Total Wipeout
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* James Jordan (dancer) | * James Jordan (dancer) | ||
* Ola Jordan (dancer) | * Ola Jordan (dancer) | ||
| - | * Joe Swash (actor) | + | * [[Joe Swash]] (actor) |
* [[Tim Vine|Tim Vine]] (comedian) | * [[Tim Vine|Tim Vine]] (comedian) | ||
* [[Carrie Grant|Carrie Grant]] (vocal coach) | * [[Carrie Grant|Carrie Grant]] (vocal coach) | ||
Revision as of 19:15, 26 December 2009
Synopsis
In some game shows, mental dexterity is what is needed in order to win. In others, physical strength or agility is required. A combination of the two is not uncommon either. But what if both mental and physical prowess are thrown out in favour of sheer good luck, coupled with a healthy dollop of 'Who Dares Wins'? Total Wipeout is the answer. Giant red balls, rolling logs, rotating beams. This is It's a Knockout for the 21st Century.
Amanda Byram acts as co-host on location in sunny Buenos Aires. Meanwhile the main host and commentator Richard Hammond hosts from a not so glamorous studio, presumably somewhere in London, probably wondering how Amanda managed to be co-host, but get the better end of the deal. The show follows broadly the same format each week, with four different stages.
The Qualifier
This opening round sees 20 brave stupid men and women attempting to complete a short, but tricky obstacle course. The obstacles on the course vary by episode but often include rolling logs, slippery foam cubes, and a final obstacle that normally involves swinging on the end of a rope. There are two obstacles that always feature. The first is the Sucker Punch. This consists of a wall with high-powered boxing gloves randomly popping out as the contenders attempt to walk along a narrow ledge in the front of them. A muddy pool awaits those who fall off. The second are the giant red balls. Here contenders must attempt cross between two platforms by way of jumping and landing on a series of four giant red foam balls. This is easier said than done. At the time of writing (after series 2, episode 7), this had only been successfully completed three times in two series. Still at least falling off into the pool cleans up any contenders who fell foul of the Sucker Punch. The 12 contenders who complete the course the fastest move on to the next stage, the remainder are relegated to cheering duties on the sidelines.
As the series has progressed, there have been a number of occasions whereby the opening round has featured some action replays with mocked-up variations to (supposedly) fit the contestants' outlooks and/or abilities. For example, one contestant, Anthony (or 'Nervous Anthony', as Hammond insisted on nicknaming him), who was training to be a flight steward, was shown in action replays complete with aircraft-noises and mock-footage of his flights (ie into the mud and water). Despite his perceived 'nervous' image, Anthony impressively won his game. Another contestant, who apparently didn't see the course as much of a threat, was shown in replays with the course mocked up as nothing but beautiful countryside and flowers, with soothing background music and Hammond claiming that 'this is how he perceives it' (ha, ha!) Silly, but strangely appropriate to the overall wackiness of the show.
The Sweeper
Round 2 is The Sweeper, and this is perhaps the best of the four stages, due in large part to its sheer simplicity. The remaining dozen contenders stand atop a circle of 13ft platforms above a large pool. When the game begins, a large red beam spins around the circle. Each time the beam approaches their platform, the contender must jump over it, and land safely. That's all there is to it - well, not quite, from the second series on, because a number of variations have been tried, such as an extra higher beam that the contestants need to duck under while jumping over the lower one, and an amusing twist of making all the contestants stand in sacks, so that they can't use a "stepping over" technique (and of course, if they drop the sack, they're disqualified).
To add extra interest to the proceedings, and to make an already tricky game that bit harder, as the game progresses, The Sweeper gets faster, and also raises higher, forcing contenders to jump more often and higher, just as they begin to tire. This normally results in some quite spectacular falls as the contestants fail to clear The Sweeper, and are hit with the full force of the rotating beam. Full use is made of the video-processing department, as the audience is treated to several slow-motion replays of such falls. The first six (seven in the second series - unless they're using the Dreadmill that week, in which case it's six) contenders to fall leave the game, and go to sit with their fellow eliminated contenders on the cheering benches. The remaining six (or five) play on to find the last man or woman standing, providing bragging rights for them (allegedly), and fun for the viewer.
Dizzy Dummies
The remaining contenders (six in the first series, now reduced to five in the second) now move onto Round 3, Dizzy Dummies. Strapped to the outside edge of a large rotating drum-cum-roundabout, they are quickly spun for 45 seconds (you feel sick just watching them!) Once stopped, they must traverse one of two obstacles to reach the other side of a pool. These obstacles vary week-to-week but often include large tipping platforms, foam cubes, or large inflatable rings. Any contenders that end up in the water must go back to the start and try again. The last one over the line is eliminated, and the round is re-run, using the alternate route, again last over the line is out. Repeat a third time (although not from the second series onwards), so there are three contenders left. It would be more efficient to simply take the first three over the line through of course, but where's the fun in that?
Dreadmill
A new game for the second series, this is sometimes used in place of Dizzy Dummies. It consists of two treadmills / moving walkways side by side, on which contestants have to run while dodging giant swinging foam "demolition balls". When a contestant gets knocked down, they only have a few seconds to get back up and running again before the Dreadmill deposits them in a pool at the end. The first contestant to fall in the water gets eliminated. The six contestants surviving from the Sweeper are paired off at random and the winner of each of the three runs goes through to the Wipeout Zone. There is also a variation called "Door Jam" (or it could be "Door Jamb", but that wouldn't really be a play on words, just a rather nonsensical use of a standard term) in which each contestant starts at the pool end of the Dreadmill and has to run to the other end, pushing aside three "doors" (think thin mattresses hung from frames) as they go. The very first time they ran this variant, one of the contestants was forced to retire through injury, but that didn't stop them bringing it back later in the series.
