Race Across The World to return for brand new series on BBC One

Hit series Race Across The World is finally set to return to TV screens.

The show sees pairs of contestants racing from a start line in one part of the world to the finish thousands of miles away – all without using air travel or any modern technology.

They leave behind their smartphones, internet access and credit cards and get just the cash equivalent of the airfare to their destination to make it there.

Unsurprisingly, the global pandemic forced production of the show to go on a lengthy hiatus.

But this week the BBC confirmed a new eight-part series was on its way to BBC One and iPlayer. A start date for the series on TV is to be confirmed.

A teaser shares: “The third instalment of the Bafta-winning series is the most extreme to date. Five pairs of intrepid travellers will race across an entire continent. Ocean to ocean.

“Starting out at the very edge of the Pacific in Vancouver – the teams will travel over 16,000 kilometres across six time zones all at ground level to the finish line perched on the rugged Atlantic coast, North America’s most easterly city – St John’s Newfoundland.”

“Without the use of air travel or any of the trappings of modern-day life, the pairs must navigate their way through the very edges of civilisation, taking in vast prairies, untouched wilderness and great lakes, with only the cash equivalent of the airfare to their final destination.

“Taking place against the stunning backdrop of Canada but with no mobile phone, internet access or credit cards to assist them, the competing travellers will discover that to reach the finish line quickest and win the £20 000 cash prize, they need to rely on the kindness of strangers and use every ounce of their travel skills and ingenuity.”

The series first aired in 2019 on BBC Two, seeing contestants make their way from the UK to Singapore. A second – filmed prior to the pandemic – aired in Spring 2020 as contestants raced across South America from Mexico to Argentina.

Meanwhile, a Celebrity version of Race Across the World has been confirmed to air on BBC One with production set to start in 2022.

For now you can catch up on the first two series on BBC iPlayer here.