I had to read this news report several times before the words ‘human’ and ‘Tetris’ penetrated my conscious thought, then it took a while for me to work out that the words were meant to go together. The n when you add in the words ‘BBC1’, ‘Saturday night’ and ‘Dale Winton’, we have what adds up to some Hieronymus Bosch hellish vision of a new gameshow.
And yet…
The more I think about this, the more I think the Beeb might have made an incredibly shrewd format purchase and may just have a hit on a Saturday night, erm… hit. Hole in the Wall, as it will be titled when it airs on BBC1 later this year, has been adapted from the Japanese Fuji Television phenomenon Tunnels, a clip from which you can see below:
On paper it sounds terrible - but seeing the concept in action cements just what an inspired, brilliant and probably addictive idea the whole enterprise is. Fuji Television has sold the format all across the world (there’s a version in Italy where the ladies wear bikinis… No, really!), and it has been picked by Fox in the States. Human Tetris is sweeping the world!
Dale Winton will host Hole in the Wall, where he will preside over teams of Lycra clad celebrities forcing themselves through increasingly difficult holes cut into moving walls (look, just watch the clip). If they fail to get through, the celebs end up in a pool of water. Now doesn’t that sound like top-drawer entertainment?
“A swimming pool, a hole in the wall, celebrities in Lycra, what could be more me than this!”
the enthusiastic Winton has said about his latest job. He will be joined by Strictly Come Dancing’s Anton du Beke and former cricketer (and Strictly veteran) Darren Gough.
I must admit, I’m half appalled and half delighted by the prospect of Hole in the Wall. It has its roots clearly in a low brow sensibility, but equally, it will be undeniably entertaining watching Myleene Klaas or Bobby Davro throw themselves into a swimming pool. And I can’t believe I just wrote that.
Hot on the heels of Sky’s revival of Gladiators, are we about to see a mass return of bolder, more action-based gameshows to the prime time schedules? I guess it’s all down to format, and I have doubts over Hole in the Wall’s use of celebrities. I’d much prefer to see a mix of celebrities and the general public taking part, but there’s no denying that the format has that unique quality that the best gameshows need to be successful.
And if the commissioners at the BBC have any sense, we’ll be seeing a return for the foam and inflatable hi-jinx of Cheggers Plays Pop any day now.
You can read the BBC press release on Hole in the Wall here.
I saw this being recorded on Friday night at the BBC and it was absolutely hysterical. Fun and light hearted, it reminded me of proper Saturday night fun game shows like the Generation Game. Shame they opted to use celebrities though, I think the general public would have been as funny. The only thing is Dale said it would be up against the X Factor so its hard to tell whether or not it will be the rating sucess that they want.