This ITV game show featured ordinary members of the public as well as stunt professionals taking on hair-raising challenges, including walking along a girder just eight inches wide, suspended between two hot air balloons at 3,000 feet, and abseiling 100 feet down a sheer cliff and then free-falling towards the ground attached only to a dynamic climber’s rope.
Some of the other “Challenge of a Lifetime” tasks included climbing out of a helicopter flying at an altitude of 1,000 ft over Canada’’s Hudson River, exiting from the back of a moving train to scale up a rope ladder, climb on to the roof and proceed to walk along the top of the train, climbing up the suspension cables of New York’s Brooklyn Bridge to the top of the tower and then down again the other side, and bungee jumping from South Africa’s Bloukrans River Bridge – the highest bridge in the southern hemisphere and the third highest bridge in the world.
Hostess Davina McCall did not escape without being prodded into attempting the odd challenge – such as trying to walk along a thin plank suspended between two 12-storey tower blocks in Sydney, Australia, and driving a Mini Moke across a ravine along two parallel girders with the sea crashing a nerve-wracking 100 feet below.
Paul Hendy presented a weekly slot called ‘Paul in the Mall’ where he convinced ordinary folk to complete a specific task (anything from drinking through your own sock to eating live maggots). If they failed, Paul had to perform the same task himself.
He also hosted a segment called ‘Face Your Phobia’, where he encouraged people to confront their worst fears.
The series was cancelled in 2001 when Davina McCall became pregnant.
A spin-off series – Challenge of a Lifetime – was created as a vehicle for Claire Sweeney. It did not have the same success and was cancelled after one season.
Presenters
Davina McCall
Paul Hendy
Kate Thornton Announcer
Russ Williams
Some of the other “Challenge of a Lifetime” tasks included climbing out of a helicopter flying at an altitude of 1,000 ft over Canada’’s Hudson River, exiting from the back of a moving train to scale up a rope ladder, climb on to the roof and proceed to walk along the top of the train, climbing up the suspension cables of New York’s Brooklyn Bridge to the top of the tower and then down again the other side, and bungee jumping from South Africa’s Bloukrans River Bridge – the highest bridge in the southern hemisphere and the third highest bridge in the world.
Paul Hendy presented a weekly slot called ‘Paul in the Mall’ where he convinced ordinary folk to complete a specific task (anything from drinking through your own sock to eating live maggots). If they failed, Paul had to perform the same task himself.
