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This table lists all international variants in the television game show franchise Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? that have been broadcast since the debut of the original British version of the show on 4 September 1998.
- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? - Wikipedia
Since the British original debuted in 1998, several...
- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (British game show) - Wikipedia
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a British television quiz...
- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? - Simple English Wikipedia ...
More than 100 countries around the world have bought the...
- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? - Wikipedia
Since the British original debuted in 1998, several different versions of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? have been created across the world, including Australia, the United States, South Africa and India. In total over 100 different international variations have been made.
- 1998–present
- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (see International versions)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (sometimes informally known as Millionaire, and abbreviated WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created in 1998 by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill, and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony...
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WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? - INTERNATIONAL. 35 versions of Millionaire are currently running, making it the 3rd most active format in the world. Our tweaks for the format have currently been adapted in some shape or form in 22 countries. You can click each location pin to find out more .
- History
- Format
- Series Overview
- Text Game
- Controversies
- Filming Locations
- Fastest Finger First
- References
- External Links
Creation
The creation of the game show was led by David Briggs, assisted by Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight, who had helped him before with creating a number of promotional games for Chris Tarrant's morning show on Capital FMradio. The basic premise for the show was a twist on the conventional game-show genre of the time: the programme would have just one contestant answering questions; they would be allowed to pull out at any time, even after they had seen the question and the possible answers; and...
Original series
With the show created, ITV assigned Chris Tarrant as its host, and set its premiere to 4 September 1998. The programme was assigned a timeslot of one hour, to provide room for three commercial breaks, with episodes produced by UK production company Celador. Originally, the show was broadcast on successive evenings for around ten days, before the network modified its broadcast schedule in autumn 2000to air it within a primetime slot on Saturday evenings, with occasional broadcasts on Tuesday e...
Revival
In 2018, ITV revived the show for a new series, coinciding with the programme's 20th anniversary. On 23 February, the broadcaster put out a casting call for contestants who would appear on the game show. On 9 March, Jeremy Clarkson was confirmed as the new host of the show. On 13 April, the trailer for the revival premiered on ITV and confirmed that the show would return in May for a week-long run. Shows aired from 5 to 11 May and were filmed in Studio HQ2 at Dock10 in Greater Manchester. The...
Game rules
Once contestants audition for a part on the programme and filming takes place, they undertake a preliminary round called "Fastest Finger First". Initially, the round required contestants to provide the correct answer to a question, but from the second series onwards, they are tasked with organising four answers in a specific sequence stated within the question (i.e. earliest to latest). The contestant who answers the question correctly, and in the fastest time, plays the main game. In the eve...
Lifelines
Contestants may make use of lifelines during the game to assist them with a question. Each lifeline can only be used once. Throughout the course of the show's history, these lifelines have involved the following: 1. 50:50(1998–2014, 2018–present): Two random incorrect answers are eliminated, leaving the correct answer and a remaining incorrect answer, thus granting the contestant a 50/50 chance of answering the question correctly. 2. Phone a Friend (1998–2014, 2018–present): The contestant ca...
Specials
1. Is that Your Final Answer?– a one-hour documentary about the show, which aired on ITV on 24 December 1999. Directed and produced by Robin Lough, it featured rare footage from the unaired pilot version of the programme, which has completely different music and behind the scenes footage from the programmes aired in Series 4 (September 1999). A similar documentary of the same name was also aired in Australia during 2000. A shorter half-hour Russian version was aired on 4 November 2000. Both o...
On 23 October 2004 the show included a new feature called the "Walkaway Text Game". The competition was offered to viewers at home to play the text game where they had to answer the question, if a contestant decided to walk home with the cash prize they have got, by choosing the letters 'A, B, C or D' within 30 seconds to a specific mobile number. ...
Incorrect answer to question accepted
On 8 March 1999, contestant Tony Kennedy reached the £64,000 question. He was asked "Theoretically, what is the minimum number of strokes with which a tennis player can win a set?", and given four possible answers: twelve, twenty-four, thirty-six, and forty-eight. Kennedy, who calculated that a player would need four shots to win a game, with six games in a set, answered twenty-four, and was told the answer was correct. However, the right answer is actually twelve. One viewer explained to The...
Career criminal contestants
On 30 July 1999, production staff withdrew the winnings of three contestants who had appeared in the programme between January and March, after each was discovered to be an active criminal, one of whom was wanted by police. After each had appeared on the programme, several viewers contacted staff to report about their criminal past, leading to their winnings, a combined total of over £80,000, being frozen until the allegations were checked. They eventually discovered that all three had lied o...
Schedule rigging allegation
When Judith Keppel's victory as the first UK jackpot winner on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was announced by ITV on the day that the corresponding episode was to be broadcast, several allegations were made that Celador had rigged the show to spoil the BBC's expected high ratings for the finale of One Foot in the Grave. Richard Wilson, the lead star on the sitcom, was quoted in particular for saying that the broadcaster had "planned" the win, adding "it seems a bit unfair to take the audienc...
Since airing in September 1998, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire has been filmed at four locations throughout its run. It was originally filmed at the now-defunct Fountain Studios in London until the end of the second series aired in January 1999. Production moved to Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire for series 3, which aired in March 1999 and later mo...
Fastest Finger First is a spin-off series commissioned by ITV and produced by Stellify Media, and filmed at dock10 studios in Salford. The winner of an episode is awarded the opportunity to play as a contestant for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Unlike the main show, Fastest Finger First is hosted by Anita Rani. The first series premiered on 29 Au...
Bibliography
1. Casey, Bernadette; Calvert, Ben (2008). Television Studies: The Key Concepts (2 ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-37149-0. 2. Dyja, Eddie, ed. (2002). BFI Film and Television Handbook 2002. London: British Film Institute. ISBN 978-0-85170-904-8. 3. Webber, Richard (2006). The Complete One Foot in the Grave. London: Orion. ISBN 978-0-7528-7357-2. 4. Woffinden, Bob; Plaskett, James (2015). Bad Show: The Quiz, the Cough, the Millionaire Major. Bojangles Books. ISBN 978-0-9930755-2-0.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (UK) at IMDbWho Wants to be a Millionaire? at UKGameshows.com- United Kingdom
- Quiz show
- English
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight.
More than 100 countries around the world have bought the license and air local versions of the show, including Australia, Bulgaria, Germany, Poland, Russia, United States. The United States version became a big hit when Regis Philbin started hosting it in 1999.
