De Mol 2018

Sundays, 8pm local time,
Vier

Der-derderderdunnaderderderderder-DER-DER! Yes! For the first time we’re going to attempt a discussion page for the superb Belgian version of De Mol. Ten contestants attempt to complete challenges in Mexico, but one of them is a plant out to sabotage. To stay in the game and win all the money, the contestants must deduce who… is The Mole?

As a UK site, we ask our international friends to refrain from spoiling until the English subtitled version appears.

Direct links to episode discussion:

Who are the contestants? With an average age of 38, from left to right, first row than second:

  • Lloyd, 21, Student
  • Pascale, 44, Marine Officer
  • Jeffrey, 40, Driver
  • Kelly, 39, Psychologist
  • Bahador, 27, Financial Recruiter
  • Joke, 32, Veterinarian
  • Channy, 26, Social Assistant
  • Steve, 60, Doctor
  • Pieter, 33, Priest
  • Katrien, 54, Events Manager

What twists and turns do we have to look forward to? Can’t wait.

173 thoughts on “De Mol 2018

  1. TVs Michael Harmstone

    Episode 7 is available with Dutch subs already.

    On a side note, it appears I may be talking to Gilles next weekend – anyone got anything they want me to ask?

    Reply
      1. Cheesebiscuits

        I think you’ve mentioned it on the podcast before but could you ask him how early on he finds out who the mole is? And how production ensures that he doesn’t accidently tell them when he has a drink.

        Your podcasts on Belgian mole have been great so far, look forward to hearing it!

        Reply
        1. TVs Michael Harmstone

          Thanks so much! Been trying not to spam everywhere with them but it’s been so much fun to cover again and I may or may not have done a little dance when Gilles asked a few weeks ago if we wanted him on. (The answer of course being HELLS YES)

          Weirdly, there’s been a few questions on how Gilles keeps schtum, so I suspect that’ll form a large part of our discussion!

          Reply
  2. Brig Bother Post author

    Just caught up with Ep 6, pretty much liked all the challenges, especially the goat one which was basically City Slickers meets Yoshi’s Island. Fun ending as well.

    Sad about Joke, she certainly played the game quite hard. The only one who seems to blend into the background a bit is Pascale which is probably why I’d probably pick her as my Mole.

    Reply
    1. TVs Michael Harmstone

      Last week was a bit quieter (as all post-family episodes tend to be) and I was very surprised Joke wasn’t the winner. The goat one was a classic though.

      Reply
  3. David

    Well now I’m completely stumped….I’ve had three of my prime Mole suspects go in the past four weeks.

    Reply
  4. TVs Michael Harmstone

    I think they’ve done another musical clue, but I’m not 100%. There’s been some very interesting pieces of music the past couple of weeks.

    Reply
  5. Lukachkinas

    I was about to write that my mole became my winner. And then the execution came.

    How didn’t I learn from last year. I believe that Lloyd is following Bahador everywhere for weeks for the same reason Davey did it for Eline – they figured out that they are the mole so they just try to minimize the damage. Now I’m pretty sure it’s Bahador. I’ve been suspecting him in some way from Episode 5, but had been putting 100’s on Pascale just out of principle. As it’s too late for me to fix my Suspect List (three finalists all have 9%, 4% and 3% of my maximum), I’ll just go for a 100 for the last time this year.

    Winner: Lloyd
    Runner-up: Pieter
    The Mole: Bahador

    Also, by the fact that they’re all standing in line in suits might mean that De Mol went for a classic Dutch finale scheme and won’t reveal the results this week but during the reunion. Top.

    Reply
  6. Andrew, the Yank

    Lloyd was a beast in the triathlon. That challenge was brutal. Also Gilles watching them proudly dive into the water afterward was touching. <3 As was the four of them relaxing on the beach together – with surprise dogs! Also a great shot of them from behind there, the cinematography on this show continues to be excellent.

