Coach Trip

Coach Trip
Title card from Series 3
Also known as	Celebrity Coach Trip Christmas Coach Trip
Genre	Reality
Format	Game show
Starring	Brendan Sheerin
Narrated by	Andy Love (2005–06) David Quantick (2009–10) Dave Vitty (2010–12) Jackie Clune (2014–present)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	9 (Regular series) 3 (Celebrity series) 1 (Christmas series)
No. of episodes	290 (Regular series) 30 (Celebrity series) 15 (Christmas series)
Production
Running time	30 mins (inc. adverts) 60 mins (Episode 50 also inc. adverts)
Production company(s)	12 Yard
Distributor	ITV Studios
Broadcast
Original channel	Channel 4
Picture format	16:9
Original run	7 March 2005 (2005-03-07) – present
Chronology
Related shows	Brendan's Magical Mystery Tour Brendan's Love Cruise
External links
Website
Production website

Coach Trip is a reality game show originally broadcast on Channel 4 from 7 March 2005 to 30 June 2006. The programme returned after a three-year break, from 25 May 2009 to 9 March 2012. In early 2013, the show went into hiatus again and was replaced by 2 new shows, Brendan's Magical Mystery Tour and Brendan's Love Cruise. However, in September 2013, Channel 4 announced that they had renewed Coach Trip for another series in 2014 which is currently airing.^[1]

The show's format consists of four to seven teams of two undertaking a coach tour principally of continental Europe (but with individual series including sojourns into North Africa and Western Asia) and has been sold to other countries.

The tours have usually lasted 30 or 50 days (celebrity series tours have lasted 10 days and Christmas series tours have lasted 15 days), with passengers remaining on the tour only until they are ejected by their companions on one day, to be replaced by a new couple the following day(s).

The travellers are accompanied by tour guide Brendan Sheerin, who appears in every episode.

Title card from Series 1 to 2

Broadcast, narrators and repeats

Coach Trip originally aired weekdays at 4:30pm before Deal or No Deal debuted on Channel 4 (followed by a repeat the following morning), with the second series aired at 2:55pm instead (and then repeated for a second series re-run in 2007). Since the revived series, Coach Trip has moved to the 5:00pm slot after the debut of Wogan's Perfect Recall on Channel 4 along with Divided on ITV1, before The Chase debuted with The Fuse and before Golden Balls on ITV1 came to an end (in series 3, 4, 7, Celebrity Coach Trip 2 & 3 and Christmas Coach Trip) and later to the 5:30pm slot (in series 5, 6, 8, 9 and Celebrity Coach Trip 1) on Channel 4.

In series 3, an omnibus edition was also shown on weekends but was cancelled part of the way through the series. It returned for series 9 on More4. 4seven currently show repeats of series 9, More4 repeated series 1 to 8, and other channels Sky Travel, Pick (then known as Sky Three/Sky3) and Sky Real Lives have all repeated series 1 & 2 of Coach Trip.

Andy Love was the narrator in the first two series, with David Quantick taking the role in both series 3 & 4. From series 5 to 8, Dave Vitty was the show's narrator; he was also the narrator for all the Celebrity and Christmas series' of Coach Trip to date. The current narrator is Jackie Clune as of series 9.

Future

A Channel 4 spokesperson said the broadcaster previously had no plans to commission another series, as series 2 of Christmas Coach Trip would have been the last installment.^[2] Brendan later said in June 2013, during a telephone interview to Paul about his 2 new shows, that "Coach Trip has been rested at the moment – it’s not the end of the programme, but we decided that we’d experiment with a new format".^[3]

On 4 September 2013, Channel 4 announced there would be another series of Coach Trip consisting of 30 episodes, each 30 minutes long.^[1] Sheerin and Donald will both return to the show. Applications for the new series opened on the same day.

Voting system

Yellow cards are first presented if the other couples on board vote for them with the most votes or to couples as a warning; a Red card is awarded if the other couples on board vote for them a second time, to couples with another warning or to couples with prohibition, and this means they are sent home to be replaced by a new pair.

Unlike most coach trips the passengers vote and privately discuss (before the vote) for who they don't like travelling with at the end of each day. Whoever gets the most votes is awarded a yellow card, if they are voted for again they receive a red card and are sent home to be replaced by a new pair. Yellow cards have been occasionally awarded to couples due to timekeeping issues; Red cards have also been presented to couples on occasion, although when this is done it is normally the result of certain travellers' bad behaviour or canvassing for votes.

