''Australian Spartan'' is an Australian

sports entertainment Sports entertainment is a type of spectacle which presents an ostensibly competition, competitive event using a high level of theatre, theatrical flourish and extravagant presentation, with the purpose of entertainment, entertaining an audience. Un ...

and

reality competition Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

. An adaptation of the American format '' Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge'', it is hosted by

Edwina Bartholomew Edwina Louise Christie Bartholomew (born 5 July 1983) is an Australian journalist and television presenter. Bartholomew is currently news presenter on the Seven Network's breakfast television program ''Sunrise''. She has previously been a co-ho ...

and

Hamish McLachlan Hamish Angus McLachlan (born 28 August 1975) is an Australian sports broadcaster and host with Seven Sport. Since he joined the Seven Network in January 2008, he has been a host/presenter/reporter at multiple events, including being a part of ...

with

Wendell Sailor Wendell Jermaine Sailor (born 16 July 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby footballer who represented his country in both rugby league and rugby union – a dual code international. In rugby league Sailor was a member of the succes ...

as sideline reporter. The series follows teams of contestants

obstacle racing Obstacle course racing (OCR) is a sport in which a competitor, traveling on foot, must overcome various physical challenges in the form of obstacles. Races vary in length from courses with obstacles close together to events of several kilometers ...

through courses based on

spartan race Spartan Race is a series of obstacle races of varying distance and difficulty ranging from 3 miles to marathon distances. These races are held in the United States and have been franchised to 30 countries, including Canada, South Korea, Austra ...

s. The first season premiered on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

on 25 February 2018.

Background and production

The format was first rumoured in August 2017, following the recent surprise success of

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 ...

series ''

Australian Ninja Warrior ''Australian Ninja Warrior'' is a sports entertainment competition spin-off of the Japanese television series '' Sasuke'' which premiered on 9 July 2017 on the Nine Network. It features hundreds of competitors attempting to complete series of ...

'', which is of a similar genre. The Seven Network wanted to capitalise on the popularity of fitness-themed programming, and sought a related format. A casting notice for ''Australian Spartan'' was announced the following month with Seven confirming it was the broadcaster weeks later, with

Matchbox Pictures Matchbox Pictures is a film and television production company headquartered in Sydney with production houses in Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore. It was formed in 2008 by Tony Ayres, Penny Chapman, Helen Bowden, Michael McMahon and Helen Panckhur ...

and Eureka Productions producing the program.

and

were announced as co-hosts in November 2017 with

joining the hosting team the following month. The series is filmed in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

with funding from the

Government of Queensland The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy was form ...

's Screen Queensland. Two seasons of the show were filmed prior to the first season's broadcast. The original American format '' Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge'' airs in Australia on

subscription television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, but ...

channel FOX8.

Broadcast

The series was expected to air in the second quarter of 2018, after the Seven Network's broadcast of the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

. However, the show's debut was brought forward to 25 February 2018 to precede the Seven Network's coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony. After two episodes being aired, the show was bumped from the Sunday primetime slot, returning during the Easter non-ratings period. Because of the first season's mediocre ratings, the already shot second season was shelved for more than a year before it was announced that it would premiere on 6 November 2019 at 7:30pm on Seven’s multichannel,

7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a c ...

Format

The show begins with sixty teams consisting of three competitors each, with 20 teams each competing in three initial heats. The top 5 teams from each of the heats (who have completed the course or have progressed the farthest if they had not) then repeat the same course in the semi final, resulting in a top 10 who take on each other in an extended course. The top 2 teams then compete head to head for the grand prize on a special, shortened course.

Obstacles

The main course is divided into two zones, a dry zone and a wet zone. Both feature water; in the dry zone any competitor who touches the water results in their team instantly ending their run, while the wet zone features obstacles that are within or flooded by water. Some obstacles also involve time limits.

Viewership

Season 1

References

External links

* * {{Portal, Television English-language television shows Seven Network original programming 2018 Australian television series debuts 2019 Australian television series endings 2010s Australian game shows 2010s Australian reality television series Television series by Matchbox Pictures Television series by Eureka Obstacle racing television game shows Spartan obstacle race franchise Australian television series based on American television series