    Haha, Lloyd looked so awkward at first but then he started chatting with the guys in the sauna. I love Lloyd. <3

    Also I liked Pascale's answer to Gilles asking if she ever tried to take anything from Baha. "His blue diary, but don't tell him!"

    Pieter responding to a lady flirting with him is hilarious.

    Yooooooo the twist of the challenge is brilliant. Although Pieter had the easiest choice, really – obviously the priest wouldn't give his number!

    WOW the final duel is brutal. Ouch. I want to try to guess how I would have played that to end it as soon as possible, but it'd be so tough to be in that situation it's hard to know.

    Also the "mole reveal" was so weird and creepy, I love this show's vibe. It goes from cheerful to grim so quickly. And on that note, in the car later.. they're all awkward again. Just a night before they were so happy and friendly. 🙁

    Damn, Pascale being eliminated after her hint. Didn't see that coming.

    Also I may have gotten a hint that made me question my mole suspect but at this point I'm all-in. Oh well.

    Reply
  7. John R

    Translating the official forum and the hidden hints section in particular is quite mind blowing as to all the different theories people have come up with over the series, and all of them could be right going in to the final so I just have to stick with my suspect now and go with it!

    There was quite a strong theory about the whole yellow colour palette throughout the series, so when Pascale as well as wearing that yellow necklace lugged a huge yellow suitcase into the hotel…

    Reply
  8. Matt Clemson

    I’ve had Pieter pegged as the mole throughout, and all of a sudden I’m wavering and looking at Lloyd. Pieter played the diaries challenge in *completely* the wrong way to play it as a mole – didn’t win the riddle, so of the two semi-finals didn’t get the one you can prepare for, *and* in doing that didn’t get to the final, which is the place with the most scope of removing money from the pot. Combine that with being able to read two things into Lloyd’s “I really hope I don’t regret this”, and now I’m highly suspicious!

    I think I still suspect Pieter overall, mind you – you always have to consider the possibility of it just being one of those situations where the mole’s plans fall through and they aren’t able to execute their moling to the best of their ability.

    I’m very interested to hear what Pascale did go for after that. It might simply be that she was right, but less successful at the quiz!

    Am I imagining it, or was there a note missing from the whistled theme song? I thought it felt slightly more abrupt than I was expecting.

    Reply
  9. Brig Bother Post author

    Blimey, well that was unexpected.

    I figured there might have been a twist in the secret camera task – predicting how contestants react isn’t new for The Mole but this was the first time they’ve messed with the format of it.

    Also loved The Murderer’s Game vibe for the diary thing.

    I (now) think it’s Baha.

    Reply
  10. Andrew, the Yank

    May as well say it at this point: I’ve been on Lloyd as the mole for a while. He became my main suspect in episode 2, then I swapped to putting 100 on Steve in episode 3 which I continued until his elimination, it’s been Lloyd ever since. But the last two episodes have made my convictions wane, in particular how well he did in the triathlon challenge, but also just his demeanour. I don’t think he’s faking how hard he wants to win.

    I’ll also confess the hint that I may have picked up on: in the preview for the finale, Gilles says something like, “It’s time to unmask the mole..” I know it’s pretty standard Mole language, but I immediately flashed back to the fact that Baha and Pieter wore masks in the lucha libre challenge.

    Reply
  11. Jared

    Aww… disappointing elimination, not only cause I liked Pascale but because I ruled her out back when she went out of her way to save the mirror maze challenge after they’d already gotten it wrong. At this point, I could easily see any of last three being the mole. I’ve been leaning towards Baha for a while cause he seems generally unhelpful most of the time, but now that I’m going back and skimming through the earlier episodes from before he was on my radar, I’m not so sure. Lloyd and Pieter’s mistakes from those challenges stand out a lot more… The only problem is that they stand out pretty much equally lol.

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  12. Matt Clemson

    Out of interest, I’m struggling to think of another instance in Mole where a player who explicitly gets a unique reward of a major hint as to the Mole’s identity crashes out straight away despite that fact. Has it happened before?

    Reply
  13. spp138

    EP. 7 is up.