The vote usually takes place at the days location and occasionally on board the coach, while travelling to the next destination or to the hotel, in front of each other. If a red card is awarded to a couple, the coach is stopped and the contestants collect their suitcases, miss the ferry, miss the overnight vehicle train and also leave the trip. During the vote, Brendan acts as co-ordinator of the vote and awards the couple the yellow/red card. If a tie vote occurs, Brendan takes the nominated couples to one side while the remaining couples decide who should be awarded the penalty card, treat or prize. New couples who arrive after the originals are immune from the first vote that they are present at, although they are allowed to vote against another couple (unless they are also a new couple).

If Brendan thinks that the couple canvass for votes, overtake the previous vote, instigate a fight at the vote or shows inappropriate sexual behaviour they will automatically receive a red card and the vote will either begin or continue without them.

Voting amendments

On Day 19 of Series 2, the voting rules were amended once after revealing the quiz winners and losers so contestants cannot vote for the winning couple and the losing couple loses the chance to cast votes against others. Also on Day 24 of Series 3, Day 25 of Series 6 and Day 1 of Series 7, the voting rules were amended once after the announcement about the red terror which also returned from Days 5, 6 and 7 until Day 9 of the Celebrity Coach Trip series and Day 12 of Christmas Coach Trip series, whoever receives the most votes will automatically be given a red card. This is regardless of whether the couple already has a yellow card or not.

Also, from Day 2 of Series 5, the voting rules were again amended so contestants cannot vote for the couple who got a yellow card the previous day and that system would soon be reintroduced for upcoming/future series.

Voting alterations

Votes have occasionally been altered to accommodate for a lack of couples like 8 or 10 passengers on board the coach or for other reasons.

On Day 4 of Series 2, the vote was changed after first John & Irene's early departure, due to their ill health; then Paul & Heidi receiving a red card later at the previous day's vote and on Day 14 of Series 2 the vote was changed again after first Clare and Kat received a red card at the previous day's vote then Alan & Lorenzo refused to get out of bed followed by stationary traffic with an accident in front. On Day 12 of Series 4, the vote was also changed after a fight had broken out on board the coach between Bruce & Jon and Tam & Jayson before new couple Mark & Mary arrived, this normally results in the couples on board voting for who they want to receive a treat rather than the penalty cards.

Introduced by July 2010, effective from Series 5, five couples became the new minimum required for a vote to take place. The voting system of awarding a treat was reintroduced during Series 8 and during the Christmas series.

On Day 17 of Series 1 and Day 19 of Series 3, Brendan decided to skip the vote due to shortages of couples. On Day 21 of Series 2, the vote was suspended due to the contestants learning of the 7 July 2005 London bombings. The Air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption and the 2011 England riots were not revealed to the contestants before Series 5 and 8 began filming. The Arab Spring protests didn't even begin until after Series 6 and the first Celebrity series had finished filming.

The final vote

The final vote is usually altered on Day 10 of 10, Day 15 of 15, Day 29 of 30 and Day 49 of 50; this normally results in the couples on board voting for who they want to receive a prize rather than the penalty cards.

In the first two series, the winners received an extended stay in the final destination of the trip as their prize, while in the third and sixth series, the winners received a holiday voucher. The winners of the fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth series received another coach holiday as their prize. Celebrity series winners receive £1,000 for their charities and Christmas winners also receive another coach holiday voucher as their prize.

Coaches, registration plates and drivers

The coaches used are supplied by Motts Travel, a coach hire company based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.^[4] The coaches are installed with cameras and microphones to record the passengers while on board. The coaches used in the show are decorated with a Union Flag design on the outside.

• The first coach 'T100 MTT' was a Volvo B10M with Jonckheere Mistral 50 bodywork. It was used during Series 1 and Series 2.
• The coach 'MT04 MTT' arrived in Central London to be used for Series 3 only. It is a Volvo B12B with Plaxton Panther bodywork.
• The coach 'MT09 MTT', also a Volvo B12B/Plaxton Panther, was used from Series 4 to ?.
• The newest coach 'MT61 MTT' was introduced by 1 September 2011, according to the DVLA, and would have been first used for Series 4 of Celebrity Coach Trip and Series 2 of Christmas Coach Trip in 2012; but before the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics the show went into hiatus the second time.
• The newest coach 'MT14 MTT' will be introduced by 1 March 2014, according to the DVLA.

