Race Across the World, finale, review: tension, breakdowns, locusts for breakfast – and a heartwarming end

“The oldies did it!” they exclaimed. “The pensioners have beaten all the youngsters!”

A surprisingly tense finale of Race Across The World (BBC Two) saw York couple Tony and Elaine Teasdale, retired PE teachers in search of their own belated gap year, claim the ￡20,000 prize. “We’ve done anyone over 60 proud,” said Tony as champagne corks popped.

I didn’t begrudge them victory, even though I was firmly rooting for the eventual runners-up, Bradford duo Darron and Alex. They’ve been the breakout stars of the series: a father and son who had drifted apart, bonding and reconciling as they globe-trotted. Darron has softened, while unemployed and slightly snowflakey Alex has matured before our eyes.

“We were estranged father and son,” said Darron proudly. “Now we’re no longer estranged and best friends as well.” The phrase “life-changing” gets bandied about on such programmes, but here it truly applied.

This fiendishly addictive series, which saw five pairs of punters race from London to Singapore without setting foot on a plane, has proved to be something of a sleeper hit. Ratings have grown each week. Word-of-mouth buzz has built. A second series has already been commissioned.

Teams were each given the cash equivalent to a one-way economy plane ticket – ￡1,329, to be precise – to cover travel, food and accommodation. Technology couldn’t help, as they had to go offline and give up their mobile phones and bank cards. It was the ultimate hitch-hiking challenge, recreating the highs, lows and budgetary stresses of retro Inter-Railing.

The resulting 50-day trip by land and sea has been a little longer and a lot more enriching than a 12-hour direct flight. Highlights of the previous five weeks had included bumping into Paul Merton at Ashford International, meeting mystics in Delphi, a blossoming romance with a Chinese florist and getting cabin fever while stranded on the Caspian Sea for four days. These budding Phileas Foggs have had close-up encounters with fighting horses, Bactrian camels and Asian elephants.

The climactic episode saw the final four teams facing the last leg of their epic trek, travelling 1,500 miles down the Malaysian Peninsula. After 12,000 miles, 21 countries and four seas, the finish line was in sight. But seven gruelling weeks on the road had taken its toll. Cracks had appeared in the friendship of beardy London arts venue owners Josh and Felix. Funds were also running dangerously low.

Tony and Elaine had their noses in front, due to having the healthiest finances and being able to take a taxi to the Thai border, rather than a budget bus. Their only problems were Tony’s mild back pain, and a yogurt bursting open in his rucksack. It turned out Elaine had put it there; marital bickering ensued.

Darron and Alex were close behind, despite Darron suffering from heatstroke, sickness and wince-inducing sunburnt shoulders. (His son lovingly rubbed in aloe vera. Even more lovingly, he tolerated his father’s grumbling.) The other two pairs – Josh and Felix, Natalie and Shameema – were 16 hours away. Lugubrious narrator John Hannah pretended they still had a chance, but his heart audibly wasn’t in it.

Tony and Elaine gambled by spending an afternoon in a swimming pool to help heal Tony’s back. Carried away by holiday spirit, he then self-medicated by downing vodka shots and playing beer pong in a raucous bar.

But Darron and Alex were so skint, they breakfasted on locusts. “Cheap and protein-packed!” said Darron to unconvinced Alex. He got his own back by forcing his father to face his fear of dogs, earning some cash working at a Bangkok canine training centre. “Suck it up, Dad!” he said, turning Darron’s catchphrase against him with glee.

Tony and Elaine snapped up the last tickets on a direct bus to Singapore but – sod’s law, not to mention television’s – it soon broke down, losing them crucial hours. With Darron and Alex hot on their Birkenstock heels, the final dash became nail-biting.

The finishing point was high on the Observation Deck of Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands hotel. As both teams sprinted towards it, their waddling gait in their giant rucksacks made them resemble stampeding turtles. Tony and Elaine won by three hours. Across seven weeks, it was a remarkably tight margin.

When the father and son arrived, Alex noted that it was “all Yorkshire folk meeting on a Singapore rooftop”. Darron drily added: “When a Yorkshireman’s got a chance to win money, he’ll do anything.”

There was still time for one last twist. Natalie and Shameema arrived the next day, claiming third place. When Josh and Felix trailed in last, they had just $18 left – not enough to buy tickets up to the Observation Deck and the finish line. In a lovely gesture, Natalie and Shameema gave the boys the money so that they could salvage some pride.

After a series that reaffirmed one’s faith in human nature and saw friendships formed across cultural divides, it was apt to end on an act of kindness. Race Across the World reminded me of Channel 4’s Hunted or the early days of reality TV, when contestants took part for the challenge and experience, rather than to parlay their 15 minutes of fame into Instagram likes and slimming drink endorsement deals.

As Josh concluded: “There is magic out there. You just have to look up from your smartphone to see it.”