List of Balls of Steel episodes

This is a list of episodes for the British Channel 4 comedy Balls of Steel. Overall three series have aired between 19 August 2005 and 25 April 2008.

Series 1 (2005)

Episode # Title Airdate
1"Series 1 Episode 1"19 August 2005
  • Alex Zane's Games: Alex Zane's Buzzin' Game
    • Quick-fire general knowledge quiz in which the victim's buzzer is deliberately faulty, so that he loses to a stooge.
    • Final solo round is a wire loop game which buzzes when the contestant is near the end even though the loop didn't actually touch the wire.
  • The Annoying Devil: annoys people while they're going to work
  • Neg's Urban Sports: Big Stranger Rodeo
    • Jumps on a stranger and attempts to stay on for as long as possible.
  • The Pain Men: DIY tools
  • Prank TV with Miss Lee
  • Randy Cambell Stunts: 50ft jump into a Piranha filled children's paddling pool

Winner: Alex Zane's Buzzin' Game

2"Series 1 Episode 2"26 August 2005
  • The Annoying Devil: annoys people with his car
  • Toju – The Militant Black Guy
  • Alex Zane's Games: Alex Zane's Cleverness Game
    • One-on-one specialist knowledge quiz resembling Mastermind; however, most of the "correct" answers were in fact wrong.
  • The Big Gay Following
  • The Man Tester: shows a disability whereby she walks with a stagger
  • Randy Cambell Stunts: BMX jump over two cars and an angry monkey

Winner: The Annoying Devil

3"Series 1 Episode 3"2 September 2005
  • Prank TV with Miss Lee
  • Neg's Urban Sports: Urban Sprinting
    • Sets off shop security alarms and then runs from the guard to the nearest burger bar as quickly as possible.
  • The Annoying Devil: annoys people while they're shopping
  • The Bunny Boiler: Brighton Beach – Chris and Renée
  • The World's Worst: London cab driver
  • The Pain Men: the office

Winners: The Pain Men

4"Series 1 Episode 4"9 September 2005
  • Alex Zane's Games: Alex Zane's Lying Game
    • One-on-one interrogation using a fake lie detector.
  • Toju – The Militant Black Guy
  • The Naked Man: a walk through the Lake District
  • Prank TV with Miss Lee
  • The Man Tester: proposes sex with the man she meets with her boyfriend watching; the boyfriend then appears in a gimp suit
  • Randy Cambell Stunts: fired out of a cannon into a fishing net

Winner: Toju – The Militant Black Guy Note: This episode has since been banned from airing and removed from 4oD, due to controversy over practical jokes played on Tom Cruise and Sharon Osbourne.

5"Series 1 Episode 5"16 September 2005
  • The Annoying Devil: annoys people in their leisure time
  • The Bunny Boiler: the park – Donovan & Isabelle
  • The Pain Men: the kitchen
  • Alex Zane's Games: Alex Zane's Sex Contract Game
    • Dating show resembling Blind Date in which the contestants have purportedly signed a contract ensuring the girl and the guy she picks will have sexual intercourse; however, the girl is replaced with an uglier one at the last moment.
  • Neg's Urban Sports: Make them Move
    • Attempts to get people to move from a place as quickly as possible by making strange noises and gestures.
  • The World's Worst: barman

Winner: The Bunny Boiler

6"Series 1 Episode 6"23 September 2005
  • Prank TV with Miss Lee
  • The Big Gay Following
  • Alex Zane's Games: Alex Zane Brain Game
    • Turn-based general knowledge quiz between three contestants, one of which gets very difficult questions whereas the other two have very easy ones.
  • The Bunny Boiler: coffee shop – Greg & Jun
  • The Naked Man: Great Dorset Steam Fair (edited out of series DVD)
  • Randy Cambell Stunts: walk a tightrope over a shark

Winner: Prank TV with Miss Lee

7"Series 1 Episode 7"30 September 2005
  • The Annoying Devil: annoys people with signs
  • Prank TV with Miss Lee
  • Alex Zane's Games: The Alex Zane Spelling Game
    • One-on-one spelling quiz in which the contestant's answers are deliberately misheard (usually confusing M and N).
  • The Pain Men: the streets
  • The Man Tester: performs phone sex while in the man's company
  • Randy Cambell Stunts: jump over an oncoming car

Winner: The Annoying Devil

Series 2 (2007)

