1 hour ago
1
Race Around the World 2026 is halfway through its 10-week season, and it’s time for a midway report card. Whether you’re a returning viewer of the show that riveted audiences in 1997 and ’98, or you weren’t alive in an era without social media or a mobile phone in every pocket, is the ABC’s 2026 reboot good viewing?
I had great fears for RATW mark two. Not because it wasn’t a good idea to resuscitate it after three decades. Just whether the show’s constraints – six contestants creating 10 original films in 10 countries across 100 days – could be as biting or challenging nowadays.
- Who do you think of the new season of Race Around the World? And who do you think will win? Please tell us in the comments below.
Does a world swimming in online information, selfie culture and digital storytelling dilute the special sauce of making films around the globe, even with former contestant John Safran breathing down your neck as a judge from Australia?
Can contestants still retain what I would argue are some of the essential tenets of this pursuit – privacy, vulnerability, honesty, fear, boldness or even having artistic breakthroughs/breakdowns – at a time when filming yourself and your life is so commonplace?
It turns out, no and yes. So far, RATW has been nail-biting, revealing and enlightening. Elliot, Jayden, Kate, Lucinda, Mikaela and William grappling to find, film and edit a story in locations they’ve only just discovered at their destination has been fascinating. This version of RATW has behind-the-scenes footage and live interviews with contestants beaming into the studio from their locations. It’s great hearing them talk about their film and watching their reaction to the judges’ responses firsthand.
Kudos to the judges. So far, weekly judge Safran has been joined by critic Margaret Pomeranz, actor Claudia Karvan, director Danny Philippou, director Bruce Beresford, actor and director Wayne Blair, director Gracie Otto, writer, performer and director Kate McLennan, content creator Jack Steele and comic and film buff Alexei Toliopoulos.
They span generations and genres and speak their mind. They reveal distinct tastes but offer valuable advice. Safran isn’t there to win friends, but his critiques are involvingly fair. Pomeranz, who made her second appearance as a judge on Sunday’s episode, remains a titan of unflinching opinion.
The highlights
It’s excellent to hear judges talk about contestants’ films in previous episodes (yes, Gracie Otto, I’m with you about William’s jeans-focused “On a Hot Day in Cairo” film, it was beautiful) and review the evolution of each contestant’s filmmaking so far.
It’s been illuminating to watch Mikaela’s success after she had to train the lens on herself more. William’s bold one-shot take in “I met a Pianist in Pisa” felt like a winningly exposing and courageous leap of faith. Kate’s portrait of Irish writer and comic Frankie McNamara in London was tonally and visually entrancing, despite being disqualified for featuring content created by another person.
Lucinda’s four films have prompted an unlearning, or reworking, of her existing style and approach to telling stories. Or maybe I’ve learnt more about her, so the films carry more complexity?
Jayden and Elliot carried a straight-out-of-the-box depth and structural confidence in early episodes. Jayden’s film about handmade bomb-fishing in the Philippines, his undercover work for “River of Gold” in Peru and, wrapped in a handlebar moustache, his quest to buy a gun in the US, were all striking and well-made. Similarly, Elliot showing us Tatiana’s story in Moldova, the Project Rhino team protecting endangered rhinos from poachers in South Africa, his visit to a revived town in Japan and his visit to art-filled ghost-town Bombay Beach on the shores of the shrinking Salton Sea were all high quality.
But here’s where the judges come in. One or two have pondered whether Jayden and Elliot could stretch or stray from their ways of filming? Change the formula, build different strengths.
The contestants
Every viewer will have contestants they’re rooting for. I’ve swung wildly. I wasn’t sure about Lucinda’s work initially, but her hungry exploration of different approaches is increasingly interesting. Same for Mikaela, Kate and William, who sometimes look like they are quivering with anticipation and nerves in the live crosses. Kate’s film about otokonoko (femboys) in Tokyo, showed her opening up more about herself.
Equally with Mikaela, whose gently revealing meetings with a rug-weaver in Morocco, a young parent in Alaska and a visit to a town of imitation humans; more risk on her part is showing greater variety. At episode five, William has the lowest points but his films, from cooking with a family’s grandmother at her home in Costa Rica to meeting a bookseller who carries a cannibal’s manga about his exploits are affecting. As Pomeranz says in episode five, she’s only just appreciating the pressure the filmmakers are under to create an engaging film.
Other high points? Lucinda gently taunting Bruce Beresford with an intimate Jamaican slang word, “pum pum”. The audience gently booing Beresford for requesting “more teeth” from William, and “more characterisation” from Kate about her soliloquising boy on hills of snow in Greenland. There’s been some argy-bargy of opinions between Pomeranz and Philippou, and a good discussion about the immorality of filming fish being killed in Jayden’s “Family First” work in Peru. It’s healthy debate presented fairly, a breath of fresh TV air nowadays.
It’s also a good idea that the show marked its halfway point by having all the contestants in Japan together, a reunion of sorts. And then surprising them with Safran striding into the gathering in his yellow suit to hear their own report cards, offer advice and encourage them to take this opportunity by the teeth lest they regret ideas not taken.
Who will win?
Early on, it felt like Jayden and Elliot were sure bets for the RATW trophy. They’ve been tied at the top twice, but Elliot is inching ahead. Lucinda is moving up and something’s simmering for Kate and Mikaela. Filmmaking approaches, styles and boundaries are being explored in front of our eyes. My money is on Elliot or Jayden to win overall but Kate or Mikalea are blossoming. In the end, RATW proves again that a single winner is not the point.
The point for viewers is getting to know the contestants, and for contestants to tackle fears and unknown talents. As the series inches along, they’re all sending back films of greater rawness, nuance and hard work. I wish there were a broader age range in the contestants and, occasionally, I’ve pined for more breathtaking or heart-in-the-mouth film work. But here’s to the honest debate, bracing challenges and weekly portals into worlds we’ve never seen.
Race Around the World airs at 7.30pm on Sundays on the ABC and ABC iview.
Want more TV? We’ve got you.
- Newsletter: Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.
- Best TV of the year (so far): From The Pitt to Widow’s Bay and ABC comedy Dog Park, these are the shows that have caught our critics’ attention.
- Best TV shows to come: 25 new titles – and 10 returning hits – to keep an eye out for.
- Best hidden gems of the year (so far): If you need a new winter binge or two, here are 15 of 2026’s worthy but underseen shows.
- The Killings at Parrish Station: How a cult Russian cold case inspired an outback murder mystery.
- Video: Deputy TV editor Meg Watson on the shows she recommends watching right now (below).
