You Bet!
You Bet! | |
---|---|
Genre | Game Show |
Created by | Frank Elstner |
Presented by |
|
Starring |
|
Voices of | Bobby Bragg (1996–1997) |
Composer |
|
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 10 |
No. of episodes | 101 (inc. 4 specials) |
Production | |
Production locations | Shepperton Studios (1988, 1990–1995)[1] Limehouse Studios (1989)[2] Pinewood Studios (1996)[3] London Arena (1997) Shinfield Studios (2024)[4] |
Running time | 60 minutes (1988–1997) 75 minutes (2024) (inc. adverts) |
Production companies | LWT (1988–1997) Rollercoaster Television (2024)[5] |
Original release | |
Network | ITV |
Release | 20 February 1988 12 April 1997 | –
Release | 7 December 2024 present | –
Related | |
Wetten, dass..? Wanna Bet? |
You Bet! is a British game show, based on the German series Wetten, dass..?, that originally aired on ITV for ten series and a number of specials between 20 February 1988 and 12 April 1997, and was revived in December 2024. It was initially hosted by Bruce Forsyth (1988–90), then by Matthew Kelly (1991–95) and finally Darren Day (1996–97).
In August 2024, ITV announced that the show would be returning for two special episodes later that year with Stephen Mulhern and Holly Willoughby as hosts.[6]
Format
[edit]A panel of celebrities would bet on the ability of members of the public to achieve unlikely challenges and stunts, which they had usually planned and rehearsed many times, within a limited amount of time. The studio audience would also place a bet on the outcomes. The panellists would receive points for each outcome they predicted correctly, based on the percentage of the studio audience that also placed a correct bet. The celebrity sponsoring the challenge always had to bet that their challenger would be successful. The accumulated total of points achieved by the celebrities would be added to the points totalled by the studio audience, increased several times over, converted into pounds and donated to a charity chosen by the celebrity panellist who had achieved the highest score.
Timeline
[edit]1988
[edit]Each week there would be four challenges, some in the studio and some on location presented by Ellis Ward. The panellists would each "sponsor" a challenge, and Bruce Forsyth would also sponsor one. If the challenge sponsored by the panellist or Bruce Forsyth was not achieved, that sponsor would have to do a forfeit. (e.g., being a golf caddie or air steward for the day). (In the case of Forsyth's challenge, the majority vote determined Forsyth's prediction; an incorrect prediction forced Forsyth to do his forfeit. His explanation for this part was usually, "You're now betting for the fate of Forsyth in the form of a forfeit. If you're right, I'm alright; but if you're wrong, I'm right in it!") It was either broadcast in the studio on the same show or broadcast on location on the following week's show. The show dropped the talk show aspects of Wetten, dass...? and concentrated on the challenges, thus reducing the running time from 2 to 3 hours to 1 hour. The original theme tune was composed by Alan Lisk, better known for penning the theme tune to Men Behaving Badly. The show's airing slot was originally on Saturday nights.
The show closed with Forsyth doing a rap, along with the audience shouting back every "You Bet!" line: "Do you wanna bet on it? You bet! Well you'd betta get on it? You bet! So don't fret, get set are you ready? You Bet! Goodnight, God bless, I'll see you next week, bye!"
1989–1990
[edit]A new theme tune composed by Jonathan Sorrell was introduced in the show's second series.
Spring 1991
[edit]Series 4 saw some massive changes following the departure of Forsyth at the end of series 3. A new logo was introduced and Matthew Kelly took over as host. Also, the challenges increased from four to five, which meant that Ward got involved, with her sponsoring challenges as well. Another change from the Forsyth era was that the celebrity guests could no longer specify the nature of their forfeit should their challenge fail – instead, they had to choose from a list of pre-defined forfeits hidden under cryptic statements – for instance "Dinner Coming Up" meant that the forfeit was to try and eat whilst riding a roller-coaster. Kelly also got involved in doing the work on location challenges, as well as Ward. Finally, if Kelly's challenge ended in failure, he had to do his forfeit, regardless of the audience's prediction.
Autumn 1991
[edit]Series 5's airing slot was moved from Saturday nights to Friday nights and a reworked version of the theme tune was introduced.
1992–1993
[edit]The departure of Ward as co-host led to the number of celebrity guests being increased from three to four per show and Kelly doing all the work on location challenges.
1994
[edit]The show's airing slot was moved back to Saturday nights and the remaining episodes of the seventh series were sponsored by Daily Mirror.
