43 thoughts on “The Bank Job

  1. KP

    Hmm. Remarkable Television’s name on it. Twenty-five identical sealed boxes. This feels like a pub machine “skill game” Deal or No Deal, for some reason.

    Only rather better, I suspect.

    Obviously some MPD elements in there too, and picking contestants entirely through the web game is something I heartily approve of.

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  2. Travis P

    “The programme will be presented by a big name host to be announced”

    “The Bank Job is being made for Channel 4 by Remarkable Television and will air in early 2012.”

    In other words, it’ll launch in January to replace Famous and Fearless and will be hosted by Paddy Doherty.

    David, selecting contestents via a web game might be a good idea but it won’t stop Endemol selecting contestants to suit the show. Like Million Pound Drop, they’ll use an application scheme to rule out certain people. I won’t be surprised if they follow the same process and select people under 35, are good looking and are a bit dim.

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    1. KP

      Oh, I don’t doubt there’ll be some sort of screening, and I also don’t doubt it’ll be done in precisely the wrong way.

      Having said that, a big part of MPD’s value to Channel 4 is being able to offer a million quid on a regular series for the first time in their history (wording deliberate to exclude TFI Friday’s Someone’s Going To Be A Millionaire) but actually having an hourly prize budget not far above a good few weeks of DoND. The Bank Job has an accumulating jackpot, and I suspect the balance of play will be such that this jackpot won’t be an awful lot lower if the contestants keep getting wrong answers. I guess we’ll see in January.

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  3. David B

    I remain to be convinced about TBJ. Heist-themed capers have been piloted before (at least twice at the BBC in recent years) so I’m a bit surprised this has got commissioned. There must be something devillishly clever about the format that I’m missing.

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    1. Andy "Kesh" Sullivan

      I remember that show, I have an episode of it on a tape somewhere.

      But this game will be played with cold hard cash, not Swapits.

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  4. Joe

    It’s going to be sensational. Fans of Million Pound Drop and Deal or No Deal will LOVE this.

    Anyone will be able to apply, no age ranges constrictions unlike other game shows like most of the Eggheads.

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  5. Weaver

    There’s a lot of Million Pound Drop in there, live shows and online chattery. More than a bit of ITV one-shot wonder The Fuse, mixing general knowledge and unknown prizes. And there’s the race against time, should I stay or should I go dilemma from The Crystal Maze.

    I have more confidence in Remarkable to make event television than in ITV, especially after last week’s non-event. Whether they’ll actually be able to do it, we can only wait and see.

    Expecting a week 1 or week 2 show, directly or indirectly against Celeb BB. And expecting a bloke in his early 30s to come away from the Sunday final with just under £250,000.

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  6. Joe

    What are people’s thoughts about Claudia Winkleman being a game show host? Would you feel she could do a good job, or would you prefer someone else completely like a comedian such as Jack Whitehall?

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    1. Travis P

      Put it this way. Claudia Winkleman is a safer bet for a show like this as she has done presenting for many years. With Jack Whitehall, you’re taking a risk. In my opinion, more people would watch Winkleman than Whitehall.

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    2. NJ

      Claudia can carry a show well, she has that look like she loves what she’s doing (I think Vernon Kay has the same thing) which I really like in a host.

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    3. Kylie

      Claudia definately over Jack! She has the experience and also she has a nice way with people, which we’ll all miss on SCD-ITT

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    4. The Banker's Nephew

      It would depend on the show, really. On a relatively serious show, Claudia would be a better choice, but I’d personally rather watch Jack be silly.

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  7. Andy "Kesh" Sullivan

    Well, from what I’ve read from that link, it sounds really good. I’ll most definitely have a go at the online game when it comes out to try and be a contestant.

    The prospect of it being a week-long event, rather than a weekly show, makes me a bit wary, considering how ‘Dead or Blecchh’ did.

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    1. NJ

      The key here though is its 5 nights which all have an ending in themselves, leading up to one big climax at the end of the week. So more akin to the Poker Face structure of ramping up the stakes for the last show than RoB’s giant payoff every night to the point where you become numb to it.

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      1. KP

        This. In fact, it’s practically identical to PokerFace in terms of its tournament structure, only with four heats rather than six. Sounds like it even has the “contestants carry over their money to the final” element, albeit with the risk-reward “fold” decision at each elimination replaced by more subtle strategic risk management within the rounds.

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  8. James

    I know he’s essentially tied up with Objective, but what about Derren Brown??

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  9. Chris M. Dickson

    Gameplay question: do you think the game would be more interesting if the contestants could see whether the other contestants have left the vault or not? Additionally, is there a special difficulty making the contestants’ job of judging when to leave more challenging? Perhaps the contestants might not know precisely how long the time limit is, or the contestants might have some extra task of an indeterminate duration to perform between expressing an intention to leave and actually getting to leave.

    Oh, and Derren Brown would probably be a great shout if and only if he wanted to do it – and my guess is that he regards this as not being his cup of tea.

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    1. Weaver

      Here’s some gameplay elements that would be guaranteed one good review (mine). Separate the players by frosted glass around a central column (perhaps a revolve containing the cash boxes), so they can just about see who has left but they must take the effort to look for it. The final two could be a solid wall, from which the cash boxes can be removed from either end, and the players can just see each other through the holes.

      On when to leave, I’d tell them the length of the round (probably about six minutes) but provide no clocks or other warning. The producers will have to think about two people getting caught, because that’ll chop the show down terribly.

