The History Channel’s Ice Road Truckers quickly became addictive TV. Each week there would be another crisis on a highway mostly constructed on ice in the arctic circle region of Canada and Alaska. The various truckers did their hardest to get the most loads in an extremely short session. The only drawback of the show was that when the ice road melted, the show ended. Viewers clamored for more 18 wheelers in jeopardy action. Luckily the producers found a way to not let the weather dictate the action with IRT Deadliest Roads: Season One. The danger gets kicked up a notch as they make the drivers switch sides of the road in the mountainous region of India.
They don’t reunite the whole gang from the last few seasons. The trio consists of Rick Yemm, Alex Debogorski, and Lisa Kelly. Rick is best remembered for being a head case during the first two seasons. Alex was the lovable guy who suffered a pulmonary embolism in season two. Lisa arrived in season three when she needed money for her horse. None of them are truly ready to tackle the challenge of the ancient highways in this strange country. The roads are extremely treacherous. They weren’t built for real trucks or speed. They’re carved into the side of cliffs. There’s plenty of stock footage of trucks plummeting into the valleys. Even more treacherous than the mountain roads is the city streets. The rules of the road are a forgotten concept. People drive like other cars don’t exist. The trucks they use are colorful concoctions with wood frames that feel ready to be destroyed in a daredevil show. There’s a reason why somebody dies on the roads every 4.5 minutes.
Why would anyone drive a deadly TV challenge after they survived a few months on the Ice Roads of North America? Not to completely spoil the series, but Alex quickly comes to his senses. This culture isn’t for him and he quits. Luckily the producers had a back up plan to make sure the series lasted 10 episodes. Dave Redmon arrives in time to keep three trucks on the dangerous roads. He’s from Alabama so he’s got a Southern style beneath his trucker’s hat. While not nearly as charming as Alex, he does well keeping Rick’s blue Mohawk antics in check.
The locals don’t come off as the sweetest of folks. Safety appears to be completely ignored on the roads of India. The shipping companies aren’t into safety first. They have no problem loading up leaking barrels of fuel. They take smoke breaks around the flammable cargo. Lisa often finds herself stopped truck surrounded by Indian guys who have no problem yanking her truck door open to get a closer look at her. Although what’s strange is announcer Thom Beers keeps insisting that she’s alone in the truck. But she’s got at least one cameraman inside the cabin. Why can’t they be honest to the audience? The lack of commercial breaks works against the editing pattern of the show since there’s constant recapping of what you just saw. But it’s not as tedious as sitting through 16 minutes of commercials. IRT Deadliest Roads: Season One ultimately makes viewers nervous about the thought of driving in India.
The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. They shot the film with a variety of HD cameras so image quality varies. The transfers are fine. The audio is Dolby Digital Stereo. The mix is dominated by the constant drumbeat score to build up the dangerous conditions. The episodes are Closed Captioned.
Additional Footage (25:59) is the rough cuts that were snipped away. We get to see how they arrived in India. Lisa admits she trained by watching Youtube videos.
IRT Deadliest Roads: Season One keeps up the highway tension although the set up changes things. No longer are we following along with truckers doing their job. This is a dangerous gameshow. It’s not about winning or losing. It’s about them surviving. The show does succeed in letting viewers know that driving the Ice Roads is a sane alternative than being a trucker in India.
History Channel & A&E Home Video presents IRT Deadliest Roads: Season One. Starring: Dave Redmon, Rick Yemm, Alex Debogorski, and Lisa Kelly. Boxset Contents: 10 episodes on 3 DVDs. Released on DVD: May 24, 2011.
