Hole in the Wall (British game show)

Last updated

Hole in the Wall
Hole in the Wall (UK game show) logo.png
Genre Game show
Presented by
Starring
Voices of Peter Dickson (2008)
Narrated by Jonathan Pearce
Theme music composerSimon Darlow
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes21 (1 unaired)
Production
Executive producers
  • Claire Horton (2008)
  • Suzy Lamb (2009)
Running time30 minutes per episode (approx.)
Production companies
Original release
Network BBC One
Release20 September 2008 (2008-09-20) 
12 December 2009 (2009-12-12)
Related
Brain Wall

Hole in the Wall is a British game show that aired on BBC One in the United Kingdom. It also occasionally aired repeats of this show on CBBC until April 2014. This game was an adaptation of the Japanese game Brain Wall (also known as "Human Tetris") in which players must contort themselves to fit through cutout holes of varying shapes in a large polystyrene wall moving towards them as they stand in front of a swimming pool. Each week, two teams of television personalities competed for £10,000 in prize money to be donated to their chosen charity.

Contents

Dale Winton served as the original host while Strictly Come Dancing ballroom dancer Anton du Beke and former international cricketer Darren Gough were the team captains for the first series. Additionally, Jonathan Pearce commented on the replays and Peter Dickson provided the opening voice-over. The wall was activated by the presenter shouting Bring on the wall! [1]

On 3 July 2008, the BBC announced that the show had been commissioned for BBC One. A second series was confirmed, with Anton du Beke giving up his captain role to take over from Dale Winton as host and new team captains in the shape of former rugby player Austin Healey and actor Joe Swash with Jonathan Pearce now doing an opening voice-over plus replay commentary. [2]

Format

The game was split into four rounds as well as the final "Great Wall" (known as "Mega Wall" in the first series).

The first round was "Solo Wall" which saw each team's two guest players take a turn to face a wall just on their own. For each wall, 10 points were given to the player for a pass while a fail could be given up to 5 points depending on the host's whim.

Next was the "Captain's Challenge" or "Captain's Mate" which could be one of a number of games:

The third round was "Mystery Guest or Killer Question", the team leading being offered the choice of which game they wished to play and the currently losing team playing the other challenge. A maximum of 20 points was on offer.

The fourth round was the "Team Wall". All three players face the wall with a maximum of 30 points on offer.

The programme's finale was the "Mega Wall". The leading team got to choose to attempt the wall or nominate the opposition. All three players on the team attempt the wall, which travels at double speed – if they clear the wall, they win the show (and the £10,000 to donate to a charity of their choice), while if they fail, the opposing team wins the £10,000.

Hole in the Wall used a specialised crane made by Street Crane Company of Chapel-en-le-Frith to move the wall.

Series 2 changes

Series 2, which started on 26 September 2009, contains all new challenges. Solo Wall now only featured one guest attempting a wall instead of two. The Captain's Challenge was replaced with Captain's Mate in which the teammate who did not attempt solo wall stands in the play area with his or her captain (sometimes one person is blindfolded). Team Wall returned. Killer Question was now named Wonder Wall (with both teams now playing it as opposed to just one team). A new challenge named Anton's Twist debuted. Which followed some of the following twists:

The Mega Wall was renamed the Great Wall.

Anton's Twist, according to Anton, involved walls he'd invented with a twist. Variations could be any number players with various twists (such as placing leg braces around the legs of team members commonly used in three-legged races), or the appearance of a mystery guest. Notably, one episode had Anton announce a mystery guest for Joe Swash's team, and Joe asked, "Is it my mum?" It turned out it was his mother, but the two failed the wall (although they still scored points for the team).

