Challenge TV

If you don't watch Challenge TV (Channel 121 on Sky) then let me tell you about one particular programme that you are missing.....

Once upon a night, at about 11.00 pm, I decided to have a quick flick around the Sky channels before heading off to bed for the old zeds when, suddenly, I caught a glimpse of something that resembled a very old show transmitted briefly on Tarrant on TV (I think) a few years ago which, if memory serves me right, was called The Endurance Game. It involved Japanese people putting themselves through torturous challenges, ie. having baths with maggots, and for very little reward. But this show I caught on Challenge TV this particular evening was slightly different, if not just as bizarre, and also came from Japan. Beginning with 100 contestants consisting of men and women, they were led through various challenges (many looking particularly dangerous) with some of them being eliminated at different stages. Most of the challenges were crazy and reminded me of our own British oldie "It's a Knockout" but the difference was that Takeshi's Castle was funny - need I say more?

Why funny? Well, some of the challenges were downright daft - like trying to get from one side of a pond to another via a set of stepping stones. Some of the stones were fixed in place, while others were merely "floating". The object was to get from one side to the other without falling in. It was just a case of being lucky which ones you stood on! Oh boy, did some of them get a whack when they fell into the water and hit the fixed "stones" face on! Yet it's hilarious! You will find yourself laughing from beginning to end, probably because the contestants are laughing too - even when their number's up!

It is also on at 7.30 pm each evening and my 8 year old son absolutely loves the programme. Though it sounds and looks dangerous at times - it obviously can't be and many of the contestants do wear protective headgear. The end result brings you to the doors of....Takeshi's Castle, where you come face to face with the castle guards who usually knock out all the remaining contestants in their little cardboard cars (yes, it's quite tacky too) and the elusive prize of gaining entry into the Castle remains, well, elusive! Even Craig Charles who does the voice-over for the show sounds mystified by what the point of it all is! Yet, who cares? It's fun, silly, crazy .....but never dull for a moment.

So if you find yourself reaching for those anti-depressants then DON'T! Reach for the remote control and switch on to Takeshi's Castle on Challenge TV.