The travel show starring Outlander’s Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish is back for a second season – and this time they’re exploring Aotearoa.

What’s all this then? 

Men in Kilts is the travel show hosted by two stars of time-travelling TV drama Outlander, Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish. In Outlander, Heughan and McTavish play a feuding Scottish nephew and uncle from the 18th century, but in Men in Kilts, they’re two best mates exploring the world’s most scenic places. Season one saw Heughan and McTavish travel around Scotland, and now they’ve climbed back into their campervan of dreams to do it all again for season two, this time in New Zealand. That’s right: two men in kilts are about to go Zorbing in Aotearoa. 

What’s good?

Men in Kilts begins like a horror film, which is a vibe you don’t see enough in travel shows. A lonely Heughan pines for his old mate McTavish, while McTavish is living in New Zealand, working through some PTSD from being made to abseil around Scotland in season one. There’s a tense phone call between the two. A shadow looms at McTavish’s front door and the door handle rattles creepily. Who could it be? It’s tenser than the time Jamie Fraser ate a bad bannock. 

Luckily, it’s not the ghost of Black Jack Randall at the door, but Heughan, who has travelled through the stones all the way to Aotearoa. “Ready to go on a road trip?” he asks. Um, was Jamie Fraser’s season seven wig the best one yet? You bet your hairy sporran we’re ready, Sam Heughan. 

It’s the only nightmarish moment of episode one, although scared-of-heights McTavish probably wished he was dreaming when he flew across a 100m high zip-line in Central Otago. New Zealand is McTavish’s “home away from home” (he moved here after filming The Hobbit films in the 2000s), and he’s taking Heughan on a campervan trip around his adopted land to show him some of the country’s most relaxing and inspiring places.  

Heughan, however, has other ideas. He plans on throwing himself into every high-adrenaline adventure activity Aotearoa has to offer, from shark cage diving in Foveaux Strait to walking on a glacier in Milford Sound, and of course… visiting a milking shed? Sure, why not. Heughan’s energy and enthusiasm is the perfect foil to gruff, grumpy McTavish, but the banter never stops and it’s obvious the two are great mates. 

The show has plenty of in-jokes for Outlander fans, including McTavish’s Outlander theme song ringtone and the pair referring to Jamie Fraser as “Big Balls” (suspicion: confirmed). But you certainly don’t need to have watched seven seasons of Outlander to enjoy Men in Kilts, because these blokes aren’t just one trick ponies. Sometimes they’re Men in Wetsuits, or Men in a Helicopter, or even Men Shitting Themselves While Ziplining Over A Cliff. 

New Zealand is the perfect place for Men in Kilts to continue its travels, particularly because the country has such strong Scottish connections. The last episode of the season explores the Scottish influence in New Zealand, with other episodes themed around adventure tourism, Māori culture, and cuisine. The series will also showcase New Zealand to a global audience, including thousands of thirsty Outlander fans around the world who will probably be Googling “Sam Heughan pineapple budgie smugglers” quicker than they can step through the stones. 

What’s bad?

Men in Kilts is all over the place with its continuity, with one shot showing the campervan driving along Otago Peninsula and the next along Oriental Parade in Wellington, while Heughan and McTavish chat about an activity they’re about to do in Fiordland. It’s likely that only New Zealand viewers will notice this, so much like the time Jamie Fraser wore two different ginger wigs during one Outlander scene, nobody will really mind. 

What’s the verdict?

Watch it. You don’t have to be an Outlander fan to enjoy Men in Kilts, though it will help. This is a light and cheery show with plenty of easy charm, and it’s refreshing to see a New Zealand travel show that doesn’t just visit all the usual tourist hotspots – although they will make the obligatory celebrity visit to Hobbiton, of course. 

Season two of Men in Kilts is on Neon, with new episodes every Monday.