Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge

Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge
Genre Game show
Presented by Laura Hamilton
Geno Segers (Series 1–2)
Andy Akinwolere (Series 3–5)
Theme music composer Paul Farrer
Country of origin United States
United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 5
No. of episodes 50
Production
Executive producer(s) Nigel Pickard
Ged Allen
Pierre Godde
Producer(s) Steve Pinhay
Location(s) Fort Boyard, France
Running time 22 minutes (Series 1–2)
52 minutes (Series 3–5)
Production company(s) Adventure Line Productions
The Foundation
Distributor Zodiak Media
Broadcast
Original channel Disney XD (USA)
CITV (UK)
Picture format 16:9 (UK)
Original run 17 October 2011 – 23 March 2012 (USA)
1 January 2012 – 17 December 2014 (UK)
Chronology
Related shows Fort Boyard
External links
Production website

Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge is a CITV game show that premiered on 1 January 2012 in the United Kingdom. The first two series were a co-production with Disney XD, airing from October 17, 2011[1] to March 23, 2012 in the United States.

The show is a challenge game where six teams of teenagers battle-to-the-finish to win the Ultimate Challenge and become "Conquerors of The Fort". The show is a revived version of the original Fort Boyard and was presented by Geno Segers and Laura Hamilton in the first two series. In May 2012, Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge was renewed for a third series.[2] It was also revealed that Andy Akinwolere would be the new co-host, replacing Segers. Hamilton and Akinwolere both returned to present series 4 and 5.

In the UK, the third series began on 8 December 2012 and was simulcast on the ITV network. The fourth series began airing on 20 October 2013 and the fifth (and final) series on 15 October 2014.

The series was also rolled-out globally (excluding France and the Nordic countries) on the Disney network.

Format

Six teams compete against each other in a tournament. Each episode, two teams face each other in a battle to see who is the strongest and toughest team. The challenges are based on toughness, fear and speed. In each season, the teams play three times each; with the two teams which have the most gold coins returning for the final round of the tournament at the series' finale.

Every level, the teams fight to get a key which helps them in the final level of the game in the Treasure Chamber. If they get three (five from series 3) keys or more at the end of the game, they get the maximum amount of time in the Treasure Chamber (3:00); but if they get two (four from series 3) keys or less, a time penalty will be dealt out (see below). If a team wins a 4th key (6th or more from series 3), they receive an extra 150 bonus coins per key which are added to their final total.

Games

Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge uses the same games as the original show; but with different names, no lock-ins and may also be slightly adapted in order to suit the show. For example, in Boiler Room the contestant is not hancuffed to the pipe; instead must move a chain with the key on through the maze and out to the exit within the time limit.

Each solo team challenge is against the water clock (a clepsdyre) usually set at either 1:30, 2:00 or 2:30 minutes. Some games (such as Tightrope and nearly all duels) require a code to open the box containing the key, which is outside the room or nearby the other team members. Games involving members of both teams are not against the water clock and are known as "duels".

Regular Games

For more detailed information, see Phase One and Phase Two sections of the main Fort Boyard article.

In order of first appearance:

Series 1:

  • Caterpillar (Duel)
  • Slot Machine
  • Terror Walk (Duel)
  • Dark Descent
  • Key To The Sea (Duel)
  • Pots of Fear
  • Human Catapult/Leap of Faith
  • Hanging Tough (Duel)
  • Running Water
  • Shrinking Room (Duel)
  • Creature Count
  • Tight Rope
  • Power Pull (Duel)
  • Sky Bike
  • Rapid Ascent (Duel)
  • Candy Roll
  • Ladder Race (Duel)
  • Giant Chopsticks
  • Boiler Room
  • Giant Loom
  • Ocean Plunge (Duel, or solo in series 4)
  • Power Pedal
  • Spiders and Scorpions
  • Raft Race (Duel)
  • Sunken House
  • Tension Bridge (duel)
  • Mission Impossible
  • Raging Sea (Duel) (alternate version of 'Ocean Plunge')
  • Spider's Web (previously 'Human Catapult' Ver. 2)

Introduced in Series 2:

  • Punch Ball
  • Unstable Chair
  • Turnstile
  • Snake Pit
  • Leap of Faith Ver. 2
  • Infernal Ladder (Duel)

Introduced in Series 3:

