Chris Evans and Clare Balding fronted this January 2011 stunt tournament that pitted eight loosely famous people against each other in BMX races, powerboat heats and monster-truck assault courses inside Liverpool’s Echo Arena. Split into male and female brackets, the contestants included Charley Boorman, Dame Kelly Holmes, Jonah Lomu and Rufus Hound, all chasing cash for their chosen charities while Jack Osbourne loitered on the sidelines. Each night ended with a head-to-head gimmick such as car-crash dominoes or demolition derby, the latter providing the climax where Boorman rammed his way past Holmes to claim the overall title on 7 January.
The six nightly episodes ran between 95 and 120 minutes, yet the audience drifted downwards from 2.27 million on launch to 1.30 million by the penultimate show. Critics pounced immediately: Stuart Heritage in The Guardian dismissed the line-up as “not celebrities” and the challenges as “not extreme”, while The Independent suggested the programme should have been called “Vaguely Recognisable and Game for a Laugh”. Channel 4 pulled the plug within weeks, confirming in February 2011 that the format would not return. Princess Productions’ single-series wonder now survives mainly as a cautionary footnote about packing too much noise, fire and tyre smoke into the first week of a new year.
Production Details
Channel 4 / 1 Season / 6 Episodes / 2011
Main Cast
Chris Evans as