    It’s an utterly brilliant episode throughout.

    And a moment that took my breath away from disbelief. WHAT THE HECK

    Reply
    1. spp138

      Oh hey we’re on page 2 now and you all have actually seen it haha

      Reply
      1. Brig Bother Post author

        Have updated the shortcut list, it’s a bit slow because I don’t want to spoil myself (as it were) and I’m watching a few days behind, sorry!

        Reply
    2. Andrew, the Yank

      What was the moment? Pascale’s elimination?

      Reply
  14. Clicky

    I have no clue who the Mole is.

    The only thing I keep going back to is the airport suitcase challenge. I can’t put my finger on but for some reason the way Baha acted struck me as “mole”.

    Reply
  15. Steve

    The good-ish news for me is that the three I’ve been dumping most of my Suspect List points into were Pascale, Baha, and Pieter, and two of them made it through to the finale. The bad news is, I haven’t actually gone full in on anyone, so I’m sure I’m going to be far from the lead, no matter who the Mole ends up being. The really bad news is, it’s *obviously* going to be Lloyd because I haven’t sunk many points on him. I even saw two really subtle mole actions during the challenges that pointed to Baha and Pieter in the triathlon challenge, so *of course* it’s going to be Lloyd.

    Great episode, by the way. I have an on-and-off Mole fan friend who hasn’t been following the Belgian series, but I’m thinking about forgoing spoilers and begging her to jump back in on this episode.

    Reply
  16. Chris M. Dickson

    Baffling as all get out, but nevertheless great fun.

    Please set my expectations. Should we expect to have the winner, loser and mole revealed next week, or (based on previous series) would you expect there to be a big cliffhanger to be revealed in the episode after, as in the Dutch version?

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    1. Lukachkinas

      It has always been the same week, but the preview tells me it probably will be a cliffhanger.

      Reply
      1. John R

        I think someone mentioned the finale would be live this year, so it probably will be a cliffhanger next week.

        Reply
        1. TVs Michael Harmstone

          Having spoken to de Coster himself less than an hour ago (I’m actually not shitting you) – he confirmed it’s the same as always – winner/loser/mole revealed this week.

          Reply
    1. Dale

      CONGRATSSS THIS IS AWESOME! I can wait to listen to it. Im so excited that are cheeky niche online fan club haha. I have to wait to catch up so I can watch ep 7 with my mom because its our thing though haha.

      Reply
    2. Chris M. Dickson

      That was really good. That was really, really good. Thank you for sharing with us and to Gilles for giving up two whole hours of his time on the day before filming the reunion, which is absinthe took me. He came across really well – articulate in, presumably, his third language and he seemed to be enjoying the conversation very nearly as much as you two were. He also came across as genuine and a really pleasant guy. What an absolute treat!

      I’m very tempted to follow your podcast in the future from the start of the next show we all watch together…!

      Reply
      1. TVs Michael Harmstone

        Thank you so much! I really didn’t cut much out of the conversation (there were a few Skype hiccups, but there always are!) and a few lame questions from my end but he shocked me with how much of other shows he’s seen. I think it’s really cool that he values the fan community so much (especially when he really didn’t know the extent of it till this season!) that I think he was genuinely heart-warmed that people outside of the target market enjoy the show. I will 100% be taking up that invite for next year as well.

        Not sure what our next show is going to be (traditionally it’s Amazing Race Canada, but urgh at that right now) – probably Hunted given how much we love it but I’ll obviously keep everyone posted.

        Reply
    3. Shaun Klein

      Super excited to listen to this, but I gather from the show notes that there’s some discussion of previous seasons. I just started watching the Belgian show this year; am I going to be lost for large parts of the conversation?

      Reply
      1. TVs Michael Harmstone

        Nah, it’s brief references to previous challenges and Moles. Main things you need to be aware of is there’s a game in the Argentina season where someone races the Subway and one where the first eliminee could come back, but is trapped in a car with a paint bomb and for the South Africa season, there’s a game of Scrabble featuring ostriches and a drunk museum heist.

