New Years Day, 6pm,
then weekdays 3pm from Jan 5th, ITV1
This will hopefully be quite fun, Sara Davies has always come across as The Dragon Who Is Probably Legitimately Into This Sort Of Thing so hopefully this translates into being good at it.
Contestants start off with a load of money but they have to answer questions quickly to hold on to it. That’s the premise, I don’t know more than that, but those podiums look quite sexy. I hope there is more to it than four-way chess clock quiz but we’ll have to wait and see, win more money by doing something fast is basically the most tried and tested premise for a gameshow (said without any real evidence but it sounds right).
It’s been sitting on the shelf for a little while, we were wondering whether they’d be using it to synergize with Davies’ upcoming appearance on The Box, but it doesn’t look like it. ITV have given it the coveted New Year’s Shoulder Peak Sneaky Peek slot, let’s hope it does a bit better than Jeopardy and Pictionary.
Watched it? Let us know what you thought in the comments!
I quite like the format. I like how the money increases in each round and also that you can speed up your opponent’s timer if you’re safe.
Sara Davies is solid as host, good chemistry with the contestants.
I like this show, there are loads of questions and opportunities for tactical, risk-and-reward play.
I’d love to see the rules, because it seems like the game could potentially be over within 5-10 minutes if one player was much stronger than the others, or go on all day if everyone was equally good.
I wonder what is the maximum prize money? First round is £1000, second is £1250, third is £1500 and I can’t remember what fourth round was and you if you get five questions right before the final round, you get £2000 added to the pot.
I knew someone would ask this, so I did the math while I was watching the episode. There’s a total of £7,500 on offer across the show, but the format essentially makes getting all of it impossible, as all the timers are ticking during the final and you can only tackle each one individually, so some money will ALWAYS drain away. Given The Chase standard of “average four seconds a question”, plus assuming it takes one second to select a timer to play, I reckon the theoretical jackpot is actually around £7,000 with absolutely perfect play.
The fourth round is played for up to £1,750.
By the time the contestants get to the final…which requires a lot of work…the maximum they have left is usually little more than a few thousand if they’re lucky! They then have to answer more questions while this amount runs down again, and only get to keep the balance if they can stop one of 4 or 5 timers running down to zero. Concept of the game itself is really good, but spoiled by the pathetically low amount of prize money…sometimes just a few hundred!
It was fine. Reminded me more of something I’d see on BBC daytime than ITV shoulder peak.
All that work to come away with £500 feels a little mean. It will be interesting to see what happens if someone comes into the final round with not a lot of money as I imagine it will be over sharpish.
Solid! As Brig said, procedurally a little awkward, but as a quiz it’s got a lot of potential.
Presentation-wise, nice, simple set, great music (three more good shows and I’ll get a “Dobs Vye’s biggest stan” tramp stamp), and attractive, readable graphics. Sara relies too much on stock phrases, interested to see if she can relax into it if it manages a second series.
Game had some surprisingly dramatic moments, the stop-start nature didn’t bother me as much as I worried it would. Question variety was great, but I worry slightly the lack of round variety could make it wear thin on the public sooner than I’d like. End game a very nice idea, could maybe be a bit of an anticlimax if someone dominates beginning to end.
The end game does give someone strategy of how to use their timers. Do you start with your lowest pot and hope to clear it first or go with your highest to buy yourself time.
Terribly presented quiz. There is music played at the beginning of questions making it hard to hear properly
This needs to change as a lack of understanding what Sara is saying. It’s all too speedy to much chat from Sara.
I agree. Far too much repetitive chat from Sara that it becomes boring. A shame as I like the concept of the quiz. If all the chat taken out, show could be reduced by at least 15 minutes.
I liked the game of this, passes the “would have a go at” test – really really feels like how the format Ejector Seat with Andi Peters should have worked really. I liked the variety in the questions, although I also think there ought to be some sort of penalty if your clock is still going by the end of the final question in a set, it lacks any real stake for any contestant otherwise, even if it’s just you can’t play the initial question of the following set. Casting has to be careful you don’t get someone in a group who just runs away with it.
Sara Davies enthusiastic but production needs some work on the procedure. A sound effect would probably be better than “Speed up the clocks!” and endless “too slow”s (the latter of which after a contestant has clearly passed is a bit off). And whilst I quite liked the theme, I don’t think anyone’s going to be clamouring for their own copy of any of the beds – 5 Minutes To A Fortune this isn’t.
The big problem with Shoulder Peak Sneaky Peek is that you’ve just shown someone winning £520 which isn’t a greatly compelling reason to tune in even if I think the format and stakes suit 3pm rather better than 6pm – although saying that I struggle to see it giving away nearly as much as an average episode of Lingo – that endgame looks like it could be quite brutal if you don’t get four-in-a-row off the bat.
