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The Million Pound Drop

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The Million Pound Drop
File:The Million Pound Drop logo.jpg
GenreQuiz show
Developed byEndemol
Presented byDavina McCall
Theme music composerMarc Sylvan
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series3 (plus. 1 Christmas series)
No. of episodes27 (incl. 4 Christmas Specials) (as of 19 February 2011)
Production
Production location3 Mills Studios
Running time60-85 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production companiesRemarkable Television, Endemol UK
Original release
NetworkChannel 4
Release24 May 2010 –
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The Million Pound Drop Live[1] is a quiz show which broadcasts live on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. The show began in May 2010 with Davina McCall having presented the show's three series to date.[2][3] She began presenting the show just before the final series of Big Brother (UK) launched, which she also presented.

The show uses social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to find contestants, and also to promote the show. David Flynn, managing director of Endemol's Remarkable Television, which produced the show, said: "The plan was to create buzz and an air of mystery around the show by trickling information about auditions via Twitter and Facebook, giving fans a level of exclusivity."[4]

Format

Contestants, alone or in pairs for the first series, or only in pairs for all subsequent series, are given one million pounds in £50 notes at the start of the show, banded in 40 bundles of £25,000. They must then answer eight questions in an effort to keep as much of their money as possible. Many questions are heavily focused on current or recent events (even events that occur during the airing of the show), to push the fact that the show is broadcast live.

At the beginning of each round, the contestants have to pick a category of two choices they are given. If the contestants take too long to choose, Davina flips a coin to decide. Each question is multiple-choice, with the first four questions having four choices, the next three questions having three, and the final question having just two choices. Unlike a traditional quiz where the contestants pick one answer, however, it is possible for the contestants to hedge by placing money (in multiples of £25,000) on multiple answers in proportion to how confident they are on the answer. However, one answer must always be left with no money on it, which ensures that on the final question, only one answer can be chosen. After the question and answers have been read out, the contestants have one minute to physically move their money onto trap-doors (called "drops") corresponding to the answer(s) they choose. Contestants may choose, at their discretion, to stop the clock before the time limit is up.

After the end of the time limit, the trap-doors relating to incorrect answers open (sometimes one by one, and with varying delays to increase suspense), and any money placed on those answers is no longer available to be won by the contestants, being picked up by security guards underneath the stage. In addition any money not placed by the end of the time limit is also lost. If they have any money left, they proceed to the next question where the process is repeated. However, if they lose all their money, they are out of the game.

The show is usually an hour and 20 minutes long, although in event of a series finale, the show carries on until the contestants either win or lose. In some episodes, the show is an hour long.

For the 2010 Christmas Specials, any contestants who lost all their money and would otherwise have left empty handed were presented with multiple doors corresponding to bonus prizes. The contestants would choose which door they wanted and would win what was 'behind' that door.

If celebrity contestants lose their £1,000,000 they are given £5,000 for their charities.

Interactivity

As the show is broadcast live, viewers are encouraged to play along online at the same time with statistics on their performance appearing on screen during the broadcast and being read out by McCall.[4] Online players receive no prize money. Bookmakers also take bets on which stage of the game the contestants will leave and how much money will still be in play at various stage of the game.[5][6]

The fact that viewers play along live has been made evident during certain questions by activity on other websites. In series 1 during a question about the cover of Heat Magazine, heatworld.com crashed due to the huge number of online players trying to cheat.[citation needed] In series 2 during a question about odds on the Celebrity Mum of the Year award, paddypower.com was crashed as a large number of online players visited the site for the answer.[7] Also in series 2, people tried to confuse online players trying to cheat by changing a Wikipedia entry. The question asked who turned 51 that day, and the answer was Bryan Adams. However, the article of Tom Jones (one of the other options) was vandalised several times to indicate that he had turned 51.[citation needed] During Series 3 on 18 February 2011, the website everyhit.com was crashed by viewers trying to find the answer to a question that asked which word, either "Hello" or "Goodbye", has featured in most UK Top 40 single titles.

Winners and statistics

Series Contestants Date Amount of money won
1 Katy and Andy Jackson 29 May 2010 £75,000[8]
2 Larry and George Lamb 29 October 2010 £50,000
James and Rachael 6 November 2010 £25,000
Johnny and Dee 12 November 2010 £25,000
Ryan and Lewis 13 November 2010 £50,000
Christmas Rajan and Anita 18 December 2010 £50,000
3 James and Laurence 29 January 2011 £75,000
Rick and Sophie Dickens 4 February 2011 £200,000
Rebecca and Aimee 5 February 2011 £75,000
Paul and Sarah-Lou 5 February 2011 £50,000
Harps and Avvy 18 February 2011 £25,000
Krystle and Pauline 19 February 2011 £25,000

Johnny and Dee returned on 12 November 2010 following a mistake made by the question makers (see Controversy section below). They went on to win £25,000.