        We do mention three of the previous Belgian Moles and the most recent Dutch one too 🙂

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        1. Andrew, the Yank

          Fie, I still have some hope of watching the earlier Belgian seasons so I probably shouldn’t listen to it until then. I love Gilles, and it’s adorable that he seems so excited by the community.

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          1. TVs Michael Harmstone

            I did *try* to keep it as spoiler-free as possible, but there’s two challenges from last season that I had to ask about because of their ridiculousness. If you saw the Café de Mol pre-season special, you’ll probably know who the two Moles we mainly touch upon are and then there’s just one from the early seasons that relates to a clue that Gilles loves (and will be very familiar to anyone who’s seen the two UK ones!)

          2. TVs Michael Harmstone

            I think you’ll love Gilles even more when you do listen though.

  17. David

    They officially picked up the show for 2019, according to a couple of translated articles…

    Reply
  18. Matt Clemson

    I haven’t seen the finale, I do not know the result, but on hearing the talk in the interview about musical hints, now I’m wondering if one very specific band from West Brom was played at any point, because that would absolutely push my tunnelvisie to ludicrous levels.

    Reply
    1. TVs Michael Harmstone

      I swear – if there’s more Marvel music I missed, I’ll be fuming. I’m hoping I’m right on that hint just cause Gilles’ poker face was INSAAAAANE if I was spot on.

      Reply
  19. Andrew, the Yank

    BIG SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY:

    In the chocolate challenge, I was wondering if they were remembering to move the coin with the figurines, then I realized they were attached to a board so you physically couldn’t move them separately. But that could have been a fun mole action if someone moved a figure but not the coin. And the sort of thing the contestants may have messed up on their own.

    Also, I may as well say now that I’m sure Baha is the mole at this point, and the only time I put points on him was back in episode 2. The fact that Lloyd and Pieter listen to the records kinda seals the deal for me, they clearly think/know he’s the mole.

    I wonder how they filmed the top of the pole – a drone?

    Another challenge I’m genuinely surprised they won. Even with a bit of a guess apparently, but I wonder if there was a process of elimination thing – they had narrowed it down to two elements, maybe they were able to rule out enough of the records that La Bamba was the only one that fit the two they hadn’t found?

    Aw, the three of them goofing around buying hats. <3 Hahaha, and rocking out in the car.

    Baha got a facial mask. Another mole hint? Particularly with what I noticed in last week's preview, Gilles's comment about "unmasking" the mole.

    "The further you go, the scarier it gets."
    Gilles: "You're sadists." Hahahaha.

    Oh dear, Lloyd's terror.. I feel bad for him, and bad for laughing, but his inability to release himself and his increasing panic as he tried was amazing.

    Damn, Lloyd being off by only 3 seconds is incredibly impressive. I've done counting challenges like that and it's tough, not even counting the fear of hanging up there.

    Yeaaaaaah I was all in on Lloyd as mole for a while, but over the last couple episodes I became convinced that he'd be the winner. I knew it. Now I'm going to give my final guess for the mole: Baha.

    noooooo what. GodDAMN it. literally when I saw the cast list I thought, "It would be just like this show to cast a priest as the mole." And I had suspicions of him here and there, but I really didn't think… gah.

    The shot of Pieter playing with the teddy bear pretending to be freaked out is incredible. I'm so glad that included that. Damn.

    I liked all three of them a lot though, and super happy for Lloyd. Baha's comment that if it had to be anyone, it should be Lloyd was touching too.

    Reply
    1. Brig Bother Post author

      Yes, entertaining final I thought with Lloyd on the rope swing (and the others trying to put him off) being a particularly hilarious highlight.

      Really interested to see the sabotages next week.

      Reply
  20. Jared

    Like I said before, I was pretty split between all three, but I think my gut was pulling me towards Pieter a bit more than the other two… I just ignored it because I’m very indecisive and second-guess myself a lot with the Mole cause I have a terrible track record lol.

