The National Lottery: In It to Win It
| The National Lottery: In It to Win It | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Game show |
| Created by | Andrew Brereton Sarah Edwards Gail Sloan |
| Presented by | Dale Winton |
| Narrated by | Alan Dedicoat |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 18 |
| No. of episodes | 172 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 45 minutes (2002–06) 50 minutes (2006–16) |
| Production companies | 12 Yard BBC Scotland (2010–16) |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 18 May 2002 – 16 July 2016 |
| Related | |
| The National Lottery Draws | |
The National Lottery: In It to Win It was a BBC National Lottery game show which was broadcast on BBC One from 18 May 2002 to 16 July 2016. It was hosted by Dale Winton.
Format
Five contestants competed for a chance to win up to £100,000. They were initially seated in the Waiting Area, on one side of the studio, and each was assigned one of five colours. One ball was drawn at random from a lottery machine, and the contestant matching its colour crossed the studio to sit in Winners' Row. They were asked a series of multiple-choice questions, each with three answer options. Every correct answer added £5,000 to a prize fund, but a miss sent the contestant to the Red Area, between the Waiting Area and Winners' Row.
Once a contestant went to the Red Area, another ball was drawn from the lottery machine and that contestant moved from the Waiting Area to Winners' Row. The host then asked an open-ended question to the contestant(s) in the Red Area. A correct answer allowed them to return to Winners' Row behind the newly chosen contestant, but a miss sent them back to the Waiting Area. No money was at stake on these questions.
As the game progressed, multiple contestants may be in Winners' Row and/or the Red Area at the same time. In the former case, the host asked a new multiple-choice question to each in turn; if all miss and go to the Red Area, a new contestant was chosen from the Waiting Area. In the latter case, the open-ended question was posed to all contestants in the Red Area, and they had to collectively agree on an answer. All move to either Winners' Row or the Waiting Area on a correct response or miss, respectively.
After 20 multiple-choice questions have been asked, all contestants not in Winners' Row were eliminated from the game with no winnings. Those who remained were asked one more multiple-choice question apiece, and all who answered correctly won an equal share of the prize fund. If no one answered correctly, or if no contestants were in Winners' Row after the 20th question, no one won any money. The maximum prize of £100,000 could only be won if a single contestant correctly answered all 20 multiple-choice questions and the extra one.
The programme also included the Saturday night Thunderball and Lotto draws. Originally, from Series 1 to 5, Winton himself presided over the Lottery draws live. From series 6 onwards though, a different presenter at "Lottery HQ" conducted the live draws.
Only 2 contestants won £100,000 during the show's 14-year run: Eleri Owen in 2006[1]and Toni Cox in 2009[2].
Transmissions
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 May 2002 | 20 July 2002 | 9 |
| 2 | 26 April 2003 | 12 July 2003 | 12 |
| 3 | 1 May 2004 | 4 September 2004 | 15 |
| 4 | 9 July 2005 | 15 October 2005 | 15 |
| 5 | 22 July 2006 | 16 September 2006 | 9 |
| 6 | 25 November 2006 | 6 January 2007 | 7 |
| 7 | 22 September 2007 | 3 November 2007 | 7 |
| 8 | 12 January 2008 | 9 February 2008 | 4 |
| 9 | 27 December 2008 | 14 February 2009 | 8 |
| 10 | 2 January 2010 | 27 February 2010 | 8 |
| 11 | 8 May 2010 | 10 July 2010 | 8 |
| 12 | 25 September 2010 | 5 February 2011 | 8 |
| 13 | 25 June 2011 | 13 August 2011 | 8 |
| 14 | 10 March 2012 | 23 June 2012 | 12 |
| 15 | 5 January 2013 | 20 July 2013 | 16 |
| 16 | 12 April 2014 | 14 June 2014 | 10 |
| 17 | 6 September 2014 | 26 September 2015 | 8 |
| 18 | 12 September 2015 | 16 July 2016 | 8[3] |
Youngest ever winner
On 4th September 2004, the show had it's youngest ever winner when John McGivern, a student from Bangor, Northern Ireland, won £50,000. The question to win him his stake of the money was:
Tim Berners-Lee is credited with the invention of which technological innovation?
A: Mobile Phone B: Microchip C: World Wide Web
After a fair amount of uncertain deliberation, John correctly answered World Wide Web to earn him his stake of the £50,000 prize fund. Then his opponent Carol, who was also on Winner's Row got this question:
"Let not poor Nelly starve" was a deathbed request made by which English king?
A: Charles II B: Henry VIII C: George I
Carol didn't have a clue and after a fair amount of consideration, she wrongly answered George I, therefore losing everything and meaning that John scooped up the entire £50,000 for himself.
References
- ^ Name of first winner>
- ^ Name of second winner[1]
- ^ "BBC announces entertainment commissions". BBC Online. Retrieved 12 March 2015.