Following Rajan and Anita's win on 18 December 2010, Rajan proposed to his girlfriend live on air to which she accepted.

On 11 February 2011, Micah and Joni lost all £1,000,000 betting on the wrong answer. As a result, they were the first contestants to lose the full £1,000,000 in one drop.

  • Most money won: £200,000
  • Total winnings to date: £600,000
  • Average winnings per show:
    • Series 1 = £12,500
    • Series 2 = £16,666
    • Christmas = £12,500
    • Series 3 = £52,250
  • Most money dropped through a single trapdoor: £1,000,000 [9]
  • Most money dropped on first question: £1,000,000
  • Most money dropped all at once: £1,000,000 [9]
  • Most questions after which the £1 million remained: 3
  • Most money taken through to final question: £525,000

Celebrity contestants

On 29 October 2010, celebrity father and son, Larry and George Lamb won £50,000 for charity by beating the final question on the show. They were the first celebrity contestants to appear on the show.

On 13 November 2010, Jimmy Carr and Johnny Vaughan also appeared but crashed out on question 4.

On 15 December 2010, singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor and her mother Janet Ellis appeared on the show. They managed to make their way to the final question, but lost after choosing the wrong answer.

On 18 December 2010, Jade Jones and Emma Bunton appeared together on the show. They crashed out on question 7, losing their remaining £50,000.

On 19th February 2011, Bruno Tonioli and Pamela Stephenson appeared on the show. They crashed out on question 5, losing their remaining £200,000.

If celebrity contestants fail to win any cash then £5,000 is given to their charities.

Payment

Any money won by contestants is withheld for up to six weeks pending the receipt of Criminal Records Bureau checks by Endemol.[10] Despite the high visibility of security staff throughout the show, it is reported that in each cash bundle, the only genuine £50 notes are at the top and the bottom.[11]

Controversy

During an episode on 5 November 2010, Johnny and Dee were faced with the options Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant. They were then asked "Who played Dr Who for the longest period?". The contestants did not know the answer so decided to split their remaining £650,000 between McCoy and McGann. The answer was then revealed to be Tennant and they lost all their remaining money.[12] Tennant played the doctor from 2005-2010. However viewers began to query the accuracy of this question [13] saying it was open to interpretation as McCoy played the Doctor from 1987–1989, but also appeared in the charity special Dimensions in Time in 1993 and appeared in the beginning of the Doctor Who television movie in 1996 making his time playing Dr Who technically nine years uninterrupted. After producers spoke to the BBC it became apparent that Sylvester McCoy was the correct answer. Channel 4 therefore allowed the contestants to return and continue with the £325,000 that would have remained.[12] They came back on 12 November 2010, to continue the game. They got all the way to the final question and managed to win £25,000.

Merchandise

A board game was released in November 2010.[14]

Transmissions

Series Start date End date Episodes
1 24 May 2010 29 May 2010 6
2 25 October 2010 13 November 2010 9
Christmas 15 December 2010 18 December 2010 4
3 28 January 2011 19 February 2011 8

Ratings

Episode viewing figures from Digital Spy. Weekly Ranking is from BARB.[15]

Series 1

Episode No. Airdate Viewers on Channel 4 Viewers on Channel 4 +1 Total Viewers Channel 4 Weekly Ranking
1
24 May 2010
2,010,000
213,000
2,223,000
10
2
25 May 2010
1,840,000
213,000
2,053,000
12
3
26 May 2010
2,180,000
171,000
2,351,000
6
4
27 May 2010
2,130,000
190,000
2,320,000
5
5
28 May 2010
2,220,000
140,000
2,360,000
2
6
29 May 2010
2,000,000
190,000
2,190,000
7

Series 2

Episode No. Airdate Viewers on Channel 4 Viwers on Channel 4 +1 Total Viewers Channel 4 Weekly Ranking
1
25 October 2010
1,910,000
111,000
2,021,000
13
2
26 October 2010
2,070,000
198,000
2,268,000
9
3
27 October 2010
2,070,000
221,000
2,291,000
8
4
28 October 2010
1,950,000
232,000
2,182,000
14
5
29 October 2010
2,510,000
203,000
2,713,000
2
6
5 November 2010
1,870,000
211,000
2,081,000
16
7
6 November 2010
1,500,000
???,???
1,500,000
Outside Top 30
8
12 November 2010
2,250,000
120,000
2,370,000
9
9
13 November 2010
1,470,000
???,???
1,470,000
Outside Top 30

Christmas

Episode No. Airdate Viewers on Channel 4 Viewers on Channel 4 +1 Total Viewers Channel 4 Weekly Ranking
1
15 December 2010
2,130,000
150,000
2,280,000
8
2
16 December 2010
1,060,000
236,000
1,296,000
Outside Top 30
3
17 December 2010
1,060,000
440,000
1,500,000
Outside Top 30
4
18 December 2010
1,710,000
111,000
1,820,000
29

