The Mole: Encyclopedia II - The Mole - The Mole in different countries

The Mole - The Mole in different countries

The Mole - Australia

The Australian version of the show began in 2000, followed by four more seasons. The 2003 season was set on the Pacific island nation of New Caledonia and entitled The Mole: in Paradise. Former Blue Heelers star Grant Bowler was the host. Bowler was the greatest success of the show, his mixture of charm and mystery was a hit with audiences.

Like the British version, the first Australian season included a 'special episode' which revealed all the clues about the mole, and how close each player had been to finding them. However, it wasn't particularly successful so, in subsequent seasons, it was replaced by a five-minute segment at the end which revealed the clues.

In the second season, they decided to bring in a large amount of contestants for the first episode, with an early challenge deciding which 10 of them got to continue playing. This was dropped in later seasons.

In the fourth season, the mole, Petrina was eliminated to try and steer suspicions off her, with her returning 2 weeks later with another contestant, whilst this worked for a while it was not as successful with the other contestants even more convinced that she was the mole.

The producers offered to tell Grant Bowler who the mole was, but he declined the invitation, believing that he could better host the show, and play around with the contestants, if he didn't know. Some reports, however, claimed that he was told the identity of the mole in the fourth season.

In July 2005, the Australian edition of The Mole returned for its fifth season, this year subtitled as The Amazing Game. Tom Williams (winner of the Australian edition of Dancing with the Stars) has taken over as host from Grant Bowler, as Grant was not available for the project due to family commitments. This season also introduced a new concept to the show - live eliminations. The contestants spent the weekend in New Zealand working on various challenges, and then their actions are broadcast on TV the following Thursday night, with a live elimination following directly after.

• 2000 (in Tasmania) Mole: Alan. Winner: Jan. Losing finalist: Abby.
• 2001 (in Victoria) Mole: Michael. Winner: Brooke. Losing finalist: Hal.
• 2002 (in Queenstown) Mole: Alaina. Winner: Crystal-Rose. Losing finalist: Marc.
• 2003 (in New Caledonia) Mole: Petrina. Winner: Shaun. Losing finalist: Nathan.
• 2005 (in New Zealand) Mole: John. Winner: Liz. Losing finalist: Craig.

The Mole - United States

Anderson Cooper, a former correspondent for ABC News (now the host of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360°), hosted the show's first and second seasons in the US. The original series of The Mole was aired in early 2001. The second series, Mole 2: The Next Betrayal, aired in September 2001, but was put on hiatus after only 3 episodes following disappointing ratings in the wake of 9/11, then quietly returned in summer 2002 to broadcast the remaining episodes. In early 2003, Celebrity Mole Hawaii, hosted by Ahmad Rashad, with fewer contestants and a smaller potential pot, debuted. In January 2004, Celebrity Mole Yucatan again featured Ahmad Rashad hosting the show as a mid-season replacement. ABC has since let the show go, and no other network has picked up The Mole. A DVD of the first season is now available. The show was cancelled by ABC due to disappointing ratings.

The Mole was shown for a brief time on GSN but was also pulled from the schedule due to low ratings from the re-airings.

• The Mole (in USA; then Paris, France; and then Spain) - Mole: Kathryn Price. Winner: Steven Cowles. Losing Finalist: Jim Morrison. Aired: 9 January 2001 - 28 February 2001.

The ten participants and their fate: 1. Manuel Herrera (9th place-Week #1)), 2. Afi Ekulona (8th place-Week #2), 3. Wendi Wendt (7th place-Week #3), 4. Henry Wentz (6th place-Week #4), 5. Jennifer Biondi (5th place-Week #5), 6. Kate Pahls (4th place-Week #6), 7. Charlie McGowan (3th place-Week #7), 8. Jim Morrison (2nd place-Week #8), 9. Steven Cowles (1st place-Winner-Week #9), 10. Kathryn Price (The Mole-Week #9).

