Splatalot!

Updated on Oct 27, 2023

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Splatalot! is a Canadian/Australian/British internationally co-produced medieval-themed physical game show for kids, which made its debut in its English Canadian premiere on March 14, 2011 on YTV, where it is hosted by Jason Agnew and Matt Chin. The Australian and UK broadcasts of the show use the same filmed footage as the original Canadian show, but with their own local presenters providing commentary. The show premiered in the UK on CBBC on June 13, 2011, presented by Richard McCourt and Dominic Wood (better known as "Dick and Dom"). The show premiered in Australia on ABC3 on November 5, 2011, hosted by Kayne Tremills and Scotty Tweedie. The series is a copy of Wipeout, designed for children's audiences.

Splatalot! is produced by Toronto-based marblemedia, commissioned as an international co-production by Canadian YTV, Australian ABC3 and British CBBC. It features a large, extreme obstacle course and three rounds of competition: Cross the Moat, Escape the Stockade, and Capture the Crown. Each episode features a different group of 12 teenage contestants (known as Attackers) competing against not only the obstacles and the clock, but also the Defenders. The Defenders are an international squad of nine medieval themed gladiators, who are tasked with protecting the castle from the Attackers. The winning Attacker is crowned King or Queen of Splatalot!. A second season was announced.

The Attackers

Splatalot! JasonAgnewcom Uncategorized SPLATALOT on YTV

Contestants, known as "Attackers" are drawn from schools and sports clubs from across Australia, Britain, Canada, and consist of children aged 12 and up. A different group of attackers feature in every episode.

The Defenders

Splatalot! features a recurring cast of Defenders, consisting of six charismatic young adults. Each episode features 3 Defenders per round, (but all six on the Final) ensuring that the audiences never sees the same lineup twice. Each Defender has their own unique persona, colour, costume and signature weapon - they work together to incite laughter and most importantly, impede the Attackers until one of them proves that he or she is worthy of the crown of Splatalot!.

In Season 2 Knightress, Shaiden, Ballista, Tinkor, Gildar and Crocness have left the show. Only Kook, Thorne and Skabb Remain from Season 1, with Madeva, Faetal and Vane coming in as replacements. Gildar appears for The 'Celebrity Splatdown' only to announce his departure from the show.

The Defenders are:

Thorne (played by Elliott Francis) – An English Warrior. The self-proclaimed bad boy of the group. The Defender who is in a permanent bad mood, brooding and grumbling wherever he roams. With his maniacal mohawk and his blue streaked face, Thorne rarely finds joy in anything, but stopping attackers from claiming the crown. His weapon of choice is a spiked mace. When he is in stage 1 he likes to use the fog gun. He is also a 'gentleman' as he says in "We are not alone" where he helps one of the girls up the wall.

Madeva (played by Alexia Khadime) – A crazy female Dragonslayer. The new leader of the defenders. Her weapon of choice is a giant claymore.

Vane (played by Eric Johnston) – A lazy, greedy and talented yet vain archer who would rather eat a sandwich than defend the castle. Weapon of choice is a crossbow-styled cannon. He wears sunglasses with his name on them.

Faetal (played by Nicole Power) – A charming Amazon who feels all attackers are her favorite. Her Weapons of choice is a dagger and shield

Kookaburra (played by James Elmer) – A wacky Australian guy and the team's joker in the pack who has a bird-like design, often nicknamed 'Kook'. His Weapon of choice is a slingshot, and he is probably the most successful defender on the whole show, though he can act awkward and silly at times, for example, he uses cheerleading chants in the "Parents & Kids Splatdown." He is revealed to have a crush on Shaiden, was once called a green haired freak, and is known to trick the attackers, for example, pretending the cannon is not working in Round 3, with the defender wanting to seize the "chance". However, when they go, he is revealed to be faking; he presses the button and makes the attacker fall off.

Skabb (played by Wendo Mhogolo) – An extremely violent, Australian barbarian whose real name is revealed to be Alan "Skabb" Tonelli. He's the most dangerous and aggressive of the defenders and is known for being the castle bully. Although he is brutal in his defending, he is known to occasionally have a soft side which is revealed in a number of episodes. His weapon of choice is a club but he is dangerous with every weapon. He also tends to scare the Attackers and the Defenders without fail.

Round 1: Cross the Moat

Round One sees the Attackers challenged with overcoming a series of large obstacles consisting of barrels, the battle axes, and of course the defenders. Looking at time in this round as the fastest six attackers move on to the next round.

Round 2: Ditch The Dungeon

Contestants must go up a long staircase but, the defenders make the stairs really slippery by using the trademark slime balls, a foam gun and the Vile Volley. Also, the Defender at the top of the stairs uses the Purple Plague (a cart full of purple balls) and the Balls of Doom. The fastest four Attackers to overcome the obstacles, ditches the dungeon and capture the four flags advance to Round 3.

Round 3: Capture the Crown

In Round 3, the remaining four Attackers must race across the obstacle-ridden courtyard, up to the tower where the crown lies in wait. In their path are all 6 Defenders from both rounds taking up various positions around the courtyard, wielding various weapons and devices to impede the Attackers' progress. In the end, only one Attacker will make it past the Defenders and capture the crown, winning this week's episode.

Interactive

As a companion website to the TV series, Splatalot.com features Flash games and behind-the-scenes bonus material, as well as Defender and Host bios and other features.

Game Stack

This series of online games emulates the athleticism and strategy an Attacker would need to be victorious on Splatalot!. In all, six stand-alone Flash games are featured that allow users to play as either an Attacker or a Defender. Users have the option of combining their scores to build up their Splatalot! "Coat of Arms."

Tour the Castle

Users can view floor plans, conceptual drawings and photos of the castle and obstacle course.

Behind the Defenders

Users can watch bonus video content of the Defenders, as well as view their stats and read their back-stories, similar to that of professional athletes.

Highlight Shaker

A video highlight reel creator which lets users edit and create their own colour commentary and music to their favorite clips from the TV show. Updated weekly with new clips, users can also share their creations with friends.

International broadcast

International sales of Splatalot! will be overseen by marblemedia's own in-house distribution arm, Distribution 360. Additionally, United Kingdom, Australian, French Canadian and Dutch versions of Splatalot! have been produced, using the same game footage as the English Canadian version but with new introductions and commentary by local presenters filmed on blue screen.

The UK version, presented by Dick and Dom debuted on the CBBC Channel on June 13, 2011. The Australian version premiered on ABC3 on November 5, 2011, hosted by Studio 3 host Kayne Tremills and Prank Patrol host Scott Tweedie. The French Canadian premièred, on Télétoon, on September 5, 2011.

The U.S. version debuted on Nickelodeon on July 17, 2012. The footages and voices of Jason Agnew and Matt Chin remained the same. Jason Agnew said in December 2013 that Season 2 would not be coming to the USA. The Dutch version premiered (titled as 'Spetterslot' which means 'Splat Castle') on Z@ppelin on July 2, 2012 with Ron Boszhard and Viviënne van den Assem as presenters.

It was announced in July 2012 that the show is seen in over 100 countries worldwide. and in Israel it is known as "Splat" and aired on Zoom Channel [citation needed].

References

Splatalot! Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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