Chris McCausland lands Channel 4 travel show
- Chris McCausland is making a travel show entitled The Wonders Of The World That I Can't See for Channel 4
- The blind stand-up and fearful flyer will be joined by other celebrities on his globe-trotting adventures
- He says: "I hate flying, don't function in the heat, and can't eat anything weird. If I'm honest, I just wanted to do Gogglebox"
Chris McCausland has landed a television travelogue.
Despite his hatred of flying, McCausland is making a series entitled The Wonders Of The World That I Can't See for Channel 4, in which the blind comic and celebrity companions visit a series of landmarks across various countries.
Produced and directed by Jim Hickey (Joel & Nish vs The World, Hate Thy Neighbour) for Open Mike Productions (Live At The Apollo, The Last Leg), filming takes place in the break before McCausland's Speaky Blinder tour resumes in September.
Channel 4 explains: "In each episode, reluctant traveller Chris will be joined by a different special celebrity guest as his travelling companion. As well as providing a humorous 'audio description' of their surroundings for him, the celebrity companions will do their best to prove to Chris that there's much more to visiting these places than just what they look like, by engaging their other senses. Will they manage to convince him that it was worth getting off his couch after all?"
Guests and destinations for the four hour-long episodes have yet to emerge.
McCausland jokes: "I hate flying, don't function in the heat, and can't eat anything weird. If I'm honest, I just wanted to do Gogglebox. But thanks to Channel 4 and Open Mike for having more faith in me than I do."
"Being on a plane, I've never been comfortable with it" McCausland told actor Cressida Bonas on her Fear Itself podcast in 2020.
"Firstly, I can't see my surroundings. And so, you get turbulence, in my head, the cabin crew, the stewards are slapping their hands on their faces with open mouths, silent screaming about the impending terror and doom that we're about to encounter. When really they're just serving gin and tonics ... I don't know whether we're about to drop out of the sky."
McCausland also told Bonas that he hates sea swimming, because "I'm not a strong swimmer" and "I can't see which direction the shore's in!"
The Wonders Of The World That I Can't See is the latest high-profile factual commission to feature a comedian exploring a blind person's experience, following blind stand-up Jamie MacDonald's BBC Two documentary Blind Ambition last year, in which he and director Jamie O'Leary interviewed creatives who had lost their eyesight, and Sara Pascoe's 2019 BBC Two film Travelling Blind, in which the sighted stand-up went to Turkey with blind travel expert and entrepreneur Amar Latif.
McCausland, who is blind because of retinitis pigmentosa, has seen his career take off in the last two years, with his 100-plus date tour booked on the back of a routine at the Royal Variety Performance and his third Live At The Apollo set airing last year. He has also made multiple appearances on panel shows like Have I Got News For You, Would I Lie To You? and QI.
Phil Harris, Head of Entertainment and Live Events at Channel 4, says: "I'm excited to build on Chris's scene stealing appearances on The Last Leg and 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown with this new adventure. We're proud to be the home of his first entertainment series and look forward to growing his presence on Channel 4."
Executive producer Andrew Beint comments: "Open Mike Productions are delighted to be given the opportunity to work with the brilliant Chris McCausland on this extraordinary and quintessentially Channel 4 travelogue series."
Commissioning editor Steve Handley concludes: "Chris is an outstanding talent and I'm thrilled he's going on a romp across the globe for us. It promises to be both hilarious and heartfelt - proving that there is so much more to experience beyond what a famous place looks like."
Last week, Broadcast magazine revealed that Chris McCausland is piloting a BBC game show called What's In The Box?, in which contestants have to guess the contents of a box without being able to see inside it. He also recently hosted a Radio 4 panel show pilot that he devised himself, You Heard It Here First, in which comedians have to "live in an audio-only world, deciphering brainteaser sound cues for points and pride whilst trying not to muck about too much along the way".