Rob Brydon hosts the new BBC travel game Destination X, where contestants are driven around Europe in a windowless black coach and must guess their location. The show, based on a Belgian format, sees 13 players ferried across the continent for a month, living and sleeping on the bus. They are tested via challenges such as being locked in boxes or dangling from ropes, and the worst at identifying where they are is eliminated.
Viewers are encouraged to guess along as the contestants navigate a series of mind-bending tricks. In the first episode, participants wait in a German airport where all other passengers are actors, and the check-in staff are fake. To further disorient them, the production uses three sets of identical twins as airport staff, with one set at the original location and another at the landing site. Contestants must read the microscopic names on their badges to figure out the ruse.
Executive producer Dan Adamson described the twin trick as 'the nuts', adding: 'We just thought: wouldn't it be funny?' The show also features a screen driven alongside the bus to show clues, not fake scenery, according to Adamson. Brydon, who joined a press preview in London, noted: 'The clues are there!' as the bus rumbled through the city.
Critics have compared Destination X to The Traitors meets Race Across the World, with cabin fever leading to heated arguments among contestants. The show airs weekly on BBC One, and viewers have taken to social media to express confusion over the game's rules, with one saying: 'I would be terrible at this!'
