Backpack RIVALS

Five new pairs of intrepid travellers race 15,000km from Japan to Indonesia

- ALISON SLADE, TESS LAMACRAFT

The bustling city of Sapporo in Japan is the starting point for five intrepid pairs of contestants as a fourth series of BBC1’s BAFTA-winning Race Across the World gets underway this week.

The five new teams, including two mums and daughters and a retired couple, are racing 15,000km by land and sea, crossing eight borders as they navigate countries including South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia to see who will be first to reach the finishing line in Lombok, Indonesia.

With a very tight budget and all smartphones, bank cards and internet access banned, their ingenuity is tested to the max to see which team can get to the final destination fastest and pocket £20,000 in prize money.

TV&Satellite Week met up with the pairs to find out more…

STEPHEN & VIV

Retired couple Stephen, 61, and Viv, 65, from Rutland, describe themselves as the ‘token oldies’ for this year’s race and applied after watching last year’s series.