Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure | |
---|---|
Also known as | Rory and Paddy's Even Greater British Adventure |
Directed by | Marc Heffernan Jamie Goold |
Presented by | Rory McGrath Paddy McGuinness |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
No. of series | 2 |
No. of episodes | 10 |
Production | |
Producers | Marc Heffernan Jamie Goold |
Production company | IWC Media |
Original release | |
Network | Five |
Release | 13 August 2008 – 10 October 2010 |
Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure is a television documentary series presented by comedians Rory McGrath and Paddy McGuinness. The series was broadcast on Five between 13 August and 3 September 2008. [1] The series follows McGrath and McGuinness travelling around Great Britain, taking part in "strange but quintessentially British sporting events". [1] Examples of sports that appeared in the series include cheese rolling, pie eating, bog snorkelling, Eton Fives and Egg Throwing. A second series, Rory and Paddy's Even Greater British Adventure, began on 20 September 2010 and ended on 18 October 2010.
Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure saw McGrath and McGuinness competing against both the public and themselves in unusual sports around Britain. For the first series, the contest was split into four parts: Middle England; Scotland and Northern England; Wales and the Shires; and Southern England. In each edition, McGrath and McGuinness go head-to-head at different sports, and also take part in a separate sport each. The results were recorded in their "Black book", with McGrath and McGuinness fighting each other to see who is best.
In the second series, the contest was split into six parts, with results recording their "Red book". The separate sports were removed from the show, so now each contest is a head-to-head between McGrath and McGuinness.
The series received mixed reviews. The programme was originally broadcast during the 2008 Summer Olympics, which resulted in some media outlets saying that Britain should play in sports depicted in the show, rather than actual Olympic events. [2] Andrew Tong wrote in The Independent on Sunday that; "we mustn't play them at their own game. Rather we should regale them with all the sports we invented but which the IOC won't allow in the Olympics. Not cricket and rugby, but games at which we're the best in the world, such as toe wrestling, mountain bike bog snorkelling, egg throwing and, of course, worm charming." [3]
Noam Friedlander in Metro gave the programme four stars out of five, saying: "The pair packed a lot into the hour but a swifter romp through Middle England would have been more welcome. At least the eccentricities that make Britain 'great' got their minutes of fame. It makes a change to give these genuine characters airtime rather than the caterwauling wannabes we'll be seeing on this weekend's The X Factor auditions." [4]
However, James Walton in the Daily Telegraph was more critical of Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure saying, "that a sense of almost existential pointlessness had soon settled over the entire programme – a sense not banished by perhaps the least alluring pre-advert announcement in TV history. "Coming up," said Paddy, "Rory's a no-hoper at tiddlywinks."" [5]
Episode | Air date | Sports | Winner |
---|---|---|---|
1 – Middle England | 13 August 2008 |
|
|
2 – Scotland and Northern England | 20 August 2008 |
|
|
3 – Wales and the Shires | 27 August 2008 |
|
|
4 – Southern England | 3 September 2008 |
|
|
Episode | Air date | Sports | Winner |
---|---|---|---|
1 – Scotland | 20 September 2010 |
|
|
2 – Wales | 27 September 2010 |
|
|
3 – The North | 4 October 2010 |
|
|
4 – The South | 11 October 2010 |
|
|
5 – The Shires | 18 October 2010 |
|
|
6 – The South West | 25 October 2010 |
Whose Line is it Anyway? is a short-form improvisational comedy television panel show created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson, presented by Clive Anderson, and produced for Channel 4 between 23 September 1988 and 4 February 1999. The programme features a panel of four performers conducting a series of short-form improvisation games, creating comedic scenes per predetermined situations made by the host or from suggestions by the audience. Such games include creating sound effects, performing a scene to different television and film styles, using props, and making up a song on the spot. The programme originally began as a short-lived BBC radio programme, before the concept was adapted for television.
Patrick Rory McGrath is a British comedian, television personality, and writer. He came to prominence in the comedy show Who Dares Wins and was a regular panellist on the game show They Think It's All Over for many years. He acted in the sitcom Chelmsford 123 and appeared in the ITV reality show Sugar Free Farm.
Griffith Rhys Jones is a Welsh actor, comedian, writer and television presenter. He starred in a number of television series with his comedy partner, Mel Smith. He and Smith came to national attention in the 1980s for their work in the BBC television comedy sketch shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones.
The British Sub-Aqua Club or BSAC has been recognised since 1954 by UK Sport as the national governing body of recreational diving in the United Kingdom.
The Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake is an annual event held on the Spring Bank Holiday at Cooper's Hill, at Brockworth near Gloucester, England. Participants race down the 200-yard (180 m) long hill chasing a wheel of Double Gloucester cheese. It is uncertain when the tradition first began, and is possibly much older than its earliest known written attestation in 1826. The event has a long tradition, held by the people of the village, but now people from a wide range of countries take part in the competition as well. The Guardian called it a "world-famous event," with winners coming from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Egypt, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States.
