For the second time in a week Alton Towers is on the television as we take a look at Alton Towers: A Rollercoaster Year on Channel 4.
After starring in the last episode of Top Gear on Sunday, Staffordshire theme park Alton Towers is back on the television once again strutting its stuff.
The documentary follows the reopening of the park after it closed due to the coronavirus pandemic in March.
Following staff as they deal with making rides compliant with the latest health and safety guidelines and all the measures that need to be put in place to make it safe for guests to revisit.
We see employees return to work after months on furlough and then the magical first day of reopening as families visited the park once again after being in lockdown.
The park opened on July 4th and it was far from plain sailing.
There were extortionately long queues, social distancing was a little bit all over the place and it was quite a steep learning curve as the park (and public) were thrown into the deep end of a socially distant world.
As the weeks passed the park was slowly adjusting to this new way of life and queues and new measures started to settle in and become the norm not just for the park but the public also.
Introducing the show with some wonderful drone shots we are brought in with a rather solemn statement about the pandemic and the affect it had on the park before quickly twisting back into a positive with staff being asked to come back into work.
Delving into the same territory that the Legoland documentary focused on we’re focusing on gardening as the landscaping team work hard to get the park looking back in tip top condition.
It’s quite the slow starter of a documentary until the ride operations / maintenance feature comes into play.
Testing the masks on various rides seems like the best job in the world but there is a professionalism that comes with the role to make sure that the ride is safe to operate.
Th13teen was down for a large portion of the season opening due to a weight issue.
The train needed a certain amount of weight added before its allowed to run and with social distancing meaning gaps between trains the weight requirement wasn’t met.
Alton Towers countered this with some water buoys on the back seat but they weren’t added until weeks into the start of the season to many fans disappointment.
Dark Forest, arguably the most popular area of Alton Towers had both of its rides down for the opening of the season.
Weeks rolled by and Alton Towers reopened the rides but it left somewhat of a sour taste as the public weren’t told in advance that these two rides would be closed for a considerable amount of time.
All other rides (to my recollection) were open on the first day which is a huge credit to the park.
I noticed a lot of interspersed B-Roll footage used in the documentary is older footage from the standard Alton Towers press kit which makes me feel as though this documentary had a quick turnaround with filming crews being on-site for a limited (or smaller than intended) amount of time.
Along with staff interviews and a unique glimpse behind the curtain of what makes the theme park tick is always an interesting experience and the filmmakers have done a good job considering what I imagine to be tight timescales.
Focusing on staff training to welcome guests back into the park the show still goes back to the pandemic serving as a constant reminder of the implications of the virus and the effects on the mental wellbeing of the staff members.
The documentary bounces between the serious tones and the more bubbly tones that come part and parcel of the magic of Alton Towers.
With many familiar faces scattered throughout it was great to see the love that everyone has for the park.
The fast turnaround from normal park to a socially distant compliant venue is commendable.
Naturally opening day had its teething problems which I was surprised the documentary actually focused on but now the park is fully in the groove in this socially distant world (well they were before the second lockdown that is).
I still feel as though this particular documentary just glances over the main topics and dips and dives on them briefly without anything of any context or deep focus on one particular aspect.
It’s a breezy documentary but maybe breezy is just what we need right now.
Alton Towers A Rollercoaster Year review by Sean Evans
Our Rating
Summary
It’s fun, it’s relevant and whilst not as informative as it could it, it’s damn good watch if you’re a theme park lover like myself.
