007: Road To A Million Season 1 Review: A Tenuous James Bond Spin-Off That Has Its Contestants Playing ‘The Amazing Race’ & ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ Simultaneously

Cast:  Brian Cox, along with nine teams of two members each

Directors:  Julian Jones, Tom Dumican, Jamie Goold, Alice Smith

Streaming On: Prime Video

Language: English (with subtitles)

Runtime: 8 episodes (per episode around 50 minutes)

007: Road to a Million Review: What’s It About:

The 8-episode reality competition show is a James Bond film franchise spin-off. It sees nine pairs of ordinary individuals embark on an adventure to uncover hidden clues at locations frequently visited in the British Secret Service film to win a prize of £9 million (£1 million per duo). Brian Cox hosts the show as the ‘Controller’ – a Bond-style villain who delights in the hardship of the contestants.

007: Road To A Million Season 1 Review: What’s Good?

The show starts with the pairs climbing mountains and wading through cold waters in Scotland’s Loch to find their first briefcases and answer a question to win £5,000. Over the eight episodes, fans of the James Bond films will be in for a treat as they will be able to go back in time and relieve some of their favorite Agent 007 missions like the epic chase scene in No Time To Die or the Italian Alps in For Your Eyes Only.

The show will, at times, help improve your general knowledge. At the same time, at other moments, it will have you biting your nails as the contestants do some daring stunts, like climbing a crane on Gravina Bridge, Italy, measuring a snake, weighing a tarantula, climbing a volcano that erupted a year ago, and more. Not only does the show test them physically, but it also tests their mental strength while giving the contestants – siblings, husband-wife, father-sons, and friends – a chance to get closer and mend any tears in their relationships.

While most reality shows require their contestants to pass a minimum stage to be eligible to win cash, 007: Road To A Million has the duos winning £5,000 from the get-go if they answered the first question right (and pulled the plug on the canister filled with green gas). Another positive point of this show is that the contestants aren’t competing with each other for the money, but are pushing to reach the end and earn their £1 million.

Bonus half points to the production for spending four years on the show (before Prime Video green-lit it), giving fans a tour of the world with its unique locations, and the camera team for always being there and capturing the raw moments without being seen.

007: Road To A Million Season 1 Review: What’s Bad?

This isn’t a 5/5 show; there are some negatives, and a majority of them revolve around the amount of thrills it has to offer, making things dull too soon. When you think of James Bond, you think of something daring that will have you on the edge of your seat; unfortunately, 007: Road To A Million fails to live up to that expectation. While there are moments that will get you excited, the episodes do get repetitive, especially when it comes to the way the answers are revealed to be right or wrong and the clothes the contestants wear while wading through cold water (it’s astonishing we didn’t see any of them shivering, needing a blankets or hot coffee, but saw them dry – and in the same clothes, moments later.)

The show attempted to connect with the viewers by attaching an emotional peg – how the contestants met, a little insight into their personal lives, and getting to make memories that they couldn’t owing to different reasons (kids too soon, working on a rig – you will understand). Still, it failed due to its repetitiveness and inability to give each contestant duo the same time frame at the start.

Brian Cox is an acclaimed actor (he’s received several accolades, including 2 Laurence Olivier Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award), and having him as the villainous host should have been a bonus; alas, it’s one of the significant drawbacks of the show. Brian punctuates the dreary action in a manner that makes you want the contestants back on screen. He sits in his hideout with screens to monitor the contestants. We wonder how much he got paid to play this part.

007: Road to a Million Review: Last Words:

The Brian Cox-hosted James Bond spin-off reality show beautifully showcases the mountains of Scotland, the lush Amazon forests, the captivating locales of Italy and Spain, and many more locations that the spy has been spotted at. Still, it mixes Fear Factor, The Amazing Race, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. If you like watching people do tasks to win money, then go ahead, or else give it a skip – it’s not worth spending nearly 6 hours.

007: Road To A Million Season 1 was released on Amazon Prime Video on November 10, 2023, and has already been renewed for a second season.

For more recommendations, read Selling Sunset Season 7 review here.

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