World tour on the cheap

THEY say you shouldn’t mess with a winning formula. And while I’ve never really known who “they” actually are (the great philosophers? The Government? Girls Aloud?), I’m inclined to agree with them. Especially when it comes to TV.

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So I was a bit worried when I heard about the latest series of RACE ACROSS THE WORLD, a show I’ve always loved, which returns tonight to BBC1 (9pm). Specifically, what worried me was the money thing.

I don’t mean the prize money; whichever pair reaches the finishing line first in this gruelling endurance challenge - concluding this time on the southernmost tip of India — will receive £20,000, as has always been the case in the non-celebrity version of this show (in the celeb version, the winners get nothing, which personally I think is still too generous).