The Mole (series 2)
Series 2 took place in Canada and was also hosted by Glenn Hugill.
Contestants
| Player | Age | Hometown | Occupation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Gallagher | 28 | Holgate, York | Consultant Trainer |
| Chris Lintern | 27 | Chapmanslade, Wiltshire | Company Director |
| Dafydd "Daff" Williams | 27 | Cardiff, Wales | Event Co-ordinator |
| Jim Anderson | 40 | Kilmarnock, Ayrshire | Garage Owner |
| Karrie Fox | 50 | Truro, Cornwall | Artist |
| Mel Brookes | 30 | Fleet, Hampshire | Information Associate |
| Natalie Gadd | 28 | Buckhurst Hill, Essex | Retail Manager |
| Paul Tregear | 29 | Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex | Firefighter |
| Paula Mason | 23 | Spennymoor, County Durham | Ground Stewardess |
| Tanya Buck | 33 | Barnet, Hertfordshire | Fitness Instructor |
Execution Chart
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Episode List
Episode 1
| Episode 1 recap | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mission | Money earned | Possible earnings |
| Find Glenn | £0 | £10,000 |
| Swim, Catch and Keep | £5,000 (Spent £2,500 on Log Cabin Key, which they missed) |
£5,000 |
| Cross the Dam | £0 | £10,000 |
| Current Kitty | £2,500 | £25,000 |
| Execution | ||
| Natalie | 1st player executed | |
When they get off their transportation, they find a suitcase in their luggage. They open it to find a message from Glenn telling them that he is in their range. Their challenge is to find him around their location. They all have a puzzle piece somewhere in their luggage that they need to find. They find the pieces, with Jim under suspicion for not looking in all of his bag. The puzzle is two-sided. One side reveals a written clue, while the other is a map to Glenn's location. They ignore the map, while figuring out that the clue tells them to march in geographical order of the location in which they live (from north to south). Also is the pack is a GPS, which points them the correct way. However, they have arguments about which way to march. After marching for a bit, they find a walkie talkie that connects them to Glenn, who tells them if they break the order in which they are in, they will lose the challenge. They try to organize and, finally, they make a decision about where they should stand. After arriving, it is discovered Paul, Natalie, and Tanya arrived in the wrong order. Therefore, the money is lost. Glenn tells them that the GPS had a map of the UK on it, which they could have used to work out the correct order of contestants. He then gives each contestant a tube containing a clue to the Mole. He tells them to not open it unless given permission to do so and to keep it near them at all times.
Glenn takes them to the next challenge. He asks for 4 of the best swimmers, which are Paul, Chris, Natalie, and Mel. He then explains that this challenge might decide the entire game, as their survival equipment is in waterproof bags in the raging rapids. The contestants must get the bags out of the rapids to keep the things in them (the list of items in each bag and their release is on a chart at the rapids.) They have 1 minute to memorize the chart to decide the bags they will keep. The first pack has bear mare, a six pack of beer, 2 sleeping bags, and wipes. They missed the wipes and sleeping bags, but got the beer and the bear mare. The second pack has 2 sleeping bags, a tin opener, a bottle of whiskey, and a loo roll. They get everything but the loo roll this time. After two misses, Mel is replaced with Dafydd. The third pack contains the pen knife, keys to the log cabin, dried rations, and 2 more sleeping bags. This bag is critical, as the keys are in it. The pen knife, rations, and the sleeping bags are saved. The keys are lost. In the fourth pack, there is 5 blankets, luxury food, bars of chocolate, and 2 more sleeping bags. The chocolate, blankets, and sleeping bags are saved. The fifth bag has repellant, a tent, a cuddly toy, and 5 more blankets. If they don't get the tent, they sleep outside. For this run, Natalie and Paul switch. Only the blankets are saved. In the final pack is a torch, the prize money, 2 sleeping bags, and a bottle of whiskey. Only the money is saved. After the challenge, Glenn offers them the keys to the cabin for half of the prize money, telling them they cannot expect to survive if they sleep outside due to bear attacks. Of course, they say yes.
At their next challenge, all contestants have to cross over a very high dam at a heart rate below 130 bpm in 1 hour to get the prize money. Chris G. goes first and immediately has to wait for his heart rate. He takes a ten-minute penalty to get across. Former fireman Paul goes next and gets across. Next is Carey, who is 50 years old. She cannot calm down and takes the penalty. Mel, next, takes a slow start and takes the penalty. They have lost over half of their time. Natalie, who is next, quickly gets across the dam. Paula does the same. Chris L. goes 3 paces, then cannot get his heart rate down. He takes the penalty. Fitness instructor Tanya goes next, and stays on for a long time. Dafydd makes it across quickly, which leaves Jim, who has the same fate. They go just about 4 minutes over. They end the episode with the pot at £2,500. After a quiz on details about who is the mole, whoever gets the least questions correct is removed from the game. Natalie loses.
