Dan & Helen’s Pennine Adventure sees popular presenters and long-time friends Dan Walker and Helen Skelton team up for a very personal adventure as they take on the iconic Pennine Way, Britain’s first and finest long-distance trail, in a new four-part travelogue for Channel 5.
Spanning 268 miles and reaching from Derbyshire to the Scottish Borders, the trail is right on both Dan and Helen’s doorstep, so they’ve decided to ditch the guidebooks and turn to social media for suggestions, asking those who know the famous route to reveal their favorite spots and hidden gems.
Traveling from near Dan’s home in Sheffield to Helen's in Cumbria, they explore the stunning countryside and meet the diverse communities and business owners who make up the ‘backbone of Britain’, all the while getting stuck into a whole host of challenging local activities.
Here, 5 News presenter Dan Walker, 46, and Countryfile star Helen Skelton, 40, tell us more…
Dan & Helen’s Pennine Adventure release date
Dan & Helen’s Pennine Adventure is a four-part series starting on Channel 5 on Tuesday, August 15 at 9 pm.
Interview: Dan Walker and Helen Skelton reveal more about their Pennine Road Trip...
Why did you want to make a Pennines-based travel show together?
Dan Walker says: “We’ve known each other for over a decade, but we’ve never made a TV show together. So I asked Helen if she wanted to travel around the Pennines, meet some amazing people and shine a light on beautiful places. Thankfully, she said yes, even though she gets 48 television offers a week!”
Helen Skelton says: “I like road trips, I like Dan and I like the Pennines! We’re both passionate about this neck of the woods and wanted to show people that it’s really not so grim up north.”
Did you uncover some hidden gems through suggestions on social media?
Helen says: “Gone are the days when you can say on TV: ‘Here’s a place you've never heard of’, because it’s probably already on TripAdvisor. So we decided to turn that on its head and say, ‘You tell us where to go’. You’ll see some famous places, yes, but hopefully some spots you don’t know about, too.”
Dan says: “We had hundreds of recommendations, but we wanted the show to be about the proud people of the Pennines, not about us two telly numpties traveling around, going, ‘This is a nice place’.”
In episode one, you’re sheep-shearing, canoeing, float-tube fishing and more! Were you quite competitive in the activities?
Dan says: “Competitive? Us? Ha! We enjoy each other’s company, but we also like winning. One of my favourite bits was playing golf at the highest course in England. Annoyingly, though, Helen managed to play very well.”
Helen says: “We have a sort of sibling relationship. You know how you can take the mick out of them, but no one else can? If anybody said anything negative about Dan, I’d be like, ‘I beg your pardon?!’”
You also cycle along the transpennine road Snake Pass. How was that after your accident, Dan?
Dan says: “I love cycling, but I had a big accident in February. I can’t remember anything about it, which is probably a good thing, but I know I was hit by a car and it still hurts. I talk to Helen about it in the show and how it’s never crossed my mind not to cycle again.”
Helen says: “I kept saying to Dan, ‘Are you all right? Should we do this?’ But he was like, ‘Let it go’. I was so impressed by his tenacity to get back on the bike.”
Helen, after kayaking across the Amazon for Sport Relief in 2010, it must’ve been a thrill to canoe through Standedge Tunnel?
Helen says: “It was an absolute treat! I’m big into adventure and Dan is big into history, and Standedge has a lot of historical significance. But we were paddling like our lives depended on it, racing through the tunnel, thinking we were in The Goonies!”
Dan says: “Also, there was a brilliant guy named Terry who worked for the Canal & River Trust, and just before we went in, he whispered, ‘You’ll love it in there; it's amazing!’ That gorgeous level of enthusiasm is exactly what we wanted to capture.”
What’s coming up later in the series?
Dan says: “All sorts! We do black pudding-throwing in Bury and play quoits in North Yorkshire, which involves throwing horseshoe-shaped steel into clay. But the big event for me was abseiling down a 100-metre cave in the Yorkshire Dales. I hate heights, but I’m glad I did it. Why are you laughing, Helen?”
Helen says: “Dan likes to eat cake and talk about history, but I like him to jump out of and into stuff.”
Is this the start of a raft of travelogues from you two? If so, where next?
Dan says: “Barbados! OK, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s got to be authentically us because we’re genuine friends who love talking to people. I’d be up for more adventures if Helen’s diary allows it!”
Helen says: “I'd love to make something in the Scottish Highlands or Northumberland, as its beaches, puffins and castles are often overlooked. I’ll bring my campervan with the kids in the back and Dan’s teenagers can babysit, then we’ll be sorted!”
Is there a trailer for Dan & Helen’s Pennine Adventure?
Channel 5 hasn’t released a trailer yet for Dan & Helen’s Pennine Adventure, but make sure you don’t miss the show, which starts on Tuesday, August 15 at 9pm.
