Space Cadets | The Most Expensive Hoax in Television History (Channel 4)

Space Cadets (Channel 4) was the biggest & most expensive hoax in television history. A £ stunt to convince three members of the public they were orbiting the Earth in a Russian they were actually in a state-of-the-art Hollywood simulator for five days. Filmed by Channel 4 in 2005 and hosted by Johnny Vaughan, Space Cadets claimed to be the biggest and most expensive prank in television history. An out-of-this-world reality television stunt that required completely transforming an ex-US Air Force base in England (Bentwaters Parks) into a fictitious Russian space base. State of the art engineering, simulator (Brick Price’s WonderWorks) and sound design (Dean Andre) straight from the world of Hollywood. Derren Brown style social engineering. And an army of actors trained to improvise for almost every eventuality. But the most surprising thing of all was that *it actually worked*. In December 2005, Space Cadets Billy, Keri, Paul and actor Charlie Skelton genuinely believed they were astronauts, 200km above the Earth’s surface on a Russian space shuttle called Earth Orbiter One. Until the Big Reveal... So how did they do it? This is the story of the Space Cadets on Channel 4. - If you want to watch episodes of Space Cadets, the entire series has been archived on Cadets2012’s YouTube account: - For more behind the scenes check out this excellent article by The Guardian. Ipswich, we have a problem: Space Cadets, the reality show that never left the ground. - 🎶 FEATURED MUSIC 🎧 The Impossible, Savfk Space Mission, Philipp Klein Celestial, Bob Bradley / Terry Devine-King Summer of 1984, RKVC No Favours, Patrick Patrikios When We Found The Horizon, Late Night Feeler Good Times, Patrick Patrikios The Jam, Slynk & Mr Stabalina Russian Dance, Joey Pecoraro Future Girl, RKVC Learning is Fun, Doug Maxwell & Media Right Productions World Map, Jason Farnham American Frontiers, Aaron Kenny Apollo, Patrick Patrikios Fanfare for Space, Kevin MacLeod Heartbreaking, Kevin MacLeod Blue Danube, Strauss Away, Patrick Patrikios Secret Conversations, The 126ers Large Smile Mood, Nico Staf Stardrive, Jeremy Blake - ⏱️ CHAPTERS 🎬 00:00 - Intro 01:19 - Reality Television & The Setup 02:28 - Part 1: The Casting 03:25 - Space Tourism 04:23 - Part 2: Space Tourism 05:42 - Part 3: Building the Hoax 06:32 - Part 4: The Arrival 07:47 - Part 5: The Training 09:18 - Asch Conformity Experiments 10:50 - Astronaut Selection 11:50 - Part 6: The Simulator 14:15 - Part 7: Launch Night 15:57 - Part 8: The Launch 19:34 - Part 9: The Mission 21:49 - Part 10: The Reveal 23:14 - Aftermath & Conclusions 25:01 - Outro — #spacecadets #channel4 #realitytelevision