Back at the beginning of August a researcher from the BBC sent out an appeal via the Take a Hike message-board for 2 teams of Hikers to appear on Bargain Hunt. A few TAH members were brave enough or stupid enough to take up the gauntlet, namely me, Dan Atkinson & Sarah Hirst. As we were one team member short, my friend Amanda stepped in at the last minute to make up for the missing team-mate. After a quick interview and screen test in York, we were then officially selected from dozens of prospective teams and then sorted into Red and Blue teams (Dan & Sarah, and Dom and Amanda respectively).

A couple of weeks later, we all headed to York for the 1st of 2 days of filming. First we were paired up with our experts for the day, David Barby for the Reds and Charles Hanson for the Blues and sent off on a frantic hunt for bargains in 3 antiques shops close to the Minster. It soon became clear that the items on sale were priced quite high and that selling them for a profit at auction was going to be tricky, but it was still fun spending £300 of someone else's money! Once we'd found the items we wanted to buy, we then had to go back with a film crew and 'find' the items for the benefit of the cameras. A few cheesy re-takes and close up fondling of our selections later it was time to relax and have lunch.

As the early morning rain gave way to bright sunshine in the afternoon, we all headed out again to film the intro to the show and also the 'swap' segment (where you can switch your least favourite item for one of the expert's choosing!) I'd earlier been asked to draw a cartoon for the show and this was revealed in classic "here's one I made earlier" style during the introductions (you can see the cartoon on the Take a Hike gallery page). Filming in the crowded, tourist choked streets was certainly an experience, with random Americans taking photos and asking if you were famous or not. The presenter, Tim Wonacott, graciously fended off scores of old ladies, kids and students wanting his autograph (or mistaking him for David Dickinson) including one memorable batty old woman on an invalid scooter with a caged pigeon at her feet... (we thought she'd never leave!). It struck me how popular the show was when people of all ages recognised instantly which show we were filming (even the tourists recognised it as it's shown all over the world). I think the retina burning red and blue team fleeces helped make us stand out a little though!

A couple of weeks later it was time to film the 'auction' segment of the show, so we duly headed to a sale-room in Harrogate and met up again with our experts and several other teams who had filmed their shows in York the day before us. We were then filmed in teams 'reacting' to a tape of the presenter and auctioneer critiquing our selections. In my case, the Producer's prompts of 'show lots of emotion' weren't necessary as both the presenter and auctioneer tore into our choices and berated their chances in the sale! After a spot of lunch and a wander round the sale-room checking out the competition, the auction got underway and we were bought before the cameras as our items came under the hammer. The red team came out victorious with a whopping £15 profit. The blue team runners up with a £30 loss. All in all it was a great experience.. tiring and repetitive at times, but a great laugh. I can only hope that when it's broadcast in Spring next year that they haven't edited it to make us all look like stereotypical geeky hikers!

- Dom Bull, September 2005.

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