Mondays at 9pm Sky One and 9:30pm on Sky Travel
Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman go round the world the long way round on motorbikes.
This is going to be great. Partly because I fancy Ewan McGregor, but partly because he’s also funny and witty and I enjoy watching travel programs. Him and his good mate and fellow actor, Charley Boorman (they met on the set of The Serpent’s Kiss) are travelling on two massive motorbikes the long way round the world to end up at New York. In the first episode, we saw them getting ready for the whole thing – practising on their bikes, planning their route (determined to go to all the ill-advised and dangerous places), expecting all the motorcycle type freebies, and saying goodbye to their families.
The strength of Ewan and Charlie’s friendship is already hugely apparent, and those to going anywhere together would already make good telly, just from their funny conversations. The one thing I wondered about, was if they’re on motorbikes, it’ll be difficult to talk to each other on the journey. Obviously they’ll be stopping places, but it’s not the same as chatting in a car, and would it be enough to make a successful documentary? But then I watched the clips for next week’s episode, which involved all kinds of problems, including being allowed into a country, having a massive road accident and having a gun pulled on them.
Fantastic telly – I can’t wait to watch the rest.
