I didn’t enjoy this journey as much as the first, it seemed less of an adventure. Between deadlines for ferries and a shorter series length everything felt a lot more of a rush, all about making up the day’s mileage instead of being about the journey. After the epicness of Mongolia, Africa seemed a little unchallenging to them. That said, it’s still a fun and interesting way to do a travel documentary and when they’re not rushing or moaning, it’s an exciting adventure as well.
Category: Documentary
The Long Way Round
A fascinating programme, part travel show and part documentary on programme making, all wrapped up with two blokes having an adventure. There’s a surprising amount of time at the start spent during the set-up of the idea, what would usually (and is in the book) skimmed over as dull preparation but to me really set the scene and the scale of what they were doing. Once they’re on the road I was a little disappointed they fast-forwarded through Europe, but it was worth it to spend more time in areas I know nothing about.
The joy of this as a travel show is that it feels real, it’s not like Michael Palin’s carefully planned routes with swarms of production assistants and fixers off screen. This is about 8 guys, on 3 bikes and 2 4x4s making it up as they go along. Most of the people they meet along the way are just people on the side of the street with varying levels of English, weird foods and unpredictable responses. It feels like a real adventure throughout, with all the highs and lows recorded by the 2 attending cameramen or by the adventurers themselves on diary cams. I felt like I was there, and it made me wish that I had the courage to have such an adventure.
Narrative Devices 