Race Across the World Show Summary, Upcoming Episodes and TV Guide

After a thrilling third series of the Bafta-winning adventure, our five pairs return to reflect on their epic, once-in-a-lifetime race across Canada.

Tonight, they reunite for the first time since the race ended to reveal fascinating insights into their different strategies and individual experiences, from their highest highs to their lowest lows, from money woes to emotional breakdowns, from the hardships of travel to the kindness of strangers, and perhaps most importantly their moments of self-discovery.

The confessions continue as they reveal their first impressions of each other and how these changed as the competition between them grew fiercer. Has the unbreakable bond they formed as a group held strong after the race? Or have old rivalries re-emerged? And what has happened since they returned to the UK? One thing is certain – the lives of all who took part have been changed for good.

This one-off special will offer a truly unique, captivating, behind-the-scenes look into how these intrepid travellers coped with the trials and tribulations of an incredible, life-affirming race and the impact it has had on both them individually and their relationships.

Just two more legs remain. After starting the race 41 days ago on Canada's Pacific coast, the teams now have the Atlantic within their reach - lapping the shores of the seventh checkpoint at the seaside town of Liverpool, Nova Scotia. To reach it, they head through the Maritimes, Canada's three smallest provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.

To keep their lead, Zainib and Mobeen aim to test the local hospitality to the limit, but a trip to catch a naturally occurring phenomenon - on a sinking raft on the highest tide in the world - may derail all their hard work.

Claudia and her dad Kevin are running on fumes and, with costly taxis out of the question, need emergency surgery to mend their ailing budget. But a bad start, where they end up spending money to go backwards, makes their challenge even more difficult.

After faltering in the last leg and dropping into last place, the stress of the race is beginning to get to best friends Tricia and Cathie. Can they mend their differences and get themselves back into a strong position in time for the final push to the finish line?

A string of failed attempts to hitchhike shines a light on the obstacles Monique and Ladi face. The only team remaining to have not won a leg, it's now or never if they are going to turn themselves into genuine contenders.

As the finish line draws ever closer, the teams have to battle fog, torrential rain and the spotty Canadian transport system to gain an advantage. But only one can be first and one step closer to the all-important £20,000 cash prize.

It's the halfway point in the race across Canada. As the teams take to the ice flows of Hudson Bay, they cross from the province of Manitoba to the territory of Nunavut, an area the size of western Europe, inhabited by the Inuit. The ice is a hunting ground for seals and the polar bears who like to feed on them, It is also a favourite summer holiday spot for beluga whales.

The next leg will take them from the edge of the Arctic to the shore of the Great Lakes – the fifth checkpoint over 3,000 kilometres away on Manitoulin Island. Situated in Lake Huron, it is the largest freshwater island on the planet, vast enough to contain over a hundred inland lakes itself.

The race is on, but the pairs only have one way out of Churchill – a noisy overnight train south. Then, it's another sleepless night in two buses from hell as they join the road network towards the checkpoint. This single, gruelling stretch of highway – taking them into Ontario and skirting the Great Lakes – has limited transport options, and the teams will need ingenuity as well as stamina to gain the advantage in what could be the tightest leg so far.

Much to Claudia's annoyance, Kevin splashed out on an expensive taxi in the last leg, so now the current leaders have just a quarter of their budget remaining. They decide that they must prioritise earning cash, or risk leaving the race. But can father and daughter negotiate the relentless travel network without falling out once more?

Zainib is feeling homesick, so she and husband Mobeen must decide whether to take a gamble to take a break from the race so that Zainib can indulge her love of animals. However, she'll need to camp out for the first time to do so, and the pressure of hauling themselves back into contention takes its toll.

Once off the Churchill train, Monique and Ladi try to make a quick break from the other teams, Although Ladi is impressed by his daughter continuing to take the lead, he is finding it hard to take a step back. And after receiving some bad news from home, Tricia fears she may have to cut her race short.

It's the final push to reach that all important checkpoint to be one step closer to the finish line and the £20,000 cash prize.

The race to St John's continues as the five pairs leave the gold rush boom town of Dawson City and head south to the third checkpoint, 2,700 km away in the province of Alberta - the picturesque resort town of Banff. Perched in the Rocky Mountains, 4,500 feet above sea level, Banff is the highest town in Canada, and in this leg, there is a need for speed as the team who reach the checkpoint last will be eliminated from the race.

Trisha and Cathie are in the lead, but spent big to hire a car in the last leg, so need a cheaper strategy this time. Disaster strikes for 25-year-old Monique, who injures herself at the checkpoint, causing a three-hour delay. Her father, Ladi, makes a vital decision that could catapult them back into the race, but there is a catch. The threat of elimination brings out the competitive sides of married couple Zainib and Mobeen, who have differing ideas about who is boss. Marc realises he has to face up to his fears if he and brother Michael are to claw back some time and avoid elimination. Stragglers Claudia and Kevin start the leg with different priorities: Claudia wants experiences, whereas Kevin only has the race on his mind. Their situation takes an unexpected turn when they meet a Catholic missionary called Miriam, who could be the answer to their prayers.

Five teams attempt to race 16,000 km across the second-largest country in the world, Canada. Without smartphones, internet access or credit cards, and armed only with the cash equivalent of the airfare to fly the route, their ingenuity and determination will be tested to the extreme as they race through some of the world's most remote regions. Along the way they must visit seven checkpoints and rely on the kindness of strangers to help them reach their final destination, St John's on the island of Newfoundland, the most easterly town in North America.

The teams set off from Vancouver on the Pacific coast and must first navigate their way north to Tlell in the Haida Gwaii archipelago.

Best friends Tricia and Cathie struggle to get out of the starting point of Stanley Park. It's straight into the deep end for brothers Marc and Michael, who barely know one another. Husband and wife Zainib and Mobeen get stranded at Whistler ski resort. Ladi tries to use the race to educate daughter Monique about the world at large, and Kevin and daughter Claudia make a decision that could impact their race dramatically.

The teams embark on the final leg of their journey, heading off on the 4,800 kilometre trek to the finish line in Ushuaia, Argentina, the most southerly city in the world. However, as they prepare to leave the last checkpoint, one of the teams reveals that they have run out of money and will not be completing the challenge. The three remaining pairs rely on different tactics to get ahead, benefiting from risky gambles, lucky opportunities and the kindness of strangers.

With three teams at the checkpoint at Cafayate in Argentina, one team is yet to arrive. Dom and Lizzie are over 24 hours behind their competitors and after a disastrous last leg must rely on all their ingenuity to claw their way back into the race.

The teams venture through Peru's high altitudes as the race reaches the halfway mark - but the first hurdle they face is bypassing the ongoing state of emergency in Ecuador, and drastic measures are required to ensure the competitors' safety. Emon and Jamiul are in the lead but massively over budget, so try to get work with some local fishermen, while Dom and Lizzie discover a connection to their grandmother in Peru's capital.

The teams head out of Copan Ruinas in western Honduras to their next checkpoint – Panama City. Having raced hard in the previous leg, leaders Jo and Sam are keen to experience more this time.

After 12,000 miles, two continents, 21 countries and four seas, the finish line is in sight as the four teams complete the final leg of the Race Across the World.

The four remaining teams enter the People's Republic of China. After nearly a month on the road together, budgets are running low and emotions are high.

The five teams head to their next checkpoint - Baku in Azerbaijan - a journey that will see them leave behind the familiarity of the West for the exotic and unknown of the East.