Dad-mageddon: A Christmas Special Airmageddon

Over 12 shows, our Airmageddon aviators have shown

incredible bravery, fast reactions and high-level flying skills.

But has it all just been too easy?!

Now it's time to find out, and for the oldies to take over the

controllies and try to show their offspring a thing or two.

Will they prove themselves to be the daddy of all fliers?

Find out right here right now.

This isn't Airmageddon, this is Dad-mageddon!

But it is Airmageddon, really.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Welcome to a very special air-dition of Airmageddon.

Four of our favourite teams are returning to the Airena.

But whilst they may be familiar,

there's something very different about them, too.

Because some of our wingdads are revolting.

-No need to get personal, Will!

-Oh, this is personal, all right, Rachel.

They actually think they're better pilots than their kids.

Well, frankly, they really should know better,

especially at their age!

OK, calm down. There's only one way to settle this.

Dance-off?

-No.

-No?

Oh, you think we should cave in to their demands and actually

hand them the controls?

You really think they should be allowed to compete here,

in the Airena, not as wingmen but as pilots?

-Absolutely!

-I love it when we do this.

-RACHEL CHUCKLES BOTH:

-Let's meet our aviators!

Rolling out against the shore first are Tidal Waves' Katie and Dave.

Chasing them down is the Sky Wolf, Rune and Paul.

Swooping down next is Doom Dragons. Holly and Stuart, there. High five!

And gathering up the booty are the Pirates of the Air, Joshua

and Nicholas. All familiar faces, half of them olden faces.

So, Sky Wolf, you guys are up first.

-Paul, you've been in the Airena before.

-Mm-hm.

How different is it, knowing that you are going to be at the controls?

-It's quite a bit different. It's a bit nerve-racking.

-Yeah?

So I'm just going to, erm,

try and do my best for Sky Wolf and hopefully not mess up too much.

Hopefully not embarrass him too much.

-Yeah.

-Do you reckon you can handle the pressure?

-No.

-WILL LAUGHS

He handled it fine.

So, are you looking forward to basically bossing your dad around?

-Yes.

-Are you going to be quite a strict wingman?

-Are you going to really crack the whip up there?

-Yeah.

-WILL LAUGHS

-Good. You've got a lot

-to look forward to.

-Thanks.

And here's PIG, taking us through the course of our first challenge.

And have we given them a daddy course to undertake!

Through the first gate,

round the Pillars and into the Letterboxes of Luck.

Question - how many Will and Rachels would it take to make up one

of the Letterboxes of Luck?

Answer - about 12, as it turns out.

Keep still, Will and Rachels!

PIG coming through. Second gate, then down to the Fog Box.

My new name for it.

Rise up to the horizontal gate then up two and through the third

vertical gate, down to the Vortex.

You could get a double-decker bus through there, mate!

Ha-ha! All aboard! Well, one-and-a-half buses, to be exact.

Another gate, another pillar and peg it home for tea and biscuits.

Easy-peasy.

And as always, one of our resident drones will be taking off to

interfere, distract and generally get in the way. But who is it?

'Selected - GUARD.'

The big, grey, hulking, rotund figure of the GUARD is lurking.

Apparently, he had some very hot chilli last night with

extra beans, so watch out for some fearsome gastric action.

So, let's kick things off with Sky Wolf.

We all know about Rune from earlier in the series.

He likes to dance like a nutter and likes a bit of boxing.

But now that Paul's at the controls, well, he's a keen indie-music

guitarist, but most importantly, he flies drones himself.

Good luck, Paul and Rune.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Paul, welcome.

-Thanks.

Rune, welcome. So, Paul, how much flying experience have you got?

-Not a great deal, to be honest. Just a bit with Rune for fun.

-Right.

-Nothing serious.

-Yeah. OK. Well, it's going to get serious now, mate.

The fun is about to stop. Rune, what's his speciality?

-What's your dad really good at?

-Crashing.

The important thing to remember, Rune,

is that even though he's got the controls, you're in charge.

-All right? So, you're going to be bossing him around, right?

-Yeah.

How are you going to keep him on track?

-Shout at him.

