Former Scandinavian champion athletes are letting loose their competitive streak in Malta through their participation in a series for Norwegian and Swedish TV, which sees them undertake challenges in teams until a winner emerges.
Shot over four weeks, the production features them racing up picturesque Vittoriosa streets, competing in military-like obstacle courses at Golden Bay and going strategic on Dingli Cliffs.
The locations are among the carefully selected backdrops that should not only boost the competition but also promote Malta in Sweden and Norway, where the popular 12-week Mesternes Mester will be aired on prime-time TV.
The 11 contestants in each team, among them former Olympic athletes from various sporting backgrounds - even gold medallists - have already dwindled to seven, following eliminations every two days. They will continue to compete in evocative locations around Malta until the final duel on the walls of Fort Ricasoli produces the champion of champions.
Among the participants is renowned former Swedish football player Per Tomas Brolin, who played for his national team, finishing third in the 1994 World Cup, and also for Parma, winning the 1992-93 Cup Winners' Cup among others.
At the peak of his career, Mr Brolin was regarded as one of the best football players in the world. A broken leg in 1994 put an end to that and he eventually retired at 28. But the Malta contest is offering him the chance of a comeback, albeit not necessarily in football.
In fact, the challenges the athletes have to overcome go beyond their particular fields and are quite a spectacle in themselves. At Dingli Cliffs, the competitors played a life-size form of the Chinese Checkers board game, showing their strategic prowess, while in Vittoriosa, the race up one of the long, narrow streets was not only about finishing first but also about mathematical calculations in the process.
"They had to count the number of doors, subtract the number of Maltese balconies and divide by the number of flower pots," said Malta locations coordinator Joe Formosa Randon.
Then there is the reality TV aspect of the programme, where the team members are filmed in their homes, cooking, eating and chatting. The Norwegians have been put up in the luxury villa in Magħtab where Brad Pitt stayed while in Malta and the Swedes are enjoying the mediaeval Bubaqra Tower in Żurrieq.
Mr Formosa Randon said the Malta Tourism Authority had arranged for the TV producers to film the programme here, fighting off competition from Greece, Sicily and Spain, where the successful series was shot last year, attracting a record number of Swedish and Norwegian TV viewers.
Malta had the most attractive proposition, also in terms of technical back-up and support, he said.
"The TV shoot is going to be a 12-hour prime-time advert for Malta, which is showcasing some spectacular locations," Mr Frendo Randon said, believing it should bring the island to the attention of many viewers, boosting tourism. "Filming is being done in such a way as to bring out the best of these sites," he said.