The fifth season of the Australian version of The Mole, subtitled The Amazing Game, took place in New Zealand and was hosted by Tom Williams.
Show Details The announced maximum kitty for the season was $500,000, though the absolute maximum was slightly more than that. The final group kitty was $203,000. Unlike previous seasons, the show was produced live, with the challenges occurring over a weekend in New Zealand. Afterwards, the players were flown into Sydney for a live quiz and elimination on Thursdays. The live eliminations occurred at Sevens's Martin Place Studios - which also hosts many of Seven's news programs. This also meant that the seclusion of the players, normally a standard feature of The Mole, was broken, as the players had access to the outside world - including being able to communicate to friends and family while in Sydney, watch the produced episode, and search the internet for clues.
Additionally, it was revealed at the beginning of the series that if the Mole went unidentified throughout the series, they would win all the money that was kept from the kitty.
There was no 2004 season due to poor ratings from the third and fourth seasons but the show was revived in 2005 with the hope that ratings would again return. Poor ratings for this season meant there have been no further seasons in Australia until 2013.
Williams was brought on to host the show because the previous host Grant Bowler was unavailable due to a prior commitment. Episodes were broadcast on Thursday nights (thus partially directly going head to head with a behind-the-scenes edition of Australian Idol) and the PG rating was brought back due to the show airing at 7:30 pm. In the first episode, as the elimination process was about to start, one of the production assistants accidentally yelled out: "It's Josh!" (in reference to the contestant who was about to be eliminated). Luckily, the contestants did not hear those words. Some eliminated contestants would appear on Sunrise the morning after their elimination.
It was also notable for being sponsored by the then-new PlayStation Portable, in which each contestant receives instructions and challenges by way of a memory card and on-screen displays.
The winner of The Mole, Liz Cantor, has since become a fill-in weather presenter on Seven News Brisbane.
Contestants Over 4,000 people auditioned to be on the show. These are the twelve who were chosen:
PlayerAgeHometownOccupationOutcomeJosh Barker27SydneyRock Singer11th PlaceSonya Fardell40MelbourneVet Nurse10th PlaceBrett McGrath32QueenslandSalesman9th PlaceNat Amoore25MelbourneEditing Assistant/Trapeze Artist8th PlaceJuan Garcia26MelbourneLawyer7th PlaceMark Jensen46SydneyActor6th PlaceHeidi Monsour30BrisbaneMarketing Director5th PlaceKristy Curtis27SydneyFitness Instructor4th PlaceLiane Bourke38SydneyHousewife3rd PlaceCraig Murell27SydneyArmy PilotRunner upJohn Whitehall52SydneyRetired DetectiveThe MoleLiz Cantor22BrisbaneCompetitive SurferWinner
Elimination Chart +Elimination ChartPlayer12345678910LizINININININININININWINNERJohnINININININININININMOLECraigINININININININININRUNNER-UPLianeINININININININOUTKristyINININININININOUTHeidiININININININOUTMarkINININININOUTJuanININININOUTNatINININOUTBrettININOUTSonyaINOUTJoshOUT
Indicates the player won the game Indicates the player was the mole Indicates the player won a free pass Indicates the player won an exemption, but either gave it back for money or lost it in a later assignment Indicates the player scored the lowest on the quiz and was eliminated
How the contestants voted This chart shows the answers the contestants answered to the question "Who is the Mole?" during the live eliminations.
+Elimination Chart12345678910LizJohnJohnJohnJohnJohnimmunityJohnJohnJohnJohnJohnNatKristyKristyLizimmunityLianeHeidiCraigCraigLizCraigHeidiBrettBrettNatJohnLizJohnJohnJohnJohnLianeNatNatMarkimmunityJohnLizJohnJohnKristyBrettBrettBrettJuanimmunityJohnJohnJohnHeidiJohnimmunityCraigimmunityCraigCraigCraigMarkSonyaSonyaHeidiKristyHeidiCraigJuanCraigNatKristyimmunityMarkNatHeidiimmunityHeidiJuanBrettLianenot knownMarkSonyaNatKristyJoshHeidi
Episodes
Episode 1
Episode 1 recapLocation: Queenstown, New Zealand Assignment Money earned Possible earnings Avalanche $25,000 $25,000 Rungway $15,000 $25,000 $50,000Elimination Josh 1st player eliminated
Avalanche: The players met up for the first time on a snowy mountaintop in Queenstown, New Zealand. They were split into three groups of four and were given thirty minutes to find three avalanche beacons that had been hidden in the snow, to the north, east, and west of their starting position. Each group was given shovels and a receiver that would beep if it was within 40 meters of the beacon. The groups sent to the north and to the east found what they were looking for quickly - the group sent to the north found the beacon itself, while the group sent to the east found a locked black case. Upon returning to the starting position, they found that the north group's beacon had a dogtag on it that revealed the combination to one of the locks. Kristy, Heidi, Sonya, and John, sent to the west, initially went in the wrong direction and returned with their beacon with mere seconds on the clock. The group unlocked the black case in time, but what they found inside it was a second locked case. The host revealed that he had the key to that case, and to obtain it, nine of the players would have to spend the night in a snow cave. The three who were spared were Liz, Heidi, and Kristy. The other nine were told that if anyone asked to leave the snow cave, they could, but the money for the challenge would then be lost. All nine of them stayed the night in the snow cave, and the $25,000 was won.
