Channel 4’s Worlds Apart may recall Race Across the World, but makes up in heart what it lacks in originality
Put young and old together – in a nursing home or a reality show – and it’s soon clear how both benefit.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.
Back in 1841, Charles Dickens wrote, “It is not a slight thing when they, who are so fresh from God, love us”; nearly 200 years later, every grandparent can attest to how the cockles of our hearts continue to be warmed by unions as close in affection as they are distant in age. We saw it when Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin encountered Old Man Marley in Home Alone. Our eyes glistened when lonely widower Carl found unlikely companionship with enthusiastic explorer Russell in Up. Even curmudgeonly Clint Eastwood had his armour pierced by his young Korean neighbours in Gran Torino.
The Channel 4 exec who commissioned Worlds Apart is clearly leaning into the same alchemy, with a show that makes up in heart what it lacks in originality. In an idea obviously borrowed from Race Across the World, six young rookie British travellers – described as “Gen Z” so not quite fresh from God, but with fresh passports – each team up with a pensioner partner, whom they meet for the first time on the streets of Tokyo. This designation had several of us in the office googling to find out when Millennials ended and Gen Zs began (1996/7 if you’re interested). Meanwhile, back in Japan, our pairs wade through the city, aiming to solve puzzles, pocket some gold coins and ultimately share a £50,000 prize.
If their chats are not yet profound, the duos are charming. Rosie (68) says she’s after a “super-intelligent partner because I’m not”. Instead, she’s paired with Lawrence (24), whose response to the clue “Look out for a place to go if you’re caught short” is to go fishing, “or maybe a tennis court”. And it’s Rosie who guesses that a “temple to technology” might just be an Apple store, not an actual…
Elsewhere, when retired GP Tony meets partner Emma (18), who grew up in care, his sympathy is palpable. “She’s amazingly resilient,” he says, while pensioner Colin pays young Charlotte the ultimate compliment: “She’s not what I thought young people were.”
The moral of the story is clear, even if none of this is as pioneering as producers might think. The Humanitas nursing home in the Netherlands is celebrated for its scheme where students live rent-free and, in return, commit to spending 30 hours a month socialising with elderly residents. There are plenty more across Europe, while the UK has its own Homeshare scheme, whereby older people can offer a spare room to a younger lodger on a reduced rent in exchange for tasks and shared time. It should get more publicity. And C4 have made similar forays before, with their Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds demonstrating the mutual benefits of such intergenerational interaction.
Last year, the London School of Economics published a report on how workplaces that embrace each generation’s strengths are best placed for innovation and growth. Even without commercial incentives, it’s clear that such connection is mutually enriching, offering an antidote to older people’s solitude, while youngsters get the benefit of their elders’ wisdom, including learning what getting caught short means.
Worlds Apart needs the usual reality TV caveat – that, for those taking part, being filmed trumps any other differences. Then widow Barbara talks about how she loves getting out and about, “but when I come home, there’s no one there to tell.” Her face cracks into a smile when she meets young Katie – “I love your eyelashes” – and Katie instantly replies, “I love your dress”. This show isn’t actually about age at all, it’s about the compassion of strangers making way for unlikely comradeship. And that’s not a slight thing, either.
Worlds Apart begins on Tuesday 7 October at 9.15pm on C4
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