Race Across The World

“I turned to my Line Producer and we nearly cried”: inside the logistical whirlwind of Production Management

A collage of three pictures: Squid Game soldiers watch the contestants on a vast array of screens, Betty races across a beach and an Arctic wolf stands still on Ellesmere Island

Take the Production Management category at the RTS Craft & Design Awards. The 2024 nominees were Squid Game: The Challenge, Race Across the World and Planet Earth III. How exactly do you build a set big enough for 456 people to play a game of ‘Red Light, Green Light’, and then deliver those 456 people to the start line? Or plot a racing course over 14,000km through seven different countries, while employing a crew agile enough to change course according to the whims of your contributors?

Meet the contestants for Race Across The World series four

Contestants from the new series of Race Across The World pose outdoors in a line

This time round, contestants will be racing across 15,000km of Eastern Asia. Starting in Japan, five duos will travel through nine countries and six seas, finishing in Lombok, Indonesia. To get there, contestants will have to make their way around the ring of fire, famous for its volcanoes and earthquakes.

Through it all, they will have no access to their smartphone, bank cards or the internet.

Find out more about the racers below.

Celebrity Race Across The World to return for second series

A row of people walk down a street. Behind them, a desert backdrop on the left transitions into an Arctic backdrop on the right

The first series saw four pairs of stars and one of their relatives compete to get from Africa to the Arctic without the use of phones or flights.

The journey took place over road, rail and sea across 24 countries, featuring McFly drummer Harry Judd and his mum, Emma, and weatherman Alex Beresford with his dad, Noel. Alex and Noel won the contest by just four minutes, while Emma succeeded in winning fans’ hearts.

Race Across The World, the show’s original format featuring members of the public, first aired in 2019.

Celebrity families line up for Race Across The World

Beresford will be joined by his dad Noel, while Judd will team up with his mum Emma. Singer Mel Blatt will also be taking part with her mum Helene, and British Racing Driver Billy Monger with his sister Bonny.

Hot on the heels of the emotional roller-coaster that was series three, the celebs will be taking on the same epic challenge but racing a different route.

This time they will start in Marrakech, Morocco, the most north-western country in Africa, and end in the Arctic capital of Tromsø, Norway, in a journey that spans 24 countries and over 10,000km.

The Traitors, The Piano and the reality TV revival

While everyone continues to remark on the so-called golden age of drama on TV, a growing number of constructed factual shows have been quietly grabbing huge audiences and winning awards.

Fresh off the block, The Traitors – effectively a game of “wink murder” writ large in a spooky Scottish castle, with Claudia Winkleman presiding – won at the RTS Programme Awards and the British Press Guild Awards, as well as grabbing two Baftas.

The 2023 Race Across The World teams - ranked!

The five teams will have to traverse Canada from the very edge of the Pacific Ocean in Vancouver to North America's most easterly city, St John's Newfoundland, all at ground level. And as always, the contestants will have to leave the modern world and all its comforts behind. There will be no air travel, no phones, no internet and no credit cards; just the cash equivalent of the same journey by plane.

Race Across The World and Louis Theroux Interviews among new BBC Factual and Arts slate

When showcasing the new series at a special event, Kate Phillips, BBC Director, Unscripted, said: “From stand-out documentaries like the Real Mo Farah and Freddie’s Field Of Dreams, to the BBC Proms and the launch of Frozen Planet II, the team here are at the very top of their game, bringing audiences high impact, uniquely public service content at its very best.