Episode # Title Airdate
8"Series 2 Episode 1"16 February 2007
  • Alex Zane's Games: Say What You See To Me AZ
    • Round 1: Identification game resembling Richard and Judy's You Say We Pay; however, Alex carefully avoids saying the answer.
    • Round 2: The roles are reversed; however, the contestant gets only one guess and the clues are often misleading.
    • Round 3: One contestant must draw something for Alex to identify; however, most of the pens don't work, and when the contestant finally manages to draw something Alex deliberately gets the answer wrong.
  • Neg's Urban Sports: Neg's Burger Bowl Off
    • Throws fast food at members of the public from the sunroof of a car, and scores based on the price paid for the food.
  • The Annoying Devil: annoys people while they're working
  • Prank TV with Miss Lee (USA): goes to Hollywood and surprises the stars by talking on sexual subjects
  • The Pain Men: the pub
    • Pool cue shoots the cue ball to person's head (8/10)
    • Darts are fired into buttocks (180/10)[2]
    • Beer bottle smashed on head (9/10)
  • The Fuckers: perform sex while being shown around houses by estate agents and in the back of a London cab

Winner: Neg's Burger Bowl off

9"Series 2 Episode 2"23 February 2007
  • The Big Gay Following
  • Alex Zane's Games: Alex Zane's Shocking Game
    • General knowledge quiz in which an electric shock is purportedly used as a forfeit; however, the same contestant ends up being shocked erratically.
  • The Bunny Boiler: as a tarot card reader – Ollie & Catherine
  • Neg's Urban Sports: Knock and Don't Run
    • Knocks on strangers' doors and keeps them standing with the door open for as long as possible.
  • Toju – The Militant Black Guy
  • Mr. Inappropriate

Winner: The Big Gay Following

10"Series 2 Episode 3"2 March 2007
  • Alex Zane's Games: From A to Z with Me AZ
    • A quiz similar to his Buzzin' Game, this time themed around a letter of the alphabet; also contains elements of the Spelling Game.
  • The Big Gay Following
  • Neg's Urban Sports: Neg's Urban Skittles
    • Goes into public buildings and gets the people inside to drop to the floor by pretending to be concealing a gun.
  • Prank TV with Miss Lee (USA)
  • The Pain Men: The great outdoors
    • Hand caught in a field trap (7/10)
    • Mouse trap on tongue (8/10)
    • Someone shot with a firemen's hose on full power (8/10)
  • Toju – The Militant Black Guy

Winner: Militant Black Guy

11"Series 2 Episode 4"9 March 2007
  • The Annoying Devil: annoys people in the dark
  • Neg's Urban Sports: Big Euro Stranger Rodeo
    • Same as the Big Stranger Rodeo of Series 1, with victims of various European nationalities.
  • Alex Zane's Games: Alex Zane's Object Game
    • Round 1: Contestant must identify an object from a close-up; however, in most cases the object is actually a larger scene of which the visible object is a part.
    • Round 2: Contestant must identify objects by touch while blindfolded; however, one of the objects is changed between the contestant feeling it and revealing what they actually are.
    • Round 3: Contestant must memorise ten objects that are thrown (too quickly to make out easily) across a conveyor belt.
  • The Bunny Boiler: as a lifeguard – Carn & Sharon
  • The Fuckers: perform sex on a boat on the River Thames, a pub and a car showroom
  • The Escapologist: Hypodermic Express – whilst he's trying to unchain himself from a model train track, three trains with hypodermic needles are set to run into his face, his left buttock and his testicles at different intervals

Winner: The Fuckers

12"Series 2 Episode 5"16 March 2007
  • Mr. Inappropriate
  • Prank TV with Miss Lee (USA)
  • The Annoying Devil: annoys one person all day
  • The Pain Men: household chores
  • The Big Gay Following
  • Toju – The Militant Black Guy

Winner: Prank TV with Miss Lee

13"Series 2 Episode 6"23 March 2007
  • Alex Zane's Games: Alex Zane's Famed Brain Game
    • Quiz against a celebrity opponent (The Cheeky Girls) who are fed the answers through a concealed earpiece.
  • Neg's Urban Sports: Neg's Keep 'em Out
    • Stands behind sliding doors and attempts to prevent people from entering.
  • The Annoying Devil: annoys people while they're relaxing
  • Penis Fly Trap
  • The Pain Men: school
    • School desk lid slammed into face (8/10)
    • Cane whacked across buttocks (9/10)
    • Wedgie performed by a crane (8/10)
  • The Fuckers: perform sex in a lift, a coin-operated toilet booth and the cinema

