Up to the challenge
As she prepares to take to the Strictly dancefloor, we remember Anneka Rice’s hit TV show
IF YOU wanted something done in a hurry back in 1989 then Anneka Rice was the one to call.
She devised Challenge Anneka for BBC 1 following her success with Channel 4 ratings hit Treasure Hunt and the new series launched on the Beeb on September 8.
Anneka’s multi-coloured jump suits and infectious enthusiasm made her latest TV venture instantly popular with viewers and over the next five years she threw herself into 61 projects, ranging from charity campaigns and building projects, to garden restorations and community centre ventures.
One of the biggest challenges was renovating an orphanage in Romania in just 10 days.
The format for Challenge Anneka was first tested two years earlier as part of Children In Need when the Cowbridge-born presenter organised a symphony concert for the charity on the River Thames complete with fireworks and ice-dancing.
The first challenge of the 1989 series involved finding and converting 10 double decker-buses into mobile playrooms for school children.
All the work was carried out with the help of volunteers. Materials donated to the causes and the programmes were watched by millions every week.
Anneka even had her own waxwork at Madame Tussauds, but stepped away from the spotlight when Challenge Anneka ended in 1995.
She took time away to raise her three children and to study at Chelsea College Of Art, but Challenge Anneka returned in 2006 for a series of specials this time on ITV.
The Boxing Day programme saw her carrying out work in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the damage caused by the 2004 Tsunami.
One of her final challenges saw Anneka recruit British band McFly to record a version of Grease song You’re The One That I Want on a charity album called Over The Rainbow in aid of The Association Of Children’s Hospices.
Now 60, last week Anneka was unveiled as a contestant on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing. She said: “I haven’t danced since I was seven and Miss Beer sent me home from my ballet class because I was hopelessly uncoordinated. But I’m feeling recklessly excited. Strictly has always been my autumn’s entertainment, now I’m part of it!”