Serious, Serious Explorers in later series, is an observational documentary series made by the BBC and broadcast as part of their children's programming. It encompasses Serious Jungle (2002), Serious Desert (2003), Serious Arctic (2005), Serious Amazon (2006), Serious Andes (2007), Serious Ocean (2008) and two series of Serious Explorers (2011).
Serious Ocean consisted of ten 30-minute episodes, while each previous series was six 30-minute episodes. In each series a group of eight 12- to 15-year-olds embark on an expedition to an extreme part of the world, in order to help wildlife or assist in environmental projects. The programmes have won numerous awards, among them honours from BAFTA and the Royal Television Society.
Series guide
Serious Jungle (2002)
The series (then known as Extreme Challenge) was first announced by Nigel Pickard, Controller of CBBC, on 19 November 2001. Serious Jungle was aired around Christmas 2002 and New Year 2003.
{|class="wikitable"
|-
|+Serious Jungle Adventurers<!---https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462134/--->
|-
! Adventurer
! Age
! Location
|-
|Daniel Harrison
|12
|St. Helens, Merseyside
|-
|Imogen Forbes
|13
|London
|-
|Hannah Davis
|15
|Sidcup, Kent
|-
|J.C. Lee
|14
|Nantwich, Cheshire
|-
|Laura Baker
|14
|Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
|-
|Luke Gibson
|14
|Basildon, Essex
|-
|Susan Wokoma
|14
|London
|-
|Larry Downing
|15
|Robertsbridge, East Sussex
|}
Larry gave an interview in 2007, giving advice to those about to apply for Serious Ocean, as well as some advice for successful applicants.
Serious Desert (2003)
Serious Desert aired from 20 to 31 October 2003. After 6,500 applications, eight adventurers were chosen to travel to Namibia and try and save the endangered black rhinoceros. They sleep under tarpaulin in the dunes and see black rhinos, but also wildebeest, zebra, springbok, giraffes, jackals, snakes, scorpions and elephants. Filming from 13 April to 5 May 2003, they build a new camel enclosure and finally make an epic fifty mile trek across the Namibian sand dunes to the Skeleton Coast. Returning from the previous series, Bruce Parry and Emma Jay were the expedition leaders who led the team.
{|class="wikitable"
|+Serious Desert Adventurers
|-
! Adventurer
! Age
! Location
|-
|Ellie
|13
|London
|-
|Holly
|13
|Bristol
|-
|Martin
|14
|London
|-
|Chris
|14
|Devon
|-
|Perry
|14
|Sunderland
|-
|Promise
|13
|London
|-
|Aimee
|15
|Belfast, Northern Ireland
|-
|David
|15
|Edinburgh, Scotland
|}
Along with Larry from the previous series, Promise was interviewed in 2007, giving her opinion on what it was like to have the cameras following her around on the expedition.
|-
! Adventurer
! Age
! Location
|-
|Adam
|12
|Liverpool
|-
|Fabian Rivers
|12
|Birmingham
|-
|Courtenay Hamilton
|}
Serious Amazon (2006)
Serious Amazon aired from 25 February to 26 March 2006, and had a then-record of 29,000 12- to 15-year-olds auditioning for a part. The chosen team of eight left for Peru on 9 July 2005,
|-
! Adventurer
! Age
! Location
|-
|Beth
|15
|Essex
|-
|Georgia
|13
|Derby
|-
|Jamie
|15
|Gwent, Wales
|-
|Matt
|14
|Liverpool
|-
|Cally
|13
|Edinburgh, Scotland
|-
|Simran
|14
|Berkshire
|-
|Jonathan
|13
|London
|-
|Sam
|14
|Edinburgh, Scotland
|}
Serious Andes (2007)
Serious Andes aired from 4 June to 20 August 2007 and followed eight adventurers who, after being chosen from a then-record 36,000 12-to-15-year-olds, travelled to Ecuador to build an enclosure for spectacled bears. They also set out to climb the Cotopaxi volcano, the youngest team ever to have done so. Only four of the adventurers (Erin, Kylie, Will and Caitlin) were able to conquer the volcano, as the other four adventurers (Sarah, Liam, Matt and Joshua) were unable to do so, with some succumbing to early symptoms of acute mountain sickness. The season was filmed between 12 July and 3 August 2006. The Serious Andes eight were again accompanied by leaders Ben Major and Polly Murray.
|-
! Adventurer
! Age
! Location
|-
|Joshua
|12
|Twickenham, Middlesex
|-
|Will
|15
|High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
|-
|Matt
|14
|Addlestone, Surrey
|13
|Garnethill, Glasgow
|15
|Bo'ness, Scotland
|-
|Kylie Mautenyane
|15
|Middlesbrough
|-
|Sarah
|15
|London
|}
Serious Ocean (2008)
Serious Ocean was filmed in November and December 2007 featuring eight adventurers travelling to the isolated coast of Chile, living on a boat, assisting research into penguins, dolphins and albatrosses before moving on to assist in the survey of Glacier Chloe, the most southerly glacier outside Antarctica. The highlight of the trip, however, was when they sailed around Cape Horn, becoming one of the youngest teams ever to do so. The Serious Ocean eight were once again accompanied by expedition leaders Ben Major and Polly Murray. The series was first aired in July 2008.
