Three years after Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman circumnavigated the globe on their motorcycles, the long-time actor friends are taking to the road again in a new, six-part documentary series.
They are undertaking one of the toughest of all overland motorcycle journeys, starting at John O'Groats and journeying 15,000 miles south through the gruelling terrain of the African continent to their final destination - South Africa.
Their profound love of adventure and motorbikes takes Ewan and Charley from Scotland, through England, France, Italy, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia - finishing 85 long days later in Cape Town.
Along the way, they stop to experience the richness of African culture, swap stories with locals and visit a number of the continent's Unicef and Riders for Health sites. Riding through savannah, desert coastline, mountains and jungle, the men face challenges both physical and emotional.
After finding a suitable base in tonight's first episode, Ewan and Charley spend several months in London prior to departure, planning a route that will not only be challenging, but also inspirational and visually arresting.
Eve, Ewan's wife, decides she would like to join part of the trip. Ewan is over the moon, but Charley's not so sure because she's never ridden a bike before.
As part of their training, the team attend a hostile environment course where they are faced with the kind of dangers they may encounter in Africa. Then, two months before departure, Ewan has an accident, breaking his leg and jeopardising the trip. However, that's not the only problem - departure date looms, but, worryingly, the team still don't have their visas for Libya. Six have been promised, but for the two Americans, things are not looking good, and tensions arise as a split between the crew looks unavoidable.
With the visa situation still unresolved, the team take their vehicles and make their way up to John O'Groats to start this epic adventure - the journey of a lifetime.
(5 Star)
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