Emma and I have only just got round to watching this series, and sadly it’s not really living up to expectations.. we both really enjoyed the Long Way Round and watched that in a marathon one evening sitting but this one just itsn’t grabbing us as much.
The idea is pretty similar to Long Way Round, except this time the ride is from John O Groats to Cape Town, the whole original team is back so it should be the same fun atmosphere right? No. Bear with me while I moan and try and explain why..
The start of the trip down from John O Groats to London doesn’t really have any relevance to it as the team just head back to the garage headquarters when they arrive in London which felt a little cheaty to me, almost treating England as one huge test run.
The support vans are decked out in horrible gaudy “Long Way Down” decals on every available piece of bodywork, a clear sign of how high profile this series has become. They also take up way too much camera time, which really takes away from the feeling that the bikes are very much on their own.
Speaking of cameras, where’s everyones favourite lovable Sweedish fuckup Claudio? He’s as much part of the team as Charlie and Ewan and was pretty funny in the first series, but for some reason stays pretty silent this time.
The trip also feels very disjointed at times, with some very strange decisions being made. For instance at one point Charlie and Ewan fly south to Kenya from Egypt to visit a Doctors-on-Bikes project, and once they’re done, they fly back to Egypt! There were probably genuine reasons for it, but i’m sure i’m not the only one who thought it was dumb!
Obviously it couldn’t live up to the first series, and we’ve only seen the first three episodes so there’s every chance it could get better, lets hope so!
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