There have been two different drivers who drove each coach on each different series. In the first series, the driver was Chris Groombridge who only drove T100 MTT. Series two saw his successor, Paul Donald take over as coach driver. On Day 13 in Series 8, a temporary driver (Jamie) took over for the day and drove the coach to the ferry port.

List of arrival day locations

For some series, the Coach and Brendan appear in different locations of United Kingdom to pick up 14 tourists at either bed and breakfasts or hotels. For other series, the coach appearing with Brendan has picked up 8 to 14 tourists in mainland European airports.

Here is a list of the locations the coach trip have started from for some first destinations.

List of countries visited

Europe

Northern Africa

•  Morocco
•  Tunisia

Western Asia

•  Turkey

List of activities by appearance

On each series of Coach Trip there are different activities each day for the tourists and celebrities to do and/or have already done by order of appearance. Below is a (near complete) list of activities that have featured on Coach Trip to date.

List of final day locations

The final day of each series, see the tourists and celebrities arriving back in Great Britain; often by foreign airports and occasionally by ferries, Eurostar trains or sometimes by foreign airports via ferries.

Regular series

Series 1 (2005)

Coach Trip 1 was the first series of Coach Trip in the United Kingdom, that was filmed from April to June 2004 and aired from 7 March to 19 April 2005. The trip went through several European countries. Chris Groombridge was the driver for the only time, Brendan Sheerin was the tour guide, Andy Love was narrator and the registration was T100 MTT.

Series 2 (2006)

Coach Trip 2 was the second series of Coach Trip in the United Kingdom, that was filmed from May to July 2005 (before Safeway became defunct) and aired from 22 May to 30 June 2006. The show's format had the same idents as seres 1. This year the trip was centred on Mediterranean countries. Brendan returned as the tour guide, the narrator was once again Andy Love and the registration number plate once again was T100 MTT. Paul Donald was the driver for the first time.

Series 3 (2009)

Coach Trip 3 was the third series of Coach Trip in the United Kingdom, that was filmed between September and October 2008 and aired from 25 May to 3 July 2009. The show's format after a break of 3 years remained unchanged from the previous series but the idnets were new along with the timeslot: seven couples travelling around Europe on a coach like series 1 for 30 days attempting vote off the least popular couples. With visits to Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg for the first time. Tour guide Brendan Sheerin and coach driver Paul Donald both returned for this series, which aired on Channel 4 with a similar end to series 2. David Quantick was the narrator and MT04 MTT was the registration number plate for the first and only time.

Series 4 (Spring 2010)

Coach Trip 4 was the fourth series of Coach Trip in the United Kingdom which that was filmed between 7 September and 27 October 2009 (before Borders became defunct) and aired from 15 February to 23 April 2010. The length of this series was longer than the previous instalments, increased from 30 days to 50 days for a tour centred on European, Mediterranean, North African and West Asian countries on a coach like series 1, 2 and 3 attempting to vote off the least popular couples. Tour guide Brendan Sheerin, coach driver Paul Donald and narrator David Quantick all returned for this series, which aired on Channel 4. MT09 MTT was the coach registration number plate.

Series 5 (Autumn 2010)

Coach Trip 5 was the fifth series of Coach Trip in the United Kingdom which was filmed from May till June 2010 (after the Iceland volcanic ash cloud) and aired from 30 August to 8 October 2010. The show's format changed slightly from previous series and with weekends included, from Day 2 of that the couple who received a yellow card the previous day would be immune from the following vote the next day. The series involves seven couples traveling on a one-month tour centering on Northern European countries for the first time, with visits to Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Tour guide Brendan Sheerin, coach driver Paul Donald and the MT09 MTT registration all returned for this series, which airs on Channel 4. Dave Vitty was the narrator for the first time and the airing time moved from 5:00 pm to 5:30 pm.