Episode 2
| Episode 2 recap | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mission | Money earned | Possible earnings |
| Stunt Planes | £10,000 | £10,000 |
| Grab the Pucks | £5,000 | £5,000 |
| Bomb Defusing | £0 | £15,000 |
| Current Kitty | £17,500 | £55,000 |
| Execution | ||
| Chris G. | 2nd player executed | |
Stunt Planes: The players must identify a plane stunt while in the stunt plane. The team must get 5 out of 9 stunts correct to win £10,000. They must also chose their names from pilot call signs. The names are as follows:
- Chris G. - Sir "Maverick"
- Chris L. - Sir "Goose"
- Dafydd - Sir "Iceman"
- Jim - Sir "Jester"
- Karrie - Madame "Homer"
- Paul - Sir "Twirp"
- Paula - Madame "Twinkle"
- Mel - Madame "Pookey Bear"
- Tanya - Madame "Baseball"
Chris L., Jim, Karrie, and Paula correctly identified their stunts. However, Chris G., Dafydd, Mel, and Tanya incorrectly answered. The pressure was on Paul to identify his stunt (which was "Corkscrew Twist"). He answered right, winning the team £10,000.
Grab the Pucks: The player must are tied to bungee ropes which to connected to a metal ring. The ring is in the center of a pole. The players must ice skate to retrieve an ice puck on a pole a few feet in front of them. If the ring touches the pole, then the team loses a life. If all 9 lives are lost or if 20 minutes runs out, the game is lost. However, if all the players can retrieve their pucks and return to the center blue circle, they will win £5,000.
Mel fails at her first attempt, and Chris L. gets his puck. Paula gets hers, but the alarm is almost triggered. Mel tries again, but falls and triggers the alarm, and losing a life for the team. Mel keeps trying (but falls along with Chris L. in the process) and finally gets her puck. As Paul is nearing his puck, Karrie and Mel fall over, nearly losing a life. After recovering, Paul gets his puck. Jim retrieves his puck with no difficulty. Karrie, having trouble to get her puck, is assisted by Dafydd and grabs her puck. Dafydd then gets his puck, but was deadly close to sounding the alarm. Chris G. then gets his puck. Tanya is assisted by Chris G. falling in the process, but succeeding. Glenn almost took away the prize money for assisting players, but the mission was about teamwork and he was feeling generous.
Bomb Defusing: The players (dressed up James Bond style) had to race across a field without being shot by snipers. If shot, the player is out. Those whom make it to the other side will need to defuse a bomb by answering brain-teasers and correctly performing the right procedure. If they get a procedure wrong, or the timer runs out, the bomb explodes.
Chris L., Dafydd, Jim, and Mel were shot by the snipers. Chris G., Paul, Paula, Tanya, and much to the other player's surprises, Karrie, made it past the snipers. They were close to completely defusing the bomb, but Chris G. and Tanya (Chris G. and Tanya worked on one side, Karrie, Paul, and Paula worked on the other) performed a wrong procedure, causing the bomb to explode.
Episode 3
Tube Check: At 1:00 am in the morning, Glenn wakes the remaining contestants up and instructs them to meet him in the lobby. At the lobby, Chris L. didn't have his tube from the first episode. The team was penalized 1,000 pounds.
Speed Boats: At 10:00 am the same day, the contestants take a trip to the mountains. Their task is to transfer one team of four to the others' banana boat and vice versa. They have one hour to complete this task. They were able to complete the task and gained 5,000 pounds.
Green Glass Bowl Protection: At a cowboy ranch, the contestants are instructed by Glenn flying overhead in a helicopter that they must protect a glass bowl from snipers with green paintballs. The glass bowl has green gel and green tubes in it. The contestants are given paintball equipment with yellow paintballs shots. If the contestants are able to protect the glass bowl until sunrise the following morning, they can wins 10,000 pounds for the pot.