Rungway: The players met up at the bottom of a hill with rungs attached to it. They were told to split into two groups of six, one group who would take an easier climb to the top of the hill, and one who would take a harder climb. Along both climbs were several envelopes with letters in them, to be used as part of an anagram puzzle on a board at the bottom of the hill. There were clues, of increasing obviousness, on the board that could be uncovered for $5,000, $10,000, and $15,000 from the kitty. They were told to retrieve the envelopes and not open them till they were back at the bottom of the hill, and to not unhook their carabiners from the line, or incur a $5,000 penalty. The group doing the easy climb followed the directions and retrieved their letters quickly, but the group doing the hard climb all climbed up the hill right past the letters and had to go back down to retrieve them, back up to the top again, and then finally back down to the bottom of the hill. After the group bought the $5,000 clue, "He is still alive," Liane from the team doing the easily climb solved the anagram before the team that had done the hard climb even returned to the starting position, getting the answer of Edmund Hillary. Along with the $5,000 price of the clue, Liz was revealed to have unhooked her carabiner on the hill, costing another $5,000.
At the live elimination, after green screens came up for the first nine contestants, only Nat, Josh and Craig were at danger of being eliminated. Tom had opted to enter Nat's name first, but switched to Josh, for whom the screen turned red. Outside the studio for that elimination included season four contestants Kris, Nikki and that season's Mole, Petrina, as well as season three contestants Janet, Ann-Maree and Bob (the latter of which won the Weakest Link special).
Episode 2
Episode 2 recapLocation: Southern AlpsChristchurch, New Zealand Assignment Money earned Possible earnings Counting $6,000 $25,000 Christchurch $0 $25,000 $100,000Free Passes Heidi and Nat Won in the "Christchurch" assignmentElimination Sonya 2nd player eliminated
Counting: The players met up at a farm at the foot of a mountain in the Southern Alps and split into three groups. Each group's task involved counting – one group had to count sheep, another needles in a haystack, and another baby chicks. Each team needed to get their count exactly right to win the challenge, and each wrong guess cost $1,000 from the kitty. The sheep team's first guess of 599 sheep was correct. The chick team first guessed 596, 601, and 600 before giving their correct answer, which was also 599. Upon reuniting with the host in a cabin, the two teams learned that there were 599 needles in the haystack that the other players had to count. The host radioed them and told them that if they would simply guess whether there were more or less than 600 needles in the haystack, they could quit counting and come inside. This guess would be worth $10,000 if correct, and would take away $10,000 if incorrect. After submitting a guess that there were 176 needles in the haystack, they decided to gamble and correctly guessed that there were less than 600 needles in the haystack, winning $6,000 (after penalties for wrong guesses).
Christchurch: After being chosen by the group as their two worst chess players, Heidi and Nat were told to cycle to the top of a hill in Christchurch, in a race against the other nine. The road they were to take was 9 kilometers in length, and after 6 kilometers, they met up with the host who offered them, for a penalty of $5,000 from the kitty, a ride in a helicopter to the top of the hill, which would likely ensure their victory. They refused this offer and continued cycling. The other nine players were to take a gondola lift to the top, which would take about ten minutes to ride, but had to first earn their tickets, needing to win an outdoor game of chess with oversized pieces against an eleven-year-old schoolgirl. If Heidi and Nat arrived at the top first, they would gain free passes to the next episode and no money would be won, but if the group of nine arrived first, they would win $25,000. Arriving at the board, the group of nine found that three of their pieces, the queen, a bishop, and a pawn, were missing and said to be in "obvious places." They found the queen in a park called Victoria Square, the bishop in a nearby church, and the pawn in a pawn shop. Craig and Brett did most of the work on the chessboard, and in fact lost the first game. They won the second, but upon arriving at the top of the hill after the gondola ride, they found that Heidi and Nat had arrived first, won exemptions, and denied the group any money.
Episode 3
Episode 3 recapLocation: Bay of Islands Assignment Money earned Possible earnings Crayfish $6,000 $15,000 Māori Waka $0 $10,000 Hostage Rescue $25,000 $25,000 $150,000Elimination Brett 3rd player eliminated
Crayfish: After rowing a waka out to a large boat to meet the host, the players were instructed to dive for three pots, each of which contained ten crayfish. One pot was a meter below the surface, the second was two meters below, and the third four meters below. They were to split into duos, who would each have three minutes in the water, and each crayfish successfully retrieved would add $500 to the kitty. Brett and Liz each retrieved two crays and the others aside from Liane each got one, for a total of eleven and $5,500. The host rounded this up to $6,000 after the challenge concluded.
Māori Waka: The players were told to paddle the Māori waka, that they had earlier paddled out to the large boat, back to the beach, and were given a minute for each crayfish they retrieved. This was worth $10,000, but they finished in thirteen and a half minutes and won nothing.