(renamed WHEN HOLIDAYS GO HORRIBLY WRONG)
As a nation, we spend a staggering 60 billion pounds a year on day trips. For some, it’s a chance to get out and enjoy a day of fun with friends and family. Whether it’s trip to the zoo or a something a bit more adventurous. When these day trips go right, they’re the stuff of dreams. But when they go horribly wrong, they can be catastrophic. Actress Glynis Barber narrates this 90-minute special that features first-hand interviews with people whose day trips ended in disaster.
Highlights include a trip to the zoo that ends in horror as a young family encounter an escaped chimpanzee. A day at a safari park turns to a walk on the wild side as a pair of dualling camels cause £6000 of damage to the family car, rendering it a write-off.
There are near misses up in the air including the tourist who soon regretted going on a hang-gliding day trip in Swiss Alps. Self-confessed adrenaline junkie Chris Gursky was looking forward to seeing Switzerland from bird’s eye view but little did he know that his pilot had failed to attach the safety cord, and he would be clinging on for dear life with a potentially fatal drop of 5,000 feet. An avid base jumper’s day trip hits the rocks when his parachute fails to deploy, leaving him helpless and in agony.
Other stories include mountain trip which turns to terror, as a runner comes face to face with a cougar. A day tripper is enjoying a swim with hammerhead sharks, until he witnesses his fellow diver being savaged by the apex predator. And a deadly jellyfish stings a holidaymaker, leaving him fighting for his life.
Expert interviews include travel presenters Jasmine Harman and Danni Menzies and journalist and broadcaster Simon Calder.
Rating 570,000 4.4% share. Top rated show on Channel 5 the day it aired.
Consolidated rating 657,400 and and 4.88% share.