Production

Series 1 was recorded at BBC Television Centre in White City, West London, with series 2 seeing the show relocating to BBC Pacific Quay in Glasgow as part of an out-of-London production plan. For series 2, the show was also shot in high-definition. [3]

The first series had the entire audience off to the left side (from the perspective of the cameras looking straight at the wall), with the team benches on the other side, and the scoreboards by each bench. Winton, Du Beke, and Gough (as well as their teammates) would emerge from the left side when introduced, while the mystery guest(s) emerged from a platform below stage that rose to the top when introduced. For the second series, the audience was placed on three sides of the set, and the scoreboards were placed on the floor, hence Anton's catchphrase: "The scores on the floor are..." Du Beke would enter from a ballroom dancer wall and slides were used by Healy, Swash, their Teammates, and the two mystery guests who appeared (Erin Boag and Kiffy Swash).

Episode guide

  – Won by red team (Anton Du Beke/Joe Swash)
  – Won by blue team (Darren Gough/Austin Healey)

Series 1 (2008)

EpisodeOriginal airdateAnton's teamMystery guest(s)PointsDarren's teamMystery guest(s)PointsMega wall
120 September 2008 [4] Dave Myers
Zoe Salmon
-49 Andi Peters
Sherrie Hewson
Dancing Dollies39Anton's team clear
227 September 2008 [5] Vic Reeves
Vanessa Feltz
The Cheeky Girls 27 Nancy Sorrell
DJ Spoony
-22Darren's team fail
34 October 2008 [6] Phil Tufnell
Nell McAndrew
Glenn Ross 43 Iwan Thomas
Josie D'Arby
-42Anton's team fail
411 October 2008 [7] Amy Lamé
Sam Nixon
Nouska Hanly40 Siân Lloyd
Mark Rhodes
-43Anton's team clear
518 October 2008 [8] Marcus Brigstocke
Sarah Cawood
Neil Fingleton 36 Bobby Davro
Michelle Heaton [a]
-43Darren's team clear
625 October 2008 [9] Vanessa Feltz
Joe Swash
-39Alex Wotherspoon
Angellica Bell
Pat Warner62Anton's team fail
71 November 2008 [10] Phil Tufnell
Nancy Lam
-49 Carrie Grant
Tony Marshall
Brian Big54Anton's team clear
88 November 2008 [11] Christine Hamilton
Martin Offiah
-47 Neil Hamilton
Lady Isabella Hervey
Ross Brewer37Anton's team clear
915 November 2008 [12] Jennie Bond
Rav Wilding
-32 David Spinx
Emma Rigby
-33Darren's team clear
1022 November 2008 [13] Ninia Benjamin
Dominic Littlewood
-39 [b] Cleo Rocos
Scott Mills
London Wasps 38Anton's team fail
1120 December 2008 [14] Best of Series 1 Retrospective

Series 2 (2009)

EpisodeOriginal airdateJoe's teamPointsAnton's TwistAustin's teamPointsAnton's TwistGreat wall
126 September 2009 [15] Comedy Dave
Anne Diamond
353 Monkeys Sophie Anderton
John Altman
50Joined TogetherAustin's team fail
23 October 2009 [16] Kristian Digby
Alison Hammond
65Head To Head
(Jigsaw/Mirrored)
Gemma Merna
Graham Cole
27 [c] Head To Head
(Jigsaw/Mirrored)
Austin's team disqualified
310 October 2009 [17] Lil' Chris
Kelly Dalglish
27Balloon Matthew Chambers
Gemma Bissix
44Prop/Building BlockAustin's team clear
424 October 2009 [18] Ian "H" Watkins
Linda Lusardi
80 [d] Dodgeball Ricky Groves
Abi Titmuss
65No Hole WallJoe's team fail
531 October 2009 [19] Ninia Benjamin
Rufus Hound
48Prop Dennis Taylor
Jessica Taylor
82Joined Together
(2 Players)
Joe's team fail
6Unaired [e] Danielle Lloyd
Mark Foster
583 Monkeys Debbie McGee
Ben James-Ellis
34Joined TogetherAustin's team fail
714 November 2009 [20] Annabel Croft
Sam Nixon
70Dodgeball Beth Tweddle
Mark Rhodes
69 [f] Mystery Guest
(Erin Boag)
Joe's team fail
821 November 2009 [21] Kate Lawler
Jonathan Ansell
45Balloon John Partridge
Siân Reeves
85 [g] 3 MonkeysAustin's team fail
928 November 2009 [22] Zaraah Abrahams
Simon Rimmer
45Mystery Guest
(Joe's mum Kiffy Swash)
Toyah Willcox
Barney Harwood
77MirroredAustin's team clear
105 December 2009 [23] Martin Roberts
Verity Rushworth
39No Hole Wall Ben Clarke
Caprice
85PropAustin's team fail
1112 December 2009 [24] Best of Series 2 Retrospective

