TWO MAJOR NEW ADVENTURE TRAVEL SERIES – 10 x 1 hours
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…



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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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.”

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