BBC One Commissions Celebrity Challenge Doc for Sport Relief

BBC One has commissioned Shine TV to produce a one-hour documentary, which charts the progress of a group of celebrities as they cross Mongolia’s frozen Lake Khovsgol, to be broadcast as part of this year’s Sport Relief programming.

Sport Relief: On Thin Ice is due to be broadcast on BBC One in March in the run-up to Sport Relief, which returns on Friday, March 13. In a world first, the celebrities will take on a subzero four-day challenge of a lifetime, taking place over 4,000 miles from home. Only a handful of people have ever crossed Lake Khovsgol, which is nearly 100 miles long, but no one has ever tried to do so using three disciplines—skating, cycling and on foot.

In temperatures that can plummet to negative 35 degrees, the production team will use specialist camera and sound equipment designed for the subzero temperatures and a bike camera tracking system especially designed for the challenge.

The first four celebrities already revealed to be taking part in the Sport Relief Challenge are BBC Radio 1’s Nick Grimshaw, The Saturdays’ Frankie Bridge, TV barrister and presenter Judge Rob Rinder and broadcaster Louise Minchin. More names will be revealed over the course of the rest of the week.

The challenge aims to break the ice on the silence and stigma surrounding mental health issues, a cause close to the hearts of the team of celebrities, so more people can access the support they need.

Charlotte Moore, director of BBC Content said: “Big thanks to the celebrities who are giving up their time to take part in what promises to be an exciting and grueling challenge in Mongolia, following in the footsteps of previous challenges for Sport Relief on BBC One to raise money for such deserving causes.”

Tanya Shaw, managing director of Shine TV, added: “This is an epic challenge not only for our celebrities taking part, but also the production team—who will be filming, editing and delivering a finished show in just two weeks. It’s an extremely quick turnaround—but with amazingly skilled and experienced teams to capture every moment, it is going to be a brilliant hour of television.”

Tom Hutchings, executive producer for Shine TV, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled—and soon to be chilled—to be leading our insulated crew out to the beautiful yet utterly freezing Lake Khovsgol shores for this year’s Sport Relief challenge. We’re very excited to be working alongside Comic Relief again in the hope of raising millions for good causes around the world. Like the celebs, this will probably be one of the hardest shoots we’ve ever had to do. The ultra-low temperatures pose a real challenge to everyone involved. But we’re ready.”