    A few things about Pieter really stuck out to me when I was skimming back through the earlier episodes, but by far the biggest was during the suitcase elimination challenge. As soon as Jeffrey volunteered to take a €0 suitcase, Pieter immediately said “You don’t have to do that” and tried to talk him out of sacrificing himself, which is a bit of a weird thing to do if he wasn’t the Mole and hadn’t been told that Jeffrey would be getting the red screen. In contrast, Lloyd didn’t say a thing the whole challenge and Baha volunteered to take the other €0 suitcase which would be an odd choice for the Mole as he wouldn’t be able to spend money on pasvragen.

    Reply
  21. Lukachkinas

    HO

    LY

    SHIT.

    I’m so terrible at this. Second season in the row my runner-up is the mole and vice versa. Well, at least I guessed both Ruben and Lloyd correctly.
    Wow, Pieter. When he came out of the dark my immediate thought was ‘How the hell is he going to come back to church after this?’. I apparently somehow gave him 20 points on Week 4 and before the elimination of Pascale he was my second suspect, but until the very end I thought it’s Bahador. Christ, I can’t believe it still. A worthy winner and an astounding mole.

    Reply
  22. John R

    I officially give up! I was onto Lloyd, OK fair enough then Baha will be emerging after taking his (face) mask off earlier in the episode…WHAT…THE…ACTUAL…

    Reply
  23. Matt Clemson

    So frustrating – I completely screw up the Dutch suspect list, and then don’t play this one, and it turns out I’d have done rather well on it! While I can’t say I was ever certain, I kept seeing a few avenues where Pieter was well-placed to carry out a mole action – I think I might have been first on him for the driving game/quiz, perhaps, in that I always reasoned that no-one else had complete information: Steve didn’t know what paddles he was putting up, the audience didn’t know the questions being asked. A second big hint, I thought, alluded to in the montage, is that for the drive-in task, he could easily appear to be attempting to be a hero and in turn lose it all; there wasn’t anyone else in the vicinity other than his visitor who could assess his performance. But then, as I mentioned earlier in the thread, I wavered a lot last week since the whole task that led to the mole books did strike me as one that a mole would have played very differently, he ended up not being in a great position to drain the pot.

    As I hinted upthread that I can now be more frank on: Marvel soundtrack hints are one thing, but I can’t help but think if there was ever a song or a reference to a little track by, well, “Judas Priest”.

    Reply
  24. Matt Clemson

    Great interview, and that led me to going back to the start of the series and listening to that, and I can’t help but be amused by a couple of quotes from the first episode…

    “Who do you suspect is going home next week?”
    “Baha didn’t get too much airtime other than people making fun of his cardio, right?”
    “I think Pieter could be going home early”
    “I certainly don’t see Pieter lasting that long, personally. I think Pascale could be going home early as well”

    Reply
    1. Matt Clemson

      Oh, and I just twigged: Pieter’s Luchador name? Holy Pieter. As in “Holy Mole-y”

      Reply
  25. Chris M. Dickson

    While we’re waiting for the finale to be fansubbed, I have started a rewatch of UK The Mole from 2001. It’s easy to find on YouTube, though the picture quality is very very VHS. I do remember who the Mole is, so I’m trying to see if the clues can be spotted with this knowledge. Some other comments:

    1) Host Glenn Hugill is very very arch at points, we’re talking first-couple-of-series neutral Treguard here. I half-remember this decreases over time.
    2) The snapping in the theme tune gets quite annoying quite quickly, otherwise I quite like the soundtrack.
    3) The turn-of-the-century mobile phones are amusing and seeing Glenn driving while using one is sort of shocking.
    4) Funniest of all: the elimination program is so technologically backwards by modern eyes and someone thought it was a good idea to use the Comic Sans font throughout.

    Otherwise it’s off to a very strong start. If there would be any interest in a synchronised rewatch, I’ll slow down and go at whatever pace we agree.