1995
[edit]For You Bet's eighth series, it was decided there would be no more forfeits for both the celebrities and host Matthew Kelly when sponsoring their challenges until the forfeits were reinstated in for series 9 in 1996 after Darren Day had taken over from Matthew Kelly as host. Instead, they introduced the celebrity challenge, where the lowest celebrity scorer would do only one forfeit challenge, which would be broadcast in the following week's show. The public then got to vote in at home to donate £1,000 to a charity of their choice if the celebrity succeeded or failed the challenge. The set was replaced by a new "arena" that allowed much more floor space for the challenges. It was during series 8 when Matthew Kelly had announced his intention to leave the show after 4 years to concentrate on hosting Stars in Their Eyes. The viewers' phone vote for the Celebrity Challenge was dropped after Series 8 was shown.
1996
[edit]For series 9, actor Darren Day took over as host from Kelly who had left the show to concentrate hosting Stars in Their Eyes. The role of co-host that had been absent during series 6–8 following the departure of Ward at the end of series 5 was reinstated for all the work in the location challenges. For this penultimate series, Diane Youdale, who was better known as Jet from the UK series of Gladiators, would take over as the new co-host. The forfeits, having been absent from the earlier series also returned to the show, but they were not chosen by the celebrity guests. They were automatically chosen by the crew at the end of each show for the celebrity who had lowest score in the show.
1997
[edit]The show introduced a new item for the celebrities, they could play their YOU BET! BONUS CARD, which meant their points would be doubled if they successfully guessed the outcome of a challenge (which can only be played once in the entire show). The celebrity challenge returned to the show, and the audience got to choose which challenge they would choose for the lowest scoring celebrity at the end of the show from two choices with cryptic clue titles (e.g., "Ooh! That's better!" or "Dangling Down"). Sarah Matravers, well known as a gong girl from Take Your Pick, replaced Youdale as co-host for this final series. A new theme tune was introduced, composed by Simon Webb.
2024
[edit]Episodes
[edit]The coloured backgrounds denote the result of each of the shows:
- – indicates the celebrity successfully backed their challenge and avoided their forfeit (Series 1–7).
- – indicates the celebrity failed to back their challenge and received their forfeit (Series 1–7).
- BOLD – indicates the celebrity scored the most points and received money for their chosen charity.
- ITALIC – indicates the celebrity scored the fewest points and received a celebrity challenge/forfeit (Series 8–10).
Series 1 (1988)
[edit]Episode | First broadcast | Celebrities | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1x01 | 20 February 1988 | Richard Digance | Kate Robbins | Dickie Davies |
? | ? | ? | ||
1x02 | 27 February 1988 | Kenny Sansom | Cheryl Baker | Spike Milligan |
? | ? | ? | ||
1x03 | 5 March 1988 | Derek Griffiths | Nerys Hughes | Kenny Lynch |
? | ? | ? | ||
1x04 | 12 March 1988 | Linford Christie | Anneka Rice | Windsor Davies |
? | ? | ? | ||
1x05 | 19 March 1988 | Ross Davidson | Lynsey De Paul | Jimmy Hill |
203 | 143 | 143 | ||
1x06 | 26 March 1988 | Sandra Dickinson | John Fashanu | Gloria Hunniford |
? | ? | ? |
Series 2 (1989)
[edit]Episode | First broadcast | Celebrities | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
2x01 | 28 January 1989 | Adrian Moorhouse | Debbie Greenwood | Harvey Smith |
? | ? | ? | ||
2x02 | 4 February 1989 | Suzanne Dando | Brian Johnston | Eddie Kidd |
