TRANSMISSION OF SERIES 1 (5 x 1hrs): OCTOBER 2019 on BBC2*
THE AMERICAS
with
Simon Reeve
from Alaska to
Argentina…the top to the toe…
In his most ambitious journey yet, Simon Reeve is
travelling the entire length of the Americas, through the
two continents that together make up a quarter of
Earth’s land space. It’s an incredible ride
through some of the most beautiful landscapes on the
planet.
In
this first series (‘The
Americas with Simon Reeve’
- 5 x 1 hours) he’s travelling down through North
America, from the icy wilderness of Alaska to the tropical
heat of Costa Rica. Next year he’ll embark on his
second journey and second series (also 5 x 1 hours TBC) -
through South America. The whole journey will be documented
over 10 x 1 hour episodes.
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook
*****************************************************************************************************************
Daily
Mail: “Five
Stars. Pick of the Day. Critics Choice. Hooray! An
adventurer on a real mission... As ever with Simon this is
no simple picture-postcard travelogue…incredible
vistas…beauty…but Simon also confronts the
environmental and social problems. Simon’s technique
is to begin with the façade that tourists see and then peel
it back, uncovering what each place is really like. Simon
Reeve’s documentaries are fact-finding missions, not
ego trips.”
Sunday People:
“Pick of the Week -
“fascinating…incredible…epic…breathtaking…shocking…stunning...”
The
Guardian:
“Pick of the Day - Reeve presents a compelling
indictment of the damage we are doing to our vital natural
landscapes and resources. A necessary watch.”
The
Sun:
“Pick of the Day - If Simon Reeve is your guide, you
know you’re going to be in for an epic adventure. The
explorer takes us on an action-packed journey across North
and Central America. As well as experiencing different
cultures while venturing to some of the most remote and
breathtaking places on Earth, Simon explores issues such as
climate change and poverty. Awesome scenes…epic
adventure…thrilling…thought-provoking…and
Simon is a brilliant host.”
Radio
Times: “Pick
of the Day - As ever with Reeve, this is more than a glossy
travelogue where the presenter gushes about the
views…Reeve’s broad smile hides grit: he
always wants to probe, to lift stones and see the dark
underside of the places that he visits.”
Irish Times:
“The ace adventurer is off on his travels again, and
it’s a real epic trip”
Daily
Express:
“fascinating people…incredible sights”
The
Daily Telegraph:
“Critics Choice – What makes Simon
Reeve’s series so interesting is the
presenter’s willingness to dig a little deeper than
the average travel show. This thoughtful opening episode,
which begins in Alaska and ends in Vancouver, tackles a
number of serious issues from climate change to drug
abuse.”
The
Times: “Crtiics
Choice – Reeve is never not good company, propelled
by his sheer zest for life”
The
i:
“An epic journey that's not afraid to tread some dark
paths. Simon Reeve has always had as keen an eye for the
hidden divides and social injustices of a country as its
breath-taking landscapes. But as always, he was able to
find positive stories and fascinating characters
throughout, while being genuinely excited by
everything.”
Mail
on Sunday:
“Pick of the Day –
Unsettling…fascinating… When Simon Reeve is
the presenter you know you’re never going to be
saddled with easygoing travelogues”
Sunday
Times:
Critics Choice
Sunday
Mirror:
Critics Choice
Series One: ‘THE AMERICAS WITH SIMON REEVE’ tx
Autumn 2019
North
America is a huge continent with an almost unimaginable
variety of people, wildlife and politics. From the vast
scarred landscape of Canada’s oil fields to the
controversy of America’s southern border with Mexico,
Simon has encountered some of the most intractable issues
of the day. He will tell the story of this fascinating and
varied land through encounters with larger than life
characters and adventures in some of the most unexpected
corners of the world.
Episode
One: Simon begins
his North American journey in Alaska, the frozen north, in
the shadow of Mount Denali, the highest mountain on the
continent, where he meets an extraordinary female pilot who
flies him over and then onto a vast glacier. Alaska is at
the heart of some of the greatest challenges the planet
faces and there is dramatic evidence here of the warming of
the Arctic. Simon hunts Caribou with indigenous people who
fear that their ancient way of life is threatened and
learns about the prospect of oil drilling in one the most
precious nature reserves in the whole of the US.
Simon crosses
into Canada and is welcomed by outdoorsy local Caveman Bill
who takes him to drink a cocktail containing a frost-bitten
human toe. Simon discovers an unexpected side to a country
that paints itself as Nice, progressive & green.
It’s actually plagued by social problems and
environmental devastation on a par with its bigger southern
neighbour. In a druggie area of Vancouver Simon meets an
inspiring community activist whose work has saved more than
1,000 lives.
In
episode
two of this series
Simon follows the magnificent Rocky Mountains south through
the USA, from the endless prairies of Montana to the huge
prison complex that dominates Cañon City,
Colorado. On the way he
encounters Mormon missionaries, North American bison and
the cop who polices a tiny town getting rich on legal
cannabis. It’s a world where America’s deep
divisions – between the country and the cities and
between different ethnic groups – are laid bare.
