Fatima Whitbread Self as Self. Kevin Adams Self as Self. Ricky Martin Self as Self. More like this. Watch options. Storyline Edit. Did you know Edit. Trivia The record time for the original Wipeout Zone was 1 minute 10 seconds, achieved by James Scott in series 2, episode 8 - which he then matched in the series final.
This has been subsequently beaten, but the course was changed after series 2 so times are not directly comparable. Goofs In the Total Wipeout award episode at the end of the first series, an international award was given out. Twice in that section, awards were given out to Australian contestants but the graphics for each clip showed a New Zealand flag in the top right hand corner of the screen.
Connections Featured in Screenwipe: Review of the Year User reviews 3 Review. Top review. If you enjoy being repeatedly hit around the head with a frying pan, you will no doubt be delighted to hear that the BBC has purchased another series of Total Wipeout.
If you haven't seen it yet, here's what happens: Lots of people fall into the water in Argentina. Some of the people fall into the water right away. Some of them survive for a couple of seconds, then fall into the water. After each round a female presenter interviews all the people who have fallen into the water, and asks them how it felt to fall into the water.
Most of them are reasonably fit, but quite a lot of them are fat and unhealthy, creating what TV producers like to call "jeopardy. Over and over again. And, of course, it's even more hilarious when the fat ones fall into the water, because the splash is bigger and their recovery time is slower. Players are protected from serious head or spinal trauma by protective clothing, but here's the really clever bit — we all know, deep down, that it's only a matter of time before someone sustains a life-threatening injury.
Throughout all of this excitement, a tiny man with huge eyes pretends to be in Argentina and reminds us how amusing it all is, via the medium of smug, throwaway one-liners. There is something deeply annoying about Total Wipeout.
If, like "It's a Knockout" it all took place in a British seaside town, and the presenter got thrown in the water himself from time to time, it would all feel less detached. Less clinical. But the bloke from Top Gear is so half-heartedly bolted onto the show that the whole thing comes off feeling cheap and nasty, particularly as the BBC have the nerve to put it on the telly in Primetime. If it is absolutely necessary to show people repeatedly falling into the water on a Saturday night and it looks like it is then at least get someone witty to present it.
Week after week ITV's "You've Been Framed" — a programme which should be awful - is rendered sublimely funny by the writing and presenting skills of Harry Hill. I do not enjoy being repeatedly hit around the head with a frying pan, and subsequently I am not a fan of Total Wipeout. If I want to watch fat people struggling to swim I can visit Florida. For more TV reviews visit mouthbox.
Details Edit. Release date January 3, United Kingdom. United Kingdom Argentina. 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 and Byram feeling such concern for him that she felt obliged to mother him and make him some hot soup, etc, etc , 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. 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. More recent series have seen a change to the Sweeper round, with the name having been changed to 'Crash Mountain' - contestants now have to try to traverse a narrow gangway to get to the centre, while risking being knocked off by the sweeper arm.
Naturally, they all end up in the drink at one time or another, but now they have to climb back up to the relevant podium and try again. The first five or six, depending on the next game to get to the middle remain in the contest, while the rest are eliminated, surprise, surprise. Another decent twist on the original game that has provided a welcome change. 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? A new game for the second series, this is sometimes used in place of Dizzy Dummies. 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.
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.
Though they have to give the trophy back afterwards. 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, The Sweeper 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.
Sure, the programme will never win any awards for intellectual content or subtlety it's ultimately harmless escapism for viewers , but it's nonetheless 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!
He's also been seen in the water by the Sweeper, having obviously been knocked off by said feature, despite apparently having been sure that it wouldn't happen.
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