Series 6 (Spring 2011)

Coach Trip 6 was the sixth series of Coach Trip in the United Kingdom. It was filmed from July until August 2010 (before the Arab spring protests) and aired from 14 February to 25 March 2011. The voting system rules reverted to those of earlier series. The length of this series was the same as the previous non-celebrity series but with weekends excluded. The tour visited Mediterranean countries like series 2 but with visits to Switzerland added for a month. Tour guide Brendan Sheerin, coach driver Paul Donald, narrator Dave Vitty and the coach with registration number MT09 MTT all returned for this series, which was aired on Channel 4 with a similar start to series 2 and a similar end to series 4.

Series 7 (Autumn 2011)

Coach Trip 7 was the seventh series of Coach Trip in the United Kingdom. It was filmed from May until June 2011 (after the UK anti-austerity protests) and aired from 29 August to 7 October 2011. The length of this series was the same as the previous non-celebrity series but with weekends excluded. The European tour began in the UK, before moving to France, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic plus for the first time ever Poland and Slovakia. Tour guide Brendan Sheerin, coach driver Paul Donald, narrator Dave Vitty and the coach with registration number MT09 MTT all returned for this series, which was aired on Channel 4 with the airing time reverted to 5:00 pm, with a similar start to series 1 and a similar end to series 3.

Series 8 (2012)

Coach Trip 8 began airing on 30 January 2012 after the third celebrity series finished and is the eighth and final series of Coach Trip in the United Kingdom before the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. It was filmed from Monday 29 August until Saturday 1 October 2011 (after the England riots). The length of this series was the same as the previous non-celebrity series but with only 1 day of a weekend included at the end of the tour. The Mediterranean tour centring towards Western Asia began in the UK, before moving to Germany, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, and for the first time Macedonia. Tour guide Brendan Sheerin, coach driver Paul Donald, narrator Dave Vitty and the coach with registration number MT09 MTT all returned for the series with a similar start to series 3 and a similar end to series 4, which was aired weekdays on Channel 4 and the airing time again moved to 5:30 pm.

Series 9 (2014)

The ninth series of the British reality television game show Coach Trip began airing on 27 January 2014 on Channel 4, following the broadcaster's decision to renew the show. The ninth series has Brendan Sheerin present as tour guide and Paul Donald present as coach driver, as in all previous editions and MT09 MTT was the registration of the coach once again. Filming took place between September and October 2013 (after Take on the Twisters on ITV ended). The tour had a similar start to series 1 & 3 and includes visits to Sardinia for the first time.

Celebrity series

The logo and title card for Celebrity Coach Trip

Series 1 (2010)

Celebrity Coach Trip 1 was the first celebrity series of Coach Trip which was filmed from 6 to 17 September 2010 as is made clear from the reference from the Channel 4 website^[5] and began showing on 8 November 2010. The series featured celebrity contestants and the tour lasted 10 days, filmed across 2 weeks. The pair who lasted to the end and are voted the most popular by the rest of the group received a £1000 prize for charity.

Starting in Prague Ruzyně Airport^[5] it included visits to the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria and Italy. Tour guide Brendan Sheerin, narrator Dave Vitty, coach driver Paul Donald and the MT09 MTT registration all returned for these special episodes. Activities included sausage making, a ballet lesson, a visit to a beer spa, Soviet tank driving, walking on water, using Segways, a cookery lesson, a singing lesson and riding a bobsleigh.^[6]

The couples at the start were The Chuckle Brothers, Bianca Gascoigne with Imogen Thomas, Ricky Groves with Alex Ferns, Carol Harrison with Ingrid Tarrant and Raef Bjayou with Benjamin Duncan.^[7] Later being joined by Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan,^[8] Rodney Marsh, Cheryl Baker, David Van Day, Tony Blackburn^[9] and The Cheeky Girls.^[6]

On Day 4 of the series Brendan revealed that from Day 5 to Day 9 there would be no more yellow cards on the trip until future series, meaning the couple that received the most amount of votes would be red-carded off the trip that same day. Brendan also made this rule on day 24 of series 3 to stop the contestants spreading round the yellow-cards.

Series 2 (2011)

Celebrity Coach Trip 2 began on 10 October 2011 after series 7 finished airing. Filming took place from 9 to 23 April 2011. The pair who lasted to the end and are voted the most popular by the rest of the group received a £1000 prize for charity. Starting from Nice Côte d'Azur Airport, France, the coach had a journey around the Mediterranean the trip headed to Italy via Corsica for the first time taking in Tuscany (including Florence) and Rome.

