Must Watch reviews Race Across the World Season 3

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan review ‘Race Across the World Season 3’.

In season 3 of Race Across the World, five teams set off from Vancouver on a race across Canada.

Without smartphones, internet access or credit cards, they will need to make it to the finish line in Newfoundland.

Hayley says, ‘I really love how much work goes into making it.’

Hayley says, “I have previously not loved this show. Partly because it’s a competition show and you know my history with competition shows: I’m kind of tired of them. Partly because it’s stressful. Travel stress is the worst kind of stress you can inflict on me.”

“For some reason, this new season got me and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because they’re travelling across Canada, and they could be eaten by bears. Maybe it’s because they keep finding the kindest Canadians to help them get from one place to another. Maybe it’s because I’ve had my dad staying with me for the last week, and I really liked the fact that two of the teams are dad and daughter teams. It’s sweet, but it’s also a bit fighty. I loved the fact that they would go and do this together.”

Hayley says, ‘signing yourself up for this show is signing yourself up for this huge, uncomfortable amount of work and a possibly life-changing experience’.

“I really love how much work goes into making it. It’s not your standard reality show and these aren’t your standard reality show contestants. I think signing yourself up for this show is signing yourself up for this huge, uncomfortable amount of work and a possibly life-changing experience in an emotional sense, rather than just TV fame. It’s a competition taking place in the real world with real accomplishments. You’re just trying to get from one place to another place. It’s simple but hard, and I like it.”

Scott says, ‘It’s about facing the consequences of your own actions, which I think makes it amazing to participate in.’

Scott says, “I find how they make it as fascinating as the actual show itself, because it’s a small crew. A lot of the time it’s a camera person and a sound person with each team and they are beholden to whatever decision each team makes.”

“So if a team says “look, we’re going to get on that bus”, and the other two that don’t say it, but know that the bus goes in the wrong direction for 15 hours and that will completely affect their standing in the race, the only thing they can say is “Yep. All aboard, let's go.” This show is all about facing the consequences of your own actions, which I think makes it amazing to participate in, and it must be absolutely infuriating to film, because you just want to get there.”

Scott says ‘I love how it looks at how travel can change you as a person.’

“The crew know it’s possible to get there, they do a dummy run beforehand. What I also love is that in the first episode, there’s one team who have to escape a fairly big park in Vancouver called Stanley Park, and it took one team the entire day to leave the park, and I’m there thinking “you have to cross the whole of Canada, and you can’t even leave this park!”

Hayley says, ‘this is the joy of the journey of all the bits in-between.’

“I think it’s about the fact that it reminds you about how big the world is and how much variety there is in the world and if anything it’s a motivator to actually switch the TV off in the long run and maybe go on a trip yourself. I also love that this show is a travel programme too.”

Race Across the World is available now on BBC One.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening from BBC Sounds and all other good podcast providers.

This week, the team also reviewed Channel 4’s Rise and Fall and Channel 5’s Challenge Anneka.

Click here to listen to the latest episode.