''Famous and Fearless'' is a

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...

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 ...

series in which 8 celebrities compete in extreme sporting events to win money for their respective chosen charity. It aired in January 2011 on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

and was presented by Chris Evans and

Clare Balding Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcaster, journalist, and author. She currently presents for BBC Sport, Channel 4, BT Sport, is the current president of the Rugby Football League (RFL) and formerly presented the ...

with

Jack Osbourne Jack Joseph Osbourne (born 8 November 1985) is an English media personality with dual American and British citizenship. The son of heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne, he starred on MTV's reality series ''The Osbournes'' (2002–2005), along wi ...

appearing alongside them as a guest in most shows. The commentator of the events was Nick Fellows. The winner was

Charley Boorman Charley Boorman (born 23 August 1966) is a British TV presenter, travel writer and actor. A motorbike enthusiast, Boorman has made three long-distance motorcycle rides with his friend Ewan McGregor, documented in ''Long Way Round'' (2004), ''Lo ...

. The live part of Famous and Fearless was broadcast from the

Liverpool Echo Arena Liverpool Arena, known for sponsorship reasons as the M&S Bank Arena, and previously Echo Arena, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the city centre of Liverpool, England. The venue hosts live music, comedy performances and sporting events, and ...

, where all the Head-to-Heads and other events happened before an arena audience.

Celebrities

Eight celebrities competed, split into two divisions – boys and girls. On 7 January 2011, Charley Boorman won the boys' group and Kelly Holmes won the girls, with the former becoming the overall champion.

Events

Day 1 * BMX (Boys) * Streetluge (Girls) *Car Flip (Head to Head) Day 2 *Mini Moto (Girls) *

Powerboat A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gea ...

(Boys) *Monster Truck Assault Course (Head to Head) Day 3 *

Inline speed skating Inline speed skating is the roller sport of racing on inline skates. The sport may also be called ''inline racing'' by participants. Although it primarily evolved from racing on traditional roller skates, the sport is similar enough to ice spee ...

(Boys) *

Hovercraft A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious Craft (vehicle), craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull ...

(Girls) *

Demolition Derby Demolition derby is a non-racing motorsport usually presented at county fairs and festivals. While rules vary from event to event, the typical demolition derby event consists of five or more drivers competing by deliberately ramming their vehic ...

(Head to Head) Day 4 * Power Skateboarding (Girls) *

Enduro Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on extended cross-country, off-road courses. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges. The main type of enduro event, and the format to which the World Enduro Championship is run, is a ...

(Boys) *Car Crash Dominoes (Head to Head) Day 5 *

Karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

(Boys) *

Abseil Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to low ...

(Girls) *Car Jump (Head to Head) Day 6 (Finale) *

Powerbocking Jumping stilts, bounce stilts or spring stilts are special stilts that allow the user to run, jump and perform various acrobatics. Spring stilts using fiberglass leaf springs were patented in the United States in 2004 under the trademark "Powe ...

(Girls) *Dirt Buggy (Boys) *

(Head to Head)

beat Dame Kelly Holmes in

to become the eventual winner of Famous And Fearless.

Reception

''Famous and Fearless'' received mostly negative reviews from British media outlets. Stuart Heritage of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' stated that the contestants were not celebrities and the events were not extreme. He went on to say ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...

's'' successor may have been more successful if it had been 'a mindless Saturday evening ITV show.'. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' claimed the show was too noisy and mislead viewers with its title, suggesting 'Vaguely Recognisable and Game for a Laugh' or 'Who's That and Why Is That Dangerous?' as more fitting titles.

Ratings

Cancellation

In February 2011, it was reported that the series had been axed after one series due to poor ratings.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Famous And Fearless 2010s British reality television series 2011 British television series debuts 2011 British television series endings Channel 4 original programming English-language television shows Television series by Endemol