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Northern Exposure on TV

Rob / 12.07.2002

At midnight on Channel 5, after the seedy delights of ‘Sex & Shopping’, came the real hard core stuff – the first showing of the Red Bull Northern Exposure film by Hothead Media.

The 25 minute film was in the early hours ‘Sport on 5’ slot, introduced by a busty blond who almost said, “and now for something completely different”, and for most viewers that’s what it was. For racers who set their videos to tape after they were tucked up in bed it was a chance to see just what the first winter ‘expedition race’ in the UK was really like ….

It was wet and it was cold, but the Lake District in July can be that, what jumped off the screen were the sequences on the icy wastes of the Cairngorm Plateau, with teams jumaring up sheer slopes and trudging across snow slopes in near white-out conditions. We could have done with a bit more of that, and more footage from the Gary Tompsett ‘special challenges’, but throughout the magnificence of the setting stood out, especially the view across Loch Morlich.

With 7 teams to focus on there was time for everyone to get on screen too, with a lot of story told through commentary from the competitors. It made for a slow start though with 10 minutes of interviews of static of groups of teams or organisers, you wondered when the action would start. The good thing was everyone did get their 5 minutes of fame – or in Anna (the interview) McCormack’s case a bit more. As winners Team Golite/Goretex naturally got a bit more of the coverage and since Pete James mumbles, Ski Sharp is shy, and Pasi Ikonen is Finnish, she had to speak up, though at one point she did say – “can I go now please”, as the team disappeared into the distance.

The camera teams obviously had a tough time getting the Davies trio in team Parrot/Lythgoe to speak up, but then they did receive the most fatuous interview question of the show – “You’re looking a bit red-eyed, are you tired at the moment”. To which the reply wasn’t “I’ve not slept for 36 hours what do you think!” Adventure racers are so polite. The show made it clear Parrott got round quickest, but didn’t win, and that everyone was a winner anyway. It made great TV and the more people who see it the better – some of them will think – “I could do that.” (So it\'s fortunate they never did show Richard Montague\'s naked performance on a lilo after all!)

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