Balls of Steel (TV series)
Balls of Steel is a British television comedy game show hosted by Mark Dolan. Dolan's special guests perform stunts and hold their nerve during hidden camera set-ups in the presence of celebrities or the British public.
Massive Balls of Steel, the spin-off series to Balls of Steel was broadcast on E4, showing highlights of the show.
Format
There were a total of 12 acts. In each episode, six acts competed with one of them being the winner from the previous episode. At the end of each episode the studio audience had to decide which act had the biggest 'Balls of Steel' by voting on a keypad. The Balls of Steel format is distributed internationally by DRG.Acts
There were various acts seen frequently on the show, presented by the regular performers.| Performer | Segment name | Gimmick | First series | Last series | Times appeared |
| Alex Zane | Alex Zane's... Game | Presents a fake game show that either makes the victim undergo very unfair disadvantages or gives an unfair advantage to another player, normally a stooge. The twists take various forms, including expecting contestants to identify something from inadequate information, deliberately mishearing contestants' answers, and using such props as faulty buzzers or fake lie detectors. Entry music: "The Power" by Snap! and "Back in Black" by AC/DC. | One | Three | 16 |
| Thaila Zucchi | Bunny Boiler | Flirts with a man, whilst he is in the company of his girlfriend, to provoke a reaction from her. Thaila is young, slim, pretty, flirtatious and usually wears provocative clothes. Entry music: "Lovefool" by The Cardigans. | One | Three | 8 |
| Michael Locke | Pain Men | Two men going by the names Pancho and Pritchard deliberately inflict extreme pain on themselves or each other, an act similar to the duo's previous TV show Dirty Sanchez. This is the only segment to frequently take place within the Balls of Steel studio, rather than being shown on the video screen. During this act, host Mark Dolan usually asks the pair if there is a risk of some kind of serious injury arising from whatever activity they are partaking of, leading to the act's catchprase: "There's only one way to find out, Mark". | One | Three | 11 |
| Matthew Pritchard | Pain Men | Two men going by the names Pancho and Pritchard deliberately inflict extreme pain on themselves or each other, an act similar to the duo's previous TV show Dirty Sanchez. This is the only segment to frequently take place within the Balls of Steel studio, rather than being shown on the video screen. During this act, host Mark Dolan usually asks the pair if there is a risk of some kind of serious injury arising from whatever activity they are partaking of, leading to the act's catchprase: "There's only one way to find out, Mark". | One | Three | 11 |
| Olivia Lee | Prank TV with Miss Lee | Plays minor practical jokes on celebrities, utilising such props as microphones that resemble genitals or squirt water. This section gained press coverage before the show aired due to Tom Cruise's reaction to the latter gag, although that particular prank was not performed by Olivia Lee herself but by a producer. In an episode in series three, Lee takes on a "henchman" who signs inappropriate remarks to celebrities during interviews while she gives incorrect translations. Entry music: "Girls on Film" by Duran Duran. | One | Three | 10 |
| The Annoying Devil | Wears a devil costume and annoys the general public in various ways. His pranks include disrupting people's work or leisure activities making public places or vehicles dirty, disseminating rude messages in various forms, and offering products or services with an evil twist. | Two | Three | 8 | |
| Jason Attar | The Annoying Devil | Wears a devil costume and annoys the general public in various ways. His pranks include disrupting people's work or leisure activities making public places or vehicles dirty, disseminating rude messages in various forms, and offering products or services with an evil twist. | One | One | 5 |
| Neg Dupree | Neg's Urban Sports | Plays 'Urban Sports', which have included: Urban Sprinting ; Burger Bowl Off ; Make Em Move ; My Ball ; and Big Stranger Rodeo. This is the most controversial act of them all. However, in the second series this is less controversial, because the people in his sketches are now being set up by their friends. Still, Neg was arrested during Red Carpet Run in Series 3, when he gatecrashed a Will Smith movie premiere in London. | One | Three | 13 |
| Eric Page | Big Gay Following | Treats men as potential pick-ups, scares them and solicits gay sex from them, often via the phrase "fancy a bum?" Only once has the answer been "Yes". Entry music: "Sometimes" by Erasure, "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" by Culture Club | One | Three | 8 |
| Toju Okorodudu | Militant Black Guy | Discomforts people, mainly members of the public at work, by accusing them of racism at every opportunity. Usually, this consists of deliberately mistaking the name of something for a racial slur. Examples have included Black Forest gateau, the All Blacks rugby strip, Isle of Wight, white wine and the non-existence of black wine, garden 'hoes', Cocoon and "raccoon" for containing "coon", and the fact that white moves first in chess. Entry music: "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy, "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash. | One | Three | 7 |
| Tim Shaw | Mr. Inappropriate | Does inappropriate things in public, such as teaching foreign students offensive phrases, reading a pornographic magazine on the Tube or selling double glazing at 4:00AM. | Two | Three | 5 |
| Carla Lynch | Scummy Mummy | A "Bad parent"; does exactly the opposite of what a good mother would do, such as smoking when pretending to be pregnant, pretending to give whiskey to a baby, taking a small child to inappropriate places, and acts such as pretending her water has broken all over an unsuspecting victim. | Three | Three | 3 |