A book of the series was released during December 2007, entitled Serious Survival: How to Poo in the Arctic and Other Essential Tips, owing to the success of its broadcasting history. Written by the Series Producer Marshall Corwin, Serious Survival was shortlisted for the prestigious Royal Society Junior Science Books Prize.
{|class="wikitable"
|+Serious Ocean Adventurers
|-
! Adventurer
! Age
! Location
|-
|Harry
|13
|Lancashire
|-
|Katie Barclay
|13
|Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland
|-
|Callum Kenny<!---Scroll down to the Page 9---> <!---Scroll down to Callum's BBC Voyage Page 8--->
|14
|Colton, Leeds
|-
|Robyn
|12
|Woodley, Berkshire
|-
|Charlotte
|13
|Clwyd, Wales
|-
|Conor
|15
|Liverpool
|-
|Sybil
|14
|London
|-
|David
|15
|London
|}
Serious Explorers: Livingstone (2009–2011)
Initially, the next Serious series was to be filmed in China, and would have followed the journey of 13th-century explorer, Marco Polo, including joining a camel train in the Taklamakan Desert, climbing mountains, and spending time with local tribes. Despite this, the series began broadcasting as Serious Explorers: Livingstone in February 2011. During the expedition three of the most promising of the seven explorers were chosen to cross the Mbarika mountain range, while the remaining four stayed behind to build an enclosure to fend off lions in a village; in the final episode, having come close to their target, the death of Anton was reported, who had gone out in advance of the day's trek over Mbarika to ensure the walk would be safe. Expedition leader Ben immediately called a halt to the Mbarika trek, and the series ended. Anton was posthumously awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal in 2012.
Serious Explorers: Raleigh (2011)
In late 2010, CBBC began to look for participants for a new Serious Explorers for production in early 2011 which followed the explorers led by Walter Raleigh sailing from Trinidad and Tobago to Guyana. The applications were cut down from around 12,000 to 300, who were given phone auditions in late October. The next stage was a Skype audition which took place in early November. 105 people were picked to go to an audition in Manchester or London on 23 November 2010 (Manchester) and 25 November 2010 (London). 16 children were picked for a final auditions weekend in December, where the final eight were chosen. The final eight started their journey on 31 January 2011.
The series began broadcasting in September 2011 and finished broadcasting in late November 2011. There were 10 episodes and 1 special episode called Serious Survival which was aired on 7 December 2011.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Adventurer
! Age
! Location
|-
| Megan
| 13
| England
|-
| Chanelle Houlder
| 14
| England
|-
| Nikita McArthur
| 12
| England
|-
| Sammie Hatichavadi
| 13
| Scotland
|-
| Michael Tyke Denton
| 14
| England
|-
| Josh Morrison
| 14
| Northern Ireland
|-
| Regan Wharton
| 13
| England
|-
| Jake Bell
| 12
| England
|}
Awards
The Serious show won several awards, including five British Academy Children's Awards in the Factual category: Serious Desert in 2004, Serious Arctic in 2005, Serious Andes in 2008, Serious Ocean in 2010 and Serious Amazon in 2006. The Royal Television Society has also given the series three awards; Best Children's Programme in 2002 for Serious Jungle, 2005 for Serious Arctic and 2007 for Serious Andes. along with a Broadcast Award and a Bulldog Award.
Serious Ocean won the Maritime Media Award 2008, beating off competition from adult series such as the BBC's Trawlermen and Channel 5's Warship.
International broadcast
So far only Serious Amazon, Serious Ocean and Serious Andes have been aired in Australia, on ABC1 and ABC3.
The series has also been shown on Discovery Kids and The Hub, where five complete seasons have been shown.<!---for the record, Serious Jungle, Desert, Arctic, Amazon & Andes were the five seasons that have been aired on the Discovery Kids channel--> Slovenian television Kanal A has bought the rights to air Serious Amazon. The show airs Saturdays at 2:10 pm, under the title Vse o Amazonki (All About the Amazon).
The Italian television network RAI in early 2009 aired Serious Jungle, Serious Desert, Serious Arctic, Serious Amazon, and Serious Andes.
Notes
References
External links
- BBC New Talent: Serious Ocean