BBC's Celebrity Euthanasia Challenge kicks off!

CEC: The final line up - Only one will be alive in 10 weeks time.

Millions of viewers tuned in last night to watch the first live broadcast from the BBC’s new flagship game show, Celebrity Euthanasia Challenge.

Described by the Guardians media correspondent, Duncan Dooley as, “a cross between Big Bother, Celebrity Jungle Hunt and Oscar winning movie, Million Dollar Baby, but with less boxing,” the show is the BBC’s attempt to recapture viewers lost to the phenomenally successful Channel 4 show, Death Row Big Bother.

Celebrity Euthanasia Challenge pits 10 celebrities in a ‘hospital style’ studio, who will over the course of the 10 week run engage in a series of challenges against one another.

Each week the celebrity with the lowest cumulative score will be ‘put down’ by one of the shows trained ‘Doctors of Death’, as they are already known by the tabloid press.

The celebrity facing demise, will, as an alternative to forcibly being killed, be encouraged to commit suicide in a method of his or her own choosing. It is suggested this will act as a means of making their final moments more dignified, and according to Mutilated Child, the shows producers, boost ratings.

The winner of the show, the surviving celebrity will be award £250k and a chance to present the second, inevitable series of the show. The presenter for this series is Carol Smiley, who at one time was rumoured to be appearing as a contestant herself.

The identities of the 10 selected celebrities, have until now been kept a secret, although Gail Porter, Johnny Vaughan and Gareth Gates were revealed in the pre-show publicity.

Although only 9 celebrities are currently listed as appearing, (not including the Hamilton’s who count as one) when pressed on this Mutilated Child said, “All will become clearer in the course of the show, so stay tuned”.

Anyone of the celebrities who need to escape from the situation for a while can consult a psychotherapist, or go to a special “consultants room” to speak directly to the viewers.

During the social experiment, tasks will be set by the producers to balance the mood of the situation in the house, and hopeful intensify it.

If the producers of this show have learnt anything from Channel 4’ Death Row Big Brother it is that people will eventually turn off after 48 hours of nothing happening. (Although this is still a very tiny percentage of viewers)

The BBC science editor Gavin Henshaw said: "This will allow us to explore different aspects of their personalities.

"Some of the challenges will involve fighting, leadership skills, co-operation, and blatant physical abuse and so on”

Success in completing challenges will be rewarded with points which can buy extra food or luxuries such as alcohol, but ultimately save their lives.

Comparisons to the smash hit Channel 4 show are inevitable, however producer Lance Hewitt was far from ambivalent regarding the similarity,


'Blue' Peter, former presenters including Fielding, all dead now sadly.

“Tell me, what would you rather watch, some thick, uneducated, unappealing shell of a man being hung, or John Leslie slitting his own wrists in a bath whilst reminiscing about the time he ‘banged’ Yvette Fielding and Catherine Zeta Jones in a three way on the set of Blue Peter?”

Hewitt said, before adding, “I know what I’m going to be watching.”