ABC’s 2026 Version Of ‘Race Around The World’ – Or The ‘Burbs (Naked City)

The decision by the ABC to revive the ‘Race Around The World’ program in 2026, after the original aired some 27 years ago, might seem a curious one. When that first series screened between 1997 and 1998, it was an entirely different era.

For starters, the world seemed a lot safer place back then as opposed to the endless drawn out wars of today. The internet was certainly gaining momentum but it was relatively free of the millions of travel vloggers now infest. It was also a time of both innocence and hope, fuelled by positive anticipation for the new millennium that loomed only a few years away.

The original series was based on the Canadian program ‘La Course Destination Monde’ and was a huge hit for our own national broadcaster. Despite its popularity it was criticised for both its considerable financial cost and the production pressure it put on the ABC.

Just why it was decided to revive the concept, around a quarter of a decade later, is somewhat of a mystery. Maybe in the cynical, cut throat world in which we currently reside, there was an element of nostalgia in bringing it back. And who I am to talk, as I have been lobbying the ABC for years now for the return of Mr Squiggle.

The initial series of global racers certainly sparked the careers of many of the budding filmmakers, who graduated to important roles in the media from TV production and reporting to radio hosts and writers. Perhaps the best known of the original contestants was the then kooky John Safran who has returned to the current series as a judge.

Watching the first few episodes of the 2026 revival, it’s hard not to be impressed by the logistical workings. Co-ordinating six young Australian filmmakers, venturing solo to some 10 countries over 100 days and shooting a short film every 10 days, is no mean feat.

And it can’t be cheap – all those airfares, hotel rooms and a sizeable production crew back home to piece it all together.

With this in mind, I’d like to suggest a much more economical version of the concept and this is in no way a criticism of the current program. I could have suggested a ‘Race Around Australia’ but let’s go even cheaper and make it a ‘Race Around The ‘Burbs’, set entirely in the suburbs of Sydney and thrusting six young filmmakers into the wilds of our grittiest suburbia.

It will save the ABC a fortune as the youthful aspirants are simply given an Opal card, a map of the Sydney train network, a meagre meal allowance and a stack of bus timetables. The winner of the series will be awarded to the ‘racer’ who comes up with the quintessential piece of video footage of the Emerald City 2026.

In the first episode one of the filmmakers arrives in Western Sydney just in time to catch a gunman fire around 30 shots into a function centre with an AK-47. She captures the very moment the windows are blown out and even manages to hail a nearby Uber and pursue the gunman for a kilometre or two, hoping for a possible on the spot interview. She loses the getaway car in traffic but later discovers the burnt out wreck with a smouldering bucket of KFC in the backseat. A wonderful ending shot!

Burwood was recently voted the 16th coolest suburb in the world by Time Out and one of our culinary aware (i.e. bloody well starving) racers sets out to discover its amazing variety of multi-cultural cuisines. There’s some fabulous Asian and Middle Eastern food on sale but the austerity version of ‘Race Around’ allows only a minimal meal allowance.

Alas, all they can afford is a miserable junior burger at Maccas in the Westfield Plaza. Not very cool!

You would expect an ecological slant amongst the many short films and visually what could be better than 500,000 stinking, pooping bats (aka flying foxes) terrorising residents at Harrington Park near Camden. Where’s that gunman with the AK-47 when you really need him? Despite numerous complaints of the bats’ pungent smell, the filmmaker highlights their endangered status and ends with the acerbic comment, “you’d have to be batshit crazy not to like these cute little critters”.

At the conclusion of the series, when all the Opal cards have been exhausted, the judges are all but unanimous in awarding first prize to a film which truly captures the spirit and identity of suburban Sydney.

The winning filmmaker Johnny, was literally ‘Johnny On The Spot’ when by sheer accident he witnessed a classic police pursuit of an out of control teenager in a stolen car. And even better he captures the entire action on his ABC drone, the highlight as the stolen car ploughs into the living room of a typical suburban family who narrowly escape annihilation.

The only dissenting voice comes from judge John Safran who quips “you can watch that crap on the six o’clock news every night”.