Touch the Truck
Touch the Truck was a British Channel 5 endurance gameshow which aired in March 2001. It was hosted by Dale Winton[1] and involved a group of 20 contestants holding onto a stationary truck for as long as they could. The last person left touching the truck (a Toyota Land Cruiser Amazon) won it.[2]
Touch the Truck | |
---|---|
Genre | Game show |
Created by | Glenn Barden Dave Hills |
Directed by | Sue McMahon |
Presented by | Dale Winton |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 5 |
Production | |
Executive producer | Sharon Ali |
Production location | Lakeside Shopping Centre |
Production company | Vascha Productions |
Release | |
Original network | Channel 5 |
Original release | 11 March – 15 March 2001 |
The show was filmed at the Lakeside Shopping Centre in West Thurrock, Essex.
Jerry Middleton, 39, from Winchester, Hampshire, was the winner; he managed to stay awake touching the vehicle for 81 hours, 43 minutes, and 31 seconds. He stated that he was going to sell the vehicle to fund a political party.[3] Middleton stood in the southwestern London seat of Kingston and Surbiton in 2001 and gained 0.1% of votes.[4]
Rules
According to the rules of the competition, disqualification would occur when:
- a contestant took a longer break than allotted (ten minutes every two hours, and fifteen minutes every six hours),
- a contestant removed both hands from the truck while not on a break, or
- a contestant fell asleep.[1]
The format
The format was devised by Glenn Barden and Dave Hills and is owned by Vashca. It has been subsequently licensed to the Philippines, Indonesia, Portugal and Turkey.[5]
In popular culture
The show played a significant part in the second episode of Diane Morgan's 2020 BBC sitcom Mandy.
See also
References
- "UK TV Listings | UK TV Guide | What's on TV with Digiguide.tv". digiguide.tv.
- "And the truck touched him | guardian.co.uk". www.theguardian.com.
- "ENTERTAINMENT | Channel 5's Truck won". BBC News. 15 March 2001. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
- "VOTE 2001 | RESULTS & CONSTITUENCIES | Kingston & Surbiton". BBC News. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
- "Bespoke Television Productions". Vashca. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2012.