Episode
three takes Simon
the length of California - a state that, if it were a
country, would have the fifth biggest economy in the world.
He scales one of the tallest trees on the planet and then
meets the Hotshot Firecrews battling blazes that are
ravaging a state with a changing climate and a chronic and
devastating shortage of water. A quarter of America’s
homeless people live in California and not so far from the
celebrity spotting tours of Beverley Hills, Simon meets the
street doctors who give help among the shocking poverty of
Los Angeles’ Skid Row. Deep in the southern desert he
enters the Mad Max world of Americans who have dropped out
of the rat race entirely and now live in the wild squat
called Slab City.
Episode
Four is Mexico, a
country defined by its rollercoaster relationship with its
giant neighbour to the north. Simon starts this journey in
Texas and witnesses chaos on the Rio Grande border where
thousands of migrants are crossing in search of a better
life. In Mexico itself he witnesses what many are fleeing
– the drug war that is ravaginsg the whole of Central
America. He has to don his flak jacket and helmet to travel
out on patrol with heavily-armed local police and Special
Forces in armoured cars. In the southern jungle of Mexico
Simon visits the amazing ruins of an ancient civilisation,
and witnesses the struggles of the descendants of the
Mayans who once lived here – Mexico’s huge
indigenous population who feel they are treated like second
class citizens.
In the
fifth and final episode of this epic journey, Simon travels
through Central America. In beautiful Belize he’ll
investigate how the region’s extraordinary wildlife
is threatened by issues as diverse as the pet trade and the
poverty of local farmers; in El Salvador he’ll find a
country torn apart by gang violence; and in the jungles of
Costa Rica he’ll discover the country transforming
its entire economy to become the greenest and most
environmentally friendly place on Earth.
It's one hell of a
journey, an epic quest to travel this vast land, and this
is just the first half because next year Simon will travel
even further– down through the incredible continent
of
South America.
*****************************************************************************************************************
MORE OF SIMON’S KEY EXPERIENCES IN
‘THE
AMERICAS’
SERIES:
--
eating handfuls of dried crickets and sipping ancient
firewater in Mexico
-- staying in an incredible remote 5 star chalet high in
Alaska mountains – like a Bond villain’s lair
-- invited into the bedroom of a Mexican Special Forces
Commander to see his deadly weapons
-- finding a city of Prairie Dog critters – aka
‘Chicken McNuggets’ because everything feeds on
them
-- starting fires to stop bigger blazes with a California
Hotshot firecrew
-- meeting an inspiring former junkie who has transformed
his life and now saves lives
-- playing bingo with the Inupiat hundreds of miles inside
the Arctic Circle
-- going on a ‘ride-along’ with heavily-armed
Officer Bacon to a cannabis store called Smokey’s 420
-- meeting lifer prisoners inside a top-security prison
using Virtual Reality to prepare for their release
-- driving in a unique open-top classic old VW van to meet
the latest German robots in Mexico
-- finding the ditch that marks the so-called
‘world’s friendliest border’ between the
US and Canada
-- left with a high-powered rifle in remote snowy wilds
with polar bears and rabid foxes for company
-- discovering why poachers are hacking chunks off ancient
trees as grand as living dinosaurs
-- helping-out on an epic roundup with cowboys in Montana
-- crawling into a hollow concrete bridge in LA and
discovering a homeless David Attenborough fan
*****************************************************************************************************************
SIMON
REEVE COMMENTED ON HIS NEW SERIES
‘THE
AMERICAS’:
“I’ve
laughed, cried, been awed, surprised, humbled and inspired
while filming this epic journey. Every single day
I’ve been on the road I’ve learnt something
new, and met some of the most brilliant and bonkers
characters I’ve encountered anywhere on Planet Earth!
The journey has taken me from the freezing mountains of
Alaska, one of the most dramatic landscapes you can see
anywhere in the world, to the steamy jungles of southern
Mexico, where I had a few Indiana Jones moments creeping
through the jungle and stumbling upon the huge temples and
buildings of an ancient civilisation. It’s a
mind-blowing experience to go on a journey like this, and I
really hope that viewers will enjoy it and learn from it,
just like I have. The best thing about the journey so far
is that there is so much further to go! I’m only just
half-way down the Americas, and there’s going to be
loads more adventures and experiences on the next series as
I travel down through South America. I can’t
wait.”
JOANNA
CARR, HEAD OF BBC CURRENT AFFAIRS: “Simon
Reeve’s adventures have been hugely popular with
audiences on BBC Two so we’re thrilled to announce
this new, two-part series commission, exploring such
spectacular locations across these two vast
continents.”
PATRICK HOLLAND, CONTROLLER OF BBC TWO:
“Simon’s encounters across his many series on
BBC Two have helped us all see the world anew. This new,
major project through the Americas will hear voices from
north to south, rich and poor, living through unprecedented
environmental, political and cultural change. Simon is a
unique talent and these series promise to be essential
viewing.”
*****************************************************************************************************************