Winner: The Annoying Devil

Series 3 (2008)

Episode # Title Airdate
14"Series 3 Episode 1"21 March 2008
  • Alex Zane's Games: Alex Zane Couples Game
    • Interrogation of couples about their relationships, in which partners must agree on answers both between themselves and with a fake lie detector
  • Neg's Urban Sports: Neg's My Ball
    • Interrupts various ball sports, grabs the ball and attempts to retain possession for as long as possible.
  • Scummy Mummy: with her young son
    • chains him up outside a pub
    • swears while with him
    • lets him urinate on a shop floor
  • Big Gay Following: as a hypnotherapist
  • Deaf TV with Miss Lee
  • The Bunny Boiler: at a football match – Tom & Amy

Winner: Big Gay Following

15"Series 3 Episode 2"28 March 2008
  • The Annoying Devil: annoys English people with signs and then annoys people in France
  • Prank TV with Miss Lee (USA)
  • Alex Zane's Games: The Alex Zane Observation Game
    • A spot the difference game in which no differences any reasonable person could be expected to spot are present.
    • A photograph, which the victim seems for only something like 1 second instead of the claimed 10, followed by a question about it.
  • Neg's Urban Sports: Neg's Red Carpet Run
    • Crashes red carpet events and attempts to evade security staff for as long as possible.
  • The Pain Men: building site
  • Mr. Inappropriate

Winner: Mr. Inappropriate

16"Series 3 Episode 3"4 April 2008
  • The Bunny Boiler: as a masseuse – Couple 1: Hemal & Nella; Couple 2: Ian & Natalie
  • Knob Jockey – as a homosexual jockey he rides different men
  • The Annoying Devil: annoys people while they're trying to keep fit
  • Toju – The Militant Black Guy
  • Scummy Mummy: appearing to be pregnant
    • shows excessive flatulence
    • smokes
    • dives into a swimming pool
    • pretends her waters have broken while out shopping
  • Neg's Urban Sports: Urban Stag Hunting
    • Same as Burger Bowl Off from series 2, targeted at groups of men on a stag party.

Winner: The Annoying Devil

17"Series 3 Episode 4"11 April 2008
  • Alex Zane's Games: The Alex Zane Buzzin' Game (USA)
    • Same as the Buzzin' Game of Series 1.
  • Big Gay Following: holds auditions for his new play Hard Men
  • Prank TV with Miss Lee (USA)
  • The Pain Men: Toys
  • The Annoying Devil: Annoys people while they're trying to work
  • Mr. Inappropriate

Winners: Pain Men

18"Series 3 Episode 5"18 April 2008
  • Alex Zane's Games: The Alex Zane Heart Rate Game
    • Contestant must describe pictures while keeping their heart rate (as measured using a fake monitor) under control.
  • Scummy Mummy: with newborn baby
    • sprays somebody while trying to breastfeed
    • tries to get the baby a tattoo
    • smokes while with her
    • gives her alcohol at a pub
    • puts the baby in a car seat, but drives off having "accidentally" left it on the roof of the car
  • Neg's Urban Sports: Speed Smoking
    • Lights up in public buildings (where smoking had been made illegal the previous year) and attempts to take as many drags as possible while running from security staff.
  • The Bastard in Black: referees a football match but makes terrible decisions
  • Toju – The Militant Black Guy
  • Mr. Inappropriate

Winner: Alex Zane's Heart Rate Game

19"Series 3 Episode 6"25 April 2008
  • The Bunny Boiler: as a pottery teacher – Benn & Katiyana
  • Big Gay Following
  • The Annoying Devil: calls people to his house to annoy them
  • The Pain Men: Olympics to celebrate the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 olympic and paralympic games
  • Neg's Urban Sports: Neg's Swear Bingo
    • Knocks on strangers' doors and attempts to make them say as many as possible of six swear words.
  • Alex Zane's Games: The Alex Zane Spelling Game (USA)
    • The same as before, with the added element of the British spelling of colour being expected despite both the contestant's nationality and the show's location.

Winners: Pain Men

Notes

  1. This 10 out of 10 was an awkwardness rating rather than a pain rating
  2. The 180 is a reference to the highest score in darts