  • Pole Position
  • Trapdoor (Duel)
  • Poles Apart (Duel)
  • Face to Face
  • Rock the Boat
  • Rocket Launcher
  • Coffee Grinder
  • Swings
  • Cold Room
  • Red Alert
  • Creature Code (alternate version of 'Creature Count')
  • Underwater Dome (alternate version of 'Sunken House')
  • Monkey Ladder (Duel)
  • Gyroscope
  • Balancing Balls (Duel)
  • Pyramid
  • Underwater Net-Ball
  • Walk the Plank
  • Sea-Saw
  • Vertical Ascent (Duel)
  • Giant Catapults (Duel)
  • Round the World
  • Submerged Cage
  • Human Bell

Introduced in Series 4:

  • Key To The Sea Ver. 2 (Duel)
  • Hammocks (Duel)
  • Dizzy Dash
  • Stand Tough (Duel)
  • Shrinking Room Ver. 2 (Duel)
  • Underwater Balloons (Duel)
  • Ring Run
  • Haunted House
  • Spin Cycle
  • Pedal Pump
  • Deadly Drop (Duel)
  • Pressure Tank
  • Library
  • Balancing Brollies

Introduced in Series 5:

  • Tiger Terror
  • Blind Faith (Duel)
  • Ketchup Factory
  • Balance Bike
  • Tug of Four (Duel)
  • Garbage Grinder
  • Giant Spring
  • Ocean Climb
  • Sea Spin
  • Pressure Pull (Duel)
  • Equilibrium (Duel)
  • Sunken Spheres (Duel)
  • Flooded Prison
  • Joust (Duel)

Council Duels

Before the teams go to the Treasure Chamber, the final challenge in each episode is a non-timed duel in the Council 'hallway' (an open area on the second floor close to where "Cold Room" is located) between both teams.

Tests usually involve a level of skill and speed; such as building a tower with shaped blocks, using chopsticks to write the word "Boyard" on a pole or hammering nails into a piece of wood. The whole team(s) take part in the duel and the winners receive the final key of the day. Games played so far include:

In order of first appearance:

  1. Surface Tension
  2. Tipping Point
  3. Tower Build
  4. Balance of Forces
  5. Letter Pick
  6. Hammer Time
  7. Reflex
  8. Weights
  9. Hang Nail
  10. Floating Towers
  11. Dominoes
  12. Shape Stack
  13. Roach Race

The Treasure Chamber

The Treasure Chamber is the climax to each episode of Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge. The gold is stored here, which is guarded by the Fort's tigers (except in series 1 to 3).

Series 1 and 2

Before they enter the chamber, each team is handed a scroll with a plan of the board (a giant alphabet chessboard), which is composed of Georgian letters and the word "Fort Boyard" is also written out on it. On this chessboard, they must place four circular plates of color, as shown in the plan. These plates are hidden in the decorative elements of the chamber (a treasure chest, barrel or underneath ropes). They must therefore find where they are hidden. Boxes are suspended in the fountain and the key for the coins is on top of a vertical rod above and on either side of the Fountain.

Once a team has found and placed their four plates in the right place, the captain returns his/her hand to a tiger's head located nearby the entrance. If correct, the key is released to open their chest containing the coins. Once the chest is opened, coins fall into the fountain below. The team members must collect as many of these coins as possible and put them into a Plexiglas box near the entrance.

At 0:20 seconds from the end of the 3 minutes, a bell rings and the gate of the Treasure Chamber begins to descend and the 8 candidates must get out before it closes.

Then it's time to weigh the coins; two candidates from each team take turns placing their container on the scales to set the number of points scored by the team. At the end of the show, the ranking of teams is updated compared to previous results

Keys for the Treasure Chamber

No. of keys Time awarded
4 3:00 minutes + 150 bonus coins
3 3:00 minutes
2 2:40 minutes
1 2:40 minutes (for 3 team members),
2:20 minutes (for the other 1 team member)
0 2:40 minutes (for 2 team members),
2:20 minutes (for the other 2 team members)

Series 3 onwards

Several changes were made to the Treasure Chamber in this series, including a new time structure and layout. For example, the crests are not hidden.

Keys for the Treasure Chamber

No. of keys Time awarded
6 or more 3:00 minutes
+ 150 bonus coins per key
5 3:00 minutes
4 2:50 minutes
3 2:40 minutes
2 2:30 minutes
1 2:20 minutes
0 2:10 minutes

Filming

Fort Boyard from the air

Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge is set and filmed on the Fort Boyard fortress, on the west coast of France.

