Challenge Anneka

Format

The series was devised by Hugh Wooldridge (Creative Consultant) as a vehicle for Anneka Rice, who had previously appeared on Treasure Hunt, one of the first big hits for Channel 4 and was piloted in 1987's edition of Children in Need. It was produced by Tom Gutteridge of Mentorn Films.

The format of Challenge Anneka involved Rice being given a task to accomplish within a certain period, usually two or three days. She was supposed to have no knowledge of what the task of each particular episode would be before it began, and would have to organise its accomplishment by persuading companies and people to contribute their time and resources for free. The task would usually be in aid of a charitable cause, for example building a play area for children within the local community, or something similar.

Rice would be based during the 'challenges' in a large blue truck, and for her frequent trips to persuade companies and people to take part she initially employed the use, in the first 3 series, of a Volkswagen based beach buggy, and then went on to use a kit built Dakar 4x4 vehicle from series 4-7. For the ITV Specials, a Jeep buggy was used. In Series 8, Rice had the use of both a beach and a 4x4 buggy. For series 6 and 7, she had a dog called Pedro. Series 7 differed from the previous six series with new variation of theme tune, logo and on alternating episodes, a format tweak involving small scale mini Challenges running alongside the main Challenge. She was also distinguished by her frequent use of her mobile phone to organise the projects, years before they became common everyday objects for people in Britain.

The original Mentorn/BBC series was usually shot April-July and transmitted September-October; the exception being series 2, which was shot August-November 1990 and broadcast November 1990-January 1991 due to Rice having a baby between the first and second series.

Another trademark aspect of the series would be the frequent on-screen presence of Rice's soundman, Dave Chapman, part of the camera team who followed her around as she attempted to accomplish the challenges and who often found himself having to lend a helping hand.

Most of the popularity of the series came from the tension of whether Rice and her teams of volunteers would accomplish their tasks before the deadlines set. Sometimes they would fail, but usually on such occasions those who had agreed to help out would carry on the following day to complete the work.

The format was sold to many European countries, each with a different host. In the late 1990s, the show was produced by Mentorn in the United States as Challenge America (ABC), hosted by Erin Brockovich.

ITV revival

Challenge Anneka returned in December 2006 with a 'one-off' special on ITV, on Boxing Day and featured the team helping World Vision to rebuild a maternity clinic, a cricket pavilion and a children's play centre in Sri Lanka after the 2004 Tsunami disaster. This was shot in November 2006.

There were plans for two more UK specials in 2007 – Rice walked on stage, along with television crew, during a McFly concert in Cambridge, and asked the band if they would record a single for charity – this formed part of the Challenge Anneka challenge recording an album to raise money for Children's Hospices around the UK, broadcast on 6 June 2007 on ITV and shot in April 2007. The album, Over the Rainbow was released on 4 June 2007. The two specials gained 3.34m (8pm, 26 December 2006) and 2.8m (9pm, 6 June 2007) viewers on ITV. A third special, reported in the press at the time of the revived format, was never completed, as ITV dropped their plans to revive the series in a frequent format.

Following ITV abandoning their plans of a full revival, in 2009 Rice approached the BBC about a proposed revival as part of Children in Need night (where the format of Challenge Anneka had first been tested in 1987) to mark the 20th anniversary of the series. The BBC did not proceed with the proposal, citing that the series was no longer in the public consciousness.

Channel 5 revival

On 23 May 2022, it was announced that the series would be revived again, this time on Channel 5 for a four-part series. This was shot from September to November 2022: Dementia Village 27-30 Sep; Sprouts 19-21 Oct; Sea Cadets 2-5 Nov; Foal Farm 16-18 Nov.

Episode 1 (Foal Farm) gained 1.25m viewers for the 90 minute programme on Saturday 18 March 2023 at 8.50pm, with the second episode (Sprouts) losing more than half its viewing audience (660k) on Saturday 25 March 2023 at 8.30pm. This resulted in Channel 5 postponing the last two scheduled episodes. The penultimate episode (Dementia Special) was transmitted on Sunday 14 May 2023 at 7.30pm (520k) and the final episode (Sea Cadets) was eventually, broadcast over two years later, on Sunday 5 October 2025 at 10.30pm (163k).

In August 2025, Channel 5 controller Ben Frow announced that the show would not be returning for a new series. Speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, Frow stated that "we realised two weeks before we put it out, it's a make up show and they did home renovation shows since then. And the world changed so much what Anneka was doing which was innovative 30 years ago it was [different to] now, and we won't go there again."

Transmissions

Main article: List of Challenge Anneka episodes

References

References

1. "Channel 5 ready to Challenge Anneka again".
2. (23 May 2022). "Challenge Anneka returns to British TV screens 30 after it was first aired".
3. Carrick, Heather. (21 August 2025). "Faking It: Rebooted 00s reality series axed as top boss labels show's return 'a disaster' - plus future of Challenge Anneka confirmed".
4. (17 September 2007). "My Life in Media: Anneka Rice".