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. 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. 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. 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.
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. ==Awards==