Race Across the World

I can't warm to the mum & son (more the mum tbh) but I do wonder whether some background trouble will be mentioned as to why they are so clingy with each other.

I like the sisters and the brothers, also the divorced couple.
The Welsh pair are ok

I’m enjoying the series. We had so many memorable experiences when we went to China, but are now seeing so much more. It’s a fascinating country.

I’m not sure who I’m rooting for yet, but agree that I don’t like to see couples eliminated.

I came late to the party last series- so went back and watched them all, even the celebrity ones.

I think it is what the BBC do best- great locations, a sense of adventure and challenge, and not making the set-ups too obvious.

Finding out what countries are really like, and especially the people, is very enlightening.

I didn't get the paddy fields thing with those girls though...

Enjoyed last nights, I have found myself warming to the mother and son last night along with laughing out loud at the brothers 👏👏👏

The sisters are becoming rather samey and the young couple, well I think she needs her mum.

As always the star of this show is the stunning scenery…

I think the young girl needs more than her mum, I hope the tv programme has psychological help on hand. She looked very unhappy.

Those buses and roads were terrifying! I couldn't do that.

The brothers are hilarious, and I agree that mum and son are settling into a comfortable routine together.

It is funny how a turn-about has taken place. At first we thought the young 'uns looked a sure-fire bet. Now the tables are turned and the brothers look set to do well especially. I found the incident with the glove and the young man slightly overdone though- we couldn't they have just given hima bigger glove?
Sometimes it does seem set up.
However, the brothers on the zip wire were hilarious!
Now the more human side of the contestants is coming out it becomes even easier to want them all to win. Maybe except that young couple? Why did they even apply, especially with his diabetes and her perceived 'lack' of social skills. If you don't like being around people, why do something in which you have to interact with complete strangers?
I think they will soon run out of money anyway...

I did wonder a couple of episodes back if the younger of the sisters had some mental health struggles but dismissed the thought as programmes such as these have to be extremely careful these days about contestant welfare.

However, after last night, it seems they're all struggling with some demons! Broken homes, unloving parents, sensory overloads, physical disabilities.

I couldn't quite comprehend the situation with the sisters - clearly way more to the story.

I don't mind a little background info on the contestants but for the first time the whole programme seems to be shifting towards personal problems taking centre stage and away from the race and the travels.

I'm sorry some of them have personal problems but tbh, I'm not that interested - they should stay personal. I want to see how they manage with the travelling and what they see and do. That surely was the aim of the programme when it first started?

I do like the brothers and their humour. The scenes shoveling and handling the poo were funny. I also empathised with the brother who didn’t want to go on the zip wire, I had a similar experience in France!
The young girl seems totally overwhelmed, I felt for her when she was crying. I hope the production team are looking after her well.
The mother and son are very interdependent, I get the feeling he wants to break free.

ferry23 I agree. I know last series there were some personal.health issues too- though I often get these reality type contestants mixed up.

I do recall applying to go on a show a few years ago- they wanted me to talk about any particular back stories (remember Susan Boyle?) it seems anyone who applies has to have some medical/personal problem they can focus in on.

I didn't apply because my personal/medical issues are my business and not anyone elses but it seems people find it a way to get media exposure these days and they are not dissuaded from doing so, it seems.

Won’t visit China because of their lack of human rights. Enjoying the programme though.

Mainly wa5ched for the scenery, and the glimpse into other culture, stunning.
Last night did boke when brothers cleaning out the poo. Really hope they win.
The poor young lass, I would feel the same.
Tom and his mum, not sure.
Two sisters coming across as very entitled, their faces when they lost out to the brothers was a picture.

I've never wanted to go to China but it's fascinating to see the country and the lack of health and safety which we are so used to, eg. people walking across a pedestrian crossing with traffic weaving in between them. Also using bare hands to clean up the animal poo. Yikes! And I felt sad for those pigs being kept in a tiny concrete "hutch".

No human rights, and no animal rights either.

I like the two brothers and hope they win.

I'm not enjoying this as much as the other series. I do like the two brothers though.

It's worth watching for the fantastic scenery.

Well, it's over!

I must say all the couples 'grew' on me in the last two episodes, including the winners.
I won't name them in case there's anyone who hasn't watched it yet on this thread.

