Ring the bell

Task notes

• The contestants emerge from the house wearing a sun visor, which is intended to help prevent them from looking up.
• A tall wooden structure has been positioned over the table, consisting of a frame supporting a span which contains a series of 10 compartments.
• Ropes hang from each of the compartments, and have tags with numbers 1-10 on them, on their loose ends.
• The consequences of pulling on each rope are as follows:
  • Pulling on rope 1 opens a compartment above, releasing a bunch of table tennis balls onto the ground below.
  • Pulling on rope 2 opens a compartment above, dropping half a watermelon, wrapped in cling film, onto the table.
  • Pulling on rope 3 opens a compartment above, dropping a water-filled balloon onto the table.
  • Pulling on rope 4 opens a compartment above, dropping a bunch of opened paper cocktail umbrellas onto the table.
  • Pulling on rope 5 opens a compartment above, dropping a pile of white flowers onto the table.
  • Pulling on rope 6 opens a compartment above, dropping a bunch of rubber ducks onto the table.
  • Pulling on rope 7 opens a compartment above, dropping a pile of colourful socks onto the table.
  • Pulling on rope 8 does not open a compartment, but the rope itself is very long, and so keeps on coming out of the hole above, as the contestants continue to pull on it.
  • Pulling on rope 9 opens a compartment above, but all that comes out of it is the sound of a deep, mournful, male voice, bellowing “Nooo!”.
  • Pulling on rope 10 opens a compartment above, dropping Patatas the cat onto the table.
• There are a number of misleading clues provided in this task, to encourage the contestants to pull the ropes:
  • The ‘s’ at the end of the word ‘starts’ has been replaced with a ‘5’.
  • The half watermelon which drops when rope 2 is pulled has a note on it which reads “Ding dong, it’s 6 o’clock”.
  • The water balloon which drops when rope 3 is pulled contains a note with the number ‘7’ on it.
  • When rope 5 is pulled and the flowers fall out, a note is also dropped, which reads “Have you pulled rope number 8 yet?”.
  • Patatas has a piece of paper with the number 2 on it Velcroed to her collar.
• There are a variety of bells around the house that the contestants may ring, to complete the task, including:
  • The doorbell by the front door.
  • Some handbells under the table in the hutch.
  • A wall-mounted bell in the living room.
  • A cowbell hung around Linda the cow’s neck.
  • Some jingle bells, hung up in the shed.
  • A bicycle bell, on a bike next to the shed.
  • A small handbell, held by Ollie the statue.
  • A large handbell, in the hallway.