Extinct (2006 TV series)

Extinct is a British television series that aired on ITV in 2006. It features eight celebrities highlighting the plight of some of the world's most endangered species and was presented by Zoe Ball and Sir Trevor McDonald.

Extinct
Opening credits of Extinct
GenreDocumentary
Presented byZoe Ball
Sir Trevor McDonald
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes5
Production
Running time60 minutes
(including adverts)
Production companyEndemol UK
Original release
NetworkITV
Release9 December (2006-12-09) –
16 December 2006 (2006-12-16)

During the series, the public were asked to phone in and vote for which animal they wanted to receive 50% of the money raised through the phone votes, via the charity WWF.[1] The winning animal got over £178,000 and the remaining seven shared £178,000.[1] A sister programme called Extinct - The Quiz also aired at the same time.

Format

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In the first four episodes, two celebrities presented the case for their animal. A short video documentary was shown, where the celebrity was seen travelling to the land of the animal, explained why the animal is in danger and what can be done to help save. The eight celebrities were;

Episodes

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# Airdate Overview
1 9 December Anneka Rice visits the Arctic Circle
David Suchet visits China
2 12 December Sadie Frost visits Borneo
Michael Portillo visits Brazil
3 13 December Graeme Le Saux visits Rwanda
Miranda Richardson visits India
4 14 December Dermot O'Leary visits Costa Rica
Pauline Collins visits Nepal
5 16 December Final with all 8 celebrities

Final

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In the final programme, after each celebrity explained why the public should vote for their animal, the three with the most votes were the Giant panda, the Bengal tiger and the Mountain gorilla. The most votes went to the Bengal tiger, which Pauline Collins had campaigned for.[1]

Extinct - The Quiz

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Extinct - The Quiz was a five-part 60 minute quiz programme that accompanied Extinct. It was hosted by Zoë Ball and featured four families being tested on their wildlife knowledge and competing to win a holiday. The first four episodes aired each day at 5pm from 12 to 15 December. The first two programmes featured four families each day, with the next two programmes being semi finals. The final was on 16 December at 4.00pm.[2]

Reception

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Winnie De'Ath, then Director of Communications for the WWF, praised the programme for giving WWF "a fantastic opportunity to reach a high audience".[1] She also said that Extinct had "enabled us to highlight the reality of our work on the ground - showing issues such as people struggling to make a living from their natural resources. The response has been fabulous, and has raised vital funds to help us continue our urgent work."[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Extinct - a roaring success for tigers". WWF-UK. 2006. Archived from the original on 6 December 2006. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
  2. ^ "Extinct: The Quiz". ukgameshows.com. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
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