Long Way Up

Long Way Up
Opening title shot for Long Way Up
Genre	Documentary
Created by	Ewan McGregor Charley Boorman David Alexanian Russ Malkin
Starring	Ewan McGregor Charley Boorman
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	11[1] (list of episodes)
Production
Producers	David Alexanian Russ Malkin Lucy Trujillo
Cinematography	Claudio Von Planta Jimmy Simak Anthony Von Seck
Running time	45 minutes
Distributor	Apple Inc.
Release
Original network	Apple TV+
Original release	18 September (2020-09-18) – 13 November 2020 (2020-11-13)
Chronology
Related shows	Long Way Round Long Way Down Race to Dakar By Any Means
External links
Website

Long Way Up is a British television series which debuted 18 September 2020, documenting a motorcycle journey undertaken in 2019 by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, from Ushuaia in Argentina through South and Central America to Los Angeles in the United States.^[2] It is a follow-up to 2004's Long Way Round where the pair rode from London to New York and then again in 2007 Long Way Down, when they rode south from John o' Groats in Scotland through eighteen countries in Europe and Africa to Cape Town in South Africa.

The first three episodes of Long Way Up premiered globally on Apple TV+ on Friday, 18 September 2020, and eight further episodes aired weekly through to 13 November 2020.^[1]

Overview[]

The journey covered 13,000 miles, through 13 countries over 100 days starting in September 2019 and finishing on 14 December 2019. They rode Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycles manufactured by Harley-Davidson that had been converted into adventure bikes. Accompanying Ewan and Charley are the same key team members from Long Way Round and Long Way Down, including director/producers David Alexanian and Russ Malkin and directors of photography and Claudio Von Planta. Also joining is associate producer Taylor Estevez and cinematographer Anthony Von Seck. The production team followed Ewan and Charley’s route in prototype Rivian electric trucks built especially for the journey.^[3] They were supported by diesel powered vehicles and generators and back up bikes.

Route[]

The series follows Ewan and Charley as they journey through Latin America including the countries of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and up through Colombia, Central America — Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala — and Mexico, before returning to the USA and finishing in California.^[4]

Episode 2 route

• Ushuaia
• Tolhuin
• Rio Grande
• Border Crossing Argentina/Chile
• Onaisin

Episode 3 route

• Onaisin
• Porvenir
• Punta Arenas

Episode 4 route

• Villa Mañihuales
• Chaiten
• Puerto Montt
• Aluminé

Episode 5 route

• Calchaquí Valley
• San Antonio de Los Cobres
• San Pedro de Atacama
• Laguna Colorada, Bolivia

Episode 6 route

• Siloli Desert
• Uyuni Salt Flats
• La Paz
• Lake Titicaca

Episode 7 route

• Chucuito
• Machu Picchu
• Ayacucho
• Nazca Lines

Episode 8 route

• Guayaquil
• Montecristi
• Jama-Coaque Reserve
• Tulcan
• Las Lajas Shrine

Episode 9 route

• Pasto
• Buenaventura
• Medellin
• Panama Canal
• San José, Costa Rica
• Chiquiri

Episode 10 route

• Guanacaste
• Playa Hermosa
• Masaya Volcano
• San Pedro Sula, Honduras
• Ipala Volcano, Guatemala
• Tehuantepec

Episode 11 route

• Oaxaca
• Teotihuacan
• Juarez
• Los Angeles

Episodes[]

No.	Title	Original release date [5]
1	"Preparation"	18 September 2020 (2020-09-18)
2	"Ushuaia"	18 September 2020 (2020-09-18)
3	"Southern Patagonia"	18 September 2020 (2020-09-18)
4	"The Andes"	25 September 2020 (2020-09-25)
5	"Atacama Desert Into Bolivia"	2 October 2020 (2020-10-02)
6	"Bolivia"	9 October 2020 (2020-10-09)
7	"Peru"	16 October 2020 (2020-10-16)
8	"Ecuador"	23 October 2020 (2020-10-23)
9	"Colombia, Panama & Costa Rica"	30 October 2020 (2020-10-30)
10	"Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala & Mexico"	6 November 2020 (2020-11-06)
11	"Oaxaca to L.A."	13 November 2020 (2020-11-13)

Music[]

The title song was performed by Welsh group Stereophonics, and is similar to the Long Way Round and Long Way Down theme with the lyrics "round" and "down" replaced with "up".^[6] Other artists to feature include: Jhony Rojas (two songs under Astronauta, two with Passto and four with Últimos Glaciares), Totó la Momposina, Aurelio, Sidestepper, Los de Abajo and Charlie Winston.^{[7] [8]} During Episode 6 in Bolivia, McGregor performs an acoustic guitar cover of Endlessly by Muse, from their album Absolution. ^[9]

Critical reception[]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 100% based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 6.75/10.^[10]

UNICEF[]

During Long Way Round, Ewan and Charley visited three UNICEF programmes in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia and then after they were made UK ambassadors, the pair embarked on their second adventure Long Way Down and saw UNICEF’s work with child soldiers in Uganda and land-mine awareness programmes in Ethiopia. The Long Way Up series sees the duo visit three more UNICEF programmes in Bolivia, Peru and Honduras.^[11] In Bolivia, Ewan and Charley visit the UNICEF supported Quechua indigenous Challamayu School and attend a bilingual lesson taught in Spanish and traditional Quechuan. The UNICEF program is designed to give indigenous Bolivian children the opportunity to learn and further their education in their own language.^[12]

See also[]

• List of long-distance motorcycle riders

References[]

External links[]

• Long Way Up – official site
• Long Way Up – promo site
• Long Way Up at IMDb
• Long Way Up at Metacritic
• Long Way Up on Rotten Tomatoes

Third Millennium Alliance - 501c3 Nonprofit

• Third Millennium Alliance – official site