? | ? | ? | ||
2x03 | 11 February 1989 | Wendy Richard | Roy Castle | David Wilkie |
? | ? | ? | ||
2x04 | 18 February 1989 | Henry Cooper | Nino Firetto | Thora Hird |
149 | 122 | 71 | ||
2x05 | 25 February 1989 | David Steel | Janice Long | Dave Beasant |
? | ? | ? | ||
2x06 | 4 March 1989 | Nicky Campbell | Jill Gascoine | Simon Williams |
? | ? | ? | ||
2x07 | 11 March 1989 | Claire Rayner | Melvyn Hayes | Paul Gascoigne |
96 | 110 | 154 | ||
2x08 | 18 March 1989 | Bob Holness | Suzi Quatro | John McCririck |
158 | 266 | 63 | ||
2x09 | 25 March 1989 | Mark Walker | Jayne Irving | Nicholas Parsons |
? | ? | ? | ||
2x10 | 1 April 1989 | Bruno Brookes | Helen Shapiro | Geoff Capes |
? | ? | ? |
Series 3 (1990)
[edit]Episode | First broadcast | Celebrities | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
3x01 | 17 February 1990 | Duncan Goodhew | Sally James | Kriss Akabusi |
? | ? | ? | ||
3x02 | 24 February 1990 | Keith Chegwin | Lawrie McMenemy | Annabel Croft |
? | ? | ? | ||
3x03 | 3 March 1990 | Gary Stretch | Fern Britton | Sylvester McCoy |
? | ? | ? | ||
3x04 | 10 March 1990 | Sharron Davies | Jon Iles | Bob Carolgees |
? | ? | ? | ||
3x05 | 17 March 1990 | Bill Tidy | Graeme Garden | Floella Benjamin |
? | ? | ? | ||
3x06 | 24 March 1990 | Letitia Dean | Barry McGuigan | Bobby Davro |
? | ? | ? | ||
3x07 | 31 March 1990 | Alan Freeman | Jan Leeming | Bob Champion |
165 | 200 | 146 | ||
3x08 | 7 April 1990 | Leslie Crowther | Tessa Sanderson | Chris Serle |
? | ? | ? | ||
3x09 | 14 April 1990 | Peter Alliss | Linda Lusardi | James Marcus |
? | ? | ? | ||
3x10 | 21 April 1990 | Carmen Silvera | Sean Kerly | Trevor Brooking |
? | ? | ? |
Series 4 (Spring 1991)
[edit]Episode | First broadcast | Celebrities | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
4x01 | 16 February 1991 | Nick Skelton | Vicki Michelle | Brian Glover |
224 | 191 | 224 | ||
4x02 | 23 February 1991 | Eric Bristow | Gemma Craven | David Jensen |
166 | 163 | 235 | ||
4x03 | 2 March 1991 | Annabel Giles | Andrew O'Connor | Johnny Briggs |
176 | 136 | 136 | ||
4x04 | 9 March 1991 | Dame Hilda Bracket | Cliff Thorburn | Michaela Strachan |
210 | 159 | 168 | ||
4x05 | 16 March 1991 | Virginia Leng | Roy Walker | Frank Bruno |
125 | 149 | 81 | ||
4x06 | 23 March 1991 | Liz Hobbs | Roger Black | Paul Shane |
102 | 203 | 122 | ||
4x07 | 30 March 1991 | Brian Conley | Kim Goody | Graham Cole |
161 | 177 | 183 | ||
4x08 | 6 April 1991 | Lynda Baron | Tracy Edwards | Gareth Jones |
144 | 140 | 145 | ||
4x09 | 13 April 1991 | Geoffrey Durham | Trudie Goodwin | Ian McCaskill |
219 | 270 | 290 | ||
4x10 | 20 April 1991 | John Blashford-Snell | Spike Milligan | Sheila Ferguson |
226 | 45 | 153 |
Series 5 (Autumn 1991)
[edit]Episode | First broadcast | Celebrities | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
5x01 | 6 September 1991 | Keith Chegwin | Judi Spiers | Barry McGuigan |
109 | 219 | 263 | ||
5x02 | 13 September 1991 | Tessa Sanderson | John Virgo | Bob Carolgees |
208 | 150 | 190 | ||
5x03 | 20 September 1991 | Ruth Madoc | Bruno Brookes | Evadne Hinge |
220 | 225 | 97 | ||
5x04 | 27 September 1991 | Willie Thorne | Diane Keen | Timmy Mallett |
244 | 132 | 159 | ||
5x05 | 11 October 1991 | Fred Trueman | Bobby Davro | Geoff Capes |
241 | 44 | 197 | ||
5x06 | 18 October 1991 | Bella Emberg | Trevor Brooking | Lesley Joseph |
242 | 355 | 169 | ||
5x07 | 25 October 1991 | Richard Noble | Anne Charleston | Pat Sharp |
62 | 148 | 159 | ||
5x08 | 1 November 1991 | Roy Hudd | Michael Melia | Nerys Hughes |
164 | 167 | 204 | ||
5x09 | 8 November 1991 | Rosie Barnes | Dora Bryan | John Sachs |
109 | 179 | 182 | ||
5x10 | 15 November 1991 | Craig Charles | Mark Wingett | Kriss Akabusi |
