total panic.
As this much-loved series returns for a fourth season, it’s night and everyone is bickering, desperately looking for a temple in Japan.
Then we flashback to five days earlier where it all begins. Five teams of intrepid Brits prepare to battle it out in a breathtaking 15,000km race across Eastern Asia through both some of the world’s most populous and its most unexplored regions.
The teams will race from northernmost Japan, crossing six seas and eight borders, skirting the path of the volcanic ring of fire – the most geologically unstable region on the planet.
They must reach the finish line in Lombok, an idyllic Indonesian island paradise, and the first to arrive wins £20,000. The youngest competitors, best friends aged 20, are trainee pilot Owen and football ref Alfie.
Meanwhile, retired couple Stephen and Viv are embarking on a quest for one last thrilling adventure before they “dribble into old age”.
There are two mother and daughter pairings in the race – Isabel, a trainee clinical scientist, with her teacher mum Eugenie; and cleaner Sharon along with her daughter Brydie, who’s a snowboarding instructor.
Finally there’s welltravelled Betty, 25, and her little brother James, 21, who’d rather be boozing in Magaluf with the lads.
They will travel through multiple countries and cultures, leaving behind their smartphones, internet access and bank cards, armed only with the cash equivalent of the airfare. It’s more intense than any of them can imagine.