      If there must be a task to do before escaping, it’s got to be directly and obviously related to the game. For instance, they have to open the cash boxes using a key, and using that key closes their access to the remaining boxes.

      Host? I think a dark, almost over-the-top evil character would work here. Someone in the Leslie Grantham – Anthony Ainley mould. At the risk of being laughed all the way to the Hartlepools, I think Peter Mandelson has the *looks*, but would need some coaching in the attitude. The host shouldn’t ask the questions, get a decent voiceover person to do that (male host suggests female voiceover).

      And one to think about: wrong answers cause the player to be wallied out of the next question. But how does that work in the final?

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  10. Joe

    I was watching The Chase earlier, it was very close in the Final Chase between the contestants and the Sinnerman. Does anyone know what the lowest number of correct questions in the final game is that a Chaser has failed to get? Today’s show, 18 questions were answered correctly, but just about!

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    1. Anonymous

      Mark lost to someone on their own last series and couldn’t reach 18, so I think that could be the lowest 🙂

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      1. JC

        That’s indeed the lowest uncaught target, although a couple of days ago Shaun had a bit of a nightmare and failed to hit double figures.

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  11. Greg

    I am pleased to see 4 Rooms given another chance, for the first few weeks it aired, it failed to hit the top 30 and i thought it was a gonner for sure.

    As for The Bank Job they should just call it The Vault :D, it sounds like it could be an enjoyable format.

    Reply
  12. Mart with a Y not a I

    Right, for those keeping score (or who take a passing interest in German gameshows)
    Another win last night on Schlag Den Star for the contestant – so another 50,000 euros goes out of the Pro seiben piggy bank.

    Thing that struck me last night was that this show really is made on a tight budget isn’t it?
    That was the 6th show I’ve watched (or attempted to watch due to jerky streaming issues) and there has been no outside challenges (which are a highlight of the Raab variant of the format) and last nights final ‘matchball’ decider was unscrewing 5 long thread screws out of piece of wood the fastest.
    Cheap and yet compulsive viewing at it’s best. See you all in the bar at some point tomorrow to see Das Raab becoming increasingly aggressively competitve the closer to 10pm we get..

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    1. Travis P

      Don’t forget that Schlag den Star is ACTUALLY based on the UK’s Beat the Star. They made the tweak here and there (Raab as a joker, 9 games instead of 7/8) they simply borrowed the ITV version. Which is probably why their jackpot is the same.

      Last night’s contender win makes it 9-2 in favour of the contender winning. It does wonder whether the stars RaabTV/Pro7 select are hungry/determined enough to beat the contender. Only Stefan Effenberg and Joey Kelly (Irish/German entertainer and a mate of Raab) has forced the jackpot to rollover to the next show.

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    1. Travis P

      Very unlikley we will see Glann Hugill as an on-screen presenter again. He is a different person now and not the person we last saw in 2001. Many will remember the interview Brig did that he was taken ill years ago.

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      1. Chris M. Dickson

        True, though not what I was asking (which, to be fair, you would have had to guess because I didn’t spell it out). I was really wondering whether Hugill played in his youth too.

        Anyway, wasn’t Hugill the only-seen-from-behind, anonymous Control on the pilot for Control?

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    1. Joe

      Big Brother is a very popular TV show for Channel 5. It gets 20 times more viewers than Old Trafford, which s massive.

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      1. Travis P

        Get over! Your show lost to a digital created channel. Isn’t that embarrassing? The celebrity series rated well but the regular series is now in a slow freefall. Perhaps the viewers don’t want another Geordie Shore/Towie lineup with young folk in the house.

        I know what Big Brother needs, a live feed.

        Also I see tonight’s £250,000 win on The Drop were a couple from Essex who applied via the online game. When are we going to see a couple who were chosen from the online game who are not from the south east? It’s now 2 in 2. Are Endemol doing it on the cheap to save on travel costs?

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        1. NJ

          This may be a big reason why BB isn’t the reliable ratings it once was. With Geordie Shore, TOWIE and Made in Chelsea there’s plenty more, less time-intensive ways to watch idiots.

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      2. Des Elmes

        Ah-ah-ah!

        Many of us agree with you that civilian Millionaire hasn’t been axed, even though it isn’t coming back either (at least not in the foreseeable future). 😉

        So how about you now agree with us (well, me anyway) on this one:

        Big Brother is not a very popular show for Channel 5 – but it is a very popular show in terms of Channel 5. 😉 😉

        Not for, but in terms of. 😉

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        1. KP

          The big question for Channel 5 is surely whether it’s a profitable show for them. I suspect it still is.

          However, when Celebrity Juice starts beating you, that’s significant (if only because it’ll draw negative headlines for BB). And it’s a good point from NJ that the constructed-reality shows of the last few years could have had an impact on civilian BB but not celebrity BB. A few older contestants – heck, have them apply through the Daily Express for added cross-promotion – could have broadened the appeal. Given that the Express is currently trying to outflank the Mail from the right, you could have easily ended up with the stereotypical Yoof Of Today meeting some Grumpy Old Men/Women with “hilarious consequences”.

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          1. Brig Bother Post author

            I made the point on Twitter yesterday that everyone who grew up with Big Brother has moved on, the new youth are watching things like TOWIE. What does Big Brother bring to the table in 2011, other than a name? It’s now aping the shows it seeks to be a competition to.

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