Famous and Fearless

{{Short description|Television series}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2014}}

{{more citations needed|date=January 2011}}

{{Infobox television

| image =

| genre = Reality game show

| presenter = Chris Evans

| voices = Nick Fellows

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| num_series = 1

| num_episodes = 6

| runtime = 95–120 minutes

| company = Princess Productions

| network = Channel 4

| first_aired = {{start date|df=y|2011|1|2}}

| last_aired = {{end date|df=y|2011|1|7}}

}}

Famous and Fearless is a reality game show series in which 8 celebrities compete in extreme sporting events to win money for their respective chosen charity. It aired in January 2011 on Channel 4 and was presented by Chris Evans and Clare Balding with Jack Osbourne appearing alongside them as a guest in most shows.[http://famousandfearless.channel4.com/ Famous And Fearless] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110107035028/http://famousandfearless.channel4.com/ |date=7 January 2011 }} Channel 4 The commentator of the events was Nick Fellows. The winner was Charley Boorman. The live part of Famous and Fearless was broadcast from the Liverpool Echo Arena, where all the Head-to-Heads and other events happened before an arena audience.

Celebrities

Eight celebrities competed, split into two divisions – boys and girls. On 7 January 2011, Charley Boorman won the boys' group and Kelly Holmes won the girls, with the former becoming the overall champion.

class=wikitable
scope="col" | Celebrity

! scope="col" | Known for

Charley Boorman

|Actor and TV adventurer, presenter of By Any Means, Race to Dakar, Long Way Round and Long Way Down

Jenny Frost

|Singer, former member of Atomic Kitten and presenter of Snog Marry Avoid?, former I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! contestant

Jonah Lomu

|Former rugby union footballer for the All Blacks from New Zealand

Kacey Ainsworth

|Actress, played Little Mo Slater in EastEnders

Dame Kelly Holmes

|Olympic gold medallist

Rufus Hound

|Comedian and TV personality, winner of Let's Dance for Sport Relief

Sam Branson

|Son of entrepreneur and Virgin Group owner Richard Branson

Sarah Jayne Dunn

|Actress, played Mandy Richardson in Hollyoaks

Events

Day 1

Day 2

  • Mini Moto (Girls)
  • Powerboat (Boys)
  • Monster Truck Assault Course (Head to Head)

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6 (Finale)

Charley Boorman beat Dame Kelly Holmes in Demolition Derby to become the eventual winner of Famous And Fearless.

Reception

Famous and Fearless received mostly negative reviews from British media outlets. Stuart Heritage of The Guardian stated that the contestants were not celebrities and the events were not extreme. He went on to say Celebrity Big Brother's successor may have been more successful if it had been 'a mindless Saturday evening ITV show.'.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/jan/04/famous-and-fearless|work=The Guardian|author=Stuart Heritage|title=Famous and Fearless: scarily bad TV?|date=4 January 2011}} The Independent claimed the show was too noisy and mislead viewers with its title, suggesting 'Vaguely Recognisable and Game for a Laugh' or 'Who's That and Why Is That Dangerous?' as more fitting titles.{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/thomas-sutcliffe/tom-sutcliffe-famous-fearless-a-format-too-far-2177732.html |title=Famous? Fearless? A format too far? |author=Thomas Sutcliff |date=7 January 2011 |work=The Independent |accessdate=7 March 2011}}

Ratings

class=wikitable style="text-align:center;"
scope="col" | Episode

! scope="col" | Date

! scope="col" | Rating (Millions)

Episode 1

|2 January 2011

|2.27[http://www.barb.co.uk/whats-new/weekly-top-30 Top Weekly Programmes] Broadcasters Audience Research Board

Episode 2

|3 January 2011

|1.73{{Cite web |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a295845/silent-witness-suspicion-tie-at-9pm.html |title='Silent Witness', 'Suspicion' tie at 9 pm |author=Andrew Laughlin |date=4 January 2011 |work=Digital Spy |accessdate=9 January 2011}}

Episode 3

|4 January 2011

|1.63{{Cite web |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a296107/silent-witness-beats-above-suspicion.html |title='Silent Witness' beats 'Above Suspicion' |author=Andrew Laughlin |date=5 January 2011 |work=Digital Spy |accessdate=9 January 2011}}

Episode 4

|5 January 2011

|1.70

Episode 5

|6 January 2011

|1.30{{Cite web |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a296549/not-going-out-returns-with-47m.html |title='Not Going Out' returns with 4.7m |author=Andrew Laughlin |date=7 January 2011 |work=Digital Spy |accessdate=9 January 2011}}

Episode 6

|7 January 2011

|1.44{{Cite web |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s119/hustle/news/a296773/bbc-ones-hustle-back-with-57m.html |title=BBC One's 'Hustle' back with 5.7m |author=Paul Millar |date=8 January 2011 |work=Digital Spy |accessdate=9 January 2011}}

Cancellation

In February 2011, it was reported that the series had been axed after one series due to poor ratings.{{Cite web |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a304906/channel-4-axes-famous-and-fearless.html |title=Channel 4 axes Famous and Fearless |author=Ryan Love |date=21 February 2011 |work=Digital Spy |accessdate=7 March 2011}}

References

{{Reflist}}