Ninja Warrior UK

Ninja Warrior UK
Created by	Ushio Higuchi
Directed by	Paul Kirrage
Presented by	Ben Shephard Chris Kamara Rochelle Humes
Voices of	Bruce Hammal
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	41
Production
Executive producers	Michael Kelpie Simon Marsh Martin Scott
Production location	Manchester Central
Running time	60 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production company	Potato
Distributor	ITV Studios
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	16:9 1080i
Original release	11 April 2015 (2015-04-11) – 1 June 2019 (2019-06-01)
Chronology
Related shows	Sasuke American Ninja Warrior Ultimate Beastmaster

Ninja Warrior UK is a British physical obstacle assault course game show, created for ITV. The show was based upon the format of the Japanese game show Sasuke, created by Ushio Higuchi, which was aired in the United Kingdom and other countries as Ninja Warrior.^[1]

Presented by Ben Shephard, Chris Kamara and Rochelle Humes,^[2] the show focuses on around 250 contestants (160 in series 4-5) tackling a variety of obstacles along an assault course, the most notable being the "warped wall", and achieving a fast time or going the furthest to qualify for the semi-finals and the finals, with the competitor who goes furthest fastest in the final being declared "Last Ninja Standing". If a competitor completes the final obstacle, "Mt Midoriyama" in under 45 seconds, they will be declared winner of the contest and crowned "Ninja Warrior UK".

Dubbed the "Toughest course on TV", at present the show has aired five series with Tim Champion being the only competitor to beat Mt Midoryama. On 18th December 2015, a celebrity special was aired as part of the Text Santa telethon.

Format[]

In series 1-3, the show was divided into three stages - five Qualifier Rounds, two Semi-Finals, and the Final - and featured around 250 contestants taking part. The assault course used on the programme featured a variety of obstacles either taken from or based upon Sasuke and American Ninja Warrior, with both the "Warped Wall" and the "Quintuple Steps" being used in every episode. Each qualifier round consists of fifty contestants, and features a six obstacle course, four of which differ between the rounds - for example, the first qualifier might feature a rope swing obstacle, but the second qualifier might switch it for a monkey-bar styled obstacle. To qualify, contestants must be within the top ten, either by getting the furthest on the course, or if they complete it, having the fastest time.

After the qualifiers, the remaining semi-finalists are split evenly between the two semi-finals, and tackle nine obstacles. Unlike the qualifiers, the first six obstacles must be completed within a set time-limit, but contestants can then freely tackle the remaining three obstacles in their own time. The top fifteen contestants in the semi-finals would move on to the final, based on who got the furthest or achieved the fastest time.

Once in the final, the fifteen finalists tackle four separate stages of obstacles - while the first two stages are timed, with the first stage consisting of nine obstacles and the second consisting of five, the third stage is untimed and consists of three obstacles. In recent years, these obstacles have varied very little and have included the Crazy Cliffhanger, Spider Flip and Flying Bar. The final stage of the finals is a 22 meter rope climb, (fictional) "Mount Midoriyama" with a 70 feet (21 m) rope.^[3] Should they complete this, they have then achieved total victory and are declared "Ninja Warrior UK". In the event that no competitor completes the finals course, the competitor who goes furthest along the course in the fastest time is declared "Last Ninja Standing".

In series 4 and 5, the number of qualifying heats was reduced from five to four, with the number of contestants competing in each reduced from 50 to 40. In series 4 the top 15 contestants advanced to the Semi-Finals, whereas in season 5, only those who successfully "beat the wall" and completed the Qualifier Round advanced to the Semi-Finals. In series 4, the top 30 semi-finalists advanced to the finals, as opposed to the top 15 in series 1-3. In series 5, this number was reduced to 20. The final was also changed, being split into two separate episodes. The first episode contained Stage 1 of the finals course and was rebranded to the "Eliminator". Stages 2 onwards now aired in a separate episode to the Stage 1 episode.

The show's format features a similar approach to that of Total Wipeout, in that footage in episodes focuses on the highlights of runs by contestants. Commentary of a contestant's run is mainly done by the presenters Shephard and Kamara, while Humes would often interview contestants before their run, and occasionally if they failed a run; in some instances, if a contestant's run was successful, especially during the qualifiers, the interview would be handled by Shephard and Kamara.^[3]

Series overview[]

Series 1 (2015)[]

The first series of Ninja Warrior UK was aired during 2015, from 11 April to 30 May. Of the contestants that made it to the final, none of the finalists managed to complete all four stages. As a result, the winner was declared as Timothy Shieff, who managed to go the furthest. The series drew favourable viewing figures, leading ITV to renew the show for a second series on 29 May 2015.^[4][5][6]

Series 2 (2016)[]

The second series of Ninja Warrior UK was aired during 2016, from 2 January to 13 February. Of the contestants that made it to the final, only three finalists made it to the second stage before failing on the same obstacle. Of these three, Owen McKenzie was declared the "Last Ninja Standing", having managed to go the furthest.

Series 3 (2017)[]

The third series of Ninja Warrior UK aired from 31 December 2016 to 18 February 2017. Of the 15 contestants that made it to the final, six completed Stage 1 and only two completed Stage 2 before failing on the Crazy Cliffhanger in Stage 3. Of these two, Jonny Urzuly was declared the "Last Ninja Standing", having gone the furthest on the obstacle.

Series 4 (2018)[]

The fourth series of Ninja Warrior UK was aired from 14 April to 2 June 2018. Unlike previous series, it was announced on 28 August 2017 that the competition would feature a selection of celebrity contestants, including Gethin Jones, Harry Judd, Jenni Falconer and Marvin Humes.^[7] Of the 30 finalists, 8 completed Stage 1, 5 completed Stage 2 and none completed Stage 3. Tim Shieff was declared "Last Ninja Standing", failing the Flying Bar.

Series 5 (2019)[]

The fifth series of Ninja Warrior UK began airing from 13 April to 1 June 2019. The winner was Tim Champion, who became the first UK competitor to attempt and complete the Mount Midoriyama rope climb within 45 seconds, doing so with just 1 second to spare.^[8]

Celebrity specials[]

On 18 December 2015, a special celebrity edition of Ninja Warrior UK was aired in association with the Text Santa charity; the winner was Louise Hazel.

Cancellation[]

On 11 August 2020, it was revealed by Kamara that the show had ended and ITV would not be commissioning a new series.^[9]

Ratings[]

References[]

External links[]

• Ninja Warrior UK at IMDb
• Ninja Warrior UK at itv.com
• Ninja Warrior UK at UKGameshows.com