Race Across the World's reunion episode was a charming farewell to one of its best series

Nobody really needed Race Across the World: The Reunion (BBC One). The race finished last week in an entirely satisfactory manner. However, the BBC likes to flog a hit for all its worth, so viewers got this follow-up programme anyway. I'm glad we did. It was a suitably life-affirming farewell to a heartwarming series.
Six months since the globe-trotting contest climaxed at the southernmost tip of India, our five intrepid pairs gathered to reflect on their epic 14,000km odyssey across China, Nepal and India. Meeting up with friends you made on holiday often backfires. Once the tans fade and the sundowners stop flowing, so does the conversation. Happily, this was a lot less awkward. They met as strangers but are forever bound together by their shared experience.
The forgotten team, former married couple Yin and Gaz, were knocked out before the midway mark but now gained a sense of closure. Yin tearfully admitted how she'd struggled with her heritage while travelling through China. Since returning home, she had built bridges with her family and made peace with her past. Sixtysomething siblings Brian and Melvyn, who finished fourth, rebuilt their brotherly bond on the road.'Things got a bit emotional but a cold beer sorted it,' said the typically phlegmatic Melvyn. Having emerged as the race's cult hero, he stole the show again, declaring, 'Up the oldies!'
Still the cheering updates kept coming. Teenage sweethearts Fin and Sioned, who claimed the bronze medal, had caught the travel bug and since been on a trip around Australia. The race runners-up, sisters Elizabeth and Letitia, were inspired to build their own homestay in Kenya. Victorious mother-and-son duo Caroline and Tom were similarly reborn. Caroline was newly carefree, while Tom's confidence had blossomed so much that he was now self-employed and excitedly planning his next adventure.
Those who had become tired of the sob stories won't have been appeased by some of the navel-gazing. There was plentiful talk of 'personal growth' and 'moving forward'. Yet the show and its participants are so likeably wholesome, it was hard to be too cynical. Caroline and Tom might have clinched the £20,000 prize but money was barely mentioned. Indeed, the winnings are so incidental to the show's magical mix, it's easy to forget there's cash involved at all. When it comes to Race Across the World, it truly is the taking part that counts.
We were treated to unseen clips – cue backpack-laden dashes down streets, like panicking turtles – and breathtaking scenery. Everyone paid tribute to helpful locals and praised the kindness of strangers. Behind-the-scenes footage revealed how embedded film crews captured their every move. It made for a fascinating insight into the vast logistical operation required to make the show.
My main complaint was that the location for the reunion – a wood-panelled suite at London's L'Oscar hotel – bore a distracting resemblance to the Round Table showdowns from BBC stablemate The Traitors. I kept expecting a tweed-clad Claudia Winkleman to pop up and demand that somebody be banished. Please, anyone but Melvyn.
The last word went to winner Tom. 'It's important to enjoy the journey, as well as the destination,' he concluded. This was a celebratory, albeit non-essential, way to sign off. Now how about applying for next year's race?

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