From a broadcasting perspective, Fort Boyard itself was refurbished during 1988–89 to become, essentially, a large outdoor television studio. The Fort has its own doctor, catering facilities, as well as production gallery and veterinary centre. The Fort is equipped with 10 portable television cameras, one camera crane for overhead shots, one under-water camera as well as a number of smaller cameras which specifically cover individual games and challenges around the Fort.

Filming took place between 9–15 July 2011; consisting of two seasons of 10 episodes each. A third season was filmed from 7–14 July 2012, with a further 10 episodes made. The fourth was filmed from 18–25 June 2013 and the fifth from 22–27 June 2014.

Teams

In series 1 and 2, there were 24 participants (48 in total) from 13 to 19 years of age, divided into 6 teams (12 teams in total) of 4 members with two British and two American members in each team. However, in series 3 (2012), contestants were from 14 to 18 years of age and were all British. In Series 4, they were 12 to 18 year olds. In addition, each team has a captain.

Series 5 in 2014 saw an overhaul in team colors and animals; a new set of six team names were introduced to replace the original names: (Grey) Rhinos, (Orange) Tigers, (Green) Crocodiles, (Black) Tarantulas, (Yellow) Eagles and (Purple) Cobras.

In the first two series the teams consisted of three boys and a girl; from the third series, there are two boys and two girls per team.

Each team has a color and a symbol of animal:

Series 1 to 4:

  • Yellow Scorpions

Series 1: Shona, Nathan, Jake, Louis
Series 2: Shane, Zachary, Billy, Emily
Series 3: Jay, Charlotte, Joe, Tia
Series 4: Ruby, George, Dean, Paige

  • Red Vipers

Series 1: Tashi, William, Jimmy, Ashley
Series 2: Jack, Laura, Kailum, Matt
Series 3: Jamie, John, Lauren, Angharad
Series 4: Tahlia, Jack, Suzanne, Nyv

  • Silver Dragons

Series 1: Harry, Kyle, Kennedy, Charlie
Series 2: Charles, Sashank, Lara, James
Series 3: Ash, Megan, Sophie, Sam
Series 4: Alex, Maddie, Hayden, Maryam

  • Green Jaguars

Series 1: Amy, Matt, Ryan, Xavier
Series 2: Jordan, Jackson, Joseph, Imogen
Series 3: Izzy, Tom, Mike, Celest
Series 4: Charlii, Elias, Sophie, Jordan

  • Blue Sharks

Series 1: Max, Natalie, Shaun, Ivan
Series 2: Simon, Adrienne, Alex, David
Series 3: Alec, Abi, Michael, Shannon
Series 4: Tim, Katie, Rahman, Josie

  • White Falcons

Series 1: Kasey, Katherine, Joe, Peter
Series 2: Mitchell, Julia, Zach, Callum
Series 3: Jake, Jack, Courtney, Beth
Series 4: Ella, Jake, Daisy, Josh

Series 5 onwards:

  • Grey Rhinos

Series 5: Sam, Katy, Josh, J'nae

  • Orange Tigers

Series 5: Claire, Charlie, Alex, Corey

  • Purple Cobras

Series 5: Finton, Olivia, Oli, Scarlet

  • Black Tarantulas

Series 5: Abi, Harry, Lauren, Charlie

  • Yellow Eagles

Series 5: Ben, Chloe, Brandon, Georgia

  • Green Crocodiles

Series 5: Katy, Jack, Amelia, Alex

Episodes

Series 1

Episode No. Teams Air Date (USA) Air Date (UK) U.S. viewers
(hundred thousands)
1 Yellow Scorpions Vs Red Vipers October 17, 2011 January 1, 2012 5.37[3]
2 White Falcons Vs Blue Sharks October 18, 2011 January 7, 2012 4.6[4]
3 Silver Dragons Vs Green Jaguars October 19, 2011 January 14, 2012 3.4[5]
4 Blue Sharks Vs Red Vipers October 24, 2011 January 21, 2012 4.3[6]
5 Yellow Scorpions Vs Green Jaguars October 25, 2011 January 28, 2012 2.9[7]
6 Silver Dragons Vs White Falcons October 26, 2011 February 4, 2012 3.5[8]
7 Yellow Scorpions Vs Blue Sharks November 1, 2011 February 11, 2012 5.2[9]
8 Red Vipers Vs Silver Dragons November 2, 2011 February 18, 2012 2.46[10]
9 Green Jaguars Vs White Falcons November 7, 2011 February 25, 2012 3.6[11]
10 (final) Yellow Scorpions Vs Green Jaguars November 7, 2011 March 3, 2012 3.7[11]

