The Chase Around The World… From the trailer, it looks like ITV are trying to copy BBC1’s Destination X… and from the programme, ITV *are* copying BBC1’s Destination X!
Anyhoo, Bradley Walsh has far too much money and far too many TV shows. He’s also pretending to drive through Rome as it starts, when anyone sane knows his car will be on a low-loader, same as TV dramas and films use.
But for the main content, six teams of players have to run ahead of the competition and succeed over the Chasers, who are still dressed in the usual, even when the Italian sun is baking hot.
The questions are pretty similar to the usual Chase ones, the first asking for the location of Lake Como. However, it’s still bloody annoying that Bradley answers the question with “What…” every time when it should be “Which…”
Once you get a question right, your pair can head off to start your journey, and there’ll be questions and puzzles to successfully action in order to get to the finish, where the Chasers are stationed. Coming last puts you up against the brain boxes, and if you lose, you won’t even get your BFH! However, don’t expect to see all six of them in each location, since while just episode 1 was available for preview, the opener features the Beast and the Governess… Cue a silly moment where Anne’s hiding behind an ice-cream cart, acting as if she’s trying to hide from a contestant.
A few niggles…. It’s silly that each pair is followed by a camera crew, since although they’re obviously filming them, the pairs have to be shown from behind, at the side AND from the front, plus multiple angles from a distance – all while they’re supposedly running without stopping to get where they’re going. However, if they guess the answer to a place as wrong, then they’re in the wrong place, and have to get a move on to the correct place.
Same goes with a driving section, although after each couple sets off, I presume professional drivers would take care of that aspect, as it’s difficult enough to get used to driving in a new city, never mind a different country!
The questions they’re asked are built into their laptops. However, as they run about and we see certai thigh tattoos wobbling in the sun, it REALLY all feels dragged out, and makes me wonder that for all six episodes of this, it’s going to feel the same.
Plus, one task also has them ordering specific ingredients in a pizza…. which they stupidly leave behind as they head off again. Stick it in your backpack! Then again, for those who get the answers right, it’s clearly the exact same pizza they’re all being given, so it’ll get a bit cold as the day goes on.
If The Chase Around The World goes to a second series, what this really needs is someone to be able to go low, so we can hunt them down, like the film Hard Target!
But until that point, it’s a sluggish race, and while obviously no spoilers in this preview, I didn’t care who’d win or lose, anyway.
Thanks to our friends at ITV for the screener prior to release.
The Chase Around The World begins tomorrow night at 9pm. Once aired, each episode will be on ITVX.
It’s unlikely to be available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but other stuff is on the New DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K releases UK page.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.