-WILL LAUGHS

Shout at him! Good luck, Paul. All right, then, aviators, stand by.

So, this is it. Dad's at the controls and son's on the vowels.

Fire up your motors, rev up your rotors.

-You're cleared for takeoff.

-'Sky Wolf, launch in three, two, one.'

-Maybe doesn't want to launch just yet.

-In, in.

-Or doesn't know how to launch.

-Go!

OK! He's up!

So now we see him coming around the course.

This is a very high-pressure environment.

Does the pressure tell on his face?

Yes, it does.

And he goes up and around.

And around...

Forward gently.

And through - or rather, into - the first gate.

Rune is getting quite agitated!

-Careful! That's it.

-Whoa, what was that?

The GUARD? Wow! What's he playing at? Anyway...

Letterbox. He's cautious.

GUARD not too happy about that, it seems, so he is.

So, through the first Letterbox.

No, not through again!

A bit of up and down before managing the second.

And rising for the third.

He's looking pretty good, y'know, all things considering.

This isn't half bad!

-Up, forward a little bit.

-Look at that face! Awww!

Gently...

Gently...

Gently!

Anyway, so, let's skip to the Foggy Corridor.

He seems to be having a few issues with visibility.

Probably old age. He drops to the ground and, er...

Forward!

Other than that, he seems to make it pretty much through unscathed...

it seems. Now it's the horizontal gate.

He seems to be taking a roundabout way of getting up there.

But he gets the height. He just needs to slip through.

Drop, drop.

-Nice. Clean.

-Right, careful.

-Very good. He's doing well now.

Positively glides through the next gate. Look at that!

-Vortex to go.

-Slow down now.

Look at his face there, a face like granite.

But are the cracks starting to show? Not yet.

Not yet...

Gets down to the stripes.

Pitches in and makes his way up.

-Up, up, up, up!

-"Up, up, up, up," his son says.

Gets out through the gate at the top. Bingo bango!

Not doing too bad, is old man Sky Wolf.

Oh, no, what's happening here?!

Round and round we go. I'm getting dizzy!

-He survived!

-How he managed to get out of that I do not know.

Very graceful! It's like a ballet or something. It's lovely.

I don't know what ballets you've seen, Will.

Anyway, here he is, making his way...

GUARD! Oh, that chilli really did a number on you, didn't it, mate?

I think you might need to see a doctor. Anyway, through the gate.

Ohhh! OK, careful now.

The GUARD there ever present. Makes a bit of a meal of that last Pillar.

Here he is. You're supposed to fly, not walk, mate!

And he crosses the line in three minutes 16.

We've had quicker, I won't lie. But not a bad effort there.

Slow and steady. A bit of rope work, but he survived to see another day.

-Well done, Paul.

-Come in, Sky Wolf.

Rune, right, I want to know how you think your dad got on out there.

-Erm, good.

-Really?

Are you truthfully thinking he did really well?

-It's not the best of times he got.

-Exactly what I was thinking.

But he didn't crash! Did you expect that?

No, I was expecting him to go whizzing off and not be able

to see him.

Paul, how much do you now respect what these guys had to go through?

Oh, yeah, you realise how hard it actually is and the effort

they've all put in. Yeah, it is really intense, yeah.

Right, the Tidal Waves. If you remember rightly,

Katie was a go-karting, pony-riding, climbing machine

who was also scared of spiders. Well, she still is.

Wingdad - now aviator - Dave is apparently an excellent

drone flier himself, according to, well, him!

Let's see if he can match the abilities of his daughter.

Now, Dave, you've got some experience of flying, right?

-Er, a little bit, yes.

-Yeah.

How much experience of flying drones, though?

Well, not nearly enough. People have been calling Katie my wingman,

but really, I think today I need a copilot.

-How do you feel about that, Katie?

-Good.

I'm really looking forward to being the wingman,

because it means I don't have the pressure of flying.

Oh, yeah. Exactly. All right, let's see how speedy you can be.

Aviators, stand by.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Fire up your motors rev up your rotors.

You're cleared for takeoff.

'Tidal Waves, launch in three, two, one.'

Quick, you need to go!

So, he's up and...

