All3Media format Race Across the World heads to Germany after ZDF deal

Studio Lambert’s Race Across the World is heading to Germany

German public broadcaster ZDF has picked up Studio Lambert’s entertainment format Race Across the World after a deal with distributor All3Media International.

The format, which has run for three seasons and one celebrity version in the UK on BBC Two and later on BBC One since its debut in 2019, will be produced by Tower Productions. A six-part run will air on ZDF in spring 2025

Kirstin Benthaus-Gebauer is the German show’s producer and the editors at ZDF are Friederike Haedecke, Johannes Geiger, Thorsten Haas and Daniel Nemetschek. Studio Lambert and Tower are both part of All3Media.

The German deal continues the reality competition format’s global roll-out. It has so far seen international success in Denmark where three seasons from Strong Productions have aired on TV2.

It has also been adapted in Finland, where the first series will premiere next month on MTV Katsomo and MTV3, produced by Moskito Television, and the Netherlands, where the first season has aired on RTL, produced by All3Media-owned IDTV (The Traitors).

The Race Across the World format sees five pairs of candidates discover different landscapes, cultures, historical sites and sights as they race around the world with just the cash equivalent of the airfare to fly the route and without smartphones, internet access or credit cards.

The UK show was the BBC’s biggest factual entertainment brand of 2023, according to All3Media, with the first episode of the celebrity version averaging 6.2 million viewers. In the UK, a new season of both the original and celebrity version have been commissioned.