World’s Toughest Driving Tests vs World’s Deadliest Roads

What’s going on here?

Two series with similar titles, on the same night on different channels.

At 7:30pm on ABC2 on Wednesday it’s BBC’s World’s Toughest Driving Tests which airs for 1 hour.

At 8:00pm on Seven it’s World’s Deadliest Roads which is 30 minutes long.

World’s Toughest Driving Tests
Episode One Romania.
Actor Will Mellor and presenter Kirsten O’Brien take on the ultimate driving challenge, firstly in Romania.

Will and Kirsten travel the globe learning to drive and race the world’s biggest, most expensive and hardest to master vehicles in a bid to find out who is the better driver. Their first battle is in the Romanian Army’s frontline combat tank, the TR 85.

But before they do, they must undergo a week’s hard graft in sub zero conditions under the scrutiny of Captain Oncaea. It takes 12 weeks to train a tank driver but Will and Kirsten have just three days to master the skills needed to race against each other at the end of the week.

Will’s first short, sharp, shock is swapping his celebrity mansion for a shared army barracks with three burly Romanian soldiers.

For Kirsten, the reality of driving a machine built for war is a real concern, but she learns to respect the men who drive the tanks and is determined to see her duel with Will through to its nail biting conclusion.

They’ll endure temperatures of minus 17 degrees celsius, handle real firearms and face a combat situation under a barrage of enemy fire whilst grappling with night vision.

In the final showdown Will and Kirsten must bring together all the skills they’ve learned during their intense training regime, but there can only be one winner.

World’s Deadliest Roads
“Freefall Freeway”
The US reality series World’s Deadliest Roads will have its Australian premiere on Channel Seven, starting at 8pm on Wednesday, June 1.

This knuckle-biting program reveals the most terrifying moments when experienced truck drivers are pushed to their limits, taking on some of the world’s most dangerous roads.

The series follows seasoned Ice Road Truckers Lisa Kelly, Rick Yemm, Alex Debogorski and Dave Redmon (from the popular Ice Road Truckers TV series) as they drive along the most treacherous and ancient highways of India, where there is a casualty every 4.5 minutes.

The roads could collapse from under the wheels of the truck at any moment and the narrow 1,000 foot cliffs they are driving across are ticking time bombs which landslides, rain, heavy snow and all day traffic jams could set off at any moment.

Australian actor and writer Matt Nable will voice the series. Best known for his novels We Don’t Live Here Anymore and Faces In The Clouds, Matt is no stranger to the screen appearing in SBS’ East West 101 and The Final Winter; an Australian film he wrote and starred in. Matt will be on the big screen in The Killer Elite starring alongside Robert De Niro and Clive Owen.

Talking about World’s Deadliest Roads Matt Nable said: “I found myself twitching and looking through my fingers as I watched. What I like most about it is that you find yourself with a genuine affection for the drivers. You become aware quickly just how dangerous their job is.”

In episode one, Ice Road Truckers Lisa Kelly, Rick Yemm and Alex Debogorski swap the deadly ice roads in North America they as used to, to head to India to take on the extreme mountain roads of the Himalayas. Each trucker is assigned a spotter to be by their sides at all times to help them navigate their routes.

As Lisa battles the heat and struggles to make the transition from Alaska, Alex slams into not one, but two vehicles out on the crowded Delhi roadways. Rick risks a head-on collision with multiple buses that refuse to give up an inch of road as they fly toward him at top speed.