Oti and Richard's South African Odyssey: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

This is a series about coming home - but also seeing home with new eyes. Oti Mabuse left South Africa at 21 to pursue a life in dance. Now, she's heading back – older, bolder, and full of questions. 

What's changed? What's stayed the same? And how well do you really know the place you were born once you've lived most of your life away from it? But she's not doing it alone. Joining her is her brilliantly unexpected bestie: Reverend Richard Coles – priest, pop star, philosopher, and unapologetic fan of a scenic train journey and a well-brewed tea. He's never been to South Africa, and he's wildly curious. Also slightly sun sensitive. 

Together, they set off across four wildly different provinces in search of stories, landscapes, laughter, and layered truths. Yes, they go deep. But they also dance, swim, laugh until their sides hurt, and eat their body weight in bunny chow. This isn't a history lecture – it's a moving, musical, sometimes messy, very human road trip through a country that refuses to be boxed in.

Series details

• Title: Oti and Richard's South African Odyssey
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Genres: Travel
• Premiere date: 2026-07-21
• Status in TVmaze: Running
• Network listed by TVmaze: More4
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 93338
• TVDB ID: 480170

Cast and credited roles

• Oti Mabuse — Presenter
• Richard Coles — Presenter

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2026-07-21; final listed air date 2026-08-11; episode order: 4.

Source and licence

Adapted from Oti and Richard's South African Odyssey on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.