Race Across the World Returns for Sixth Series on BBC

The BBC's acclaimed travel competition Race Across the World returns for its sixth series on Thursday, airing at 8 p.m. on BBC One and available on iPlayer, with five teams embarking on a grueling 12,000-kilometer journey across Europe and Asia. Starting from Palermo on the island of Sicily, the contestants will navigate through Italy, Greece, Türkiye, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia, ending in the remote village of Hatgal on the shores of Lake Hövsgöl in northern Mongolia. Billed as the show's most extreme challenge yet, participants face conditions ranging from 30-degree Celsius Mediterranean heat to subarctic temperatures below minus 20 degrees Celsius, all while adhering to strict rules: no smartphones, flights, luxury transport, or bank cards, and a daily budget of less than 26 pounds per person equivalent to the cost of a one-way flight.

The teams, each a pair of relatives or close companions, must rely on wit, local transport, and interpersonal dynamics to reach the finish line first and claim a 20,000-pound prize over eight episodes. Among them is 54-year-old geography teacher Andrew and his 23-year-old daughter Molly, a junior doctor from...