At least the problems can be ironed out if it does well enough for another go, the central conceit is at least pretty solid.
Noticed David Flynn was one of the people behind this.
Like it at first but Sara talks way too much, to the point of being annoying. At times, can not understand her. End money almost impossible to win!
Based on the comments here I might be 1 of many who didn’t enjoy it so much but we are all entitled to our opinions.
Sara is a very decent quiz show host and someone who has a lot of potential in quiz show formats and is probably the only female host who I could generally sit and enjoy watching presenting this genre of TV.
Not sure I like the format very much because the game was so fast paced and at such high intensity I found it hard to interact with the program and answer the questions. For me a good quiz show is where the viewer is able to feel part of the program and I didn’t see that in this compared to other daytime formats. At first I couldn’t even follow the timers it was like a bink and you miss it moment, Like all new formats it can take some getting used but first impressions It wasn’t a program I felt hooked onto enough in order to watch everyday especially when the January schedule is packed out with better programs. If i was at home and not busy, would watch it again but wouldn’t bother catching up if i missed it whereas with Deal Or No Deal I make it a priority to watch every day whether live or on catch up. I am a big quiz show fan and know a good format when I see one but this was slightly disappointing maybe when I watch it again i’ll pick up the format more.
I was not keen, especially when there were massive errors.
I liked this a lot. The main game is simple to understand, moves at a good pace and is fun to play along with. At its core, it’s a proper rapid fire buzzer quiz, which I always enjoy, with slightly fancier chess clocks than usual.
Sara Davies is good as host, although she overdid the strategy talk a bit – I don’t think it’s that strategic.
It doesn’t feel particularly fresh but I think that’s simply down to the format being five people and a host standing behind podiums for an hour and, while the presentation is fine, there’s only so much you can do with that – there’s nothing here that couldn’t have been done 30 years ago. Still, not everything has to be world changing as long as it’s fun to watch.
The prize money wasn’t great but I imagine that was down to how the first episode played out and it will usually be higher. I also appreciated them giving out a trophy, something which isn’t very ITV, but feels like a good decision on a show where you can walk away with very little or nothing.
One slight concern is how competitive it will be as I doubt this episode is representative of the run. How many episodes will be one or two strong players steamrolling everyone, as tends to happen in formats like this? It feels like it should be winner-stays-on but that would just amplify the issue.
The thing about self-contained shows is that you can broadcast in any order, and the one they use to show off the format in it the berthing where it will catch most people is one where they do all that work for £520. Now, it did show us also that even dominant players have downfalls, but I fear that’s not going to be the takeaway for the average person.
I imagine it was picked as an unusually swingy and competitive episode, but the downside to that is low prize money given the format. I do agree though – you can’t focus quite so much on money then give away so little, doubly so the first episode.
A couple of extra thoughts.
It’s not a million miles from Jeopardy! in terms of being a rapid-fire themed buzzer quiz, even if the rest of the format is different.
Are there situations where it makes sense to strategically buzz in early into a question you can’t possible answer to run the timers or category question count down? It feels like there are. The £50 penalty feels too low to prevent it as a viable strategy, doubly so if players collude. I’m trying to think of another show where that’s an option – sure, players sometimes sandbag answers they don’t know on The Finish Line but you could play a lot more cynically here, especially if you are more interested in winning than the prize money.
Something that hasn’t been noted is what happens if you are safe but then buzz in with an incorrect answer?
Your timer unlocks again – this was mentioned.
Likely obvious, but I’d just like to add that if you buzz and give a wrong answer on the opening question of the round – before the timers have started – you’re ineligible for starting the round with an already frozen timer, and another opening question will be asked which you’re frozen out of answering.
Watching Ep 2, this needs less downtime between sets of questions – it could do with feeling more relentless.
It feels like there is something here but it is certainly not ‘the fastest quiz on TV’ as adverised, and it feels like the rounds building up to the final don’t really matter that much in the grand scheme of things other than choosing a finalist
Something like Five Minutes To A Fortune (fun fact I’ve just noted whilst reminding myself Episode 9/10 contains Tom Read Wilson and his mum playing before he became ‘celebrity’!) or 1000 Heartbeats you ‘felt’ the intense time pressure going on due to the excellent MASSIVE PHYSICAL HOURGLASS PROP / live studio orchestra, here not so much
I hope if this gets another run they find a way to make it a little less stop-start, particularly in rounds two and three. It feels like there’s more time dedicated to explaining the question then there is in asking the questions. This isn’t so bad in R1, and R4 and R5 are continuous.
I really like the idea of the show but it can be a frustrating ‘get on with it’ watch.
Totally agree. There’s a bit too much admin for the amount of gameplay in the later rounds which kills any momentum.
I can’t understand a ruddy word the presenter is saying!
Totally agree!
Saras lovely..Geordie.
