DE
Whittle was just a bargain basement version of Everybody's Equal, though of course it was hosted by the great Tim Vine.
One to Win was basically Going for Gold without the opening "Who am I?" round and with revised scoring. Of course, C5 brought back the original title in 2008, but largely retained the OTW format and added a lot of call-and-lose quizzes - which John Suchet wasn't too keen about.
Totally agree that The Mole was cancelled too soon, though. Jailbreak also deserved better, although airing it right after BB1 didn't help.
100%, Whittle and One To Win were certainly Channel 5's best shows in their early days, along with The Mole, which in my view got cancelled way too soon.
Whittle was just a bargain basement version of Everybody's Equal, though of course it was hosted by the great Tim Vine.
One to Win was basically Going for Gold without the opening "Who am I?" round and with revised scoring. Of course, C5 brought back the original title in 2008, but largely retained the OTW format and added a lot of call-and-lose quizzes - which John Suchet wasn't too keen about.
Totally agree that The Mole was cancelled too soon, though. Jailbreak also deserved better, although airing it right after BB1 didn't help.
RD
You don't say...
...added a lot of call-and-lose quizzes - which John Suchet wasn't too keen about.
You don't say...
JO
The Mole was too confusing for the average Channel 5 viewer at the time, it would probably fare much better these days especially with the rise of social media to discuss and the like. They also seemed to burn it off a bit too quickly, the second series aired just
7 months after the first one! Also, I seem to remember it was on at something like 8pm on a Friday night which didn't help in terms of the ratings.
Still highly successful in the Dutch and Belgium formats, luckily you can catch up on those on YouTube with English subtitles. The Dutch one in particular shows it could be done a bit more of a budget - giving away £20,000 - £25,000 rather than £80,000 - £100,000!
7 months after the first one! Also, I seem to remember it was on at something like 8pm on a Friday night which didn't help in terms of the ratings.
Still highly successful in the Dutch and Belgium formats, luckily you can catch up on those on YouTube with English subtitles. The Dutch one in particular shows it could be done a bit more of a budget - giving away £20,000 - £25,000 rather than £80,000 - £100,000!
CI
Too confusing, my ass! The individual challenges were simple enough, the idea that someone was sabotaging the games on the sly was a fun thing that kept everybody on their toes, and kept you guessing who 'The Mole' was. It wasn't that complicated.
The Mole was too confusing for the average Channel 5 viewer at the time, it would probably fare much better these days especially with the rise of social media to discuss and the like. They also seemed to burn it off a bit too quickly, the second series aired just
7 months after the first one! Also, I seem to remember it was on at something like 8pm on a Friday night which didn't help in terms of the ratings.
Still highly successful in the Dutch and Belgium formats, luckily you can catch up on those on YouTube with English subtitles. The Dutch one in particular shows it could be done a bit more of a budget - giving away £20,000 - £25,000 rather than £80,000 - £100,000!
7 months after the first one! Also, I seem to remember it was on at something like 8pm on a Friday night which didn't help in terms of the ratings.
Still highly successful in the Dutch and Belgium formats, luckily you can catch up on those on YouTube with English subtitles. The Dutch one in particular shows it could be done a bit more of a budget - giving away £20,000 - £25,000 rather than £80,000 - £100,000!
Too confusing, my ass! The individual challenges were simple enough, the idea that someone was sabotaging the games on the sly was a fun thing that kept everybody on their toes, and kept you guessing who 'The Mole' was. It wasn't that complicated.
BA
Too confusing, my ass! The individual challenges were simple enough, the idea that someone was sabotaging the games on the sly was a fun thing that kept everybody on their toes, and kept you guessing who 'The Mole' was. It wasn't that complicated.
Were you (or your donkey) the average Channel 5 viewer?
The Mole was too confusing for the average Channel 5 viewer at the time, it would probably fare much better these days especially with the rise of social media to discuss and the like. They also seemed to burn it off a bit too quickly, the second series aired just
7 months after the first one! Also, I seem to remember it was on at something like 8pm on a Friday night which didn't help in terms of the ratings.
Still highly successful in the Dutch and Belgium formats, luckily you can catch up on those on YouTube with English subtitles. The Dutch one in particular shows it could be done a bit more of a budget - giving away £20,000 - £25,000 rather than £80,000 - £100,000!
7 months after the first one! Also, I seem to remember it was on at something like 8pm on a Friday night which didn't help in terms of the ratings.
Still highly successful in the Dutch and Belgium formats, luckily you can catch up on those on YouTube with English subtitles. The Dutch one in particular shows it could be done a bit more of a budget - giving away £20,000 - £25,000 rather than £80,000 - £100,000!
Too confusing, my ass! The individual challenges were simple enough, the idea that someone was sabotaging the games on the sly was a fun thing that kept everybody on their toes, and kept you guessing who 'The Mole' was. It wasn't that complicated.
Were you (or your donkey) the average Channel 5 viewer?
CI
Too confusing, my ass! The individual challenges were simple enough, the idea that someone was sabotaging the games on the sly was a fun thing that kept everybody on their toes, and kept you guessing who 'The Mole' was. It wasn't that complicated.
Were you (or your donkey) the average Channel 5 viewer?
Are you?
And just what is an "average" viewer of any channel? I contend the whole notion of an "average" anything is a false contruct, something that only exists in the mind of statisticians, and people who just want to criticise somebody for being themselves, instead of fitting some ideological construct of "normal" or "average".
The Mole was too confusing for the average Channel 5 viewer at the time, it would probably fare much better these days especially with the rise of social media to discuss and the like. They also seemed to burn it off a bit too quickly, the second series aired just
7 months after the first one! Also, I seem to remember it was on at something like 8pm on a Friday night which didn't help in terms of the ratings.
Still highly successful in the Dutch and Belgium formats, luckily you can catch up on those on YouTube with English subtitles. The Dutch one in particular shows it could be done a bit more of a budget - giving away £20,000 - £25,000 rather than £80,000 - £100,000!
7 months after the first one! Also, I seem to remember it was on at something like 8pm on a Friday night which didn't help in terms of the ratings.
Still highly successful in the Dutch and Belgium formats, luckily you can catch up on those on YouTube with English subtitles. The Dutch one in particular shows it could be done a bit more of a budget - giving away £20,000 - £25,000 rather than £80,000 - £100,000!
Too confusing, my ass! The individual challenges were simple enough, the idea that someone was sabotaging the games on the sly was a fun thing that kept everybody on their toes, and kept you guessing who 'The Mole' was. It wasn't that complicated.
Were you (or your donkey) the average Channel 5 viewer?
Are you?
And just what is an "average" viewer of any channel? I contend the whole notion of an "average" anything is a false contruct, something that only exists in the mind of statisticians, and people who just want to criticise somebody for being themselves, instead of fitting some ideological construct of "normal" or "average".
IS
I don't think the Mole failed because it was too complicated, but it did need a bit more thought put into its viewing than other programmes of its genre.
It went out in 2001 which was peak Big Brother and there were loads of other 'me too' formats on telly, it kinda got lost in that especially being on channel 5.
I think it was a case of it being the wrong time, wrong channel for it. Channel 4 or BBC2 a few years later or earlier and it would have done better
It went out in 2001 which was peak Big Brother and there were loads of other 'me too' formats on telly, it kinda got lost in that especially being on channel 5.
I think it was a case of it being the wrong time, wrong channel for it. Channel 4 or BBC2 a few years later or earlier and it would have done better
Last edited by Inspector Sands on 30 March 2018 8:48pm
HC
Too confusing, my ass! The individual challenges were simple enough, the idea that someone was sabotaging the games on the sly was a fun thing that kept everybody on their toes, and kept you guessing who 'The Mole' was. It wasn't that complicated.
It was a programme that demanded your total attention from the cold open in episode 1 right upto the reveal of the mole in ep 8. Just when that sort of 'appointment to view' entertainment show was starting to fade in the minds of channel controllers.
Hats off to Channel 5 for actually commissioning two series of it. I know the indie producers hawked it around the UK networks for ages before 5 picked it up. I remember reading in Broadcast an interview with Peter Davey, who was series producer and he said in the questioning at the end of the pitch to one channel said "it's a great idea, but can we have a mole revealed at the end of each episode?". Durrrhh.
Best of all was 'show 9' - which showed you all the little bits which gave the identity away but were 'hidden in plain slight' in the other 8 episodes, plus footage the production team and producers paddling furiously underneath the surface during filming, trying to keep the mole (and the whole point of the show) above the water/suspicion line and quickly adapting, if they thought any one contestant was getting too close, too soon.
Really surprised it hasn't been picked back up by another channel since. There's a lot of mileage in a very clever format.
The Mole was too confusing for the average Channel 5 viewer at the time, it would probably fare much better these days especially with the rise of social media to discuss and the like. They also seemed to burn it off a bit too quickly, the second series aired just
7 months after the first one! Also, I seem to remember it was on at something like 8pm on a Friday night which didn't help in terms of the ratings.
Still highly successful in the Dutch and Belgium formats, luckily you can catch up on those on YouTube with English subtitles. The Dutch one in particular shows it could be done a bit more of a budget - giving away £20,000 - £25,000 rather than £80,000 - £100,000!
7 months after the first one! Also, I seem to remember it was on at something like 8pm on a Friday night which didn't help in terms of the ratings.
Still highly successful in the Dutch and Belgium formats, luckily you can catch up on those on YouTube with English subtitles. The Dutch one in particular shows it could be done a bit more of a budget - giving away £20,000 - £25,000 rather than £80,000 - £100,000!
Too confusing, my ass! The individual challenges were simple enough, the idea that someone was sabotaging the games on the sly was a fun thing that kept everybody on their toes, and kept you guessing who 'The Mole' was. It wasn't that complicated.
It was a programme that demanded your total attention from the cold open in episode 1 right upto the reveal of the mole in ep 8. Just when that sort of 'appointment to view' entertainment show was starting to fade in the minds of channel controllers.
Hats off to Channel 5 for actually commissioning two series of it. I know the indie producers hawked it around the UK networks for ages before 5 picked it up. I remember reading in Broadcast an interview with Peter Davey, who was series producer and he said in the questioning at the end of the pitch to one channel said "it's a great idea, but can we have a mole revealed at the end of each episode?". Durrrhh.
Best of all was 'show 9' - which showed you all the little bits which gave the identity away but were 'hidden in plain slight' in the other 8 episodes, plus footage the production team and producers paddling furiously underneath the surface during filming, trying to keep the mole (and the whole point of the show) above the water/suspicion line and quickly adapting, if they thought any one contestant was getting too close, too soon.
Really surprised it hasn't been picked back up by another channel since. There's a lot of mileage in a very clever format.
CI
Too confusing, my ass! The individual challenges were simple enough, the idea that someone was sabotaging the games on the sly was a fun thing that kept everybody on their toes, and kept you guessing who 'The Mole' was. It wasn't that complicated.
It was a programme that demanded your total attention from the cold open in episode 1 right upto the reveal of the mole in ep 8. Just when that sort of 'appointment to view' entertainment show was starting to fade in the minds of channel controllers.
Hats off to Channel 5 for actually commissioning two series of it. I know the indie producers hawked it around the UK networks for ages before 5 picked it up. I remember reading in Broadcast an interview with Peter Davey, who was series producer and he said in the questioning at the end of the pitch to one channel said "it's a great idea, but can we have a mole revealed at the end of each episode?". Durrrhh.
Best of all was 'show 9' - which showed you all the little bits which gave the identity away but were 'hidden in plain slight' in the other 8 episodes, plus footage the production team and producers paddling furiously underneath the surface during filming, trying to keep the mole (and the whole point of the show) above the water/suspicion line and quickly adapting, if they thought any one contestant was getting too close, too soon.
Really surprised it hasn't been picked back up by another channel since. There's a lot of mileage in a very clever format.
Absolutely, the format is very clever and really, somebody should have picked it up.
Kinda amazingly, the original 2 series haven't been repeated anywhere that I've seen for a long time, if ever, and it really needs to re-air sometime soon.
The Mole was too confusing for the average Channel 5 viewer at the time, it would probably fare much better these days especially with the rise of social media to discuss and the like. They also seemed to burn it off a bit too quickly, the second series aired just
7 months after the first one! Also, I seem to remember it was on at something like 8pm on a Friday night which didn't help in terms of the ratings.
Still highly successful in the Dutch and Belgium formats, luckily you can catch up on those on YouTube with English subtitles. The Dutch one in particular shows it could be done a bit more of a budget - giving away £20,000 - £25,000 rather than £80,000 - £100,000!
7 months after the first one! Also, I seem to remember it was on at something like 8pm on a Friday night which didn't help in terms of the ratings.
Still highly successful in the Dutch and Belgium formats, luckily you can catch up on those on YouTube with English subtitles. The Dutch one in particular shows it could be done a bit more of a budget - giving away £20,000 - £25,000 rather than £80,000 - £100,000!
Too confusing, my ass! The individual challenges were simple enough, the idea that someone was sabotaging the games on the sly was a fun thing that kept everybody on their toes, and kept you guessing who 'The Mole' was. It wasn't that complicated.
It was a programme that demanded your total attention from the cold open in episode 1 right upto the reveal of the mole in ep 8. Just when that sort of 'appointment to view' entertainment show was starting to fade in the minds of channel controllers.
Hats off to Channel 5 for actually commissioning two series of it. I know the indie producers hawked it around the UK networks for ages before 5 picked it up. I remember reading in Broadcast an interview with Peter Davey, who was series producer and he said in the questioning at the end of the pitch to one channel said "it's a great idea, but can we have a mole revealed at the end of each episode?". Durrrhh.
Best of all was 'show 9' - which showed you all the little bits which gave the identity away but were 'hidden in plain slight' in the other 8 episodes, plus footage the production team and producers paddling furiously underneath the surface during filming, trying to keep the mole (and the whole point of the show) above the water/suspicion line and quickly adapting, if they thought any one contestant was getting too close, too soon.
Really surprised it hasn't been picked back up by another channel since. There's a lot of mileage in a very clever format.
Absolutely, the format is very clever and really, somebody should have picked it up.
Kinda amazingly, the original 2 series haven't been repeated anywhere that I've seen for a long time, if ever, and it really needs to re-air sometime soon.