Showtec Lights Up 'Don’t Look Down'

The recent Channel 4 reality show ‘Don't Look Down’ brought together nine courageous celebrities for a thrilling six-week adventure in support of Stand Up to Cancer. The show, hosted by Paddy McGuinness, followed these stars on a journey to conquer their fear of heights through vertigo-inducing high wire training. The grand finale took place at the iconic London Stadium, where the contestants faced a heart-pounding tightrope relay challenge, 100ft high and 650ft across.

Limelite Lighting installed a large number of Showtec Helix S5000 Q4 LED washers to provide light throughout the stadium’s grandstands and around the pitch.

The star-studded cast included soap legend Beverley Callard, footballer Anton Ferdinand, presenter and Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt, sports presenter and Love Island finalist Chris Hughes, French football icon David Ginola, motoring expert Charley Boorman, TikTok star GK Barry, content creator and comedian Fats Timbo, and Olympic champion cyclist Victoria Pendleton. Each celebrity had a personal connection to cancer, adding an emotional layer to their efforts to raise funds for cancer research.

To ensure the grand finale of ‘Don't Look Down’ was a visual masterpiece, Limelite Lighting turned to the Showtec Helix S5000 Q4 to provide a dynamic lighting solution for Lighting Designer David Bishop. With the immense size of the stadium, the height of the tightrope, and unpredictable autumn weather during overnight filming to contend with, the choice of lighting fixture was crucial. The Helix S5000 Q4, a 40x 10 W RGBW Outdoor LED Washer, proved to be the ideal choice. With its powerful output and exceptional optics, it delivered even illumination across the 100ft high tightrope and the contestants, transforming the London Stadium from a sports venue into a captivating entertainment show setting.

Matthew Mountier, Gaffer at Limelite Lighting, explained, ‘With a seating capacity of 80,000, the London Stadium is not your average filming location. The tightrope spanned the full length of the stadium, and it was essential to convey the full scale on camera while capturing the expressions of the contestants. Therefore, nowhere could be in darkness.’

A total of 152 Helix S5000 Q4 LED washers were installed throughout the stadium to provide powerful, uniform illumination. They proved their worth by contributing to the success of the production and the overall performance of the celebrities in their once-in-a-lifetime challenge.

In the end, the production was an enormous success, with the celebrities accomplishing their once-in-a-lifetime challenge and raising a significant sum for Stand Up to Cancer. The combination of extraordinary talent, the bravery of the celebrities, the expertise of everyone involved and the dependable Showtec products created an unforgettable spectacle that illuminated the London Stadium and warmed the hearts of viewers across the nation.