There’s something there but they will need to iron out a lot of things for series two.
I have to say I felt embarrassed for them trying to make out that £500 was in any shape or form a decent prize or something to get excited about in that first episode. I suppose that’s an issue with the format (assuming other amounts have been similarly low in the other eps, I haven’t seen them), if contestants are looking like they’ve built up decent amounts of cash but are then seeing it all wash away in the final each time then you’re never really going to have a satisfying episode.
Any money is better than no money.
They gave away about £1,500 the other day (although she did start with over £5,000), I notice the questions in the final are quite lengthy as well.
Really frustrating as final round seems almost impossible making the whole show more like a bbc show “pointless”!
I like the programme but find Sara Davies very loud and struggle to understand some of the things she says. The booming sound effects also drown out the first part of the questions. Otherwise i quite enjoy it
I really like Sara Davies, but by the time I’ve processed what she’s actually said, I’m too late to answer the question. I also find that she tries to speak too loud – that doesn’t make her easier to understand. She’d be better making sure each word wasn’t running into the next rather than just speaking louder. Also, the music (as someone else described it – the ‘booming sound effect’) makes it really really hard for me to hear the question. I’m wondering is it easier for the contestants being there in person. But I find it really difficult to watch. I think the programme is ok and Sara Davies is fine, but I think the show needs a tweak if it’s to make easily watchable TV.
I’ve really warmed to this, it’s probably my favourite new game show since Bridge of Lies. I go out my way to watch it which is incredibly rare for a daily daytime show.
I like Sara Davies a lot, I think she’s the best possible host for this. As someone with hearing issues who lives a long way from Middlesbrough, I have zero problems with her accent. It also finds a nice balance between chat and gameplay, it never drags on to the point where I get frustrated or feel the need to skip ahead.
The end game needs tweaking and it can sometimes be a bit stop-start, and I’m still waiting a player that will take advantage of the mechanics , but otherwise it’s fundamentally a well-made well-thought out format. More originals like this please ITV.
There was a tie breaker question as two of the contestants lost all their money at the same time due to a wrong answer and a timer running out.
This has not been rating very well I’m told, which is a pity but it’s probably an iteration or two away, if it gets that chance.
I assume ITV1 will renew it for a second series, most of the daytime gameshows even if they don’t do well in series 1 get a second series.
Havnt seen anyone win any money
Makes it a farce
The main problem with this show is that while you can essentially win your way through the show by simply being the best of the worst, always having the right answer at the right time, it really takes being fast and knowledgeable throughout to have any real chance at decent money. So you get people getting through to the final who have performed poorly but consistently, or people who have had several close finishes and just one or two good rounds – and suddenly, because the jackpot is determined by your performance in *each* round, you’ve only got £2,000 or less in the pot to play for overall. Even when they manage it, they have already lost so much money throughout the game that the total win can feel anticlimactic. We DO occasionally get decent players through who manage to win close to or even exceeding £3,000, but it’s a rare treat. I’d like to see the budget increased for another series personally, especially since having the starting money only increase £250 each round feels a *tiny* bit stingy – but I recognise this is a daytime show, so there’s probably only so much you can really offer.
TV Zone suggesting it’s AXED. Sort of a pity? Good ideas but far too stop start (most of it stop), and an endgame that really didn’t want to give anything away. Probably an iteration away from being really good.
Yeah let’s be honest it wasn’t the worst quiz show but I only watched bits and pieces of episodes in the background when I was free and it was a decent idea but could have been executed better.
There was definitely something in it which had potential and Sara Davies was actually a great host one of the better female presenters out there and someone i’d happily watch do something else, I loved her craft show at christmas and enjoyed her on Dragons Den. It was probably the right decision to axe it to make room for other ideas
The weaker quizzes in my opinion are Do you know your place ?, The Inner Circle and don’t hate me but in my opinion the likes of university challenge, only connect and pointless which I know many enjoy but I just don’t get and don’t land with me personally but I do however like many others (EG. Picture Slam, The Wheel, Parents’ Evening, 1% Club to name a few)
I absolutely respect that you just don’t get UC, OC and Pointless… but do you mind me asking *how* it is that you just don’t get these three shows?
I can’t help but ask, since not only are they enjoyed by many, but also each has been running for a pretty long time now. (OC is nearly twenty, and Pointless is right behind, as is The Chase… I’m gonna need a Zimmer frame soon. No disrespect intended here, of course.)
Yep I get they are long running quizzes and there is clearly an appeal for them to keep going.
With Only Connect I find the questions hard to get my head round they don’t make any sense whatsoever what your being asked to do it’s the only quiz show I just can’t follow along with because I just don’t get any of the questions not necessarily because they are tough it’s because I don’t get what you have to do meaning there is no chance to play along or grasp what’s going on also I find Victoria Coren Mitchell extremely wooden and boring there is no energy to the way she hosts the program even the set it feels so old/dated and makes me not want to get into it, It’s probably one of the worst formats in my opinion.
