Episode 9 Celebrity Driving Academy

Driving Academy is back with a bump.

-And this time, we've added celebrities.

-So mean!

We've got stars who are disasters in cars,

plus their kids, helping them to become better drivers

by joining them on a one-week crash course behind the wheel.

Comedian Rowland Rivron, and his son, Ned, triumphed yesterday

in our trifle challenge putting them joint top of our leaderboard.

Pop star and TV presenter, Jamelia, and her daughter, Teja,

unusually kept their cool,

and lots of cherries in their trifle, taking second place on the podium.

You beauty!

But, actress and comedian, Debra Stephenson,

came a cropper on the dastardly ramp of doom...

..leaving son, Max, unimpressed,

as they took the dreaded wash of shame.

With just one day left before our teams compete

in the ultimate driving test,

the Monster Superskills Challenge.

Can our celebs continue to overcome their bad driving habits?

And, which team can improve their driving to become champions

of Celebrity Driving Academy?

So, I said to him, "Why the long face?"

You've been looking horse all day. Do you get it?

Horse all day.

Hello, I'm Joe Swash and welcome to Celebrity Driving Academy.

We've only one day left to sort out our celebrities' bad driving habits

before we put them to the test in the Monster Superskills Challenge.

Right, come on, then, stop horsing around...giddy-up!

Whoo! It's got some horse power!

Teams, how you all feeling? Are you feeling good?

-Yeah!

-Welcome to Celebrity Driving Academy on the penultimate day.

Let's get motoring, shall we?

Coming up on day four at Driving Academy...

massive doughnuts as our teams' driving skills are put to the test

in our Skid Stars challenge.

The more controlled our teams can drive, the more points they'll get.

But, first, our rookies need to learn how to drive

in really hazardous conditions.

All week, elite driving instructor, Vicky Lovell,

has been teaching our rookies how to drive.

Because you are accelerating, you are making it very difficult.

With over 25 years of experience,

she's one of the country's top tutors.

We're well away from the public on private roads,

and Vicky has a set of dual controls,

so our rookies are always in safe hands.

To help our teams win today's Superskills Challenge,

Vicky will be teaching our learners how to drive in hazardous conditions.

We've taught them how to how to react to hazards,

but, what is better still is to spot them coming in the first place,

and not be involved in them.

Driving hazards come in all shapes and sizes,

so, Vicky's starting our rookies off by teaching them how to cope

when something unexpected happens.

What we're going to talk about now is hazards.

What do you think of as a hazard?

A hazard is something to look out for,

so that you don't end up in an accident.

Yeah, good.

Great! Teja's getting to grips with this hazard thing,

unlike Mum who didn't cope at all well

with an unexpected crash test dummy on day one.

Oh, no...there's a person on there.

Oh, no...I'm scared!

-So, we're going to be expecting the unexpected.

-OK.

And Teja's already looking a lot calmer than her mum,

but how will she cope with two pesky crash test dummies

armed and ready to fire water balloons at her car?

Calm down, Vick! The dummies are trying to put the learners off!

Now, that is a hazard. Oh!

Teja's coping brilliantly,

but, wait a minute, I think she might have forgotten something...

Ooh, the window's open!

Ned's up next, and those dummies really are out to get him.

NED HONKS THE HORN

Pretty calm from Ned there, and great speed control unlike dad Rowland

when he was distracted by something in the car earlier in the week.

What is it, Ned?

It's a bee.

-It was the bee's fault!

-Ha...that's your excuse!

So, it's really important when you meet a hazard

that you don't swerve and flinch away.

You've got to keep control of the car,

even if you are being bombarded by water balloons.

Max's mum, Debra, got a taste of dummy distraction

during her driving assessment on day one.

How very dare you!

But, son Max is taking it all in his stride.

Hmm...don't care.

I wouldn't call it scary...

That a boy, Max. Who do those dummies think they are anyway?!

So, our rookies are learning to expect the unexpected,

but this lesson is about to be thrown into a spin by this fellow.

Jim Hawkins is the go-to man

when it comes to training drivers in handling lethal road conditions.

He's trained emergency services all over the world

using this super hi tech rig you can see attached to the car.

