Ireland to Sydney by Any Means - BBC2, Sunday 8pm

Yeah we all know this is just another opportunity for Charley to satiate his boysish enthusiasm for motorbikes and travelling the world.  The novelty of this series is that he and producer/fellow traveller, Russ Malkin get the opportunity to ‘have a go’ on steam trains, boats and big red London bus and numerous other means of transport that little boys fantasise about!

I like Charley Boorman, despite the fact his participation in these great adventures is all funded by our tax-payers money, because he comes across as a really nice, if slightly bumbling, bloke with a lovely family and no lovey airs and graces.

Although I loved the Long Way Down/Round series and enjoyed the camaraderie and jokes shared by Charlie and Ewan MacGregor, I’m glad Charlie has taken the spotlight in Ireland to Sydney…

We had a brief glimpse of Ewan in the first episode when he rode up to wish Charlie good luck before he set off, but there was no explanation as to why Ewan wasn’t joining Charlie on this latest adventure.  I would like to think it’s because everyone was so outraged by the way he flexed his  ‘I’m the superstar’ muscle and allowed his wife (who couldn’t even ride a bike) to nudge Charley off of the screen when she joined them on The Long Way Down, that the team decided to plan this trip behind his back and only tell him when it was too late for him to join them….!

Despite that little moan by me, I really do hope Charley and Ewan are reunited for a third Long Way show….just barr the spouse!