Total Wipeout axed by the BBC

With budget cuts, redundancies and a massive hole in the BBC's budget after it forked out a rumoured £22m for the broadcasting rights to The Voice, it was a given that the BBC would ditch the plug on a few shows.

But today's news came at quite a shock. Yes, Total Wipeout - the gameshow which sees contestants running round an 'activity' course in sunny Argentina to win money, and make us laugh - has been axed from our screens.

The show was a massive hit for the Beeb when it launched 4 years ago, to viewing figures of over 5 million on Saturday night prime time.

But audience figures have recently fallen to a dismal 3 million, despite numerous series including several celebrity specials.

The show was originally heralded as the British answer to Takeshi's Castle, seeing the great British public - of all sizes, personalities and appearances - competing on a crash course which featured inflatables, big red balls and lots of water.

Set in Buenos Aires, the show sets different challenges, with 20 competitors being whittled down to won before won champion is crowned, winning themselves the Wipeout trophy and £10,000.

Famous challenges include 'Dizzy Dummies', 'The Sweeper' and 'The Wipeout Zone'.

Presented by Richard Hammond, and Amanda Byram, it is understood that Series 5 of the show, and the final edition of Winter Wipeout - the celebrity format - will air, before the series is taken off air.

However, it is not known whether the show will continue on another channel. Likely contenders could be digital channel Watch, which screens international editions of the programme.

Endemol, who own the rights to the show, are understood to be working with the BBC on a new saturday night format.

My thoughts:

It's sad, but it was inevitable. The thing about Wipeout is that it gets boring after a few episodes. The course is usually the same throughout the entire series, which is very dull when compared to the international versions. Richard Hammond, who presents from a studio back in England, provides a cringe-worthy narration throughout the entire show, sending viewers to sleep. Amanda Byram on the other hand, based in Argentina, does an ok job but barely shows enthusiasm. But would you blame her? The show had a good run, but it was no Takeshi's Castle. It needed to be a bit more rough around the edges. It made changes to late, and then decided to take the celebrity route. It's a shame, but no doubt it will be replaced by something a little better (not by that 101 ways to leave a gameshow please. That show was worse!)

Picture Courtesy of Wikipedia