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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Vicky Jessop

Liked Race Across the World? You’ll love this new BBC travel show

In June, the nation watched, gripped, as season one of Race Across the World came to a close.

It had been a thrilling series: a 14,000km race from the Great Wall of China to the southernmost tip of India. But now, it’s over, which means a sad ten months of waiting before the series begins anew.

Or maybe not! A new travel show is heading to the BBC this week. Called Destination X, it promises to scratch that travel itch, whilst also providing a hefty dose of contestants running around in a blind panic.

Here’s what to know.

It’s hosted by Rob Brydon

(CREDIT LINE:BBC/TwoFour)

Yes, the much-loved star of Gavin and Stacey (and of Would I Lie to You, among other things) is stepping into the spotlight once more as the host of this new show.

Brydon, wearing a rather fetching double breasted suit, is the person tasked with shepherding the 13 contestants around Europe.

“Welcome to a game where nothing is as it seems,” he says. He’s got that right.

In an interview before the show, Brydon has also said that the biggest challenge was not giving away where they were by accident.

“If a crew member went off to buy a coffee, they had to be careful not to come back with a branded coffee cup that might give away the name of where they were,” he said.

“I remember once we were at a particular location and I knew that in a few days’ time we would be at another location and I said to somebody in the production team: ‘Oh I can't wait until we get to X’ and then I suddenly realised one of the players was close and I thought ‘Oh no what have you done’ - Luckily, they didn't hear me!”

Nobody knows where they are

(CREDIT LINE:BBC/TwoFour)

This is the crux of the whole thing (and why it’s called Destination X). The contestants will be seeing the world from the inside of two big black buses – one for living (with sofas and tables) and one for sleeping (it has beds).

Crucially, the buses have blacked-out windows, which means that the contestants can’t see where they’re going. They’ll also be made to wear X-goggles: VR headsets that limit their vision except when the producers want them to be able to see things.

With no idea where they are, the contestants will have to rely on a series of carefully curated clues to figure out where they might be – before going to the Map Room to guess where exactly they are on a map of Europe.

The people whose guesses are furthest from the actual destination are voted out, and the winner will get a cash prize. A £100,000 cash prize, in fact: that’s a life changing amount of money.

It’s a spinoff of a Belgian programme

We’ve been here before: The Traitors was originally a Dutch show, after all. The first Destination X was a Belgian show, but in recent years, the format has been borrowed by the BBC and American channel NBC. The US spin on the show was fronted by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and saw a group of Americans dropped into random places around the world (“I’ve never left the US,” one says) and attempt to figure out where the world they are.

That show also featured on-bus hookups between the contestants, which we’re assuming will not be the case this time around. Assuming.

The contestants include a crime writer, taxi driver and marathon runner

As you might expect from a BBC show, the contestants are a mixed old bunch. They include Ashvin, a 23 year old economics graduate, Ben, who works as a Surf School Director in Wales, Daren, who is a London taxi driver (he wants to “get my wife a new kitchen” with the prize money) and 62 year old Deborah, who works as a crime writer.

There’s also Judith, who works as a nuclear engineer, and 35 year old Nick, who says he was selected because “I have run a marathon in every country in the world and yet I do not know anything about any of the countries.” Interesting.

It’s on this week

The show airs on BBC One from Wednesday August 30 at 9pm.

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