Where's he going?

We've heard of One Direction - that's the WRONG direction, mate!

Katie certainly seems to be wearing the trousers in this relationship.

-You're going to crash! Stop, you're wasting time.

-First gate coming up.

-No...

-You're going to hit the hoop. Careful.

Sky Wolf look on with amusement.

I actually think that Katie's instructions are making it

-more difficult for him.

-You're wasting seconds.

Or maybe he's just taking a look at the course. Who knows?

OK, now he's going quite slowly.

GUARD once again blowing off a stack.

What's wrong with his guts? Never seen him do that before.

Apart from the last round.

OK, right, so he's coming back round the course.

Hopefully, he'll be able to make the first gate.

Now back, back. Come on.

-You must have wasted about ten, 15 seconds then.

-Says Mrs Bossy-Boots!

Slow. You're the wrong way round! Why are you spinning?

-Hang on, Katie, just give me a minute.

-Katie, just chill out, yeah?

-Stop spinning.

-Give your old man a break!

-Back. Come back.

-OK! So he's going for the first gate.

-Slow down. Stop!

And... Oh, bang! Bang. He bounces back out the way he came.

-Katie is not going to like that.

-Hang on, Katie...

He's having a few problems!

Right, let's do this.

Right, are we ready to start now?

Yes, please, start.

You're going to hit it, you're going to hit it!

-Ooh... Ooh...

-Ooooh!

-Ooh!

-OK, now through, through.

-He goes for it again and...

It's moving, so it makes it harder.

Oh, no, he's caught a rotor!

And he's now hanging from the gate.

Katie seems to know what to do, if he can only just listen to her.

He listens to her...

And... And, oh, no, he's off!

He's plummeted to the ground.

-Well done(!)

-Oh, dear.

Now let's see that from nine different camera angles, shall we?

Damn good crash, though, one of the best yet.

That is pure entertainment.

-Katie, what happened?

-The whole story is I said, "Up," he went down.

-What? You weren't listening to her! Dave!

-Well, so, I mean...

He was caught on the hoop.

I said, "Go up," to get, like, to go up, then you would be fine,

but he decided to go down

and flip over and then crash. You've broken loads!

And look at your dolphin!

Not happy. Look at that face. Not a happy girl.

So, Sky Wolf is the only course completer, with three minutes 16,

a terrible time, but with Tidal Waves crashing out on the

very first gate, it says DNF, but perhaps it should say DNS.

Sky Wolf are through, whatever. They are safe. Guaranteed.

Holly and her dad Stuart are really looking forward to going

shark diving when she's old enough.

He is big into radio-controlled stuff and she likes

a bit of arts and craft.

They worked together on creating their own Dragon for the Airena.

Let's see how it fares this time.

So, Stuart, what's it like being an OAP?

An Older-Aged Pilot is obviously what I mean by that.

Not bad, not bad. I've not flown one of these big ones before,

-so it'll be quite a challenge.

-What about you, Holly?

Are you looking forward to seeing him possibly make a fool of himself?

-Yeah.

-WILL LAUGHS

So, how are you going to help him round? Remember, you're the boss.

Erm, I'm going to tell him to go up or down or forwards or back.

-Yeah, and hopefully he'll actually know how to do that.

-Yeah!

All right, then. Well, let's see how you guys get on.

Can't be too much worse than the last people. All right, good luck.

Aviators, stand by.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Fire up your motors, rev up your rotors.

You're cleared for takeoff.

'Doom Dragons, launch in three, two, one.'

-So, Doom Dragons are in the air.

-Right, slowly.

They're trying to get through the first gate already.

Right, up a bit and back a bit.

So, they get through and, oh, they haven't...

They're still hanging around here.

GUARD, excuse yourself! Guffing all over the place!

Someone open a window.

These guys can't be much worse than the last two,

but there probably is a chance they could be.

What do you reckon, AM?

'There is potential for infinite possibilities.'

-Meaning...?

-'They could be.

'Or they might not be. Or they could be the same.'

Well, if you look at it like that... fair point.

OK, he takes it round the first Pillar.

Excellent wingmanship there!

Holly's doing a really good job.