How does it work Jim?

What is does is lifts the car as you're driving it,

so it takes grip away from the car.

So, we can simulate them going from

a wet road to black ice in seconds with it.

Sounds tricky!

Our teams will be driving this actual car later.

Jim's going to get our rookies up to speed with skid car techniques

with the help of expert driver, Andre.

OK, what we're going to show you first is what happens

if you do things wrong, OK?

So, I'm just going to give you a couple of tips.

What our rookies learn now is vital

to how well they'll do in the Superskills competition later.

So, as it goes round this circle,

we'll just keep pressing the accelerator a little bit at a time,

so, we'll go faster and faster, and we'll see what happens.

Do you feel the back starting to go a little bit?

That's simulated black ice. Nasty stuff!

-Awesome!

-So, if you go too fast that's what will happen.

Nice gentle steering, OK?

And not a lot of acceleration, that's the secret.

We just got a little bit faster now.

Feeling a bit ill's a small price to pay for all the top tips

our rookies will now be able to share with their parents.

What's yours, Max?

Well, the top tip was... have very sensitive steering,

and you need to drive very slowly.

Great advice! Just like Ned, I'm feeling a bit dizzy,

so I might have to go and have a little lay down.

Ned needs to get out.

If that wasn't enough to make your head spin, still to come...

Mr C comes a cropper again.

The adults are doing the Pieway Code.

And, today's losers will be taking a spin in the Wash of Shame!

But, before all that, it's time for our first helping of Superskills.

This is Skid Stars... it's a game of two rounds,

first, the teams have to steer around the games' arena,

bursting balloons in the correct order - one to nine.

The adults do one to five,

then swap with the kids who do six to nine.

It's against the clock, the slowest team from Round One

then have to go first in Round Two.

As ever, our chief examiner, Sandra,

will be keeping a close eye on all the action.

The people in that car are learning how to control the car

on simulated conditions such as wet roads and ice.

When you're out on the real road,

this is a crucial part of your driving.

And, if you get it wrong, it has tragic consequences.

Cool, smooth cornering is vital,

and when it's against the clock it's going to be super tricky.

It's going to be car-nage all the way!

They're going to take those skills with them,

and they're going to respect driving in ice and rain forever.

But, before our teams get cracking,

let's have a look at the current leaderboard.

After three days of competition,

in joint first place with seven points apiece,

are the Blues and the Oranges, leaving the Greens trailing on four.

It's all still to play for!

First up we have Rowland and Ned.

Remember, the fastest team in Round One gains the advantage

going into Round Two.

Blimey!

He's going for his first balloon!

Balloon number one!

He's got to be careful to keep in order, hasn't he, Joe?

Yep, he needs to keep them in order.

If you hit any of the balloons out of order, it's a ten second penalty.

If you hit any of the red balloons, it's a ten second penalty.

There's balloon number two. I can't believe this is "Reckless" Rowland!

He's being so careful!

Now, as you can see, the essence of this is to try not to skid.

If you skid, and lose control, you're going to get a sensation

of what it would be like on the real road and there, it's not funny.

Whoa, look we're going all over the shop now.

Yay, number four!

He's doing a marvellous job, I've got to say.

-The first five balloons.

-That's fantastic!

So, that's the Blue Team's first five balloons, and no penalties.

An unusually controlled drive there from Rowland.

As you're driving along and it starts to go that way,

you steer to compensate, you think you're doing the right thing,

you don't know if you are... it's trial and error.

Next up for Team Blue, it's Ned!

He needs to pop balloons six to nine in order as quickly as he can.

Come on, Ned! Watch out for those reds ones.

-Yes!

-You can see how they're containing the speed.

So far, they're treating this with real respect.

That's number seven for cool-headed Ned.

This a bit different from his first taste of the skid car this morning.

He needs to stay cool and corner carefully.

That's it, left down there sharp,

that's it go on all the way.

Smooth as you like! Just one to go.

Go on, go on, go on. Yes, stop and handbrake.

He looks like he's been doing this for years!

And that's a respectable first round time

of four minutes, seven seconds for Team Blue.

I don't know if I was confident, but when I first got in,

I was a little bit scared cos I didn't know what to expect.

