Danger is something that everyone seems to love. Or, at least, that's what ITV seem to think. A programme called You Bet was a popular one for ITV. First hosted by Brucie. Then Matthew Kelly, and then Darren Day. And then there was no You Bet anymore. Ahh.
Or is there? Because You Bet involved stunts. So does this. You Bet offered challenges. So does this. You Bet offers REAL danger? Not really. But this does.
Each week, random members of the public steel themselves for their ultimate test of nerves. Are you safe in the audience? Not at all. Are you safe in your shopping centre? Not at all. Are you safe in your houses? Well yes you are. Or you are, at least, unless you wrote in saying that you want to do something because people are, you know, like that.
Excellently, Darren Day was sacked for one reason or another after the first series leaving the lovely Davina McCall in charge on her own. Importantly, she presents it very well indeed, readily admitting that she wouldn't want to do any of the challenges and when she is offered "I made sure it was written into my contract that I can say 'No!'"
On with a typical show then. The titles begin with a nice metallic slab reading 'Whatever you see in the next sixty minutes - Don't Try This at Home!' to the voice of ex-Virgin DJ Russ Williams. There appear to be lots of big air vents at the back of the set - no one is quite sure why. There is also a huge TV screen up the back.
The first challenge is the Saturday Challenge. By various means, one audience member is picked at random (for example, people throw bits of paper with their name on at a shopping trolley and one is picked at random from the shopping trolley). That person is invited to perform the challenge which they don't know yet but if they agree, Davina tells everybody what it is when they are out of ear-shot. These challenges are daunting. Rope-rushing (abseiling without touching the building) and standing atop which a car goes straight through, knocking the pedestal apart but with you landing on your feet once the car has gone past is another one that's come up in recent weeks. As I said, quite nerve-wracking.
The next section sees a professional person show us a feat of skill and daring in the studio. One week was a bloke who played Russian Roulette with knives: he was blindfolded and then stuck his hand above one of four knives - three were face down and the fourth was sharp-end up. There was paper around the knives so we couldn't see what they were until he slammed his palm onto the handles (or worse)... literally nail-biting stuff and whatsmore the tension is real, many shows attempt to create tension but very few actually manage it. This is one of them.
By this time, the Saturday Challenger will have reached the destination of the stunt where Kate Thornton (Top of the Pops, Dishes) is waiting and will be told what it is. Every week they are shocked to hear that they will be doing something death-defying (hopefully) but at any stage during the evening they are asked if they want to back out (in which case a member of the DTTAH stunt team will do it). At this stage, they always say 'yes!' and they will be given some rudimentary training.
In the second part, we see Paul Hendy. Paul is the stooge who is paid the the team to get people in a shopping centre to perform a task. His problem is, however, that if he can't find enough people to do it then in the studio next week he has to do it himself. Not nice when the two challenges he's had so far this series is 'Find four people who will eat a maggot' (which he failed... and he hates maggots!) and 'Find three people willing to drink a soft drink - through their own sock.' (which thankfully for his sake, he passed). You have wonder how much they're paying him, really... but after this section, we see him pick one of three envelopes telling him what to do this week. This week it was 'Find 3 people who really can punch their way through a paper bag', a simple one comparitively! Paul has hosted other shows before, The Disney Club and some Kids European travel/action gameshow which I can't remember.
Then... There's the Don't Try This at Home Weekly World News - footage of people doing dangerous things. Most of which inevitably involve a big plastic container, a human and lots and lots of snakes. Every week.
New to the second series is the Super Challenge. This is a challenge that is set over several weeks. At the moment, a Scottish woman has been challenged to climb Mount Kilamanjaro, a 19,000 monster in Africa. And she accepted! The important thing to remember is that the challenge is everything - there are no prizes for doing it (well, successful ones win a medal).
But now is the time, will Random Audience Member complete their Saturday Challenge? Yes, usually, and very impressive it is too. Inevitably there is a close up of the challenger's Husband/wife/whoever whilst their partner is performing because hey kids, emotion means ratings means money means beanz means Heinz!
In the third and final part of the show, this week a woman who wasn't picked for a Challenge of a Lifetime was planted in the audience - and she was chosen. Her task was to keep her head in a jar of locusts and hissing Cockroaches for thirty seconds. And she didn't like them! Her boyfriend, who was in the Welsh Guard declined the offer of doing it. Wimp! Of course, this has all been done before, better, on Fort Boyard but hell, what can you do?
But now the focal point of the show: The Challenge of a Lifetime. People write in and are surprised when Davina suddenly appears with three envelopes (the challengers aren't contacted beforehand - she just turns up to people who write in). They pick an envelope. Each one has a different challenge in it and there is a cryptic clue to what it is inside. Once it's picked, the challenger packs straightaway and they go to the place where the challenge is. This could be round the other side of the world! One person had to drive a car across a thirty foot high ravine across two rails which were only just big enough to fit the wheels on. The tension created is astounding, even though you know they are going to be alright because they're in the studio watching the footage! The non-diagesis pushes the narrative along extremely well. Sadly, the woman got halfway across and the car slipped off. Of course, the woman was on a safety harness but 30m is a long way down! Because she had failed, Davina is given a chance to do it (she is petrified of heights) "and like a complete fool, I said yes!" She also failed halfway across but was very shocked - she started crying: "I fell off and started crying - how pathetic!" she commented immediately after getting back on land. Altogether now: Ahhhhh. After the film, the Challenger is awarded a medal (even though she didn't win - her performance was deemed really good by Davina and the studio audience) and that's it.
The show is never going to pass your A-Levels and it certainly trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator (I think) but SO WHAT? For the armchair actionman, this is great viewing. Inoffensive, genuinely exciting and extremely watchable. And the lovely Davina McCall hosts it. Great! It's quite shallow... but it's good entertainment which at the end of the day is what you watch telly for. What's wrong with escapism now and then?
VERDICT: 7.5/10 - It won't appeal to everybody but it appeals to me. And I'm the Judge, D'ya hear?
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