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''Challenger'' was an
Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...
children's
game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...
that aired on the
Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
in 1997 and 1998. The first host was
Diarmid Heidenreich Diarmid Heidenreich (born 1975) is an Australian film and television actor. Heidenreich graduated from Waverley College in Sydney's east, in 1993 before going on to become a well-known actor. Television career Heidenreich began his television ca ...
, famous for playing Dougie the
pizza delivery Pizza delivery is a service in which a pizzeria or pizza chain delivers a pizza to a customer. An order is typically made either by telephone, or over the internet, in which the customer can request pizza type and size, and other items to be ...
guy in
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commercials in the mid-1990s. After he left the show in early 1998 he was replaced by hosts Adrian DeVito and
Zoe Sheridan Zoe Sheridan (born in Adelaide, 1968) is an Australian television presenter, radio announcer and voice over artist. Sheridan was a co-host of the Hot 30 Countdown on Brisbane radio from 1995 to 1998. She moved to Sydney in 1998 for a regular slo ...
. They filmed 265 episodes before the show was superseded by the return of ''Now You See It''.


Format

''Challenger'' had two teams (Alpha and Omega) with three children a side. The teams consisted of a captain and two other members.


Diarmid (1997)

In the first round the contestants each answered a question from categories chosen at random by hitting their buzzer. Each question was worth 5 points and there was an extra 20 points on offer if all three categories matched. The questions were divided into six categories, spanning a range of genres: Cosmix, Entertainment, Geography, Language, Nature and Sport. Cosmix consisted of questions from all five other categories, plus some extra questions. The first round did not have a name. After both teams had answered their questions, the winning team were allowed to decide who would undertake the physical challenges first. In the second round the teams competed in a set of physical challenges in order to earn questions to answer. Questions would be worth points depending on the challenge, usually 10 points per answer, plus a bonus 20 points for earning and correctly answering all 6 questions available in a challenge. Each member of both teams participated in one challenge, however some challenges - such as Go Ballistic - required the other teammates to provide a supporting role in completing the challenges. The final round was called Slime Time and found the team leaders in glass containers below a slime showerhead. One of their teammates would be blindfolded, whilst the other would have their hands tied around their back. The four teammates would them look through a blue vat of slime for a disc with a question in it. Whichever team got the disc had the choice to either answer the question themselves, or force the other team to answer the question. Should the answering team get their question right, they would get 50 points and the other team's captain would be slimed. If both teams were holding the disc simultaneously, the question wes read and anyone could buzz in to answer the question. If the answering team answered the question incorrectly, their opposing team would get 50 points and their team captain would be slimed. Occasionally, both captains were slimed. The lever to operate the slime (a mud-coloured liquid) was pulled by someone unseen. Sometimes a guest would be present in the show, such as the team's school principal or a teacher, and they would be slimed with one of the team captains. Prizes for contestants included merchandise from the
Australian Geographic Australian Geographic is a media business that produces the ''Australian Geographic'' magazine, ''DMag'' magazine, specialist book titles, travel guides, diaries and calendars and online media. It published editions of the Australian Encyclop ...
retail outlets and occasionally, a
Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...
gaming console.


Adrian & Zoe (1998)

The first round was called Mind Zone. The three categories were "It's a What?", "Pick Your Face" and "Position Yourself" and all consisted of "What/Who/Where Am I" questions. There was only one question asked in this round. Whichever team answered the question correctly did not win any points, but got to choose which team attempted the challenges first. In the second round the teams completed the physical challenges, like it was during Diarmid's run. However, now every challenge had physical discs for the contestants to find (except for Go Ballistic), and each disc represented a question for the contestant to answer. Each correct answer is worth 10 points, and the questions are not separated into categories. The final round was called Hyperflush, and functioned in the same way as before. The captains would be seated inside the tank, and their teammates would search the tank for a disc. The team who answered the question correctly (if any) would receive the bonus 50 points and Adrian would pull the lever to start a shower of coloured water for the losing captain, who would often make faces at the camera during his introduction in the segment. Prizes for contestants would include CD-ROM encyclopedias and
Walt Disney Records Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by its r ...
CDs.


