[MR] "Warrior Challenge" on PBS

[egeorges]

I have a pal who does the satellite feed for PBS, so I get advance word on
cool shows.  You might want to set your VCRs for this one.  Check local
listings though, becasue some local PBS stations get feeds from corporate
PBS earlier than others.

Luce Antony Venus

SERIES TITLE: WARRIOR CHALLENGE *Closed Captions* *Stereo*

DATES/TIMES: Tue., 5/6/03-5/27/03, 2100-2200 (9PM EASTERN)

DESCRIPTION: They may be tough enough for some of today’s most demanding
jobs, but will a group of marines, U.S. Air Force personnel, riot police and
athletes survive a few days in the worlds of long-lost warriors? Viewers
find out in this light-hearted new approach to hands-on history, the genre
made popular by series such as THE 1900 HOUSE and FRONTIER HOUSE. In the
four one-hour episodes, intrepid American and British volunteers travel back
in time to live, train and fight as knights in a medieval castle, centurions
along a Roman Empire outpost, Vikings and gladiators.

DATES, EPISODE #S, TITLES & DESCRIPTIONS:

5/6 #101, "ROMANS" - Eight volunteers get a taste  of what it meant to be a
soldier of the great empire. They carry 60-pound kits during demanding
training exercises and learn to master a bewildering array of swords,
javelins, pilums and the backhanded tricks integral to Roman warfare. It’s
an ordeal, but they do have time for some R&R in a traditional Roman bath.

5/13 #102, "KNIGHTS" - The series travels back to the "day of the knight,"
where, as new  quires at a castle, a mounted policeman and a polo player
learn the fine arts of dueling, swordplay and wearing armor. Falcons carry
their secret messages, arrows pierce apples (and other things) and coats of
arms are chosen. During a dramatic joust, each tries to shatter his opponent
’s lance while remaining upright -- and not uptight.

5/20 #103, "VIKINGS" - This episode chronicles the experience of a squad of
marines and police officers as they pit their skills against life in the
Dark Ages. They train hard by day, then chow down on traditional Viking fare
and fresh-brewed mead by night. Eventually, defensive shield walls and
longboats come into play; who gets a better grip on Viking scramsaexes,
shortswords and axes -- the British or the Americans?

5/27 #104, "GLADIATORS" - The final episode offers a journey to a different
Roman world, one in which combatants duel before a live audience rather than
defend their country. In a gladiators’ oval, Royal Marines receive basic
training in the science of gladiator combat, from shield-fighting to the
wielding of tridents and nets, and face one another in an epic battle that
tests the limits of their physical endurance.