In the first armed conflict, the team was able to defeat one of the opponent's commandos, bringing them to seven. After some silence in the field, the team had to send someone to do the required patrol of the perimeter. Karrie was easily shot down after not listening to Chris. The team managed to defeat another commandos right after Karrie's defeat. After the commandos changed tactics, Commandos fired on Paula (who is hit by a yellow ball - "friendly" fire) and Jim who are covering a bunker near the back. Commandos are at up six to five on the team. Commandos are able to shoot Dafydd and Tanya, leaving the team with only three defending the bowl. Commandos are able to hit two of the remaining three team members in their final assault. This leaves Chris left in the central bunker. Commandos finished the mission by tossing the glass bowl to the ground.
Ball Drop: Immediately after the Bowl Protection Mission briefing is over, Glenn tells them that their next mission is next. Glenn tells them that one person (they can the rider at any time with no one riding for more than ten minutes) must ride an exercise bike at all times until 8:00 am (roughly 2.5 hours elapsed time), while the others clean the mess from the paintball - glass bowl protection mission. At 8:00 am, the contestants enter barn where a metal ball is attached to the magnet. The magnet is controlled by a battery that the contestants were charging with the exercise bike. When the battery life is out, the ball will drop. The contestants must keep their feet on mole sheets when they are watching for the ball to drop. If they are able to catch the ball, they win the 10,000 pounds. The ball dropped when the transfer of watchers was taking place and the two team members couldn't catch the ball.
Elimination: Paula was eliminated
Episode 4
| Episode 4 recap | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mission | Money earned | Possible earnings |
| Beat the Train | £10,000 | £10,000 |
| Fake Arrest | £10,000 | £10,000 |
| Cliff Jumping | £10,000 | £10,000 |
| Current Kitty | £51,500 | £110,000 |
| Free Passes | ||
| - | Chris L. and Jim failed to beat the train | |
| Execution | ||
| Jim | 4th player executed | |
Beat the Train: Two players (Chris L. and Jim) are to use bicycles to beat a train containing the other 5 players (Dafydd, Karrie, Mel, Paul, and Tanya) whom must use newspapers to identify 5 mystery people. The players must find the people's photographs and full names. Every correct answer results in a gain of 2 kilometers. For each incorrect answer, the train will not move. If Chris L. and Jim can make to the finish line before the others, one of them will win a free pass.
The train beat both Chris L. and Jim (whom both decided to refuse the free pass). No free passes were won, but the group earned £10,000.
Fake Arrest: At first, the players are arrested for stolen property (the vans). But then they are told that they are under investigation for "tampering with their tubes". The tubes, given on episode 1, contained a piece of light-sensitive photographic paper. Any player's paper that does not develop will be allowed to walk away. The players' papers who does will be locked in cells. Inside each cell is a three part mathematical brain-teaser. The players who answer their question correctly will be released, while the ones who don't will remained locked. The players whom didn't open their tubes in the first place were given a check for £1,000 each. They could keep the check for themselves or give the checks back before the dinner ends to release one of their friends (one check per friend). For any player that stays in the cell until midnight, £2,000 will be fined towards the group (with the exception of Chris L., who failed to produce his tube, and his penalty is £5,000 if he fails to escape). If everyone is released, £10,000 will be won.
Dafydd, Karrie, and Mel were found not guilty at the start. Paul and Tanya succeeded at solving the brain-teaser, and Chris L. and Jim failed. Dafydd, Karrie, and Mel decided to use their checks to bail their friends out. Therefore, Chris L. and Jim were released, and the group won £10,000. (It is also revealed that Dafydd returned his check for nothing, while Karrie turned hers in to free Jim, and Mel turned hers in to free Chris L.)
Cliff Jumping: The players are sequestered separately to cliff height of their choice. One cliff is 20 feet, another is 30 feet, and the last is 40 feet. To win the players must have a combined jump height of 230 feet or more to win. The players are not allowed to tell other players about what height they will jump at, doing so will result in disqualification. If all 7 players leap from the 40 foot cliff, the combined total will be 280 feet.
Chris L., Dafydd, Jim, Karrie, Mel, and Paul jumped from the 40 foot cliff. Tanya, who is Aquaphobic and Acrophobic (Mel is also Acrophobic), jumped from 20 feet, raising suspicion. Nevertheless, the players won, with combined total of 260 feet.
Episode 5
Information Needed
Episode 6
Information Needed
Episode 7
Information Needed
Episode 8
Information Needed
Episode 9: The Sabotages
Down the Mountain: Tanya, who lived near Paul, let Paul make the decision of placing himself, Natalie, and Tanya in the wrong positions. Therefore, the players found Glenn in time, but they were in the wrong order.