• Mole 2: The Next Betrayal (in St. Moritz, Switzerland and then Italy) - Mole: Bill McDaniel. Winner: Dorothy Hui Losing Finalist: Heather Campbell. Aired: 28 September 2001 - 12 October 2001, and 4 June 2002 - 6 August 2002.

The fourteen participants and their fate: 1. Bob Paulhus (1st Executed); 2. Ali Gorman (2nd Executed); 3. Lisa Noller (3rd Executed); 4. Patrick Guilfoyle (4th Executed); 5. Rob Nelson (5th Executed); 6. Myra Brown (6th Executed); 7. Elavia Bello (Bribed/7th Eliminated); 8. Katie Mills (7th Executed); 9. Darwin Conner (8th Executed); 10. Michael Bribiesca (9th Executed) (as Bribs); 11. Al Spielman (10th Executed); 12. Heather Campbell (11th Executed); 13. Dorothy Hui (Winner); 14. Bill McDaniel (The Mole).

• Celebrity Mole Hawaii - Mole: Model Frederique Van Der Wall (Victoria's Secret). Winner: Comedian Kathy Griffin (Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List). Losing Finalist: Actor Erik von Detten (Dinotopia). Aired: 8 January 2003 - 12 February 2003.
• Celebrity Mole Yucatan - Mole: Model Angie Everhart (The Real Gilligan's Island). Winner: Former Basketball Player Dennis Rodman. Losing Finalist: Comedian Mark Curry (Hangin' With Mr. Cooper). Aired: 7 January 2004 - 18 February 2004.

The Mole - Belgium

Three series, all hosted by Michiel de Vlieger.

• 1999 in France. Mole: Magda. Winner: Hugo. Losing finalist: Mon.
• 2000 in Spain. Mole: Hugo. Winner: Marianne. Losing finalist: Niki.
• 2003 in Italy. Mole: Marc. Winner: Stijn. Losing finalists: Sandra and Inge.

The Mole - The Netherlands

Until now, five series, all hosted by Angela Groothuizen. The next series will be hosted by Karel Van de Graaf.

• 2000 in Australia. Mole: Deborah. Winner: Petra. Losing finalist: Robin.
• 2001 in Scotland. Mole: Nico. Winner: Sigrid. Losing finalist: Yvonne.
• 2002 in Portugal. Mole: George. Winner: John. Losing finalist: Jantien.
• 2003 in Canada. Mole: Elise. Winner: Ron. Losing finalist: Chandrika.
• 2005 in Australia and Bali, with famous Dutchmen. Mole: Yvon Jaspers. Winner: Marc-Marie Huijbregts. Losing finalist: Lottie Hellingman.

The Mole - United Kingdom

The show had two series in the United Kingdom, hosted by Glenn Hugill on Channel 5. Despite its cult following, a third series was not commissioned. Both series had a special episode at the end detailing the various clues about The Mole's identity, and general details on the production of the show.

• 2000 in Jersey (transmitted 2001). Mole: David Buxton. Winner: Zi Khan. Losing finalist: Jennifer Waller.
• 2001 in Canada. Mole: Tanya Buck. Winner: Chris Lintern. Losing finalist: Paul Tregear.

The Mole - Poland

In Poland The Mole was called "Agent".

• 2000-2001 (in France): Mole: Agnieszka. Winner: Liwia.
• 2001-2002 (in Spain): Mole: Mirek. Winner: Bartek. Losing finalist: Hanna.
• 2002 (in Portugal): Mole: Mirek (other than above). Winner: Małgorzata. Losing finalist: Wojtek.

The Mole - Italy

In Italy The Mole was called "La Talpa" hosted by Paola Perego.

• First edition (in Yucatan)

Mole :: Marco Predolin

Winner :: Angela Melillo

Losing finalist :: Karim Capuano

• Second Edition (in Kenya)

Mole :: Paolo Vallesi

Winner :: Gianni Sperti

Losing finalist :: Roberto Ciufoli

Mole series have also occured in other countries such as Germany, Sweden, Norway, Israel and Spain.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Mole in different countries", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki