Wakefield’s Jane McDonald to appear in Race Across Yorkshire as part of BBC Children In Need

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – JUNE 03: Jane McDonald attends The British Soap Awards 2023 on June 03, 2023 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

Three well-known pairs of TV characters compete to be the first to make it across the rolling dales and dramatic moors of UK’s biggest county, but as per the rules of Race Across The World, their budget is limited and no mobile phones or credit cards are allowed.

All they have is a map of Yorkshire, a GPS tracker and their wits as they aim for the final checkpoint which is – where else? – the town of Pudsey located between Leeds and Bradford.

From EastEnders, Ian and Cindy Beale (Adam Woodyatt and Michelle Collins) race against Birds of a Feather’s Dorien and Tracey (Lesley Joseph and Linda Robson) and Waterloo Road’s Noel and Samia (Liam Scholes and Priyasasha Kumari).

Along the way the three teams bump into some famous Yorkshire faces including Emmerdale’s Kim Tate, Marlon Dingle and Cain Dingle, Bradford’s very own Gareth Gates, Wakefield’s Jane McDonald and one half of Rotherham’s legendary Chuckle Brothers, Paul Chuckle.

Spanning almost three million acres, there are plenty of places to get lost in Yorkshire. Our couples have a tight travel budget and so to reach the finish line, must work to earn extra cash, using good, old-fashioned Yorkshire graft. Who crumbles under the pressure? Who loses it big-time? Who wins? All the answers are revealed at the Pudsey finish line in BBC Children in Need’s exclusive Race Across Yorkshire.

BBC Children in Need airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 7pm on Friday