Everything you need to know about The Getaway Car

Who is the host?

Radio and TV host Dermot O’Leary is in the driving seat, with a helping hand from Top Gear’s The Stig and his racing nephews Red and Blue Stig.

“It’s Gogglebox meets Total Wipeout,” says Dermot, each car fitted with a camera to catch their every scream, elation and, of course, rows.

“It’s a funny show,” Dermot laughs. “It’s very tongue-in-cheek. You’re fascinated by people’s relationships behind the wheel of a car.”

Who takes part?

A whole range of couples take part: those who’ve been married more than 20 years, life partners, bosses and their staff. Whether they leave as happy as they arrived… well, we’ll leave them to it.

What kind of challenges do the drivers face?

‘Hazard Highway’ is up first. One drives, the other co-pilots as they tackle a huge obstacle course. This includes driving over a very high, very rickety bridge, sussing out a roundabout with the driver blindfolded and using the car to boot a huge football into an oversize goal. Times are recorded and the fastest three are automatically through.

The losing two compete in the first ‘Race Off’. This sees the co-pilots hop in a car with either Red or Blue Stig. The contestant must tackle a general knowledge question with multiple answers while being zipped around the track at full speed. The driver who offers the most correct answers gets their team through to the next round.

‘Off-road rage’ follows next, the couples turning to an all-terrain vehicle. As they tackle the dusty track there are Stig-like pillars they must avoid crashing into, each bump incurring a time delay. The fastest two automatically go through to the next round, the slowest two face another Race Off. Three couples continue.

Then it’s onto ‘Drive-thru’. Dermot asks a question before each couple drive full speed at a makeshift wall with two possible answers on. Drive through the wrong answer or record the slowest time and you lose a life, each couple has two lives.

For the victorious couple it’s onto the final challenge: racing The Stig. The duo hop into the ‘Getaway Car’ and – based on which car The Stig chooses to race that night – the show’s pit crew works out how much of a head start to give them. It’s a two-lap race and the couples build up cash if they hold the lead. Get caught by The Stig and the money in the bank is what you go home with. Get across the finish line before The Stig and it’s £10,000 in the pot.

Where was it filmed?

Dermot and co set up camp in South Africa for this brand new BBC series.

Does Dermot know who The Stig is?

“You never know who he is. And you never know who he is. He turns up like that. It’s a really tight team, so I must have met him ‘de-robed’," Dermot confesses. "But I don’t know who he is.”

What time is it on?

The Getaway Car starts Saturday at 6:50pm on BBC1. It’s the first of twelve episodes.