Series 2

Episode No. Teams Air Date (USA) Air Date (UK)
1 Blue Sharks Vs White Falcons January 16, 2012 March 10, 2012
2 Yellow Scorpions Vs Red Vipers January 17, 2012 March 17, 2012
3 Green Jaguars Vs Silver Dragons January 18, 2012 March 24, 2012
4 Red Vipers Vs Blue Sharks January 19, 2012 March 31, 2012
5 White Falcons Vs Sliver Dragons January 20, 2012 April 1, 2012
6 Yellow Scorpions Vs Green Jaguars January 23, 2012 April 7, 2012
7 Red Vipers Vs Silver Dragons January 24, 2012 April 8, 2012
8 Blue Sharks Vs Yellow Scorpions January 25, 2012 April 14, 2012
9 White Falcons Vs Green Jaguars January 26, 2012 April 21, 2012
10 (final) Silver Dragons Vs Blue Sharks January 27, 2012 April 28, 2012

Series 3

Episode No. Teams Air Date (UK)
1 Green Jaguars Vs White Falcons December 8, 2012
2 Blue Sharks Vs Silver Dragons December 9, 2012
3 Red Vipers Vs Yellow Scorpions December 15, 2012
4 Yellow Scorpions Vs Green Jaguars December 16, 2012
5 White Falcons Vs Sliver Dragons December 22, 2012
6 Blue Sharks Vs Red Vipers December 23, 2012
7 Blue Sharks Vs White Falcons December 26, 2012
8 Red Vipers Vs Green Jaguars December 27, 2012
9 Yellow Scorpions Vs Silver Dragons December 29, 2012
10 (final) Blue Sharks Vs Green Jaguars December 30, 2012

Note: episodes 7–10 were not simulcast on both UK channels as usual; the airdates are for ITV1 only. CITV will air these at a later date, due to schedule changes and in order to celebrate its 30th birthday.[12]

Series 4

Episode No. Teams Air Date (UK)
1 Yellow Scorpions Vs Blue Sharks October 20, 2013
2 White Falcons Vs Green Jaguars October 27, 2013
3 Red Vipers Vs Silver Dragons November 3, 2013
4 Silver Dragons Vs Green Jaguars November 10, 2013
5 White Falcons Vs Yellow Scorpions November 17, 2013
6 Red Vipers Vs Blue Sharks November 24, 2013
7 Yellow Scorpions Vs Silver Dragons December 1, 2013
8 Red Vipers Vs White Falcons December 8, 2013
9 Blue Sharks Vs Green Jaguars December 15, 2013
10 (final) White Falcons Vs Green Jaguars December 22, 2013

Series 5

Episode No. Teams Air Date (UK)
1 Rhinos Vs Tigers October 15, 2014
2 Cobras Vs Tarantulas October 22, 2014
3 Crocodiles Vs Eagles October 29, 2014
4 Eagles Vs Cobras November 5, 2014
5 Tarantulas Vs Tigers November 12, 2014
6 Rhinos Vs Crocodiles November 19, 2014
7 Eagles Vs Tigers November 26, 2014
8 Cobras Vs Rhinos December 3, 2014
9 Tarantulas Vs Crocodiles December 10, 2014
10 (final) Rhinos Vs Tarantulas December 17, 2014

Transmissions

USA

Season Episodes Originally aired
First aired Last aired
1 10 17 October 2011 7 November 2011
2 10 16 January 2012 27 January 2012

UK

Season Episodes Originally aired
First aired Last aired
1 10 1 January 2012 3 March 2012
2 10 10 March 2012 28 April 2012
3 10 8 December 2012 30 December 2012
4 10 20 October 2013 22 December 2013
5 10 15 October 2014 17 December 2014

Awards and nominations

Awards
Year Award Category Result
2014 British Academy Children's Awards Best Children's Entertainment[13] Nominated

References

External links

Comprehensive fan sites: