The first season of the Australian version of The Mole aired between 27 February and 24 April 2000, on Seven Network. It took place mostly in Tasmania and was hosted by actor Grant Bowler.
Show details In this, the first season of The Mole, the players only knew ahead of time that they had applied to, and been accepted to appear on, a new reality game show. The knowledge that one among them was a traitor and working to sabotage their efforts was not revealed until just before the first round of gameplay began. Hundreds of people responded to a newspaper advertisement asking for applicants, and from this advertisement came the nine genuine contestants. The Mole was hired separately, though it was revealed during the season finale that he was artificially put through the rigours of the application process, so that he would be able to naturally talk about the experience with the others. The maximum prize for the season was $200,000, and this was the only season where the announced maximum and the actual maximum were the same. In contrast to all subsequent seasons, the events of each episode were referred to as "challenges" rather than "assignments."
In the years that followed, Alan Mason became the adjudicator and question researcher on the Australian version of The Weakest Link, as well as the question verifier on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, and the runner-up, Abby Coleman, is now a radio announcer on Hit 105 FM in Brisbane.
Contestants PlayerAgeHomeOccupationOutcomeJames Douloudis37Shepparton, VictoriaComputer Programmer9th placePatrick Fogarty48QLDWinery Manager8th placeRocky Warren39SydneyMarketing Executive7th placeJosephine Pennicott35NSWAromatherapy Consultant6th placeBen Taylor27NSWHotel Manager5th placeBeverley "Bev" Rilatt-Richardson55QLDHomestay Interviewer4th placeLinda Cameron28Perth, Western AustraliaFine Foods Merchant3rd placeAbby Coleman18Adelaide, South AustraliaStudentRunner-upAlan Mason37Cockatoo, VictoriaEnvironmental OfficerThe MoleJan Moody40Balwyn, VictoriaSchool Services OfficerWinner
Elimination chart +Elimination ChartPlayer12345678 & 9JanINININININININWINNERAlanINININININININMOLEAbbyINININININININRUNNER-UPLindaININININININOUTBeverleyINININININOUTBenININININOUTJosephineINININOUTRockyININOUTPatrickINOUTJamesOUT
Indicates the player won the game Indicates the player was the mole Indicates the player won a free pass Indicates the player scored the lowest on the quiz and was eliminated
Episodes
Episode 1 Episode 1 recapLocation: MelbourneTasmania Challenge Money earned Possible earnings Parachute Jumping $10,000 $10,000 Luggage Repack $5,000 $5,000 Hostage Rescue $0 $10,000 $25,000EliminationJames1st player eliminated
Parachute Jumping: After meeting for the first time at Melbourne's Essendon Airport and learning that one among them was the Mole, the players were presented with the challenge of flying to Tasmania and landing before the plane did – by tandem parachute jumping. If all ten of them jumped, the group would win $10,000. Several of them were nervous, particularly Josephine and James, but all ten jumped and the money was won.
Luggage Repack: After the parachute jumping, Abby, Ben, Jan, Patrick, and Rocky were taken straight to the group's hotel, while the other five were stopped and told to repack all ten players' luggage into backpacks. Whatever was left behind would be lost to that person for the remainder of their time on the show. Later, at the hotel, the host asked each of the five who were taken there straight away to predict an item that the others had kept out of their backpack (left it behind). If all of them guessed a specific, correct item, the group would win $5,000. The host had a video recording showing all of the items that were sent home, and each of them guessed a correct item, winning the money.
Hostage Rescue: The players were told to pick someone to be woken up very early the next morning. On a majority vote, Patrick was chosen. The host woke him in his hotel room at 3:07 AM the next morning and blindfolded him, taking him to a white-walled cell 45 minutes by car drive from the hotel. When the other nine gathered for breakfast, they found maps on their table to give them a starting point to find Patrick. They were split into three groups, one travelling by car, one by helicopter, and one by boat. If they found Patrick within two hours, they'd win $10,000 for the group kitty. They had mobile phones to contact one another and the hostage. Shortly after the assignment began, the host phoned Patrick and offered him one final clue – he needed to find a blue envelope. He found it under his bed, and it contained a note that stated that each vehicle had in it a key, but only one key would unlock him. As soon as Patrick looked out the window and noticed the radio towers across the river from him, the helicopter found him. The boat team was out of contact for most of the assignment, until Rocky noticed that Abby seemed to be hiding an extra phone battery. After the helicopter found them and dropped a message in a bottle with the details of their assignment, all three vehicles made it to Patrick's cell in time. They each found their keys, and found the one that unlocked him, the one from the boat. It seemed the $10,000 was won. However, in pursuit of the hostage, Ben drove extremely erratically and well above the speed limit, such that the police tried to pull him over. Ben failed to pull over and kept driving, and was shown later answering to the police for his infraction. The prize for the challenge was also revoked.
Episode 2
Episode 2 recapLocation: Tasmania Challenge Money earned Possible earnings Tiger Rally $10,000 $10,000 Humor Test $0 $5,000 Golf $0 $10,000 $50,000EliminationPatrick2nd player eliminated
Tiger Rally: The players were taken to Ross for a car relay race on a closed road. They divided themselves into three groups of three, each with a navigator and two mechanics. The job of the navigator was to guide a driver through the Tasmanian Tiger Rally. They had to know the course well, because the drivers were driving upwards of 150 kilometres per hour. Each car had to complete two laps of the 3-kilometre course, and after the first, the two mechanics had to swap the positions of the car's rear wheels. They had 35 minutes to complete six laps. Patrick was the first navigator, and he gave very clear instructions to his driver. Jan and Josephine fumbled quite a bit swapping his wheels, leaving the first leg to be completed a minute behind schedule. Beverley gave poor instructions to her driver and they briefly seemed hopelessly lost. Rocky and Alan made up for some of the time with a quick wheel change, but they were put even further behind schedule. The last car, navigated by Linda, made it through two laps with 6 seconds to spare, with their second lap just three seconds off the course's all-time record for fastest ever, so the money was won.
Humour Test: The host asked for the player least experienced in the game of golf. That was Josephine, who was not to participate in this challenge. The others were divided into two groups of four, given cameras, and told that within two hours they must record, among them, at least one minute of the sound and picture of other people laughing. They easily achieved this, but afterward it was revealed that this was only a test run – the real challenge, for $5,000, was to then replicate this feat without their subjects seeing the video camera. The players found this part of the challenge to be considerably more difficult, as it was tricky to film people without them knowing, and without a visible camera there was nothing to excuse their silly behaviour and thus the inhibitions of their subjects were greater. Both groups even resorted to cheating at one point, by asking people to laugh for them and telling them they were on camera (simply asking for the laugh would have been acceptable). Ultimately, this challenge was failed.
Golf: While the others were doing the Humour Test, Josephine was taken to the Launceston Golf Club, and given some instruction from a pro. Her challenge was to do the 350-metre par 4 18th hole, and she was to be given a maximum of fifteen strokes. The number of strokes she got depended on her teammates, and how they answered five trivia questions. Each question was worth 1–5 strokes, with the values, as well as the player who would answer each question, assigned by Josephine. Each value was used once. She won twelve strokes, with only Alan missing his question, which was for three, but she failed to complete the hole, missing a putt at the very end.
Episode 3 Episode 3 recapLocation: Tasmania Challenge Money earned Possible earnings The Labyrinth $10,000 $10,000 The Imposters $10,000 $10,000 Charity $0 $5,000 $75,000EliminationRocky3rd player eliminated
The Labyrinth: Immediately after Patrick's elimination, late at night, the remaining eight players were told to pick two people who deserved a nice time. These were Josephine and Linda, and their "nice time" was simply being able to sit out the next challenge and go to bed. The others were taken to Richmond Maze, described as a "human-style computer game," and told to split into pairs, one with a runner and one with a navigator. One at a time, each runner would enter the maze, being guided by radio by their navigator, who had an overhead camera shot of the maze. The runners were pursued by two hunters, who, if they tagged the runners, could eliminate them. If any of the runners found the maze's exit, or if among them they survived inside the maze for a total of three minutes, they'd win $10,000. Alan ran first, with Beverley his navigator, and lasted just 28 seconds. The next runner was Ben, under direction of Abby, and he lasted 45 seconds. The final runner was Rocky, guided by Jan, and he survived inside the maze for a minute and 47 seconds, winning the $10,000, despite the fact a clear path to the exit was available for him well before reaching the three-minute mark.
The Imposters: The next morning, the players were split into three groups and sent to learn about tasting Tasmanian cheeses, beers, and wines. Josephine and Linda are sent to Ashgrove Cheese Farm. Abby, Ben, and Beverley are sent to Boag's Draught, a beer brewery. Alan, Jan, and Rocky are sent to Pipers Brook Vineyard. They were given tours of each facility and some instruction on how to become connoisseurs of each product by an expert. That evening, they were treated to a formal dinner, but at the dinner they were given a surprise challenge. On the table were three cheeses, three beers, and three wines. Two of each were made in Tasmania, and the third was from the mainland. The group who toured each respective facility had sampled the two Tasmanian products during their tour, and one at a time they were charged with identifying the impostor. Linda had to quickly made the decision herself because Josephine was reluctant to answer, despite being an enthusiastic cheese taster. Abby, Ben, and Beverley unanimously decided on the beer, despite Abby and Beverley not being beer drinkers. The wine tasters wasted time by swirling the glasses instead of tasting the wines. Jan is the one who makes the decision, and Alan and Rocky simply agree. All three groups correctly identified the non-Tasmanian product in their group of three, winning $10,000.