| Laurence Rickard | The Bastard in Black | A strict and unreasonable football official, who referees genuine matches whilst making humorous decisions that do normally not correspond to the laws of football. | Three | Three | 1 |
| Ross Mailer | Knob Jockey | A small, camp, gay man who rides men for as long as possible, with commentary resembling that of a real horse race. This act resembles Neg's Urban Sports, specifically Neg's Big Stranger Rodeo. The men being "ridden" are actually set up by their friends. | Three | Three | 1 |
| Chris Stapp | Randy Cambell's stunts | "New Zealand's top stuntman" performs daring stunts that inevitably go dangerously wrong. The only fictional segment of the show, it's essentially a comedy sketch but presented 'as real', previously seen on Back of the Y. | One | One | 5 |
| Robin Huxtable | Naked Man | Goes on country walks and visits public places while in the nude. Presumably a parody of the naked rambler. | One | One | 2 |
| Dawn Porter | Man Tester | Picks up a single man in a bar before 'inadvertently' revealing some unusual fact about herself and seeing whether he continues flirting or makes excuses. | One | One | 3 |
| Ross Lee | The World's Worst | Takes up various jobs or roles - only to make him the worst ever. This includes being a barman, cabbie and stealing cash off unsuspecting customers. | One | One | 2 |
| Jonathan Goodwin | Escapologist | Attempts dangerous escapes with help from his father. | Two | Two | 1 |
| Kelly Burgess | The Fuckers | Perform simulated sexual intercourse in a range of unacceptable places such as in a house while being shown round by an estate agent or in a Land Rover showroom. They were once stopped by the police while simulating sex on a boat on the River Thames. | Two | Two | 3 |
| Tony Parsons | The Fuckers | Perform simulated sexual intercourse in a range of unacceptable places such as in a house while being shown round by an estate agent or in a Land Rover showroom. They were once stopped by the police while simulating sex on a boat on the River Thames. | Two | Two | 3 |
| Jenni Davies | The Penis Fly Trap | Gets into an awkward situation to attract men's help. She then accuses them of taking advantage, using such expressions as "Are you looking at my tits?" | Two | Two | 1 |
Transmissions
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
| 1 | 19 August 2005 | 30 September 2005 | 7 |
| 2 | 16 February 2007 | 23 March 2007 | 6 |
| 3 | 21 March 2008 | 25 April 2008 | 6 |
''Balls of Steel'' internationally
UK version broadcasts
It aired on The Comedy Channel in Australia in 2011 and 2013 and in the past, has also been shown on the Nine Network. In Latin America, it is broadcast on Sony Entertainment Television, in New Zealand on C4, in Germany on RTL II, in Denmark on TV 2 Zulu, in Portugal on SIC Radical, Norway on TV2 Zebra, in Sweden on Kanal 5, in Poland on TVN, in the Netherlands on RTL 5, and in Russia on 2x2.Local versions
In January 2007, a pilot for an American version hosted by J. Keith van Straaten was taped for the A&E network, but was not picked up for production.During early 2007, an Italian adaptation of the format was aired on Rai Due, this version lasted just one season and wasn't picked up for a second season due to very poor ratings. The show featured local versions of the original skits such as Sexy Lisa, which was an adaptation from Bunny Boiler.
A Finnish version of the show is in production with Jukka and Jarppi of The Dudesons playing the part of 'The Pain Men'.
An Australian version of the show, Balls of Steel Australia was put into production in Sydney in late 2010 and premiered on the Australian subscription television channel The Comedy Channel on 19 April 2011, hosted by The Chaser's Craig Reucassel and running for an initial ten episodes. It was the highest rating show in the history of The Comedy Channel, doubling the ratings of the previous record holder The Merrick and Rosso Show. Ten episodes in total have been produced. The series stars Neg Dupree, reprising his Urban Sports segment from the UK version, as well as Australian versions of The Annoying Devil and Bunny Boiler. New characters include Nude Girl, James Kerley as the Game Show Host from Hell, Janis McGavin as Fame Whore, Very Foreign Correspondent, Flatmate Wanted and Just Come Out. Due to the success of season one, a second season was produced with new and existing acts, and premiered on 31 January 2012.
A Swedish version of the show has been shown on Swedish Channel 5 in the springs of 2009, 2010 and 2011. It was first produced for the Swedish public service broadcaster SVT, but cancelled since a participant sprayed water in the face of prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.
Criticisms
Even before it was broadcast, Balls of Steel received an enormous amount of publicity during the London premiere of the film War of the Worlds; its leading man Tom Cruise was squirted with a water pistol disguised as a microphone as part of one of the programme's various stunts or practical jokes. Cruise expressed his disdain but his reaction was not as extreme as that of Sharon Osbourne in an identical stunt several weeks before; she reacted by throwing a bucket of water over one of the team's camera men.Others who have been attacked include Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister of Sweden. Sveriges Television, where the Swedish version Ballar av stål was going to air, decided to cancel the show after massive criticism.
But the show was picked up in 2008 by the Swedish network Kanal 5. The show has also had its fair share of complaints from viewers. One target is the 'Annoying Devil' in which he performs extreme acts on members of the public. Some complaints were directed at his roller coaster stunt where he threw buckets of "vomit" at the passengers.
The programme returned for a further series in 2007, for which its makers appealed for contestants for a pilot quiz show on an established quiz site. At least one participant rumbled the deceit almost immediately during filming on 10 June 2006, but despite his queries the makers refused to admit that the quiz was a hoax until the "broadcast" was over. Series 3 began airing on Channel 4 on 21 March 2008.