    Reply
    1. Chris M. Dickson

      Comments on episode 2:

      1) The editing seems a bit off. Not as in unfair to any contestant, just not especially well done. You’ve got to make allowances for a decade and a half’s improvements and this being the first series but there are definitely some strange sound decisions as to what sort of soundscape to leave in the background at some points.
      2) Again you’ve got to make allowances for this being the first series, but the Dutch and Flemish versions, despite having an awful lot of work put into them, seem to have a sense of effortless nonchalance even despite being extremely spectacular at points, whereas everyone on the British production team is clearly trying very hard and trying to throw everything into it.
      3) There’s more swearing than I remember, which is an odd thing to say in light of just how much swearing there is in the Benelux versions – but swearing in a foreign language perhaps is seen as more comical than offensive. Wasn’t this an 8pm show at the time?
      4) I often say that the contestants are likeable on shows, but on this version there are a couple of contestants who I have not taken to at all, whether through an aggressive edit or not. The rest are cool, though!

      Reply
      1. Chris M. Dickson

        Comments on episode 3, somewhat mangled to avoid posting rewatch spoilers for this old show:

        1) There is a genre of challenge which has been as unsubtle as “Here is a daring stunt, the team will win money if everybody does it”. This is totally fine for episodes in series one. It also happened in the first series of The Amazing Race I saw, which was series nine. I’m glad that, by and large, people have moved on from there.
        2) In retrospect, this series moves at quite a pace: three challenges in a show with under 50 minutes time excluding commercials. I remember thinking it wasn’t all that quick at the time, but in the context of Benelux Moles that we now know, UK Mole now feels like it’s not hanging around, to a point where there doesn’t seem to be much time left to illustrate points of potential sabotage… or perhaps there just haven’t been that many yet from the contestants.
        3) Very fun to see reference to a web site that, looking at its whois data, has existed from 1999 to the present day. There is more to say about a detail referenced here and a remarkable piece of editing but this isn’t the place.
        4) The show really likes using split screen for the sake of it, doesn’t it? I suspect that must have been a deliberate stylistic decision that has not really stood the test of time.

        Anyone remember the forum software used on the Channel 5 site at the time? Web forums were extremely slow, even allowing for slow consumer Internet access at the time. I have a strong suspicion that it was the same software used for the even earlier Wanted forum by Channel 4 three or four years earlier. I can remember there being “an online chat” with at least Glenn at the end of the series, by which I mean that Glenn looked at the forum and posted replies for an hour or two.

        Reply
        1. Chris M. Dickson

          I’m not going to comment on every episode, especially as avoiding spoilers becomes harder, but some general comments:

          1) While there’s no evidence to this untrained eye to suggest that health and safety precautions weren’t up to scratch, the modern style is to make health and safety precautions much more obvious and much more visible than they were then.
          2) I quite like the different opening titles each week, presaging the same technique used in the The Crystal Maze relaunch by many years (and very probably not the first to do it). Somehow it’s much less annoying here because you can’t identify the games to be played in advance nearly so clearly as a result. Has the opening sequence music been cut to different lengths to reflect different numbers of contestants at different parts of the game? I’d need to go back and check.
          3) The “say goodbye to the eliminated contestant” music is so melancholy that it goes just ever so slightly too far into self-parody.
          4) I do like all the shots that imply that Glenn times the contestants himself, at least in the “pick teams, you have fifteen seconds” segments. In practice, can there be any other way?
          5) So much more censorship of the cursing in later episodes. Theoretically they might have been recorded from the earlier-in-the-evening repeat, or perhaps even the later-in-the-evening first runs had their swears bleeped in response to complaints that the earlier episodes hadn’t.
          6) It’s always amazing how the Mole can keep schtum even when everyone is encouraged to let their hair down with copious drink. (Amused to see a contestant holding a cigarette during a clubbing/karaoke scene, which you wouldn’t see, even in passing, nowadays…)
          7) In the context of what has come since, both in other shows and in the wider world, the money that they’re playing for is almost shockingly high, even if other versions have had higher prize pools still.
          8) I can remember one of the clues and have been looking out for it very carefully, but not seen it. Could it be that they referred to a clue that they never actually showed on screen, or showed it on screen in passing in the tiniest camera shot?

