This note contains just my thoughts and notes. Words in bold are commissioner speak
The Panel for Race Across the World was very good, they had members who were involved in Commissioning through Production. It is unusual to get a slice all the way though. The show was a great hit, highest performing factual show in three years. One of the top ten over the year. Two series recommissioned plus a celebrity special! The Panel also showed how commissioners and producers see the value in a show.
There is a thing called “commissioner speak” a terminology that is used to classify shows (or potential shows). Panelists often try to avoid this because it plays to insiders. A show can be called “big“, “scale” and “fresh” and it is not always easy to know what they mean. This show is a good illustration to help explain some of those terms.
The idea was to follow pairs travelling across the world using only the cash they would have had from the air fare (about £1300). They were encouraged to earn money along the way, like backpackers or students travelling on a gap year. I wonder what the lawyers thought of that, perhaps it is best not to ask . Tim came up with the idea after attending a meeting, like the one we were all attending, and heard the BBC were interested in a Travel show. An experienced producer he also knew BBC2 are always interested in the next big thing for Factual. He had been involved in a pilot “Walk the Line” which was set in England and and involved contestants trying to cover a journey covering the shortest distance. Note: All3Media still list this as a format. It was a bit of a failure but he learned from it. Contestants had to negotiate help to complete their journey and he thought that part of it was appealing. He proposed this to the BBC and this time it was accepted. It was Fresh, this idea had not been used before and it was Big the “Walk the Line” show was only set in England whereas Race Across the World was on a larger scale.