River Bags: Tanya genuinely told everyone she was aquaphobic, and became the person to keep other players from drifting down the river by using a rope. She kept pulling the rope on her teammates (Dafydd and Mel) too hard, therefore preventing them from getting any bags except one. This was a risky sabotage, as Tanya knew the two would feel her pulling on them. Two of the important bags containing the tent and the key to the log cabin she purposely prevented the team from getting. So when the players had to pay half their prize money to get the key for the log cabin, she and the others agreed. Notably, her team only retrieved one of the bags.
Over the Wire: Tanya had prepared extra-strong coffee, which everyone but her drank. So when the players crossed the wire, they couldn't keep their heart rate down and had to stop. Tanya then stayed on the wire long enough (genuinely saying she was acrophobic) to make the team lose the challenge.
Stunt Planes: Tanya purposely answered her stunt incorrectly with "Corkscrew Twist". However, the team still won the money.
Fake Arrest: Tanya purposely opened her tube, and became one of four people to solve the brain-teaser. However, Dafydd, Karrie, and Mel returned their checks (much to the producer's surprise) and Paul answered the question correctly. So Tanya answered her question correctly, knowing that the mission was won no matter what she did.
Tanya's Briefings: In season one, the Mole (David Buxton) would have late-night meetings with the producers about the challenges. This season, the producer would use and talk to Tanya via earphone to tell her about the challenges. He would then request Tanya to give him a sign (such as flicking her hotel room lights on and off twice) to confirm that she got his message.
Bomb Defusing: Tanya blew the bomb up by turning the knob on the control panel the wrong way (unknown to the other players), but the bomb blew up more quickly than she thought, so the look on her face when the explosion happened was for real.
Boat Jumping: Similar to "Over the Wire", Tanya had prepared suntan oil which she, Dafydd, and other contestants used. The oil caused the players to lose their grip and slip during the challenge, causing fatigue and wasted time. However, the plan worked too well. Because the players kept slipping too often, the water eventually washed the oil off, and the players won just on time.
Commando Fortress: Tanya used a secret code word, "Listen", to tell the "terrorists" where everyone was. In the confusion, she purposely shot Paula. The team was easily shot down and the bowl was destroyed.
The Ball Drop: Tanya had biked very hard and long to charge the car battery long enough so when the ball did drop, the players were too tired to catch it.
Cliff Jumping: The producers thought all the men would jump at 40 feet, and all the women would jump at 20 feet. But they were shocked when Karrie and Mel jumped at 40 feet. So Tanya, who jumped at 20 feet, looked suspicious.
Cliff Climbing: The producer secretly talked to Tanya by using a microphone while Tanya listen on her earphone and CD player (everyone thought she was listening to her favorite CD). He gave her Paul's predictions; she made sure enough people would do what Paul had not predicted, losing the challenge.
Egg Carry: This is Tanya's most blatant sabotage. Tanya was to receive a free pass by faking an injury and being physically assisted over the finish line. Therefore, the team wouldn't win any money, but she would get a free pass. However, she wasn't told beforehand of the large amount of money the challenge was worth, which led her to have second thoughts. Tanya decided to fake an injury, but it was very cheesy, and lost the £20,000. Tanya broke down afterward.
Dog-gone Chase: Tanya received essential oils from the producer. She poured some on a tissue and placed it in her pocket. Before the mission, she made as much physical contact with the other players by touching the oil and then them. The oil was to help the dogs find the players, therefore losing the mission. However, Paul unexpectedly found and sounded the air horn and won the money for the group.
Bearwitch: This time, Karrie was doing the sabotage for Tanya. As Tanya did little to help keep track of time, Karrie pretended to be a bear in order to scare the players into forfeiting the mission by saying "Clear the dugouts", and win a free pass. Although the players were more than 2 minutes different from the actual time, they somehow managed to sound the air-horn within one minute of 6:00 AM. The producer thought they cheated, but couldn't find any evidence.
Blind, Deaf, and Dumb: Tanya mouthed instructions to Chris L. and Paul as she was gesturing, breaking the rules. However, Chris L.'s and Paul's refusal to listen to Karrie and Tanya as well as Dafydd's yelling, was more suspicious.
Beat the Locals: Tanya purposely left an instruction out when she was teaching Chris L. She then slowed down her band enough so that she and Chris L. didn't finish when the 3 songs were done. Suspicion fell on Paul for placing Chris L. and Tanya in the wrong order.
