007: Road To A Million is a brand new reality series on Prime Video, arriving on 10 November, that's a mix of Race Across The World and Traitors but with a James Bond twist.
Join Succession star Brian Cox who plays 'The Controller', a mysterious meddlesome figure who has millions of pounds to give away — but he certainly won’t be making it easy. As the two-person teams scramble across famous James Bond movie locations and destinations such as the Scottish Highlands, Brazil, Venice and Jamaica they must conquer obstacles, answer questions hidden in different locations and ensure they can progress to the next challenge and make it to the end. But The Controller is always watching, and revelling in their discomfort...
“I got to see how ordinary people would cope with being on a James Bond adventure,” says Brian. “As they travel the world to some of the most iconic Bond locations, it gets more intense and nail-biting. I enjoyed my role as both villain and tormentor, with license to put the hopeful participants through the mangle.”
So here’s everything you need to know about the Prime Video series 007: Road To A Million including the new trailer…
007: Road To A Million release date
007: Road to a Million launched exclusively on Prime Video in over 240 countries and territories on Friday, November 10.
Is there a trailer for 007: Road To A Million?
Yes, there are now a couple of trailers for 007: Road To A Million which provide glimpses into stunning locales, including the untamed Scottish Highlands, Chile's isolated Atacama Desert, the bustling streets of Venice, and the majestic Swiss Alps. Take a look at both below...
007: Road To A Million — how it works
007’s Road To A Million will follow two-person teams as they navigate their way across Bond locations such as the Scottish Highlands, Venice and Jamaica, answering hidden questions as they go in order to progress to the next challenge.
Aside from sleek sports cars, breathtaking stunts and exotic locations, every James Bond adventure needs a meddlesome villain – and who better to take on the mantle than Succession star Brian Cox? After playing steely, cutthroat media tycoon Logan Roy in one of the most acclaimed dramas of the decade, the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor is well equipped to bring villainy to a new Bond-inspired reality game show
The team journeys become increasingly difficult, and Brian is always lurking in the shadows, watching and controlling the contestants’ fates. He has up to £1m per couple to give away, but it won’t be easy to win.
On the trail of 007 — the Bond locations where the teams are heading for
Like any Bond adventure, the series is packed with far-flung, cinematic destinations, as the contestants journey to some iconic locations from the movie franchise, originally adapted from Ian Fleming’s novels.
Episode one opens in the rugged Scottish Highlands, as seen in Daniel Craig’s Skyfall (2012), before the game takes contestants to Europe, including the bustling streets and canals of Venice, which 007 visits in three films – Casino Royale (2006), Moonraker (1979) and From Russia with Love (1963).
The teams also journey to Chile’s Atacama Desert, which provides an incredible backdrop in Quantum of Solace (2008), and look out for the striking Italian hilltop city of Matera, featured in No Time to Die (2021), as well as the nearby site of Bond’s famous bridge jump in Gravina.
Other exotic locales include Jamaica’s golden sands in No Time to Die and Brazil’s Sugarloaf Mountain in Moonraker. However, shooting in popular Bond hangout Switzerland, which features in five films including GoldenEye (1995) and Goldfinger (1964), provided the biggest challenge.
"We had to hike half-a-million pounds worth of gold from the Royal Mint up a mountain in Switzerland," says series producer Ben Allen. "We managed it, but then a storm came in. The wind was 120 mph and it was minus 22 degrees. The gold nearly got blown off the side of the mountain!"
Interview: Brian Cox on his role as 'The Controller'
Here, Dundee-born star Brian Cox, 77, who’s also known for his roles in Churchill (2017) and The Bourne Supremacy (2004), reveals why the show will leave us shaken, not stirred...
What made you want to take part in 007: Road To A Million?
Brian says: "I’m always up for a new adventure, that’s how you keep young when you get to my age, by not ruling anything out. You just go, ‘OK, I’ll see what happens’, and I really enjoyed it. It’s unusual territory for me, but it’s hard when you go from a show like Succession and try to work out what you’re going to do next. It’s what I would call bobbing and weaving."
Did you see this as your chance to play a Bond villain?
Brian says: "Well, now I can finally say I’ve been in a Bond production. I always thought I’d be a very good Bond villain, but nobody’s ever come up with the offer, so at least by taking part in this, I’m doing it somehow. Having played one of the most misunderstood men in television history, it was a no-brainer to be a Bond villain of sorts.
As ‘The Controller’, you orchestrate the game. Did you enjoy watching the contestants squirm?
Brian says: "It was fascinating and fun to watch the contestants. It gets more intense and nail-biting, but I enjoyed my role as both villain and tormentor, with licence to put the participants through the mangle. The casting of the contestants was so important, too, because they’ve got to be the show, really. The more idiosyncratic they are, the more fun it creates. But what’s different about this show is the Bond theme, and those two aspects alongside each other means it works.
How do you think you would cope with the Bond-esque challenges?
Brian says: "Probably dreadfully! Well, I might be OK on some of the general knowledge parts, but I think I would definitely fall at the hurdle of the physical challenges. Anything involving helicopter shots would be out.
Who’s your favourite Bond?
