Classic sports show Superstars to return on Five

Five is to bringing back Superstars, one of television’s most iconic sporting TV series. The show, which pits top athletes from different sports against each other, will return in eight one-hour programmes this summer.

In a new twist on the original Seventies series, instead of competing as individuals leading sportsmen and women will be split into four teams.

Captaining the four teams will be: five times Olympic champion Sir Steve Redgrave; double-Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes; Olympic silver medallist Roger Black MBE and Olympic gold medallist Darren Campbell. Former Premier League referee Graham Poll will be in charge of officiating the various events.

Each team will comprise of three men and one woman. The teams will include footballers Lee Sharpe and Roberto Di Matteo, cricketer Graham Thorpe, athlete Iwan Thomas, swimmers Mark Foster and Karen Pickering, boxer Jane Couch, rugby stars Mike Catt and Austin Healey, cyclist Chris Boardman, skier Alain Baxter and bob skeleton Olympic medallist Shelley Rudman.

The four teams will compete in a round robin or mini-league format. After they have played each other, the two top teams will contest the final.

Each of the captains will be competing against the other for the right to choose the ‘first pick’ of the other competitors. Then team ‘seconds’ compete against each other for next pick, and so on, until everyone joins a team.

Many of the original disciplines will play a part in the new Superstars and there will also be some new events.

They will include favourites like the dreaded ‘gym tests’ , including squats and dips, 100m track, 50m swim, tug of war and beat the keeper, with England’s current women goalie Rachel Brown between the sticks. New to the competition are indoor speed climbing, pool kayak and diving.

Superstars first came to television in the UK in 1973 and ran for 12 years on BBC1. The show was presented by David Vine and saw nearly 200 of the most famous sports men and women take part in the competition over the years – the first ever line up included England’s World Cup winning skipper Sir Bobby Moore and former F1 champion Sir Jackie Stewart.