On 31 August 2025, hundreds of Land Rovers will roll through the streets of London to mark the 70th anniversary of one of the most famous journeys in motoring history: the First Overland. In 1955, six Oxford and Cambridge students set off from the Grenadier Pub on Hyde Park Corner and made the first successful overland crossing from London to Singapore in two Series I Land Rovers. This epic journey became a 1957 TV series produced by a young Sir David Attenborough, and was captured in Tim Slessor’s iconic book, First Overland.

On Sunday 31 August, accompanied by the band of the Grenadier Guards, a spectacular convoy of classic and modern Land Rovers will retrace the first few miles of that journey, departing Belgrave Square and heading to a special celebration at Bremont HQ ‘The Wing’ in Henley-on-Thames.

The event will bring together celebrity overlanders, expedition veterans, and fans from around the world to honour the enduring spirit of adventure, with all proceeds going to the Gurkha Welfare Trust, supporting Gurkha veterans, their families, and communities in Nepal.

“The First Overland is more than a story about Land Rovers. It’s about friendship, courage, and the great British spirit of adventure. Seventy years on, that spirit is alive and well, and we can’t wait to celebrate it with a whole new generation,” said Alex Bescoby, organiser and leader of the 2019 Last Overland re-creation which launched on Channel 4 in 2022.
The celebration will include a reunion of the First & Last Overland teams, and opportunities to explore iconic vehicles up close.

To mark the official 70th anniversary, The Last Overland series will be made freely available on Free Documentary’s global YouTube channel from Sunday August 31st at 1400 UK: youtube.com/@FreeDocumentary.