Watch out for the flame.

Right, now to the Letterbox. Come this way a bit. Right, it's yours.

I'm happier in this angle. Do you think it works like this?

And oh, GUARD, please, it's getting very eggy in here.

-Good, good.

-Wingman doing well in guiding him.

He makes the first Letterbox.

I would have waited a little more, to go a little further.

The others watch on with keen interest.

This is some pretty good flying, actually.

Look how that Dragon shimmers in the light. It's quite romantic.

Down.

-Letterboxes are done.

-Control, control.

-Well done.

-And now it's up to the next gate.

-Right, are you going to yaw it?

-It's easier.

-Yeah, I know.

-And er, where's he going?

Oh, no! Oh, no!

It was going so well. The Dragons are doomed. I tell ya, doomed!

If you're wondering why I installed that

mythological-creature-proof glass, there's your answer.

So, tell me, truthfully, what you thought of your dad's flying.

Up to the point where he crashed, it was going quite well.

When he crashed, I was like, "Oh, that's... Yeah."

-Had you been telling him how to fly beforehand?

-Yeah.

-Mm. Didn't listen.

-No.

-No. Stuart?

-The yawing was the bit where I went wrong,

but I think before that it was all right,

and Holly was giving me tips as to how to go through and past

all the obstacles, so, yeah, I think we were all right up to that point.

You were doing good being the wingman,

so it's just disappointing that I really got it wrong!

Yes, you did!

-'Times confirmed.'

-That told you.

OK, so, three down, and only one completion.

Sky Wolf are top with three minutes 16, and, amazingly,

even with that outrageous crash,

the Doom Dragons are set to make it through to round two!

Now, this last run will decide who stays and who goes.

So, to complete the set, Pirates of the Air, Joshua and his dad Nick.

Josh is a keen film-maker, and they both enjoy mountain biking.

They spend much of their time flying drones but not racing them,

so let's see how they handle a bit of healthy competition.

So, Nick, I get the impression from you, from your body language,

you're actually quite confident about this. Am I completely wrong?

Reasonably. I've been practising.

I've had help from my five-year-old doing assault courses round

the lounge, on various washing-up baskets and ironing boards.

Well, Josh, you did very well when you were out here before.

I mean, surely you're going to pass on some of that wisdom to your dad.

-I'm going to try and help him as much as I can.

-Yeah.

And if he does really well, will a bit of you be angry?

-Because he might even do better than you.

-Maybe... Maybe.

All right, fingers crossed you'll get round in a good time.

Aviators, stand by.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Fire up your motors, rev up your rotors.

You're cleared for takeoff.

'Pirates of the Air, launch in three, two, one.'

Pirates of the Air, here we go!

OK...

It's, er, ponderous, to say the least.

-Your left.

-But at this point, compared to the others

he's a right little Richard Branson.

-Your left.

-I'll tell you who he is after the show.

-What matters is they don't crash!

-That's a first on Airmageddon,

the wingman actually taking the controls!

OK, now they're having a few issues getting through the first gate.

Let's pick it up later, shall we? They're going very slowly.

Can we forward-wind this, please?

OK, right, blah-blah-blah-blah- blah-blah-blah-blah-blah...

And here we are at the last gate!

Slowly now. Nice and slowly.

They're having a few issues getting through, but eventually they

manage it, and all they need to do now is get across the line

and they'll be through. It's as simple as that, folks.

They're through, and over they go.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

And...excellent, they've decided to save their crashing till

after they've crossed the line. At least they made it to the end.

'Times confirmed.'

Who's your daddy? Well, these guys are your daddy.

Fastest were Sky Wolf, with three minutes 16.

Next to finish were Pirates of the Air,

with a leisurely four minutes 21 seconds.

And as for the last team to go through,

Doom Dragons made it further round the course than Tidal Waves,

so they go through to round two.

4:21!

It's one of the slowest times we've ever seen on Airmageddon,

but you're through to the next round and you're in second place!

So you should be genuinely really pleased. How do you feel about that?

-That's brilliant.

-Yeah! Nice one. Josh?

-That was our goal, to do it slow and just get through.

-Yeah, exactly.

