Greatest Ever Screen Chases (found Sky One television documentary; 2005)

The host of Greatest Ever Screen Chases, Richard Hammond.

Status: Found

Date found: 23 Aug 2023

Found by: tonygunkington and Tarlanx

Greatest Ever Screen Chases was a 2005 television special produced by Sky One and was initially broadcast on December 23rd of that year. At over two hours in length, it consisted of a countdown of what was believed to be the 30 greatest on-screen chases, ranging from real police chases such as O.J. Simpson's to iconic movie scenes. It was presented by Richard Hammond, then known as an eminent host of BBC's Top Gear, and followed on the back of two earlier car-centric television specials produced by Sky which are both available online, albeit presented by Jason Barlow, a former host of the aforementioned car show.

Production

The special is known to have been directed by Tim Hopewell, executively-produced by Mark Robinson, and edited by Kate Dobson. It featured scenes produced by Stunts International. Despite a primary focus on car chases, reinforced by Sky's decision to use Hammond as host, the special also contained non-car chases, such as Indiana Jones' escape from a boulder in The Temple of Doom. Certain scenes included additional input from renowned actors and actresses including Susan Sarandon and Gene Hackman. The eventual winner of the special, Bullitt's car chase scene, featured a segment where Chad McQueen, son of Steve McQueen, gave an interview while standing next to the movie's signature Ford Mustang.

Known content

From news clippings and forum posts made of the special, it can be ascertained that the special contained the following, although the general order is unknown, aside from the top 3:

• Bad Boys 2 van chase scene, 2003
• Bullitt Mustang vs. Charger chase scene, 1968 (Winner)
• The French Connection car vs. L-train chase scene, 1971 (3rd)
• The Matrix: Reloaded freeway chase scene, 2003
• Night of the Living Dead zombie chase scene, 1968
• O.J. Simpson's police chase, 1994
• The Rock Ferrari vs. Hummer chase scene, 1996
• The Temple of Doom boulder chase scene, 1985
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day storm drain chase scene, 1991 (2nd)

Airing history

Greatest Ever Screen Chases premiered on Sky One on December 23rd, 2005. It is then known to have re-aired on Sky 2 on August 1st, 2006, on Sky 3 on July 25th, 2007, and a final time on Sky One on May 23rd, 2008.

Availability

There were no known publicly-available recordings of Greatest Ever Screen Chases, and it appears the special never aired again following its 2008 airing. It was never released on any form of home media, nor is the special available for online streaming.

Discovery & Recovery

On August 20th, 2023, Reddit user u/Ok1002 posted to the r/LostMedia subreddit asking if anyone could find the Greatest Ever Screen Chases, as he had been looking for years and couldn't find it. He had contacted several people who worked on the show, including Mark Robinson and Jeremy Bishop, who got back to him not being able to find a copy. User u/LLJones29 commented the link to a short YouTube clip that was 3 minutes long. The clip originated from a user named Tarlanx, who had less than 100 subscribers and had not posted in 11 years. Another Reddit user, u/Tonygunkington, who had been helping in the search and also reaching out to people who worked on the show, left a comment on the YouTube video hoping Tarlanx would see it. On August 23rd, 2023, he responded that he had the full special. Tonygunkington and Tarlanx exchanged information and, hours later, Tonygunkington would post to both r/TheGrandTour and r/LostMedia saying that he had gotten the files for the lost special but would need help converting them to make them viewable. u/sopel97 worked to convert the special into a downloadable form and it was then shared to Reddit, Discord, The Lost Media Wiki, and the internet archive.

External Link

• IMDb page for Greatest Ever Screen Chases. Retrieved 06 May '20
• Watch Greatest Ever Screen Crashes. Retrieved 23 Aug '23