          Reply
          1. Brig Bother Post author

            I know health and safety was important because of the insurance issues involved, so I wouldn’t think they were less bothered per se.

            One of the most striking differences between the UK/Benelux Moles and the Australian one is that after an elimination we’re all really nice and in Australia they’re like “yeah, whatever.”

          2. Chris M. Dickson

            I’ve watched the whole of the series, and some more thoughts:

            1) I’d forgotten that the producer was one Peter Davey. I wonder what happened to him?
            2) The clues for the viewer were there, and the joy of watching on YouTube is that you can go back and check, but you would have needed exceptional observation to spot them, which is how it should be.
            3) I’m still a little salty about some of the editing which was, I think, designed to throw people off the scent. This may be a first series inexperience phenomenon, but I think they wanted the reveal of the Mole to come as a surprise, when by contrast listening to Gilles de Coster in conversation on the podcast, I get the impression that the Flemish production team are actually quite pleased when people pick up on the clues and prove that the Mole is possible to spot as a viewer.
            3b) Brig very probably already knew this, but I’ve just enjoyed learning that Gilles de Coster won one of the series of Bar favourite De Slimste Mens ter Wereld. Not surprising!

            Lots of fun, a recommended rewatch. Still looking forward to the fansub of the finale, though!

          3. Chris M. Dickson

            Even more thoughts:

            4) Didn’t Weaver’s Week start at an excellent point in time? Week two of the Week was week one of series one UK Mole, so we can follow Iain’s thoughts at the time in retrospect. (Also entertaining: at about the same time, coverage of a mutual friend on University Challenge.)
            5) I don’t think you’d cast the show quite like that any more – there were a few reasonably overtly well-to-do contestants, or those in training for established professions, and a few with experience in reasonably expensive sorts of hobbies. Perhaps it was deliberately intended to be a reasonably aspirational, upmarket show, in the context of the first series or two of Big Brother being quite classy overt social experiments.
            6) Excellent montage work in the last couple of episodes!

        2. TVs Michael Harmstone

          Didn’t mention the Slimste Mens thing to Gilles directly, but I did use it as evidence as to why he’s one of my faves in an earlier episode.

          Reply
    2. Brig Bother Post author

      I genuinely love the The Mole UK soundtrack, very much one I’d have liked to have been able to download. The same soundtrack was of course first used in the Australian version.

      I think an interesting difference is that Glenn wasn’t told who the Mole was until towards the end of the series when it was necessary for a challenge, which is very different to the Benelux ones. I dig the archness, rather.

      I think the first series went out Fridays at 9pm, the second one went out Sundays at 8pm to appeal to kids. Something like that.

      Reply
      1. Brig Bother Post author

        Actually whilst we’re here, I know the UK pretty much copied the Aussie show task for task for the first series, I’d be really interested to see the first ever seasons of the Belgian and Dutch ones to see how they compare.

        Reply
        1. Chris M. Dickson

          I think (but am not confident) that that doesn’t feel right. I do remember that I really enjoyed the Australian series I saw (series 1, 2 and 5) and that the first Australian series has at least one stunningly attractive candidate, so that may well have to be the next rewatch after the UK ones. It may well be the case that I just saw the Australian ones before the UK ones, because tape trading (or, more precisely in my case, tape begging) was a thing that you did last century.

          YouTube may feel like it’s been around forever, but it only started in 2005.

          Reply
          1. Brig Bother Post author

            Aussie Mole 3 and 4 are quite good, did think the tie-in with Weakest Link was quite cleverly done.

          2. David

            Mole AU 1 and Mole UK 1 are almost identical up until the finale. And both of them are almost identical to the original De Mol.

