On 13 September 2023, the show was renewed for a second series before the first series was even released on the service.[1]
Format
Brian Cox hosts the show as the "Controller", and nine teams of two people compete to win a worldwide race to win £1 million each. The Controller sets the rules of the game, hiding in a bunker and monitoring each team from afar as he tells them where they must go next, what challenges they must perform, and what questions they must try to answer. Cox portrays the Controller as a Bond-style villain of the race, delighting in the hardship of the contestants.[2][3]
Production
72 Films had been developing the show for about four years before Amazon Prime Videogreen-lit the series in March 2022.[4][5] By April, Brian Cox had signed on to host as the villain of the show.[6] Cox initially thought that the casting was for the next Bond film.[7]
Reception
Joel Golby at The Guardian enjoyed the series, saying that even though it may not make sense on paper, it is "mega-fun" and Cox chewed up the scenes in his portrayal of a Bond villain, holding the series together.[8]
Lucy Mangan, also at The Guardian, gave the series a strongly negative review, calling it "shoddy, boring and soulless," and criticised its use of the Bond brand as "tenuous."[9]
