Intrepid Journeys, Egypt: Marcus Lush

The inspiration for Intrepid Journeys came from Jam TV's Melanie Rakena's passion for adventure travel. Having experienced the exhilaration of backpacking to far flung corners of the globe, she convinced TVNZ that the idea of taking local celebrities (from All Blacks to music legends and ex-Prime Ministers) off the beaten track and out of their comfort zone, and filming them, was a good one.

The result was the genre-defining Intrepid Journeys.

The Intrepid Journeys format involves piggy-backing along with a celebrity traveller for two weeks in a rough and ready destination.

Making popular personalities the presenters for the show was a canny decision as it was a point of difference, for an adventure travel format that may have easily been consigned as ‘niche' by programmers.

The entertainment value of seeing your favourite celeb facing physical challenges - crouched over a toilet with Delhi Belly or blistered from walking in the Himalayas rather than down the red carpet - is enticing.

But the achievement of the series was to mix that voyeuristic pleasure with unforced and observational engagement with the local culture. Unlike most travel shows (which often feel little more than destination infomercials), here the presenters' experience of the country's history, culture and people feels authentic and often intimate and moving.

"Although they are celebrity travellers, they travel and live as the locals do - ride bumpy local buses with chickens and goats, stay in ethnic villages and eat traditional food which stretches the palate. As a result they are able to reflect on what is special about their lives in a Western and privileged world."

The presenters are a (mostly sensitive and insightful) conduit to real working knowledge and understanding of places, lives, events and happenings foreign to Western culture; "other cultures and countries that may otherwise only be seen on the news when all hell is breaking loose." This is a special achievement in a ratings-dependent primetime slot.

As Jam TV states: "It is not a Survivor-style manufactured challenge show. [...]. It is about meeting real challenges in the real world, travelling to lesser-known places and then getting around the way locals do... by foot, bus and camel."

It could be described as Amazing Race without the race and the results make for, well, often amazing television.

"This series is a chance to get past stereotypes, myths and bad press, to get out into the real world and experience life challenging and changing travel."

Eschewing ‘all expenses paid' luxury, spa and beach breaks, Intrepid Journeys' destination include Libya, Borneo, Iran, Uganda, Myanmar, Tibet, Madagascar, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Cuba, Vietnam, Ecuador and Mali; countries with interesting and troubled pasts and presents. In these countries the ‘world famous in New Zealand' celebrities are just another Western face.

Over several series personalities featured have included Dave Dobbyn, Anton Oliver, Kim Hill, Jenny Shipley, Jeremy Wells, Paul Henry, Tim Shadbolt, Katie Wolf, Andrew Fagan, John Banks, Te Radar, Rawiri Paratene, Jon Gadsby, Danielle Cormack, Chris Knox, Robyn Malcolm and many more.

Exotic locations are a requisite element in adventure travel shows (and there's no shortage of potential off-the-map destinations for Intrepid Journeys), but a mark of the show's enduring popularity is that it has run for so long it must be close to running out of local celebrities.