The Voting system on this series: From days 1 to 5 a yellow card and from days 6 to 9 automatic red card.

The first five couples were:

• Big Brother contestants Brian Belo and Spencer Smith
• Make-up artist and DIY expert partners Gary Cockerill and Phil Turner (won the series and £1,000 for charity)
• WAG Lizzie Cundy and model Emma B
• Michael Barrymore and his friend TV producer Maurice Leonard
• Model Alex Best and former MP Lembit Opik (voted off 1st)

Joining the trip later were:

• John McCririck and his wife Jenny
• Stan Boardman and his daughter Andrea Boardman
• Comediennes Sandra Dickinson and Helen Lederer
• X Factor contestant Wagner and Britain's Got Talent duo Stavros Flatley.^[10]

Series 3 (2012)

Celebrity Coach Trip 3 was planned in 2011 but had aired from 16 to 27 January 2012 before series 8 started airing. Filming took place from 4 to 18 July 2011. The pair who lasted to the end and are voted the most popular by the rest of the group received a £1000 prize for charity, the coach had another journey around the Mediterranean. Venice Marco Polo Airport, Italy was the starting location and the first destination was Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The Voting system on this series was: From days 1 to 6 a yellow card and from days 7 to 9 an automatic red card.

The original couples were:

• Former EastEnders actors Derek Martin and John Altman (won the series and £1,000 for charity)
• Comedy double act Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball - 2nd place
• Former Royal butler Paul Burrell and etiquette expert Jean Broke-Smith - eliminated 4th
• Former MP Edwina Currie and her husband John Jones - eliminated 2nd
• Former Big Brother contestants Nikki Grahame and Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace - eliminated 1st

Joining the trip later were:

• WAGs Chantelle Tagoe and Jude Cisse - finalists
• Coronation Street duo Bruce Jones and Scott Wright - eliminated 3rd
• This Morning sstars Alison Hammond and Sharon Marshall - eliminated 5th
• DJs Mike Read and Fun House's Pat Sharp - finalists

Christmas series

Series 1 (2011)

Christmas Coach Trip was the first and only series of a Christmas-themed version of Coach Trip. It began airing on the same day as when the filming finished. The trip started from Trondheim Airport, Værnes, followed by Trondheim, Norway and the final destination was Inari, Finland. The tourists arrived back in Great Britain via Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen and the filming took place from 28 November to 12 December 2011.

Winners

Regular series

Celebrity series

Christmas series

Records

Transmissions

Regular series

Celebrity series

Christmas series

Other versions

Legend:      Currently airing        Ended        Future version  

Country/Region	Local title	Host	Network	Premiere/air dates
France	Le Bus (The Bus)	Frédéric Guillemin	M6	23 July – 24 August 2012
Germany[11]	Der VIP Bus - Promis auf Pauschalreise[12] (The VIP Bus – Celebrities on Package tour)	Olivia Jones	RTL Television	1 December 2013
Netherlands	TBC		TBC	2014/15
Quebec	Les Touristes[13] (The Tourists)	Patrick Groulx	V	17 September – 21 November 2012
Russia	TBC		TBC	2014/15

Related shows

On 24 June 2013, a replacement show called Brendan's Magical Mystery Tour began on Channel 4.^[14] The series was filmed from September 2012 (visiting first Barcelona, then Jamaica, then Cancún in Mexico and lastly Istanbul) and aired in the 5:00pm slot, narrated by Tupele Dorgu.

On 13 September 2012, Sheerin announced in an interview that he had signed a deal to host a new dating show for Channel 4, titled 'Brendan's Love Boat'.^[15] The show (produced by Optomen) was aired in December 2013, after being commissoned for a 20-episode series.^[16] The series, renamed Brendan's Love Cruise, began on 2 December on More4 in the 9:20am slot, narrated by Maria McErlane.^[17]

References

External links

• Coach Trip at channel4.com
• Coach Trip at the British Film Institute
• Coach Trip at the Internet Movie Database
• Celebrity Coach Trip at the Internet Movie Database
• Christmas Coach Trip at the Internet Movie Database
• Coach Trip at UKGameshows.com
• Coach hire company who supply the coaches used in the show