Well, job done, guys, Pirates of the Air. Nice!

Katie, Dave, we know the deal.

-Katie, do you have anything you want to say to your dad?

-You're grounded.

She knows the deal.

She can ground her dad, for once. Guys, you've been great,

but I have got to ask you to leave.

See you later!

Three teams continue to the next round.

Ah, and here's PIG with everything they need to know.

We've seen this one before, and it's very popular.

"Pop"-ular, get it?

The aviator drones are fitted with sharp poles,

which they must use to burst the balloons.

The aviator to burst all of their balloons or more than anyone

else in the time with their poles will get the five-second advantage.

Got that? Whoever gets the least balloons or crashes out first

is grounded.

'Selected.

'The WASP.'

Waiter, there's a fly in my soup. Oh, hang on, that's no fly.

Why, it's the daddy-hating, kiddie-baiting

stinging machine, the WASP.

Well, they've taken a few knocks and they're looking a bit rickety,

but we will get them in the air again soon.

And er, I think the drones need to fly, as well.

CYMBAL CRASH AND LAUGHTER

-OK, guys, are you ready for some flying?

-ALL:

-Yeah!

-All right, then.

-Aviators, stand by.

-And they all turn to the Airena.

Fire up your motors, rev up your rotors.

You're cleared for takeoff.

-Look at that handsome line-up.

-'Launch in three, two, one.'

So, they all rise majestically.

-Not!

-I've a feeling this is a little bit dangerous.

And probably not for the balloons.

Oh, Will! If only your wit was as furry as your collar.

Anyway, how are the dads getting on?

Oh, they seem to be slowly sussing out the dynamics of flying.

And Doom Dragons are the Boom Dragons!

-I'm all over the place again.

-You said it. What is he doing?!

Oh, no, stop spinning. You'll get dizzy!

Somehow, in that moment of madness, he also managed to pop a balloon.

That is either some mad skills or some crazy luck.

I'm going with the crazy luck.

Haven't seen much from Sky Wolf yet. Are they here? Are they here?

Sky Wolf? Here they are. Still trying for their first balloon.

-Careful. Steady!

-And steady he goes.

-Go!

-He approaches the balloon

and misses. Oh, what now?

He bounces off another balloon and goes hurtling to the floor.

Game over for Sky Wolf, methinks.

So, Doom Dragons and Pirates of the Air are still in the air,

even if their balloon bursting is less than prolific.

Looks like the Greens...

Yes, the Greens take a balloon.

Well done, Doom Dragons. And look, smoke is starting to billow out of

Sky Wolf. Air Marshall, what are you saying?

-'Continue.'

-OK, so the Dragons are not really going anywhere fast.

And now Sky Wolf is on fire! Will!

Will, you said you wanted to see a drone on fire in the series.

Marshy, what's happening now?

'Airena is clear, humanoids may continue.'

But look, two humanoids - I mean people - have run in with an

extinguisher, and someone else has run in...

to hug him! Oh, that's nice.

Surely the game will have to end now.

And the Pirates go into a tailspin. Oh, look!

I can't see this going on much longer. Can it?

-'Continue.'

-It is!

-'Humanoids, escape.'

-Air Marshall, OK!

Well, Pirates of the Air have still not recovered, and... Oh, boom!

They crash out of the game!

-Dramatically.

-Get that power... Power up.

There's no power there, son.

So that must mean that, as the only survivors, Doom Dragons are the...

Well, they don't need telling. It's obvious.

They are basking in their victory.

They line up, they take a balloon, and..

Oh, they topple down to the ground, and it's game over.

A fascinating round where everyone wanted to be the one who

crashed out the biggest, it seems.

And the leaderboard at the end of round two looks like this.

Doom Dragons get the all-important five-second advantage in the

Dogfight. They'll be joined by Pirates of the Air.

Sky Wolf, it goes without saying, are grounded.

But look, if you're going to go down in flames,

at least it means you were on fire.

Doom Dragons, you are going through to the Dogfight with that

five-second time advantage. Congratulations. Well done.

-You'll be joined in the Dogfight by Pirates of the Air.

-Yes!

