Alaska 4x4 challenge
The driver of the Rhd a Defender has posted on defendersource. It's not an upgraded Series truck. It's an imported 84 Defender.
Looks like he can't provide the full story because all of the drivers/show participants are under NDA, but if you read between the lines, you'll get a better idea of how the show was put together.
Just keep in mind that the show is for entertainment purposes, it's a mass appeal play along the lines of "deadliest catch", "duck dynasty" etc. Understanding that goes a long way to explaining why you don't see the trucks being as prepped as one might expect.
It's also worth noting that the "route" for the competition doesn't exist in the way that the show insinuates it does. The route provides the thread for the narrative and introduces an element of excitement into the show.
The show was actually shot over a period of months with the trucks driving onroad between the "stages" that were filmed. It's how they were able to deal with fuel logistics.
Finally, Jason does own a Series Rover and he used to own a RRC. It's normal to need to add in pickup shots for B roll during the editing process.
One last point, apparently the episode 1 argument about trees was actually directed at the production crew because there was no provison made to clean up the mess after the shoot concluded in that section. It was just edited in such a way to make it look like there was conflict between the drivers. (A typical tool for building in tension in a "reality@ series)
None of the above things, detract from my enjoyment of the show. Beautiful scenery and colorful characters that's for sure! If you're hoping for Camel Trophy, you're going to be horribly disappointed though.
I actually produced a reality show for NBC back in 2007. It was a bit of an eye opener and suffice to say that was my first and last venture in tv production.
Looks like he can't provide the full story because all of the drivers/show participants are under NDA, but if you read between the lines, you'll get a better idea of how the show was put together.
Just keep in mind that the show is for entertainment purposes, it's a mass appeal play along the lines of "deadliest catch", "duck dynasty" etc. Understanding that goes a long way to explaining why you don't see the trucks being as prepped as one might expect.
It's also worth noting that the "route" for the competition doesn't exist in the way that the show insinuates it does. The route provides the thread for the narrative and introduces an element of excitement into the show.
The show was actually shot over a period of months with the trucks driving onroad between the "stages" that were filmed. It's how they were able to deal with fuel logistics.
Finally, Jason does own a Series Rover and he used to own a RRC. It's normal to need to add in pickup shots for B roll during the editing process.
One last point, apparently the episode 1 argument about trees was actually directed at the production crew because there was no provison made to clean up the mess after the shoot concluded in that section. It was just edited in such a way to make it look like there was conflict between the drivers. (A typical tool for building in tension in a "reality@ series)
None of the above things, detract from my enjoyment of the show. Beautiful scenery and colorful characters that's for sure! If you're hoping for Camel Trophy, you're going to be horribly disappointed though.
I actually produced a reality show for NBC back in 2007. It was a bit of an eye opener and suffice to say that was my first and last venture in tv production.
Last edited by Robert Booth; Dec 19, 2014 at 09:52 AM.
I have 4 kids' the only one left that will watch with me is the 2 year old. He just likes big trucks
From another post, I got the impression even the guys competing are driving the dalton highway between trails. There only like two gas stations on it according to Wikipedia.