          3. Chris M. Dickson

            I’ve just finished rewatching Australian series one courtesy of our Russian friends who have copied video files to other storage sites where copyright claimants cannot find them. You were right, so I owe you an apology; at the very least, the Australian version is far more like the British version than it isn’t.

            The Australian host, Grant Bowler, is extremely calm, to the point where a less flattering description might be low-energy. It’s at least a cute coincidence, and quite possibly more of a deliberate casting decision, that both Grant and Glenn come from a police acting background and they do have a certain sort of look to them. The contestants were fantastic and surprisingly sympathetic. (I have a tinpot theory, based on no more than a modestly common nomenclature coincidence and photos, that the production staff might not have had too far to look to find their Mole.) The Australian TV hour is notably shorter than the UK one and the consequence is that the show really zooms through a similar quantity of content in rather less time.

            First time round, I think I preferred the Australian version which I think I had seen already to the UK one simply because of this pace and the lack of filler. On reflection – and this may just be the primacy talking – I think I preferred the UK one. The slightly more expansive pace didn’t feel slow, but it meant that there was more of a chance to get more of a sense of the contestants. I ranted at the producers of The Amazing Race when they described their show as a relationship show rather than a game show, and I do think that The Mole is likewise a game show rather than a relationship show, but the relationships between contestants are rather more critical here. Sometimes it feels like all you saw of the Mole in the Australian version was either the sabotage actions or the deliberate non-sabotage actions, rather than more of the neutral but relevant storytelling of the development of the games. As they used many of the same sabotages in the Australian show that they did in the British version, they were quite easy to spot, and it did feel that the Mole was at times a bit of a lousy actor because all you could see them do was their relevant decisions.

            In retrospect what I really love and appreciate about the British version was the effort and quantity of clues they put in to be found, and the way they seemed to want the audience to be able to work it out, despite the fact that I can remember it being very far from obvious who the Moles were at the time. Some of them feel like almost laughable Puzzle Hunt 101 stuff now, but those were the days before people by and large had convenient access to the conventions. I’d love to have known what a third British series, had the viewing figures justified the expense, might have been like. (Or maybe I wouldn’t!) Perhaps, who knows, someone might consider that The Mole is worth another try in the UK. Heck, CBBC had four series of Trapped!, so it’s clearly not too complicated to follow.

            The Mole is such a tense show and there’s just such a huge sense of relief when everything can be revealed, and perhaps this was more obviously felt by the contestants in the Australian show than any of the others I’ve seen… but I’m now very tempted to go back and watch the recent fansubbed Flemish and Dutch series that I haven’t yet watched, just to find out!

    3. John R

      I liked how the very first scene of Series 1 was Glenn doing a speech from the end of the series on Day 21, mind blowing!

      Stellify Media should definitely sort out a new series

      Reply
  26. John R

    Episode 9 is up, sadly Natalia is finding it hard work and may not carry on next year – Giles knows there is an English fan base now would it really be that much effort for the production company to provide dutch and English subtitles? 🙁

    Anyway, very light on the hidden hints, even then a couple you wouldn’t be able to make much use of in English! A good mole but the hints seem to get thinner on the ground each year, which is a shame as there are plenty of conspiracy theories flying about during the season! Maybe the producers are too worried these days about just how eagle eyed some viewers are!

    Reply
    1. Brig Bother Post author

      If you’re reading Natalia, thank you very much for the effort you put in. The production company should be paying you rather than making it difficult, really.

      Reply
      1. TVs Michael Harmstone

        It’s really interesting, cause I think it’s the network making it difficult from what Gilles was saying – Production love that there’s an English fanbase.

        Reply
        1. David

          I’d imagine it’s something to do with music rights – it’s probably a LOT cheaper for the network to clear most of the songs they use if it’s something that’s only going to be watched in Flanders, and as much as we all love it it isn’t enough of a hit internationally to justify buying global streaming clearance just in case people in the UK and Canada and America and Australia decide to watch.

          Reply
    2. stephen

      where has she said she may not carry on next season ? as i see nothing

      Reply

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