Brian says: "I had a lot of respect for Roger Moore. He was genuinely so funny as Bond because he never took it too seriously. Of course, he had that wonderful English sensibility that Bond relies on, too. I loved Roger, but my favourite has to be Sean Connery, as a fellow Scot. He and Roger were polar opposites in a way, but they were both hard acts to follow."
Were you proud to see a fellow Scot playing the superspy?
Brian says: "I always thought it was ironic that Sean ‘short of talksh like thish’. The real James Bond would have been frightfully posh, not like Sean at all, so that was wonderful to see. I was proud that another Scot had fooled everybody to such a distraction that they cast him in a wonderful lead role, and he brought something unique to it."
More about The Controller, aka Brian Cox.
The Controller of 007: Road To A Million is Brian Cox who's best known for his award-winning turn as media mogul Logan Roy in the hit series Succession. He’s also starred in movies such as X-Men 2, The Bourne Identity, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Troy, plus TV series including Shetland and The Slap. He played notorious serial killer Hannibal Lector in Manhunter and voiced Death in Good Omens. He is also lending his voice to the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim.
Meet the contestants in 007: Road To A Million
Here's the lowdown on the pairs of contestants taking part in 007: Road To A Million. Check them out below..
James and Joey
Brothers James and Joey grew up in South West London in a family of four siblings. Despite the six-year age gap they have always been good friends. Joey trained as an electrician before completing The Knowledge in his 20s to become a black cab driver. He 's since gone back to his original tracer and has his own electrician business. James is a creative and describes himself as a "copy writer by day and musician by night”. When his copyrighting work dried up at the start of the pandemic, he returned to his first love, music, and recorded a folk/punk-inspired album. He has also dabbled in stand-up comedy, putting on shows at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Bethan and Jen
Jen trained as a nurse in Dorset and became a prison nurse, then joined the RAF reserves and trained to go to Afghanistan to assist with Aeromedical evacuation in 2010, bringing injured soldiers’ home. She then ran a medical clinic in Kabul at the British Embassy before going to Australia, where she worked on Christmas Island with asylum seekers. Recently, Jen has been working in Guyana, providing medical care to crews working offshore on drill ships, and now is back in the UK doing local agency work. Beth has worked in emergency departments internationally, and her specialty is emergency care. She’s worked in expedition medicine with ultra-marathon runners in the Amazon and the Arctic Circle. She now works as an advanced clinical practitioner in Gloucestershire in the urgent care clinic.
Kamara and Josh
Kamara and Josh met at work while they were working as youth workers in their local community. They bonded over their shared love of travel, anthropology, and interest in different cultures. Despite their different cultural backgrounds and worries that their families would disapprove, love blossomed, and they became an item. Kamara is more daring and riskier than Josh, when a decision needs to be made, she will take the lead.
Sana and Saiqa
They’re only 18 months apart and their family sees Sana and Saiqa more as twins than older or younger siblings. They’ve lived in Bahrain and Dubai but also spent time growing up in the UK, deciding to do their university studies there. They now live with their grandparents in London. They see ‘home’ as between the UK and Dubai, where their parents live and work. Sana is a process engineer and Saiqa is a fraud analyst.
James and Sam
James and Sam are father and son who share a close bond, but James is often away for up to eight weeks due to working on oil rigs, which has left him feeling like an ‘absent father’, but he now wants to make up for lost time and make lasting memories with his teenage son before he becomes an adult. Sam idolises his dad, describing their relationship more like a ‘friendship’. Sam recently moved out after studying for his A-levels during the pandemic and has been working as a bar tender in a tapas restaurant (he’s trying to learn Spanish)
Keith and Nick
These two retired police officers enjoy laughing their way through life, but their years of service mean they’re calm under pressure. Having found themselves in many dangerous and life threatening situations throughout the years, they tend to look for the lighter side of things to help them cope. Their M.O. is ‘Take nothing seriously.’
Colin and Danny
They met 10 years ago through their wives when Danny was new on the scene and was being introduced as his now-wife’s new partner. He and Colin soon connected over the fact that their fathers come from the same parish in Jamaica, which has given them a good grounding and understanding of each other. Fast forward a decade and Danny says they are “brothers from another mother”.
Grace and Daniella
They met in 2012 while they were both working at Capital Radio in Glasgow and bonded over giving out leaflets in cold shopping centres and driving around as runners for the station. Both are now fully fledged radio presenters, with Daniella having presented on Radio 1 and Grace has her morning breakfast show. They share a love of their native Scotland and feel passionately about representing their beloved nation as wee Scottish lasses.
James and Tanaka
Tanaka describes James as a ladies’ man and remembers a “swarm of girls” around him at school, whilst Tanaka was the school sports star. They remained close friends throughout university and often visited each other and have since shared travelling trips to Brazil, South Africa, and Colombia. They have a warm, loyal, fun friendship and are full of respect for one another.
Who won 007: Road to a Million?
Sadly, no one won the jackpot but it wasn't all doom and gloom as three pairs of contestants made it to the end.
Despite falling at the final hurdle, James and Joey, Beth and Jen, and Kamara and Josh all walked away with money to split, having found duffel bags waiting for them.