193 | 225 | 0 |
Series 6 (1992)
[edit]Episode | First broadcast | Celebrities | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
6x01 | 4 September 1992 | Henry Cooper | Kim Hartman | David Lawrence | Geoffrey Durham |
139 | 206 | 120 | 249 | ||
6x02 | 11 September 1992 | Derek Redmond | Sarah Kennedy | Brian Johnston | Sharron Davies |
102 | 104 | 188 | 182 | ||
6x03 | 18 September 1992 | Jessica Martin | Steve Ovett | Jack Tinker | Annabel Giles |
77 | 250 | 69 | 179 | ||
6x04 | 25 September 1992 | Jilly Curry | Melvyn Hayes | Garry Herbert | Sally James |
60 | 91 | 172 | 140 | ||
6x05 | 2 October 1992 | John Regis | John Inman | Linda Lusardi | Gary Mason |
197 | 120 | 180 | 149 | ||
6x06 | 10 October 1992 | John Conteh | Lizzie Webb | Kevin Lloyd | Floella Benjamin |
311 | 200 | 227 | 241 | ||
6x07 | 16 October 1992 | Dame Hilda Bracket | Ulrika Jonsson | Peter Scudamore | Ken Morley |
263 | 169 | 153 | 233 | ||
6x08 | 23 October 1992 | Sandi Toksvig | Andrew O'Connor | "Meryl Streep"* | Gareth Marriott |
240 | 141 | 209 | 233 | ||
6x09 | 30 October 1992 | Brian Moore | Cheryl Baker | Tom O'Connor | Liz Kershaw |
237 | 291 | 174 | 150 | ||
6x10 | 6 November 1992 | Andi Peters | Graham Cole | Sheila Ferguson | Dennis Taylor |
231 | 272 | 252 | 272 |
- Audience member Susan Elvy was asked to play the part of Meryl Streep throughout the show
Christmas Special (1992)
[edit]First broadcast | Celebrities | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
26 December 1992 | Kriss Akabusi | Judi Spiers | Annabel Giles | Andrew O'Connor |
226 | 304 | 332 | 78 |
Series 7 (1993–1994)
[edit]Celebrity Special (1994)
[edit]First broadcast | Celebrities | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
5 March 1994 | John Regis | Bruno Brookes | Emma Forbes | Linda Lusardi |
198 | 294 | 289 | 150 |
Series 8 (1995)
[edit]Episode | First broadcast | Celebrities | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
8x01 | 25 February 1995 | Pat Sharp | Jean Boht | Allan Lamb | Sharon Duce |
303 | 148 | 81 | 222 | ||
8x02 | 4 March 1995 | Bob Carolgees | Carol Smillie | Mark Blundell | Sarah Greene |
162 | 284 | 271 | 191 | ||
8x03 | 11 March 1995 | Geoff Capes | Alan Titchmarsh | Willie Thorne | Bobby Davro |
191 | 84 | 84 | 8 | ||
8x04 | 18 March 1995 | Jim Bowen | Gemma Craven | Gordon Burns | John Altman |
0 | 316 | 291 | 316 | ||
8x05 | 25 March 1995 | James Whale | Michaela Strachan | Tony Jarrett | David Yip |
147 | 351 | 351 | 170 | ||
8x06 | 1 April 1995 | Bernard Cribbins | Mr Motivator | Nick Gillingham | Ross King |
293 | 159 | 302 | 143 | ||
8x07 | 8 April 1995 | Jilly Goolden | Gareth Chilcott | Dale Winton | Elizabeth Dawn |
303 | 357 | 269 | 129 | ||
8x08 | 15 April 1995 | Bruno Brookes | Kate Copstick | Oliver Skeete | Robert Llewellyn |
199 | 114 | 54 | 69 | ||
8x09 | 22 April 1995 | John Regis | Jessica Martin | Bobby George | Billy Pearce |
154 | 273 | 216 | 168 | ||
8x10 | 29 April 1995 | Richard Vranch | Judi Spiers | Tony Hawks | Annabel Giles |
201 | 323 | 241 | 204 |
Series 9 (1996)
[edit]Episode | First broadcast | Celebrities | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
9x01 | 1 June 1996 | Joe Pasquale | Sonia Evans | Sally Meen |
73 | 206 | 113 | ||
9x02 | 8 June 1996 | Anthea Turner | Vinnie Jones | Caron Keating |
204 | 280 | 192 | ||
9x03 | 29 June 1996 | Anthony McPartlin | Declan Donnelly | Michelle Collins |
168 | 169 | 289 | ||
9x04 | 6 July 1996 | Ian St John | Carol Smillie | Kriss Akabusi |
135 | 189 | 79 | ||
9x05 | 13 July 1996 | Terry Christian | Samantha Fox | Tim Vincent |
204 | 186 | 264 | ||
9x06 | 20 July 1996 | Garry Bushell | Dale Winton | Wendy Richard |
338 | 96 | 305 | ||