You kept away from the reds, so there's no penalties.

Drifting towards the reds initially, very scary.

When you're going forwards, it's great.

When you're going sort of sideways, it's unnatural.

How was it for you?

It was all right.

How did you find it going between the reds...

did you get a bit of a slide on?

Yeah, when I went round that one I was going a bit sideways.

Great score...Next up we have Debra and Max, but first...

-Have you seen Sandra?

-No!

-Have you seen Sandra?

-Not for hours.

-Has anyone seen Sandra?

-Sandra?

-Sandra?!

I bet Sandra's in her office.

Yep, there she is.

Oh, that looks like her collection of vintage head lamps.

The 1964 classic head lamp.

They don't make them like you any more do they.

I'll just get you nice and clean and tidy,

and, then, I can pop you back in the box.

It won't take long.

DOORBELL RINGS

Wait!

Aw, it's Mr C, the Driving Academy's chief crash test dummy.

He has accidents so you don't have to.

PING!

Proceed.

Oh, in the wars again Mr C? explain yourself, dummy!

Ah, look, there's Mr C out for a walk.

But, does he seem a bit distracted to you?

Oh, he's texting on his phone.

I don't think he can see that car.

Mr C, you better look out!

Mr C, you are a walking disaster!

I mean really, what would James May say?

Tell him, James.

-Never write text messages while you're crossing the road.

-Or?

Or indeed use any of your smartphone functions like that tweeter.

Great advice James!

Now, get out. Out.

Back to our Superskills action.

Next up, guys, we have Debra and Max.

Good luck, guys.

They had to take the Wash of Shame yesterday,

so they really need to pull it out of the bag today.

Oh, she's going quite fast.

And Debra's off to an unusually confident start!

-Great first balloon.

-You need to keep the speed down so you don't skid.

If you skid, you're going to lose control.

And then where am I going? Is it there? Over there?

Yeah, Debra. Number two normally comes after number one!

-Great hit!

-And then where are we going?

One, two, three, Debra! Three's next!

Oh, too much, too much, too much.

The back end's away! Watch out for those red balloons, Debs!

-Now where?

-Really? Number four, Debs!

Oh, I'm off, I'm off. That's all right.

-Where?

-Still lost? Unbelievable! Just follow the numbers!

Number five's over there.

-Thanks goodness Max knows can count to five!

-Where?

There? That's five?

Yes...the number that comes after four!

-Oh, oh...

-Point it where you want to go.

OK, OK. And now I can stop, yeah?

Oh, no, it's gone.

I'm chasing after it...

Max got to go in the car with Jim the expert,

so I took some advice off Max.

Sensitive steering you said, didn't you?

I kind of took your advice on that

and then you just directed me after that,

cos the weird thing is, when you're going round,

you've got one balloon and you're thinking, "Where am I going next?"

After watching the replay, Sandra decided it was a clean hit,

and allowed balloon five.

Max is up next.

Let's hope he knows where he's going.

He smashes balloon number six, but it hasn't burst.

Will Sandra let it count?

Where's number eight?

Hold on Max, you've not got number seven yet!

He has now! Now he's racing through it.

This is a brilliant time.

Watch out for that red one!

Well done, Max.

He's making this look easy!

Just one to do, Max.

Careful now. Keep it in, beautiful control. Here we go.

He smashes it!

The Orange Team go into the lead

with a blistering round of three minutes, six seconds.

We were a teensy bit worried when the balloons didn't burst.

We thought, "Oh, I hope that still counts,"

because we had gone into the balloons, so weren't quite sure.

Yeah, but we weren't that alarmed we just kept going.

You done a good job, so gives yourselves a pat on the back.

Well done! Right, next up we have Jamelia and Teja,

but first, we've got enough time

for another juicy slice of Pieway Code.

This is the Pieway Code, a quiz all about the Highway Code.

But, get an answer wrong, and you guessed it, you get pied.

Are you ready celebrities? And you can play at home, too.

What does this common road marking mean?

Here's a clue...

It's three words and it's an instruction that must be obeyed.

Can you fill in the blanks?

I know this!

OK, time's up.

Debra's written, "I have no idea."