Well done, guys. You popped one balloon then went

through the hurdles and then crashed. But that was all fine.

And unfortunately, guys, Sky Wolf,

that does mean that you are grounded.

-But have you had a good time?

-Yeah.

-Brilliant, yeah. Amazing.

Excellent stuff. All right. Bill you for the drone later.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

You hear a lot about the unique bond between fathers and sons.

Well, we're doing our best to either build it or destroy it, here

in the Airena. As always, both flying machines have got four lives.

Take a direct hit and they'll lose one of them. This is the Dogfight.

This is the Dadfight Dogfight!

It's the rise of the daddy dogs. I know, it's good, that, isn't it?

Aviators must rise up and activate their lasers by going through

the gate, and then it's an all-out laser battle,

blast, blast, blast, until one team gets four hits on the other,

thereby crowning them Daddy King of the Skies.

Speaking of which, causing a stir in the Airena will be...

-'It's the DRAGON.'

-Oh, it's the big, bad,

fire-breathing daddy of the skies, the flying red patriarch, DRAGON!

OK, aviators, if you stray from the combat zone, the DRAGON may engage.

Now trust us, that's something you DON'T want to happen.

Right, dads, I want to know if you've got any final words

for each other before this parent-powered Dogfight.

-We're coming to get you.

-WILL GASPS

Ah, we're going to win. Definitely.

Punchy. I like it. OK. Let's get this Dogfight Dadfight under way.

-Aviators, stand by.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Calibrate your sights, complete your preflight checks.

This is the Dogfight. You're cleared for takeoff.

These dads talk the talk. Will they walk the walk?

That's not right, is it? Will they fly the fly?

-Here we go.

-'Doom Dragons, launch in three, two, one.'

'Pirates of the Sky, launch in three, two, one.'

-Dragons are up.

-'Targeting systems, engage.'

Intensity, potential mayhem.

I fear this is more of a case of who can stay in the air the longest.

'Targeting systems, engage.'

These two are going to be shooting it out for days. I hope you've

brought a toothbrush.

Pirates of the Air reel off a shot, but not aimed at anything.

Both keeping their distance. They're sizing each other up.

You can really feel the psychological war that's brewing up

between these two ruthless teams!

Yes! The Dragons rattle off a shot.

It goes nowhere, but that's not the point.

Another shot, this time across the bow, a warning to the opposition.

They're playing a very clever game here.

They're using the whole of the Airena.

The DRAGON watches on. He can feel the tension brewing.

But now the Pirates are making a move. They start to play their card.

Look how they zip up and then drop to the floor.

The Doom Dragons watch on, stunned.

"What does this mean?!", they ask themselves.

We don't know.

The DRAGON watches on as the Pirates rise up to the top of the

Airena and then drop back down again.

The Dragons wait, refusing to be intimidated.

They await their moment.

The Pirates reel off a shot, but it's a miss.

But it's a shot. Y'know, give them a chance...

The Pirates are zipping about with all the vigour of, er...

Hang on a minute. This isn't exactly exciting at all, is it, really?

I don't think either of the aviators have a clue what they're doing,

if I'm honest!

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if... Whoa, what's going on?

Something's happened.

The Pirates took it upon themselves to crash into the tower,

in order to give us all something to get excited about.

Now, that's not like Pirates of the Air, to crash!

Oh, hang on, tell a lie. Yes, it is.

Let's have a look at some of their others, shall we?

Crash! Smash! Eat it!

Well, what can I say? Not much, really.

Doom Dragons win by way of not smashing their craft into the tower.

In fact, pretty much all the way through they won by default.

All they needed to do was to show up. Easy!

That does mean, Doom Dragons, even without getting a single shot

on target, you are the winners of our parent-powered special.

-Well done, guys.

-Thank you.

-Congratulations to you guys.

Right, that's it for Airmageddon, so it's time for us to power down.

And for you guys to step up.

My highlight of today was seeing my dad crash REALLY bad.

He did tell me to take it slow and steady, yeah.

And I didn't listen, no.

I enjoyed coming back, because I could boss my dad around.

I will continue flying, though I'm not sure about him!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

'Airmageddon over.'