With Pointless I like Alexander and Richard and think they are great hosts (I know Richard has left now) some of the replacement hosts that i’ve caught a glimpse of are fairly good., the problem with the show for me is the fact in quizzes usually the right answer is worth more points getting 0 feels like you’ve lost so the concept although is unique and I respect the idea the format just doesn’t do it for me. I do have it on in the background occasionally even though i’m not a fan and some of the question elements are fine but it just doesn’t grab my attention enough to enjoy watching, for example there was a celebrity repeat on the other day and it was on but I was doing other things on my computer and I didn’t pay much attention to it being on apart from the music round which was fun!
With University Challenge again similar to Only Connect it feels rather dated and need some refreshing changes to give it some life even the new host didn’t do it for me after watching the first half of the first episode he did when he took over i’m like this still isn’t for me, Due to the show having extremely difficult questions which are more academic it’s again a lack of understanding about trying to get involved while watching at home, I’m not expecting to get every single question correct otherwise it’s too easy it’s about finding a balance where you understand what’s going on and you are given a chance to play the game for fun with your family.
In general I rather dislike BBC2 quizzes as a whole because compared to BBC1 and ITV1 where there are loads of more light-hearted and family friendly quizzes which have that uplifting feel and vibrant set designs, have simple but effective concepts which grab your attention and give me something to get excited for and look forward to watching, BBC2 quizzes don’t feel polished or have very good ideas to draw you in.
EG: The Weakest Link reboot they’ve kept the nostalgia and concept but made it appeal to a new audience in the present day even with the set feeling dark, they’ve absolutely nailed the presenter Romesh is the perfect fit there is a perfect balance of easy – hard questions which give a chance to play along also a good comedic element and fast-paced concept which I enjoy.
Without mentioning my actual age i’m likely much younger than many others on here meaning generally I like more current, fresh, up to date formats which have something in them which actually makes me want to put down other devices / stop other activities i’m doing and get excited about watching the show which is coming up in the schedule and with them three shows in particular they don’t do that for me. I am a big quiz show fan (i’d even say obsessed) but certain concepts/formats I try and just don’t land with me.
Thank you for your reply.
I’m 38 – and, with respect where it’s due, I’m finding that I’m not getting as excited about new game shows as I once did. I do still cast votes for the Halls of Fame and Shame in the UKGS Poll – but I’m finding that it’s harder to choose each year, because there are seemingly fewer and fewer new shows that make me want to take a good bit of notice (whether they’re good or bad).
I do have a preference for older shows – and in some cases I have a preference for older versions of these older shows. Catchphrase for me means Roy Walker; Bullseye for me means Jim Bowen and Tony Green; Play Your Cards Right for me means Brucie. Even Pointless for me means Xander and Richard, not Xander and a guest (much as I like Sally Lindsay, Gyles Brandreth, Gabby Logan, Konnie Huq, etc.).
I have grown to like Clarkson’s Millionaire, though – while *any* version of Blockbusters is bound to be fascinating in its own way (think the next one is due quite soon), even if no-one can ever beat Bob Holness.
And University Challenge and Mastermind are evergreen formats that will always be good in my eyes, regardless who’s hosting. (I do agree, though, that some of the questions on UC would make you think, “WTH?” – when Dave Clark analyses each episode on his Life After Mastermind blog, he identifies these questions as “Baby Elephant Walk Moments”, humming Henry Mancini’s famous tune. 😀 )
But the one game show I could never imagine a world without is Countdown. I’m certain that this is the very first game show I remember watching – I still have vague memories of watching Countdown Masters on the Channel Four Daily as a toddler – and it has been a part of my life ever since.
I’ve followed just about every development: the move to airing all year round after a long period alternating with Fifteen-to-One at 4:30; the extension to 45 minutes; Richard’s passing (I will never, ever forget the shock I felt when I brought up Ceefax and immediately saw the headline); Carol’s departure; the move from Leeds to Manchester; the 30th Birthday Championship… Even just last month, the Series 93 Grand Final was an epic game that had me on the edge of my seat throughout.
And while Richard truly was the best, I’ve liked everyone who’s sat in the host’s chair, with the one exception of Anne Robinson (thank heavens she only lasted one year, frankly). Right now, of course, I’m hoping Colin stays in the chair for a long time – and, naturally, I’m hoping Rachel and Susie go on and on too (who doesn’t?).
I genuinely dread the day that Countdown’s end is announced. Whatever the show is like then, it’ll undoubtedly be a very sad day in British game show history (just as the day that Blue Peter’s end is announced will undoubtedly be a very sad day in British children’s TV history, too).
So there we are. 🙂