Transmissions

SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
120 September 2008 [4] 20 December 2008 [14] 11
226 September 2009 [15] 12 December 2009 [24] 11

Notes

  1. Heaton managed to remain dry by not failing a task but this resulted in teammates Darren Gough and Bobby Davro pushing her into the water.
  2. Anton's team were docked two points for cheating (shouting an incorrect call) during Darren's Captains Challenge (Darren being blind folded).
  3. Joe's team won by disqualification on the Great Wall because Austin's team ignored two usable holes, Gemma stepped out of the play area, and Graham damaged the Great Wall. By rule you cannot damage the Great Wall.
  4. Joe's team were docked ten points because Joe attempted to push Ricky Groves into the water as Ricky was struggling to stay on his feet after going through Team Wall.
  5. Due to the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance, Episode 6 was not broadcast originally. The episode eventually aired 8 years later on Challenge in 2017. When it aired, it emerged that one of the questions in the Wonder Wall round was related to how many members were in the boyband Boyzone that was inadvertently incorrect; the episode had been recorded before Stephen Gately passed away.
  6. Austin bounced a ball on Anton's head, and then, he admitted it was meant to bounce on Joe's head, which because of that, 1 point was deducted.
  7. Austin's team were docked 10 points because Austin pushed Jonathan into the pool when he was helping Kate and Joe go through Wonder Wall.

References

  1. "BBC - Press Office - Hole in the Wall commissioned for BBC One".BBC. Retrieved on 2008-09-16.
  2. Leigh Holmwood (18 June 2009). "Hole in the Wall gets second series on BBC1". The Guardian.
  3. "BBC - BBC Internet Blog: HD Masters Conference Keynote Speech, 23 June 2009". bbc.co.uk.
  4. 1 2 "Hole in the Wall, Series 1, Episode 1". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  5. "Hole in the Wall, Series 1, Episode 2". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  6. "Hole in the Wall, Series 1, Episode 3". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  7. "Hole in the Wall, Series 1, Episode 4". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  8. "Hole in the Wall, Series 1, Episode 5". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  9. "Hole in the Wall, Series 1, Episode 6". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  10. "Hole in the Wall, Series 1, Episode 7". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  11. "Hole in the Wall, Series 1, Episode 8". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  12. "Hole in the Wall, Series 1, Episode 9". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  13. "Hole in the Wall, Series 1, Episode 10". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  14. 1 2 "Hole in the Wall, Series 1, Episode 11". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  15. 1 2 "Hole in the Wall, Series 2, Episode 1". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  16. "Hole in the Wall, Series 2, Episode 2". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  17. "Hole in the Wall, Series 2, Episode 3". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  18. "Hole in the Wall, Series 2, Episode 4". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  19. "Hole in the Wall, Series 2, Episode 5". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  20. "Hole in the Wall, Series 2, Episode 7". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  21. "Hole in the Wall, Series 2, Episode 8". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  22. "Hole in the Wall, Series 2, Episode 9". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  23. "Hole in the Wall, Series 2, Episode 10". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  24. 1 2 "Hole in the Wall, Series 2, Episode 11". BBC Online . Retrieved 15 July 2025.