Space Cadets (television hoax)

Space Cadets
Space Cadets logo
Created by	Zeppotron
Starring	Johnny Vaughan Numerous actors and contestants
No. of episodes	10
Production
Producer(s)	Zeppotron
Running time	60 Minutes
Release
Original network	Channel 4
Original release	7 December – 16 December 2005

Space Cadets is a British television programme made by Zeppotron (a division of Endemol UK) for Channel 4. Presented by Johnny Vaughan, it was aired across ten consecutive nights beginning on 7 December 2005, with the final episode aired on the evening of 16 December 2005.

The series was a hoax at the expense of its contestants, who were told they were being trained as cosmonauts at a Russian military base before undergoing a five-day trip into low earth orbit. In reality, the entire series was filmed in Suffolk, and the contestants did not leave the ground. The series was accompanied by a behind-the-scenes sister show Space Cadets: The Satellite Show, with interviews and phone-ins.

The series described itself as the most elaborate hoax perpetrated in television history. The title is a reference to the slang phrase space cadet, meaning a person out of touch with reality. It was not clear if the contestants were aware of the show's title, although a whiteboard in the 'barracks' had "Space Cadettes" [sic] written on it during one of the parties organised in the facility.

A group of twelve contestants (who answered an advert looking for "thrill seekers") were selected to become the first British televised space tourists, including going to Russia to train as cosmonauts at the "Space Tourist Agency of Russia" (STAR) military base, with the series culminating in a group of four embarking on a five-day space mission in low Earth orbit. The show and space mission contained aspects of Reality TV, including hidden cameras, soundproofed 'video diary' rooms and group dormitories.

However, the show was in fact an elaborate practical joke, described by Commissioning Editor Angela Jain as "Candid Camera live in space" and claimed by Channel 4 to have cost roughly £5million. Unknown to the "space cadets", they were not in Russia at all, but at Bentwaters Parks (formerly RAF Bentwaters, a USAF airfield from 1951 to 1993) in Suffolk staffed by costumed actors, and the "space trip" was entirely fake, complete with a wooden "shuttle" and actor "pilots". The production crew went so far as to replace lightswitches and electrical outlets in the barracks with Russian standard, and smokers amongst the production crew were given Russian cigarettes to smoke in case any of the cadets discovered the butts.. In addition, three of the Cadets were actors, included to misdirect any suspicious Cadets and to help reinforce the illusion.

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