'Channel Buoys and Gulls' on BBC 'Eggheads' Friday September 24, 2010

After over a year's wait, the big day is here tomorrow, Friday September 24th, 2010 - "The Channel Buoys & Gulls" take on the mighty 'BBC Eggheads'! Click here for original story.

When?: 18:00 on BBC Two (except Northern Ireland (Analogue), Wales (Analogue))...

"Channel Buoys and Gulls" Channel Swim Team appear on BBC TV show "Eggheads"

Above: The "Channel Buoys and Gulls" team who took on the mighty "Eggheads" on Monday August 17, 2009. Left to right: Paul Hopfensperger (2 x English Channel swims), Megan Forbes (1 x C.S.), Mike Cross (3 x C.S.), Sophie Rutenbar (1 x C.S.), Jim Boucher (1 x C.S.). Kevin Murphy, "King of The English Channel" with 34 x Channel swims was the team substitute (not pictured).

Above: The world famous BBC Television Centre in Wood Lane, London.

When we were asked to audition for the BBC quiz show "Eggheads" in June of this year, I have to admit that I honestly didn't expect to be selected, however having been informed that we had been selected, we all journeyed from our various parts of the country to assemble at the BBC Television Centre as a team of English Channel swimmers with a combined total of 42 channel swims between us and to be know for the day as the "Channel Buoys and Gulls" quiz team.

Above: Assembling in "The Green Room" which was in fact remarkably yellow prior to entering "makeup".

Above: Jim and Sophie get their makeup and hair sorted prior to entering the studios.

Above: Having our microphones fitted in the main Eggheads studio.

Above: Lisa explains to Kevin why he has to be the substitute member of the team. This was due to the fact that he works for the BBC and so was not able to appear on the show.

Above: One of the extremely large Sony television cameras used for filming the show.

We were given about 30 minutes of instructions prior to the Eggheads entering the studio, and as team captain, we had a list of the subjects and who would answer them if the subjects were selected. As I was not allowed to have the piece of paper during filming, I was trying to memorise who was doing what.

Every time one of us broke into a slight sweat, the makeup girl came and "touched us up" with her little brush!

Final check of my papers before the Eggheads entered and filming commenced. Due to the secrecy we must maintain, I am not allowed to explain here how we did. The show will be aired sometime in 2010 as part of series 11 (we are currently on series 10).

Above: After the show was complete, we had the picture above taken with the Eggheads. Again due to secrecy, one of the Eggheads is temporarily airbrushed out of the photo.

Above: The Eggheads sign autographs in Megan's Eggheads book after the show.

We all had a fantastic day, and I would like to thank Lisa and here team for inviting us and making us feel very welcome during our day in London. A full set of photos can be found on my Facebook page by clicking on the link below:-

<'Channel Buoys and Gulls' Eggheads Photos>

Article in The Bury Free Press, Friday August 28, 2009:-

Channel Swimmers audition for BBC TV show "Eggheads"

Above (left to right): Jim Boucher (Channel Swimmer 2007), me (2007 & 2008) and Kevin Murphy ('King of The English Channel' with 34 crossings) auditioning for 'Eggheads' in London on June 18, 2009.

Through the channel swimming communities "Google Group" set up by multi-channel swimmer Nick Adams, we were invited to attend an audition to go on the BBC TV show "Eggheads". Having put my name down on the list, I somehow ended up organising the auditions. Our team of six will be Kevin Murphy, Mike Cross, Jim Boucher, Graeme Schlachter, Megan Forbes and myself. "Eggheads" is a general knowledge quiz in which teams from all over the UK battle to beat the formidable Eggheads, a team of extremely knowlegeable quiz experts.

For the auditions, we needed just three of the team of six. On the day, if we get through the audition stage, the team will be five of us, and one reserve which will be Graeme.

Kevin, Jim and myself were the three available for the auditions, and we arrived at the studios in Great Tichfield Street, London for 2pm, where we were greeted by Katie and Jodie who were to be our hosts for the day. The first thing that was asked was what our team name was. Now anyone who has followed recent Channel Group discussions, knows that this has caused some 'heated' e-mail exchanges! Having arrived with the name "English Channel Waterheads", Jim came up with an excellent name - "Channel 5". If you live in the UK you will know that this is also the name of a TV Channel in the UK, so is quite a play on words, especially since we were auditioning for the BBC! I was pronounced "captain" of the team by Katie which was a surprise to me!

We had to fill in all the mandatory paperwork, and when asked for Kevin's address, Jim, by now on a roll, said:-

"Due to the amount of time he spends in the channel, his usual address is:

1 Tanker Close
North-West Shipping Lane
The English Channel"

This had us in stitches, well me anyway! We had a quiz between us which ended up with a result of 2:2. I have no idea if that was good or not but we were then filmed and asked various questions which had to be answered on film.

We were thanked for attending, and told that we would be informed by the beginning of August if we had passed the audition or not. It was a fun experience, and I will update the blog once we know any further news.

The Human Body DVD - Now available to purchase

Above: Human Body - Pushing the Limits - now available to purchase.

The Title Sponsor for my 2007 Channel Swim, Dangerous Films, filmed my channel swim on July 10, 2007, but while they did so, I had no idea exactly how they would be using the footage. What they in fact were doing, were making a 4 x DVD programme for the Discovery Channel called "Human Body - Pushing The Limits". Chris Pountney e-mailed me yesterday with a link to the Dallas Morning News which gives a column by Leslie Garcia on the DVD. It can be found by <Clicking Here>.

In the column, she describes me as a "...man – pale, slightly overweight..." who swims the English Channel. Charming! I thought I had got quite a suntan by then having spent so many weekends in Dover Harbour! LOL!

Anyway, if anyone is interested in buying a copy, it can be purchased online by clicking the link below (I do not get commission by the way!):-

Buy "The Human Body - Pushing The Limits" here.

I will e-mail Leslie Garcia a link to this blog to see if she would like to comment!

Update - April 01, 2008 - Leslie Garcia blogs about my swim...

I've made a new USA friend now with Leslie Garcia of the Dallas Morning News who has done a channel swim blog. <Click here to access the blog>. This is all getting very international!