List of Challenges

The challenges in this show all had a physical element to them. Most involved collecting discs (or in the case of Go Ballistic, balls) to gain points by answering questions, while some involved merely connecting up pieces in order to earn points. During Diarmid's run, an explanation of each of the challenges was shown prior to the first team attempting each challenge. During Adrian and Zoe's run, the explanation was done after the Mind Zone round. * Oblivion - People went through mazes with revolving door mirrors on them. One contestant who is not in the maze will need to communicate the contestant who is on the maze for directions. During Diarmid's run, the challenge was called "Get Lost" and the revolving doors were solid colours. * Pro-Pole-sion - Contestants would swing on different coloured poles trying to grab discs that were stuck to the poles. These poles were suspended in the air and had a metal foothold on the bottom, making it difficult (but not impossible) for contestants to use both feet. * The Sphere - The contestant was spun in an orb. Upon being released they had to pop red balloons to find discs. Some of the balloons also contained other substances such as flour. During Diarmid's run, this challenge was called "Cape Sphere". * Vertically Challenged - Contestants would climb up a wall whilst trying to retrieve four discs on the way. At the top of the wall, they could search a UFO for further two discs. Keeping in with the theme of the show, the wall had a volcano effect painted over it. While some of the holes contained discs, others would contain shaving cream or flour. After the challenge was completed, the contestant would either go down by either the fireman's pole, or a ladder. * Go Ballistic - One contestant would stand in a rocket with smoke whilst plastic balls were rained on them from above. Their teammates had six buckets of balls into a conveyor belt. Each bucket had one red ball. The contestant had to catch and place six red balls in a chute to complete the challenge. * Big Squeeze - One contestant would wear a fat suit and run through an obstacle course to collect discs. * Schwing It - This game consisted of an obstacle course involving the following elements: flying fox (over a smoke-filled pit), chain link bridge (over a yellow mat), monkey rings and a smoke filled pit. (some of the discs were hung ON the rings, requiring the contestant to hang one-handed while retrieving the disc) After the contestant completed the course, he/she was able to search the smoke pit (if there was time). During Diarmid's run, the challenge was called "Hang Loose" and one pit consisted of feathers, and the other bubbles. * The Pipe Line - One contestant would be on top of a ladder and undo pipe pieces from the roof and the two remaining would try to attach the pipes to the holes in a series of vertically hanging pipes. After ten seconds, smoke would start pouring from the far-left, obstructing the contestant's view. No team has ever completed the pipeline as the best was done with four pipes attached. * Rampage - One contestant is attached to a bungee line and they required to run forward up a half pipe to grab discs. Four of them are found on the ramp and two on the side wall. * Blockage - All three contestants had to assemble a puzzle made up of blocks. A completed puzzle was shown to the contestants to help with the assembly of the puzzle. Contestants earn a question for every completed part of puzzle. This challenge was only performed during Diarmid's run because the categories are part of the puzzle. No team has ever completed the puzzle fully.


Trivia

* During a challenge, the audience would cheer by yelling the contestant's name, followed by three claps for the first thirty seconds (e.g. "Lucy *clap* *clap* *clap* Lucy *clap* *clap* *clap*"). In the last ten seconds, the audience would countdown from ten to one. * Only in two occasions has a team ever gotten a three-of-a-kind: one for the sports category and the other for the entertainment category. * Pipeline and Blockage are the only challenges that have not got all six pipes or assembled the puzzle completely. This is due to the fact the tasks require more than 40 seconds to complete. * The show was repeated in 1999-2002 on the
Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
. * During the final round when the four teammates run and the blindfolded teammates get the disc hidden in a big vat of blue slime, the audience would cheer by yelling the team's name (e.g. "Alpha, Omega, Alpha, Omega...") until the blindfolded contestant found the disc. This only occurred when Adrian and Zoe hosted the show. *
Sylvia Jeffreys Sylvia Jeffreys (born 23 April 1986) is an Australian journalist and news presenter. Jeffreys is currently co-host of ''Today Extra'' with David Campbell. She has previously been a news presenter on the Nine Network's ''Today,'' reporter and ...
, a journalist and a newsreader for the Nine Network, appeared on this show. She was in Team Omega. This happened during Adrian and Zoe's run.


References

{{reflist Australian children's game shows Nine Network original programming 1997 Australian television series debuts 1998 Australian television series endings 1990s Australian game shows Television shows set in Brisbane English-language television shows