Well, that's wrong!

-Rowland's gone for...

-School drop point.

-Also wrong.

And Jamelia's written "School Keep Clear"

And she's right!

Yes, the correct answer is "School Keep Clear."

So, that means the dummies get a pie as well as Rowland and Debra.

Well done, Jamelia.

As for you Rowland and Debra, learn your Highway Code!

Back to Superskills now...

next up it's the Green Team, Jamelia and Teja.

Whoa, a cheeky little doughnut from fun-loving Jamelia!

Oh, no.

As we've seen, she needs smooth, controlled cornering in this game.

Oh, this is hard, isn't it?

That's number one for the greens.

Can she concentrate and line up for number two?

Sorry, it really is like being on ice.

Funny that, Jamelia. That's exactly what it's meant to feel like.

Great smooth control there.

She's managed to dodge those red balloons brilliantly.

That's four. Remember, this is against the clock.

She needs to pick up the pace a bit.

Hee-hee, sorry!

-Not quite that much, Jamelia!

-This is so hard.

Oh, it's wicked.

And, so is that! Number five. Good driving.

When I saw the other two first start off,

it definitely looked like slow and steady won the race,

but...I just don't know, how many times

am I going to get the opportunity to drive in a skid car?

So, I did go a little bit crazy.

I had to enjoy the moment.

So, I did a little doughnut.

It was wicked!

Teja's in the hot seat now.

Let's see if she can get a clean fast round for the Greens.

Yeah, good girl. Get it in...in the middle.

Keep going, don't stop, don't stop, remember we're against the clock,

Well, that's one way of staying in control!

But, she's not going to burst many balloons, though.

Come on, push your foot down.

Yeah!

Well done, Teja.

Now, she's making absolutely certain that's she's not going to get

into a skid, but at the moment, she's very, very slow.

Yep, she really needs to pick up the pace here,

or the Greens risk being last in this round.

Go on Teja!

Oh, oh, oh...that looks perfect!

Excellent girl! All right, where's eight?

Back in that corner. Right, avoid the reds.

Great advice there from Mum. Smooth control around those penalty reds.

Oh, you're doing excellently Teja.

Eight is over there. That's it.

Point where you want to go, good girl, good girl. Excellent. OK.

Right, get your bearings.

Oh, Teja, I'm so proud of you.

Just one to go for the Greens. Can they beat the Blue team's

first round time?

Cool control from Teja, and she beats the Blues by six seconds!

It's a total of four minutes and one second for the Greens,

putting them in second place going into Round Two.

Every time you turned,

if you turned a little bit too much the car just went...whoo!

It was a bit different to a normal car, but it was fun.

Well done!

Tell me about it...how was that, Teja?

-It was a bit scary.

-Was it scary?

-Yeah.

What was the difficult part about it?

When you started swerving.

It's so scary, it really, really is, but, it's so much fun as well.

Well done, Green Team.

Well, that was ice-tastic

but I think it's time to find out what the results are.

So, at the end of the first round of Skid Stars,

The Oranges are in pole position

with a time of three minutes and six seconds.

The Greens are second with a time of four minutes and one second.

And, the Blues are in last place on four minutes, seven seconds.

So, the Blues will have to go first in Round Two,

which is for our celebrities only.

They've got just 60 seconds to burst

as many alternate red and green balloons as possible.

Whoever pops the most balloons wins a minute off their time,

and the fastest time will win today's challenge.

It's all to play for, let's go teams!

First up, it's Rowland for the Blues.

You've got to go from the red balloon to the green balloon,

to red balloon to the green balloon.

40 seconds remaining.

-That's his first red!

-My goodness! Look at your dad go!

Oh, no! Spoke too soon, Sandra. He's stalled it!

Aw, what!

Oh, he's broken it.

Come on Rowland, time's running out. and there's only one balloon burst!

That's balloon number two.

-And he's doughnutted it.

-20 seconds remaining.

Oh, no, he's stalled again.

He's wasting time by trying to rush it!

Come on, Rowland!

5 seconds.

Oh, he's just...

it's not Dancing On Ice, Rowland.

Times up.

Cheeky...time was already up, that red one won't count!