Negotiation: This time, Paul did the sabotage for Tanya. Tanya couldn't get anyone to pick a certain briefcase and grew angry. But then, Dafydd and Paul chose the same briefcase, so suspicion fell on Paul.
Helibombing: Tanya begged the producers to let her play for real, as she felt she was being sidetracked by the men since she was the only woman left. Out of the four, only Tanya scored, easing suspicion on her.
Hidden clues
Last season the first words of each episode confirmed that David was the mole. This year, the first and second words were important as they spelt out two sentences: First words: "This time not first words, but second initially" Second words: "Is there some trick and no-one your answer" The first sentence says to find the mole, take the initial letters of the second words, spelling out, "IT'S TANYA"
In episode 2, during the stunt plane challenge, the presenter stated that "The mole was in a spin" once the challenge had been lost. Tanya's stunt was a spin.
Also in episode 2, Tanya purposely chose "Baseball" as her call sign. This meant she knew the final test and the unveiling of the Mole would take place in a baseball stadium.
In the ice hockey challenge, the contestants were told that the shirt numbers related to episode numbers as there was no shirt number 1 (as Natalie had already been eliminated). The only person guaranteed to be in episode 8, the finale, is the mole, so Tanya wore shirt 8.
In the note left in the cabin inviting them to dinner, the word's "...the mole is included in it. Any additional information...". The mole is included in iT ANY Additional information. TANYA.
While waiting for the ball to drop in episode 3, the message read:
"Although I may be
taking money from you
in the end you'll see
the mole is okay. OK?"
The end of each sentence is: be, you, see, K - B U C K. The mole's surname.
When playing the train game, Tanya's newspapers had a fake obituary visible of David Buxton, the previous UK mole.
Tanya stated during the interrogation game when she was questioned about the tube that it had not been "exposed". This meant she knew what was coming, and therefore, was the mole.
During the mathematical challenge, the code "A=1, B=2, C=3, etc..." gave the following answers to the puzzles: "201 142 51". When re-arranged as 20, 1, 14, 25, 1 and using the same key to turn this back into letters, it spells TANYA.
A very cryptic clue was that when Tanya was sitting in the jail cell, she was drumming her fingers together. In Morse code, the drumming spelt "mole".
In episode 5, four static clocks were seen on the wall. In semaphore, the hands spelt out BUCK, Tanya's surname.
The elimination jeep always had the same air freshener, a dollar bill or 'buck', revealing the name they needed if they wanted to avoid taking the ride home. However, when this jeep was used in challenges, Paul always insisted on ripping the air freshener down, not realising its significance.
In episode 7, the scrabble board stated "The mole is male", effectively removing Tanya from being the mole. However, it was clearly seen that she went into the room first, and the scrabble board was never shown until after she had removed her blindfold. This is because as soon as the room was empty, she removed the "f" and "e" to make it seem like the mole is male. If the letters were replaced, it would show 2 new words forming downwards, if and sedate. She is also shown holding those tiles later in the episode.
Tanya stated during the video diary in episode 7, "I've been playing the mole since day 1".
There were also seven clues linking Tanya to James Bond:
- In episode 8, she always received the envelope marked "For Your Eyes Only"
- In episode 5, she stated the cliff jump scared "The Living Daylights" out of her.
- Tanya often wore a cap with an "I" in gold, or a "GoldenEye".
- In episode 4, when she was arrested, a Thunderball lottery ticket can be seen in her bag.
- In episode 3, Tanya was wearing a "Jaws" t-shirt, Jaws being the villain in 2 Bond films.
- In episode 6, she stated she "felt like I was gonna blow, felt like I was gonna lose my temper". The middle of this sentence sounded like "Blofeld", another Bond villain.
- In episode 2, in the video diary, she stated "either it's a con or 'es the mole", with the middle sounding like (Sean) Connery, who played the first James Bond.
Ratings
Official episode viewing figures are from BARB.[1]
| Episode no. | Airdate | Viewers (millions) | Channel 5 weekly ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 October 2001 | N/A | N/A |
| 2 | 21 October 2001 | N/A | N/A |
| 3 | 28 October 2001 | N/A | N/A |
| 4 | 4 November 2001 | N/A | N/A |
| 5 | 11 November 2001 | N/A | N/A |
| 6 | 18 November 2001 | N/A | N/A |
| 7 | 25 November 2001 | 1.08 | 26 |
| 8 | 2 December 2001 | 1.13 | 26 |
| 9 | 9 December 2001 | 0.93 | 30 |
References
- "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 19 September 2010.