The Wipeout Zone
This is the final round, and like all good TV obstacle courses, it's hyped up accordingly. The course starts with a trip down a 50ft tall water slide in an inflatable ring, a balance beam follows, and a greased slope with rolling barrels coming towards you is next up. Walking along a narrow ledge underneath a torrent of water follows in the first series, monkey bars under the waterfall in the second, before contenders must attempt to jump onto, then off the other side of a large spinning platform. The course ends with a rolling beam, and two mini-trampolines (referred to as the launch-pads), before reaching the finishing platform, where they must hit the buzzer to stop the clock. The whole course takes place above a large pool, and if at any point the contestants fall off, a swim back to the end of the last obstacle they successfully completed awaits.
Until they have tackled the course themselves, each contender is not allowed to watch their opponents on the course, meaning they have no idea how quickly their opponents managed to complete the course. After the second contender has competed, the person with the slowest time is dispatched to the cheering benches, and the faster of the two is allowed to watch from the sidelines. This normally affords the viewer the opportunity to see some less than sporting behaviour as the contender watching from the sidelines cheers if their final remaining opponent makes a mistake on the course.
After the final contender has completed the course, the quickest contender to finish is revealed, and wins the £10,000 jackpot, plus a somewhat cheap looking trophy. Though they have to give the trophy back afterwards.
A Total Wipeout?
Total Wipeout really isn't a bad programme at all, but that's not to say it's perfect. The changes to the course in The Qualifier, and the Dizzy Dummies rounds ensures the show doesn't feel as stale or repetitive as it might have done. However seeing clips of other countries versions on the internet highlights the fact that there were enough other variations that could have been incorporated, to add further interest to show, and make each episode different. Although this issue was addressed to a certain extent by the second series, there is still a lot of unexplored potential. Richard Hammond does a good job of the slightly mocking, slightly sarcastic, but generally good-natured commentary, and has noticeably become better during the series. Amanda Byram, likewise, is good, although her contributions are somewhat limited by the nature of the format. A good family show, that has potential to develop further - really, a mixture of a number of other shows - It's a Knockout, The Krypton Factor, Takeshi's Castle, Dog Eat Dog and The Superteams. Oh, and why haven't we seen Richard and Amanda tackling the course themselves yet? It's about time they did. Having said that, though, there has been footage of Richard reporting from the course in Argentina, usually just pretending that he managed the main obstacles successfully (yeah, right!) but at least we've seen him in the mud bath by the Sucker Punch, claiming that he knew just what to do and so couldn't understand how he'd ended up caked in mud. That footage has almost compensated, but the BBC really should build on it. After all, Noel Edmonds invariably got gunged at the end of every series of both his Saturday Roadshow and his House Party (although, frankly, that wasn't often enough!) so why should Richard and Amanda get away (comparatively) scot free?
Trivia
Filmed at a purpose-built facility in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where countless (well, at least twenty) other international versions are also produced.
Total Wipeout proved to be a surprisingly large hit, regularly attracting 6 million viewers at Saturday teatime. The BBC moved with unusual speed: by April 2009 they had made swift edits, chopped the show in half, and filled a Friday evening slot with Total Wipeout Fast Forward.
Hammond has come out with some memorable/daft nicknames for virtually all the contestants. These have included 'Jumping Jack', 'Gassy Alex', 'Nervous Anthony', 'Scary Claire', 'No Problem At All Dave', 'Geeky Sam', 'Grumpy David', 'John With His Beard', 'Cowman Arran' and 'Chatty Peran' (who was actually virtually monosyllabic).
The record time for the Wipeout Zone is 1 minute 10 seconds, achieved by James Scott in series 2, episode 8 - an achievement he then went on to match in the series final.
The show is not to be confused with the Paul Daniels/Bob Monkhouse show, Wipeout.
Champions
Series 1 had no series final, and therefore no overall champion.
Series 2: James Scott
Selected participants
Following the second series, the inevitable celebrity specials arrived. These specials used the same obstacles as the normal episodes, however the celebrities were given between 1 and 10 points depending on how fast they completed The Qualifier, and how long they stayed on the platforms in The Sweeper. The five celebrities with highest scores after these two rounds progressed to the Dizzy Dummies, where two more were eliminated, leaving three to compete in The Wipeout Zone. The celebrity specials featured -
Episode 1
- Luke Bailey (actor) (winner)
- Kevin Adams (fitness expert and choreographer)
- James Jordan (dancer)
- Ola Jordan (dancer)
- Joe Swash (actor)
- Tim Vine (comedian)
- Carrie Grant (vocal coach)
- Adele Silva (actress)
- Fatima Whitbread (former athlete)
- Kaye Adams (presenter)
Episode 2
- Chris Parker (actor)
- Joe Pasquale (presenter and comedian)
- Dominic Littlewood (presenter)
- Cleo Rocos (actress)
- Sally Gunnell (former athlete)
- Kirsten O'Brien (presenter and comedian)
- Andrea McLean (presenter)
- Danielle Lloyd (presenter and model)
- Sam Nixon (presenter and singer)
- Mark Rhodes (presenter and singer)
