Coach Trip

Synopsis

Seven couples are taken on a 30 day (50 day in series 4) coach trip around Europe, doing all the usual tourist-type things, but at the end of each day, and for no very good reason, they are forced to turn against each other and vote for the couple they want thrown off the tour. Lose this vote once and they get a yellow card, lose it again at any point during the trip, and they receive a red card, and they're gone, whereupon a new couple is flown over to take their place. A new rule introduced for the fifth series gave immunity at the next vote to any couple who received a yellow card, however this still didn't prevent yellow carded couples becoming easy targets, and being voted off at the earliest opportunity.

The irony is that it's mostly the gameshow element that spoils it. Effectively giving contestants their prize first is almost an interesting twist, but without any proper set tasks along the way, the voting element is just vindictive for the sake of creating conflict where it's not needed. In fact, there was really no need to turn this into a game show at all - just put a load of people on a bus and film it. But 12 Yard wouldn't do that, would they? There are some entertaining moments during the travelogue sequences, but add in the daily dose of wanton bitchiness and it all goes a bit pear-shaped. Despite this, I know two separate and distinct people who have admitted to setting the video so they don't miss it. For crying out loud, it's not Countdown!

Oh, and having shown us all this unpleasant backbiting, they have a viewers' phone-in competition, and guess what the prize is? Yes, it's a coach trip! I'll pass, thanks. (Perhaps many potential entrants felt the same, as in the second series the phone-in competition was for a weekend break instead.) Likely due to the 0898-gate premium phone calls scandal, the viewer phone-in did not return with the third series.

At the end of the series, the remaining couples vote one more time who they feel should be the winners. In the first two series, the winners received an extended stay in the final destination of the trip, while in the third series, the winners received a holiday voucher. The winners of the fourth series received another coach holiday as their prize.

In April 2010, the series was picked up for another two 30 day series, the first airing from August 2010, with the second due to air in Spring 2011.

Champions

2005 Paul & Maggie
2006 Paul & Joy
2009 Hannah & Katie
2010 Ann & Graham

Key Moments

The series three 'coach mafia' consisting of Tom & Matt and James & Tracey who colluded to manipulate the voting in order to eliminate newcomers, thereby securing their place on the coach. They did this to great effect with James & Tracey managing to stay on board for 22 days, while Tom & Matt stayed on board for 25 days. This record was broken in series 4 by Paul & Matt who stayed on the coach for 33 days. Although they were often seen to align their vote with those they were closest to on the coach, unlike the ‘coach mafia’, they didn’t move around the group, purposefully striking up conversations in an attempt to influence other people’s votes. As such, the length of their stay on the coach can be seen as even more of an achievement.

As well as having one of the longest-standing couples, series three also featured the couple who stayed on board for the shortest period of time. After a disagreement with tour guide Brendan, Delia & Jacqui decided to leave the coach after a mere 16 hours.

Doing their best for Anglo-French relations, in series four, for the first time ever, the group was asked to leave an activity. At a go-kart track in Le Mans, as a result of a number of the group driving in an over-zealous manner, one of the group crashed off the track, being narrowly missed just seconds later by another member of the group also crashing off, followed seconds after that by a third group member crashing off, hitting both of the previously crashed go-karts in the process. Following this, the somewhat irate owner turned off the engines of the go-karts still running, before telling the group to change out of their race gear, and to leave the track.

Trivia

Series 3 participants Graham and Ivy would go on to win a dream honeymoon on Four Weddings, after their naturist wedding was voted the best by Ivy's fellow brides. In addition, the couple made the final shortlist of 81 potential housemates for the 11th series of Big Brother.

Series 4 participants Russ Spencer & Caroline Barnes formerly made up one half of Scooch who represented the UK in the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, coming joint second-last with France. In addition, Spencer has also previously presented on various call-up-and-lose channels such as Quiz Call, The Great Big British Quiz, Quiz TV, and ITV Play.

Series 4 winners Ann & Graham donated their prize of another coach holiday to a charity auction.

After being voted off the coach after a mere three days at the start of the fourth series, contestants Ray and Glenys re-applied, and boarded the coach for a second time during the fifth series. However things didn't go much better during this second stint on the coach, as they were voted off after just four days, once again at the earliest opportunity.

Web links

Channel 4's Coach Trip page

Pictures

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