Serious (TV series)

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Serious (TV series)

The logo for the upcoming Serious Ocean series.
Format Children's television series; reality TV; adventure
Starring Various expedition leaders/contestants
Country of origin United Kingdom
Production
Running time 30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel BBC
Original airing 2002

Serious Jungle (2002), and its sequels Serious Desert (2003), Serious Arctic (2004), Serious Amazon (2005) and Serious Andes (2006) are observational documentary series made by the BBC and broadcast as part of their children's programming. The programme is produced as part of the BBC Talent initiative. Each series consists of six 30-minute episodes. Serious Jungle was narrated by Kate Sanderson, and the rest of the series was narrated by Fearne Cotton. Serious Amazon aired in March 2006 and a fifth series, entitled Serious Andes, which will have 8 young people going into Ecuador and the Andes in hope of building a sanctuary for the Andean Bear, has been commissioned and will go into production in 2006. The programmes have won numerous awards, among them honours from BAFTA and the Royal Television Society. Serious has been showing mostly on Discovery Kids, and have 4/5 complete seasons of Serious (including diaries). Serious Andes will be shown on Discovery Kids in mid/late 2007.

Contents

[edit] Life in Serious & Hosts

This part involved leading eight kids (four boys and four girls), who were chosen after an audition, by the expedition leaders.

The expedition leaders were great help to the teams and also hosted the episodes. The leaders for each season are shown below.

Serious Jungle Serious Desert Serious Arctic Serious Amazon Serious Andes Serious Ocean (future)
Bruce Parry Bruce Parry Ben Major Ben Major Ben Major Ben Major
Emma Jay Emma Jay Emma Jay Polly Murray Polly Murray Polly Murray

[edit] The Audition

The audition witnessed more than a thousand participants. They were tested in obstacle races, experience before the camera and willingness. In the end, 16 semi finalists were chosen for a two-day exercise to determine the eight finalists.

The semi-final audition consisted of an obstacle course, observation of team skills and climbing a pole 9 metres tall and close contact with animals.

[edit] Serious Jungle Contestants (2002)

Daniel Harrison Imogen Forbes Hannah Davis J.C. Lee Laura Baker Luke Gibson Susan Wokoma Larry Downing
Age 12 Age 13 Age 14 Age 14 Age 14 Age 14 Age 14 Age 15
St. Helens, Merseyside, England London, England Sidcup, Kent, England Nantwich, Cheshire, England Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, England Basildon, Essex, England London, England Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England

[edit] Serious Desert Contestants (2003)

Ellie Wyld Holly Fox Martin Newman Chris Brooker Perry Cook Promise Camwell Aimee Madil David Stewart
Age 14* Age 13 Age 14 Age 14 Age 14 Age 13 Age 15 Age 15
London, England Bristol, England London, England Devon, England Sunderland, England London, England Belfast, Northern Ireland Edinburgh, Scotland

Ellie celebrated her 14th birthday during the expedition.

[edit] Serious Arctic Contestants (2005)

Adam Fabian Rivers Courtenay Hamilton Alex Emily Batty Jennielyn Musk Lewis Matthew Johnson
Age 13* Age 13* Age 14 Age 14 Age 14 Age 15 Age 15 Age 15
Liverpool, England Birmingham, England Vale of Glamorgan, North Cardiff, Wales Sheffield, England Altrincham, Cheshire, England Essex, England London, England Ringwood, Bournemouth, England

Adam and Fabian each celebrated their 13th birthday(s) during the expedition.

[edit] Serious Amazon Contestants (2006)

Bethany Georgia Groome Jamie Matt Cally Simran Jonathan Sam
Age 15 Age 13 Age 14 Age 14 Age 13 Age 14 Age 13 Age 14
Essex, England Derby, England Gwent, Wales Liverpool, England Edinburgh, Scotland Berkshire, England London, England Edinburgh, Scotland

[edit] Serious Andes Contestants (2007)

Joshua Will Matt Palmer Liam Caitlin Erin Fulton Kylie Sarah
Age 12 Age 15 Age 14 Age 14 Age 13 Age 15 Age 15 Age 15
Twickenham, Middlesex, England High Wycombe, Bucks, England Addlestone, Surrey, England Addlestone, Surrey, England Glasgow, Scotland Bo'ness, Scotland Middlesbrough, England London, England

[edit] Serious Ocean Contestants (2008)

Harry Drummond Katie Barclay Callum Kenny Robyn Sercombe Charlotte Brockley Conor Curry
Age 13 Age 14 Age 14 Age 13* Age 13* Age 15
Kilmarnock, Ayrshire Woodley, Berkshire

Robyn and Charlotte will each celebrate their 13th birthday(s) during the expedition.

The Serious finalists were chosen by the expedition leaders (see above) and the Series Producer Marshall Corwin. The first episode deals entirely with the audition. Then, the second episode deals with their arrival, and the deal with survival life.

[edit] Serious Jungle (2002)

Eight challengers faced a huge mission to build a feeding platform in the heart of the Borneo jungle, to save orangutans from being illegally kept as pets. They built an orangutan outpost in three weeks, before heading back to the UK. They were accompanied by expedition leaders Bruce Parry and Emma Jay.

[edit] Serious Desert (2003)

In the second season, new challengers competed for a place on a team to travel to Namibia and try and save the endangered black rhinoceros. They sleep under tarpaulin in the dunes and see black rhinos, but also wildebeest, zebra, springbok, giraffes, jackals, snakes, scorpions and elephants. They built a new camel enclosure and finally make a short 5km trek across the Namibian sand dunes to the Skeleton Coast.

[edit] Serious Arctic (2005)

The 8 challengers in Serious Arctic flew to Canada, where they made an attempt to track polar bears across the pack ice, riding on husky sleds. Blizzards made the trip a hazard, and they spent most of a week in their tents. "Serious Arctic" was also the most successful "Serious" series picking up all but one award it was entered for. Furthermore, it was the most televised expedition out of the series, and the latest book which was released during December 2007 was named 'How to Poo in the Arctic' due to the success of its broadcasting history.

Serious Arctic was also at the beginning of a CBBC revamp and Fabian Rivers from "Serious Arctic", was used in a national billboard project. Fabian was seen in his picture in Arctic conditions, huddling a fridge for warmth.

[edit] Serious Amazon (2006)

Serious Amazon had a record 29,000 12 - 15 year olds auditioning for a part to help rare uakari monkeys and Pink River Dolphins caught in illegal fishing nets in the Amazon River. The team of 8 removed the illegal fishing nets to leave pink-river dolphins safe, and also habitats for the Bald Uakari.

[edit] Serious Andes (2007)

After being chosen from a record 36,000 12-15 year olds; 8 more adventurers land in Ecuador to climb the Andes mountains, and make an enclosure for spectacled bears. They are the youngest team to climb the Andes and were accompanied by Ben Major and Polly Murray.

[edit] Serious Ocean (2008)

Filmed in late 2007, this will feature 8 teenagers heading off to the isolated coast of Chile, where they will get a chance to see penguins, seals and dolphins.

A total of over 16,000 12 to 15 year olds applied for this series.

The finalists for Serious Ocean will be chosen to go to Chile during August and September 2007 and the actual expedition will be during November and December. They will be accompanied by expedition leaders Ben Major and Polly Murray.[1].

[edit] References

  1. ^ BBC - New Talent - Serious Ocean.

1.BBC - New Talent - Serious Andes [1]

2.BBC - New Talent - Serious Amazon[2]

3.BBC - New Talent - Serious Arctic [3]

[edit] External links