A Question of Sport is a British television sports quiz show produced and broadcast by the BBC. It was the "world's longest running TV sports quiz". Following a pilot episode in December 1968, broadcast only in the north of England, the series ran from 1970 until production ceased in 2023. The final presenter was Paddy McGuinness, with team captains Sam Quek and Ugo Monye.
Stephen Mark Punt is a British comedy writer, comedian and actor. Along with Hugh Dennis, he is part of the double act Punt and Dennis and was presenter of BBC Radio 4 satirical news programme The Now Show. He is also a writer and programme associate for various television panel game shows, including Would I Lie to You? and Mock the Week, and is a writer for fellow comedians such as Rory Bremner and Jasper Carrott.
Patrick Joseph McGuinness is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television and radio presenter. He rose to fame with the help of fellow comedian Peter Kay, who invited him to appear on the television comedy series That Peter Kay Thing (2000), and the sitcoms Phoenix Nights (2000–2001) and Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere (2004). McGuinness went on to present various television shows, including Take Me Out (2010–2019), 71 Degrees North (2011), Paddy's TV Guide (2013), Top Gear (2019–2022), I Can See Your Voice (2021–2022), and Question of Sport (2021–2023).
Room 101 is a radio comedy series on BBC Radio 4 hosted by Paul Merton. Celebrities are invited to discuss their "least favourite people, places and pop songs" in order to have them consigned to Room 101.
Conger cuddling is a traditional event in Lyme Regis, Dorset, England, in which a dead conger eel is thrown at members of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). The practice was stopped in 2006 when animal rights activists threatened to launch a campaign against it.
Willaston is a civil parish and village in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, in north-west England. It had a population of 3,104 at the time of the 2011 census, up from 2,973 in 2001.
Matt Richards is a film and television producer/director/writer from St Minver in Cornwall.
Merlin is a British fantasy-adventure drama television programme, loosely based on the Arthurian legends regarding the close relations of Merlin and King Arthur. Created by Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy for the BBC, it was broadcast for five series on BBC One between 20 September 2008 and 24 December 2012. The programme starred Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Katie McGrath, Angel Coulby, Richard Wilson, Anthony Head, and John Hurt.
Take Me Out is a dating game show that was presented by comedian Paddy McGuinness. Based on the Australian show Taken Out, it first aired on ITV in the United Kingdom and simulcast on TV3 in the Republic of Ireland on 2 January 2010. An unscreened pilot episode was made for Channel 4 in 2009, but it was ITV who picked it up for a series. The show was produced by Thames. On 10 February 2020, ITV announced that the show was axed after eleven series.
The second series of Merlin, is a British fantasy television series which began on 19 September 2009 and ended on 19 December 2009. Series two regular cast members include Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Katie McGrath, Angel Coulby, Anthony Head, Richard Wilson, and John Hurt as the voice of the Great Dragon. Series two contains thirteen episodes and had 5.77 million viewers for the premiere with 6.64 million viewers for the series finale. Series 2 was the first series to have a two-parter and the only series to have a two-parter mid-series. BBC renewed the show for the third series which premiered on 11 September 2010.
Three Men in a Boat is a television comedy/documentary series produced by Liberty Bell Productions for BBC Two starring Dara Ó Briain, Rory McGrath and Griff Rhys Jones, first shown on 3 January 2006. In this first rendition, the three participants rowed in a replica wooden skiff from Kingston upon Thames to Oxford.
A thumb war or thumb fight is a game played by two players in which the thumbs are used to simulate fighting. The objective of the game is to "pin" the opponent's thumb, often to a count of four. The San Francisco Chronicle called the game "the miniature golf of martial sports."
Series 27 of Top Gear, a British motoring magazine and factual television programme, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two during 2019, consisting of five episodes between 16 June and 14 July. Following the previous series, production staff discontinued Extra Gear, while both Matt LeBlanc and Rory Reid left the programme, leaving Chris Harris to be joined by two new co-hosts: Paddy McGuinness and Freddie Flintoff. The new line-up proved popular with viewers, effectively improving the programme's viewing figures after the previous two series. This series' highlights included a road trip across Ethiopia, converting a hearse into a family car, and the presenters creating their own budget electric sports cars.
Series 30 of Top Gear, a British motoring magazine and factual television programme, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One and BBC One HD during early 2021. It was the fourth series to feature the presenting lineup of Chris Harris, Paddy McGuinness, and Freddie Flintoff, and the second to be broadcast on BBC One. As with the previous series, the COVID-19 pandemic affected production and filming of this series, with several changes made as a result; studio segments were filmed on an outdoor set with no full audience.
The following is a summary of Donegal county football team's 2022 season.