Pilgrimage

Road To Santiago

Deeply insulting and patronising display of Z listers and their egos. This programme could have achieved so much yet fell sadly short of every expectation.

The very definition of pilgrim on a pilgrimage is a journey or search of moral or spiritual significance. These "celebrity" travellers show no insight at all of themselves or the history or significance of pilgrimage. Simon Reeve, in his documentary in 2013 covered in 10 minutes what these people took days to understand, Neil Morrissey was surprised their was a difference between a 56 day pilgrimage and a stroll on Hampstead Heath in the last 5 kilometres, give me strength duh!

Surprisingly the most morally deficit is the Priest Kate Bottley who matronises everyone relentlessly. She overlays religion with a liberal authoritarianism totally at odds with any Christian tradition.

I was going to go into detail about the other travellers but this might give credence to the mundanity of their collective thoughts, so I will leave it.

Why was this tripe made and why did anyone watch it I have no clue.

I know the pilgrims don't walk the whole trail and are not leaders of their church communities. And I know that the conversations are staged for filming.

However, it is informative to listen to people from diverse backgrounds and experience talk through their spiritual feelings. The gentle pace proves the chance for self-reflection. It also provides a wonderful opportunity to discuss views with family, a topic that is not often referred to in my household.

Whether the trail is in the UK or Europe, the scenery is unfailingly spectacular with the landscapes and buildings the real stars of the show.

This isn't an ordinary pilgrimage, because the seven pilgrims are all British public figures. All this said the group seemed very coherent and respectful of each other beliefs. Of course, they don't show everything that happens in the pilgrimage and sometimes they must have used bus to help but this is left outside the final cut. Nevertheless, the show really shows very beautiful scenery and monuments in the north and center of Portugal. They really could have shown more of Porto and of course spent more time in Fátima, since it was the main purpose of the pilgrimage. Being a Roman Catholic pilgrimage, Bobby Seagull, the only of that faith, shows that he takes his faith very seriously and he is a strong believer in Fátima. It was nice to see the strong commitment to his faith that Shane Lynch, an Irish Pentecostal born-again Christian, has, like also Nabil Abdulrashid, a Muslim. The two Anglicans, actress Sue Pollard, and paralympic skier Millie Knight, also shown a great respect for other peoples believes. It would have been interesting to point in the series that some Anglicans, mostly Anglo-Catholics, actually believe in Fátima! Vicky Pattinson was very into the experience, even as an agnostic, and it was moving to see her crying at times since she isn't able to have religious faith. Jewish actress Rita Simons, who is more a cultural than a religious Jew, showed another religious perspective in the series.

Beautiful scenery and interesting conversation as the 'stars' make their pilgrimage. The humanist, the atheist, the convert, the priest, a couple of indifference, and the one with so many chips on her shoulder be it race, religion or sex, she spoils the atmosphere most days. The back stories for most of the participants is fascinating, as our those of the people they meet.

Not being British, I didn't realise until I came here that the 7 peragrinos are some sort of celebrities back in the U.K. I guess that explains the constant chatter and referrals back to talking heads sitting in chairs ruminating over their shared experiences.

It's a pity because the series is spoiled by just too much inane, repetitive babble. In the first episode in particular we were treated to some superb photography of the actual walk and a couple of the locations. But as Episode 1 of Season 1 continued this facet of the show was reduced, whilst the mindless group babble factor increased.

What makes things even worse, is that despite both the raves and whinges of individual celebs, they're not actually walking anywhere near the full Camino. They're just doing little bits and pieces and then getting zoomed off by taxi/bus to some place else, whilst waffling on about how enlightening or tough things have been or not been. By the end of Episode 2 they only had 93 km to go to Santiago and now they can't take short cuts, because any more and they won't be credited with an official finish.

I see the producers plan to have 3 seasons of this series. Could I respectfully suggest, they focus less on having some UK version of Camino celebrity survivor and more on showing the route, specific locations and interviews with "interesting" genuine peragrinos and locals along the Way of St James. It was an absolute travesty that celebs were taking up onscreen time for periods of five minutes or more talking constantly about nothing, whilst Camino legends like John Brierley for instance, was spoken to, for all of a minute.