It's a bit like driving a car that's tired and emotional.

It was just slipping and sliding all over the place.

It's very disconcerting.

You are driving along and then suddenly you think,

"Hang on a minute, I'm not in control of this."

Next up in Round Two is Jamelia for the Green Team.

She needs at least two balloons or more to take the lead.

Come on, Jamelia!

True to form, she's off to a flying start!

Balloon number one in less than ten seconds!

Whoa! She's stalled it.

And just remember, this stalling is important, Joe,

because every adult's got to score as many balloons as possible

in a minute.

That's balloon number two. She's equalled the Blues.

She's going for the next red!

That's three she's got so far.

She's doing really well. Oh, but she's stalled it.

20 seconds left.

Come on, give it some welly. There's still time for number four.

Ten seconds.

Ah!

Oh, no!

Time's up.

Oh, no, she's out of control and she's out of time.

That's three for the Greens. That puts them into the lead.

It looked like someone had gone mad, she was just going round in circles.

My aim was to burst all the balloons in a skid.

Obviously, Rowland only popped two so I thought,

"I've only got two to beat."

It was wicked, I loved it, I loved it...I just has fun.

Last to go is Debra for the Orange Team.

They got the fastest first round time, but she'll have to equal

or better Jamelia's three balloons to win today's challenge.

Super smooth, controlled start from Debra.

That's balloon number one for the Oranges.

-Whoa!

-What's she going that way for?

She's reversing that's it.

Oh, that's a good idea, she's reversing.

Nope, she's missed it.

Oh, she got it!

Come on, Mum!

30 seconds remaining.

She's halfway, she just needs one more balloon to match Jamelia.

Come on, Debra, you can get that red one!

20 seconds remaining.

Amazing! Can she get four?

Come on, Mum!

Oh, no, she lost it.

I don't know why I did that.

Now, that's doughnut of the day from Debra.

She's out of time.

Yay!

I could do that for ages. I loved it!

Doing the doughnuts was the best thing yet.

It was so much fun!

You'd think for me to be out of control,

I'd feel really frightened and out of my comfort zone,

but actually, I felt like a stunt driver or something.

You don't normally get to do that often.

No, no, you kind of hope that you wouldn't ever get

to do that, really, on a real road.

So, do you want to know how many balloons you burst?

Yeah, hit me with it.

You got three balloons in one minute,

so, let's have a look at what that does to the scores!

So, at the end of Round Two, Rowland managed just two,

but Debra and Jamelia both got three, which means the Oranges

and the Greens both get a minute knocked off their first round time.

Let's see how that affects the podium positions!

So, Sandra, take it away.

OK, what a great day. How exciting.

Well, I have the results.

In first place with a time of...

-Two minutes and six seconds...

-Good time.

-..it's Debra and Max!

-Oh, well done!

Well done, Max. Get in there...well played.

Well done, good on you.

In second place...

Oh, it's going to be tight.

..with a total time of three minutes and one second...

Teja and Jamelia!

Yay! Well done, Teja. Well done, Jamelia.

With regret, in third place, with a total time

of four minutes and seven seconds...

Oh, that's rubbish.

-..it's Rowland and Ned.

-Yes!

Get up there, Ned.

I'm sorry to say your dad's not going to be able to save you.

-Ned, Rowland...

-Yeah.

-It's the wash of shame.

-I think I'm going to enjoy this.

-Come on, let's go and get changed.

Go on take the wash of shame. Go on, then.

Debra and Max's incredible win gives them a maximum three points,

bringing their overall Superskills tally to ten.

The Greens get two points for second place,

bringing their overall tally to six.

Rowland and Ned's measly one point leaves them in second place

with eight points overall.

So, it's still all to play for on tomorrow's epic final day,

when our teams will face the ultimate driving test,

the Monster Superskills Challenge.

There's going to be thrills, spills and a massive ten points

up for grabs which could turn the leader board on its head.

Also, on tomorrow's show, Mr C is up to his old tricks again!

And one of our teams will be lifting the Celebrity Driving Academy trophy.

Who will be champions?

I don't know, but what I do know is, right now,

the Blues are going to get gunged.

Oh, lovely!

I'm so happy!