Some of the scenery was just fabulous, but I'm not sure how well I'd cope with the teeming cities.

We did enjoy this series, but I do feel there was more emphasis on the 'sob stories' this time round and not as much of the scenery as there has been in previous ones. There didn't seem to be as much 'work' involved this time round either.

I found the ending quite rushed and disappointing. I wasn't bothered who won, but I agree there was too much chat and not enough about the places they visited.
The penultimate episode had a great ending though with a big unexpected twist.

I do enjoy the series, I was happy with the result, the couple that won didn't do too well at the outset, were lagging behind a bit, but gained confidence as the series progressed. I didn't dislike any of the participants so whoever won would have been ok in my eyes. There is an emphasis on back stories, but that gives the viewer a bit of an insight into the dynamics of the relationship with their other half. As always the scenery is fantastic the programme certainly showcases the countries involved and it is interesting to see little known off the beaten track places. The vastness of China and India was very evident.

I wonder what part of the world will be next on the agenda.

Fascinating series.

I prefer to watch than visit. I was really saddened by the tiny begging child. I found the overcrowded cities alarming. However some of the countryside was so beautiful.

I thought the cities in India, the sheer number of people, came across as overwhelming, even that very young Welsh girl found that aspect difficult to cope with. Another aspect hard to understand the random cattle (sacred there) wandering about in heavily urbanised areas, where do the go to graze

I have been hosting a Chinese girl (30yr old) for a couple of weeks. We watched the series together on catch up, although she is back home now.

I found it really enriching for me to
have her comments. They started off from her home town and there were many places she had never been and now wants to.

I took her to some unusual places
here too which she loved. I taught her
to knit and it's started a new hobby.
She and the programme have opened up China for me.
Here she is knitting in my garden desperately trying not to get a suntan!

When it got to the end I wouldn't have minded who won. I still think there was a bit too much emphasis on their backgrounds, sacrificing some of the travel bits.

No mention of Caroline being quite successful in the equestrian world though. I'm not sure what to make of that given her insistence that she felt she had no purpose outside the home.

On another forum, somebody has said there should be a follow up programme about the sisters' family home as we didn't hear enough about that . Obviously a tongue in cheek remark but I'm afraid I never really understood all the angst in their relationship.

I still have no desire to visit either China or India but was very happy to take that little journey via my TV. I wish there were more programmes like this and fewer about orange pouty people who just want to sleep with each other.

I agree ferry23. I was surprised to read that Caroline is an equestrian ... so not the little homebody she purported to be.... but as the contestants don't rely on audience votes, it didn't really matter. I didn't understand the sisters' relationship problems either.

Definitely too much personal background of the contestants and not enough film of the countries visited, but, having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed what I did see, as I have never visited them and wouldn't want to. I don't think I could stand the tremendous "busy-ness" in the Indian cities and could understand Sioned's sensory overload.

(Love the comment about "orange pouty people who just want to sleep with each other " )

Although I enjoyed the constantly changing scenery and travelling conditions, I was increasingly taken by the development of their relationships and characters. I was sad for Sionned (spelling?), overwhelmed by the crowds in the big cities, but in the later stages, she was so much happier in the more rural settings and took over the lead from Ben in making travel arrangements. I loved Brian and Melvin who rediscovered their boyhood and really relished the new experiences they shared. I think I read (or heard) that they had already been travelling together.
There was an item on - I think- the One Show in which the participants had a get-together, but it was too short and less informative than I'd have liked.

I think I can understand the sisters’ feelings in part. I had a similar situation with my sister. There was ten years between us. We lived in India at the time, and soon after I was born my sister was sent to boarding school in England. She only returned to India for the long holidays. As a result of my father’s death we returned to England when I was five but my DS married at the age of sixteen and left home to be with her RAF husband.
I never really had the close relationship with her, that I have with my brother as they never lived near and also spent many years in Australia and Kenya. I would have loved the chance to have spent one o one time with her that the sisters had.

Funny enough the ones I like the least were the winners she made out she was a little stay at home housewife which she wasn’t at all They didn’t do it for me
I would have like the brothers to win or the young couple but he ho just a programme