9x07 | 27 July 1996 | Lee Hurst | Louise Nurding | Paul Ross |
187 | 240 | 69 | ||
9x08 | 3 August 1996 | Billy Pearce | Jenny Powell | Toby Anstis |
214 | 27 | 90 | ||
9x09 | 10 August 1996 | Johnny Herbert | Vanessa Feltz | Pat Sharp |
290 | 34 | 284 | ||
9x10 | 17 August 1996 | Carol Vorderman | Andrew O'Connor | Carolyn Marshall |
268 | 76 | 118 |
Series 10 (1997)
[edit]Episode | First broadcast | Celebrities | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
10x01 | 8 February 1997 | Jonathan Coleman | Jenny Powell | Ian Wright |
186 | 347 | 348 | ||
10x02 | 15 February 1997 | Teddy Sheringham | Wendy Richard | Paul Zerdin |
135 | 310 | 85 | ||
10x03 | 22 February 1997 | Kevin Day | Gaynor Faye | Tim Vincent |
349 | 168 | 166 | ||
10x04 | 1 March 1997 | Garry Bushell | Malandra Burrows | Paul Ross |
292 | 401 | 295 | ||
10x05 | 8 March 1997 | Sonia Evans | John Regis | Michelle Collins |
318 | 314 | 163 | ||
10x06 | 15 March 1997 | John Parrott | Carol Smillie | Duncan Norvelle |
133 | 157 | 0 | ||
10x07 | 22 March 1997 | Anthony McPartlin | Declan Donnelly | Davina McCall |
288 | 227 | 207 | ||
10x08 | 29 March 1997 | Ainsley Harriott | Kim Williams | Trevor Brooking |
256 | 380 | 266 | ||
10x09 | 5 April 1997 | Rowland Rivron | Dale Winton | Clare Buckfield |
119 | 188 | 326 | ||
10x10 | 12 April 1997 | James Crossley | Andrea Boardman | Ian Walker |
279 | 354 | 352 |
Series 11 (2024)
[edit]Episode | First broadcast | Celebrities | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
11x01 | 7 December 2024 | Rob Beckett | Alison Hammond | Harry Redknapp | Rosie Ramsey |
395 | 232 | 411 | 339 | ||
11x02 | 22 December 2024 | Rob Beckett | Judi Love | Olly Murs | |
Transmissions
[edit]Series
[edit]Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 20 February 1988 | 26 March 1988 | 6 |
2 | 28 January 1989 | 1 April 1989 | 10 |
3 | 17 February 1990 | 21 April 1990 | 10 |
4 | 16 February 1991 | 20 April 1991 | 10 |
5 | 6 September 1991 | 15 November 1991 | 10 |
6 | 4 September 1992 | 6 November 1992 | 10 |
7 | 10 September 1993 | 22 October 1993 | 15 |
12 March 1994 | 30 April 1994 | ||
8 | 25 February 1995 | 29 April 1995 | 10 |
9 | 1 June 1996 | 17 August 1996 | 10 |
10 | 8 February 1997 | 12 April 1997 | 10 |
11 | 7 December 2024 | 22 December 2024 | 2 |
Specials
[edit]Date | Entitle |
---|---|
30 August 1991 | Series 4 Compilation |
18 July 1992 | ITV Telethon Special |
26 December 1992 | Christmas Special |
5 March 1994 | Celebrity Special |
6 May 1995 | 5 Minute Recap |
References
[edit]- ^ "Shepperton Studios". TV Studio History. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
- ^ "Wembley (Lee, Limehouse, Fountain)". TV Studio History. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
- ^ "Pinewood Studios". TV Studio History. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
- ^ "New series of You Bet! filmed at Shinfield Studios on its way". The Business Magazine. 28 November 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
- ^ Goldbart, Max (7 August 2024). "Holly Willoughby Fronting ITV Reboot Of 'You Bet!'". Retrieved 29 November 2024.
- ^ "Holly Willoughby to host returning show on ITV". Digital Spy. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
External links
[edit]- You Bet! at IMDb
- You Bet! at BFI
- You Bet! at UKGameshows.com
- 1988 British television series debuts
- 1980s British game shows
- 1990s British game shows
- 2020s British game shows
- British English-language television shows
- ITV game shows
- London Weekend Television shows
- Television series by ITV Studios
- Wagering
- British television series based on non-British television series
- Television shows filmed at Shepperton Studios
- Television series revived after cancellation