BBC's latest reality series, Destination X, has been described as 'The Traitors meets Race Across the World' but with a significant design flaw: contestants cannot see out of the bus they travel in. The show, based on a Belgian hit, sees 13 participants ferried around Europe in total ignorance of their location, with the worst at identifying it being eliminated.
The bus, a jet-black vehicle with metal-plated windows, makes it impossible for contestants to know where they are going. They spend a month living and sleeping on the coach, leading to cabin fever and heated arguments. The show features challenges such as being locked in boxes in village squares or dangling from ropes 2,000 metres above sea level to hunt for clues.
Host Rob Brydon described the show as 'fiendish', with producers going to extreme lengths to confuse contestants. In the first episode, participants waited in a packed German airport where all other passengers and staff were actors. They were then blindfolded and flown around in a helicopter for an hour to disorient them.
Executive producer Dan Adamson revealed that three sets of identical twins were used as fake airport staff to make contestants think they had landed in the same place they took off. 'We just thought: wouldn't it be funny?' he said.
Despite the sneaky tactics, the show's major flaw remains the inability to see out of the bus, which may frustrate viewers trying to guess along. The series airs for five weeks, with viewers encouraged to identify locations alongside the contestants.
