New Show - The Chase Around The World

Last Thursday saw the first episode of latest extension of the “The Chase” franchise, a show that looked to be something of an excursion across ground we’ve trodden before in “Race Across the World” and “Destination X”. Well, you might recall that I do like both of those shows, so this at least merited me giving the show a fair viewing.

“The Chase Around The World” pits six two person teams head to head. Each week they face a series of challenges in one of the world’s great cities. Well, I say the world. Actually it’s Europe – in fact it’s just Western Europe. Thursday’s first episode was in Rome. Next week it’s Barcelona. I think that the itinerary after that is Athens, Lisbon, Zurich then the finish line in Paris. Well, I’ve never been to Zurich, but I’ve visited the other 5, and they’re all certainly valid destinations.

If the format for last Thursday’s show is repeated then the teams will race against each other through a series of challenges to various checkpoints throughout the city, until finding Bradders at the finish line. But what makes this The Chase? Well, the last couple to get to the finish line each week have to take on and beat two of the Chasers in order to stay in the game. Lose and they’re out. I’m guessing that when we get to Paris, the team who find Bradley first will win the overall series prize.

So, how well does it work? If you’ve seen any online reviews of the show you might have seen quite a bit of negative comment on various clickbait sites. A lot of these comments are based on a comparison with BBC’s “Race Across the World”. Well, the similarity between the titles of the two shows does kind of invite that. On the other hand, it’s a pretty good signpost to attract the kind of viewers who might enjoy it. Swings and Roundabouts. Both shows have some fantastic scenery, and much rushing about within it. Essentially, though, they’re different games. In “Race Across The World” for example the way that the teams manage their budget and their transport options is a vital component of the game mechanics. That’s not a concern at all in the ITV show.

So what were the mechanics of the first show? We started with the six couples being quizzed by Bradley. Each team had a buzzer. The first team to buzz in with a correct answer could pick up their backpack and get moving. Then the second, then the third – you get it. In their backpack was a tablet, on which they were asked a question to help determine their first checkpoint. They were asked – Which building did Michelangelo say had been built by angels, not men? Was it the Trevi Fountain, The Pantheon or St. Peters? Whichever answer they locked in was the answer they had to walk to. Get it right and further instructions would appear. Get it wrong and they would have to go to whichever they thought was correct of the other two, losing precious time in the process. 43 years ago I did trek from one of the wrong answers – St. Peter’s – to the right answer – The Pantheon- and in the heat of a Roman summer it was a bit of a slog.

The second challenge involved choosing the correct logo from a sequence – basically the logo belonging to an Italian company/organisation in a range of categories. Get it wrong and the satnav in the car you were loaned would take you off on a wild goose chase. You’d then have to pick again, meaning more precious time was lost.

The third challenge involved the teams having to name three famous Italians. Should they not know the answer or get it wrong, the Italian in question was one of the 200 plus famous Italians whose busts were situated in the park they had been taken to, so what they had to do was find it. Right, pedantry corner. Now, I’m pretty much certain that the instruction was that you must enter either the first name and last name of the answer, or just the last name. NOT just the first name. So I got all pedantic about the tablet accepting the poet of the Divine Comedy as just Dante. NO. It should have been either Dante Alighieri or Alighieri. Unless I misunderstood the rules, which is possible.

From there to either a pizzeria or a teddy bear stand or both. The pizzeria offered you clues to a choice of toppings. If you got the right ones, then you got the question – what links them? Chorizo and Manchego were obviously Spanish – so the final destination became clear. As for the teddy bears, well they each had the same first name as a member of Steps.

Last across the line, then, were father and daughter Ashwin and Nikita. To stay in the game, they had to beat the Chasers. This involved playing a shortened version of the final chase from the parent show. They had to answer ten questions as quickly as possible. Only they were given a two question head start so only had to answer 8. By the 3^rd question daughter Nikita had clicked into game mode and they went very quickly through their set. Now, in the parent show the Chasers have the advantage that they don’t have to buzz in to answer and can thus build up a head of steam. In this version, the two chasers – in this first show the power team of Anne and Mark – did not have that advantage. Bradley asked the question, then said the name of the Chaser who had to answer. In such a sprint round this makes a huge difference. Ashwin and Nikita survived and we’re all off to Barcelona next week.

What did I think? Well, you have to think that quizzing and travel are two of my favourite things. I like this particular genre of show and I think that "The Chase Around The World" certainly has potential. In some ways it was similar to the final episode of Destination X last year, even down to the finish line on the Spanish Steps. If you’re mostly in it for the quiz/puzzle content then there probably isn’t enough of it here for you. I felt that the Chasers were a little underused as well, considering that this is billed as The Chase around the world. But look, as a show it kept me going for an hour, and I’ll definitely watch next week’s show.

Shows of this kind live or die on the contestants they present us. He might not have won Destination X, but would the show have been quite as watchable without taxi driver Daren and his often name checked wife, Jackie P? I think that how well we’re allowed to get to know the teams and whether we emotionally invest in their competition with each other will go a long way to determining how successful the show will be.

Good stuff.