Series 3

Episode No. Airdate Viewers on Channel 4 Viewers on Channel 4 +1 Total Viewers Channel 4 Weekly Ranking
1
28 January 2011
2,290,000
120,000
2,410,000
9
2
29 January 2011
2,250,000
243,000
2,493,000
12
3
4 February 2011
2,570,000
120,000
2,690,000
5
4
5 February 2011
2,390,000
274,000
2,664,000
8
5
11 February 2011
2,490,000
229,000
2,719,000
6
6
12 February 2011
2,200,000
240,000
2,440,000
12
7
18 February 2011
2,330,000
175,000
2,505,000
11
8
19 February 2011
2,140,000
312,000
2,452,000
14

International versions

Country Title Host Network Top Prize First Airdate
 Albania 100 Milionë Adi Krasta Top Channel 10,000,000 lek 11 January 2011
 Australia [16] The Million Dollar Drop Eddie McGuire Nine Network A$1,000,000 21 March 2011
 Brazil [17] Um Milhão na Mesa Silvio Santos SBT R$1,000,000 May 2011
 France Au revoir les millions! Laurence Boccolini TF1 €1,000,000 2011
 Germany Rette die Million! Jörg Pilawa ZDF €1,000,000 13 October 2010
 Greece The Money Drop Grigoris Arnaoutoglou Mega TV €300,000 16 October 2010
 Hungary A 40 Milliós Játszma Rákóczi Ferenc TV2 ‏40,000,000 Ft 29 November 2010
 Israel אל תפיל את המיליון
Al Tapil Et HaMilyon 		Erez Tal Channel 2 (Keshet) ‏₪1,000,000 13 October 2010
 Italy [18] Money Drop Gerry Scotti Canale 5 €1,000,000 2011
 Kazakhstan Шоу Сорок Миллионов Тенге‏
Shou Sorok Millionov Tenge 		Abdel' Mukhtarov tv7 40,000,000 Tenge 22 January 2011 [2]
 Netherlands[19] Show me the money Beau van Erven Dorens SBS6 €1,000,000 22 April 2011
 Poland Postaw na milion Łukasz Nowicki TVP2 1,000,000 zł 5 March 2011
 Russia Шоу Десять миллионов
Shou Desyat' Millionov 		Maxim Galkin Russia 1 10,000,000 руб. 4 September 2010
 Spain [20] Atrapa un Millón Carlos Sobera Antena 3 €1,000,000 4 February 2011
 Turkey Bir Milyon Canlı Para Engin Altan Düzyatan Show TV 1,000,000TL 25 October 2010
 Ukraine Шоу на два мiльйони
Shou Na Dva Milyoni 		Andriy Domanskyi 1+1 2,000,000 грн. 12 January 2011
 United States Million Dollar Money Drop Kevin Pollak Fox US$1,000,000 20 December 2010

References

  1. ^ 'The Million Pound Drop Live' on Channel 4
  2. ^ "Series 1 : Episode 1 : The Million Pound Drop Live".
  3. ^ "The Million Pound Drop Live". Watch With Mothers. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  4. ^ a b Andrew Laughlin (20 May 2010). "C4 boosts online for 'Million Pound Drop'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  5. ^ skyBET - Million Pound Drop
  6. ^ Ladbrokes - The Million Pound Drop
  7. ^ Richard Chaso (28 October 2010). "The Million Pound Money Drop Live Crashes Paddy Power Site". betastic.
  8. ^ Jun Merrett (9 June 2010). "The journalist who beat The Million Pound Drop". Press Gazette.
  9. ^ a b The Million Pound Drop at UKGameshows.com
  10. ^ The Million Pound Drop application form, downloadable (access code and registration required) from www.themillionpounddrop.com
  11. ^ Mark Lawson (26 May 2010). "TV Matters: The Million Pound Drop Live". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-02-10.
  12. ^ a b Gavin Allen (9 November 2010). "Red-faced Channel 4 hand Million Pound Drop couple £325,000 reprieve after admitting it was wrong on Doctor Who". Daily Mail.
  13. ^ Victoria Murphy (8 November 2010). "Million Pound Drop quiz couple lose £325,000 on 'right' answer about Doctor Who". Daily Mirror.
  14. ^ "MILLION POUND DROP FOR CHRISTMAS 2010 LAUNCH". Toys 'n' Playthings.
  15. ^ "BARB". Archived from the original on 25 April 2009. Retrieved 26 March 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ http://channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8209389
  17. ^ http://ajcomenta.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/um-milhao-na-mesa-logo-do-novo-game-de-silvio-santos/
  18. ^ http://tv.vos.it/2011/03/million-pound-drop-il-nuovo-game-di-gerry-scotti/
  19. ^ http://drimble.nl/vrouw/showbizz/3553300/beau-van-erven-dorens-dagelijks-bij-sbs6.html
  20. ^ [1]
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