BARBARA IN NEW TV SERIES

Barbara has been busy lately taking part in a major 10-part engineering challenge series "Thunder Races" along the lines of "Scrapheap Challenge" that is being filmed for Discovery and Channel 4.

Three teams of 3 people are given £1000 each, and over a 3 day period they have to buy a used car - plus any additional parts they need - and convert a sedate old banger into a gleaming, snarling, power monster capable of competing an extreme all-terrain 5 mile off-road course. Every show ends with a three-headed race around the course covered by 22 cameras, including a heli-cam.

However, the show is not all about engineering. Aesthetics play an equally large role because the best looking car obtains pole postion in the race. This could make the difference between winning and losing. The top 3 cars go through to the series final. The series will first be aired on the Discovery Channel at the end of October, and then repeated on Channel 4 in January 2004. Keep it here for performance times! Shows will be hosted by Top Gear and Fifth Gear presenter Adrian Simpson.