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Jeopardy! (British game show)

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This article is about the quiz show. For the children's show, see Jeopardy (BBC TV series).

Jeopardy!
GenreGame show
Created byMerv Griffin
Presented byDerek Hobson
Chris Donat
Steve Jones
Paul Ross
Stephen Fry
Narrated byNick Jackson
David Hopewell
Charles Foster
Des Clarke
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2 (Channel 4)
3 (ITV)
1 (Sky One)
1 (revival)
No. of episodes25 (Channel 4)
125 (ITV)
135 (Sky One)
20 (revival)
Production
Production locationsTelevision House (1995–96)
Dock10 (2024)[1]
Running time30 minutes (1983–96)
60 minutes (2024)
Production companiesThames (1983–84)
Reg Grundy Productions and TVS/Meridian (1990–93)
Action Time[a] (1995–96)
Whisper North[b] (2024)
Original release
NetworkChannel 4
Release12 January 1983 (1983-01-12) –
2 July 1984 (1984-07-02)
NetworkITV
Release3 September 1990 (1990-09-03) –
9 April 1993 (1993-04-09)
NetworkSky One
Release4 December 1995 (1995-12-04) –
7 June 1996 (1996-06-07)
NetworkITV
Release1 January 2024 (2024-01-01) –
present
Related
Jeopardy!

Jeopardy! is a British game show based on the U.S. game show Jeopardy!. Originally aired on Channel 4 from 12 January 1983, to 2 July 1984, hosted by Derek Hobson, the show was later revived by ITV from 3 September 1990, to 9 April 1993. Initially hosted by Chris Donat in 1990, it was later presented by Steve Jones from 1991 to 1993. The show then moved to Sky One from 4 December 1995, to 7 June 1996, with Paul Ross as the host. It was revived for a third time in 2024, returning to ITV, with Stephen Fry as presenter.

Gameplay

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Main article: Jeopardy! § Gameplay

The Stephen Fry iteration of the series is modelled after the current format of the U.S. version of Jeopardy!, with two rounds using cash amounts of £25, £50, £75, £100, and £150, followed by a third, Double Jeopardy! round with doubled values, and concluding with Final Jeopardy![2] There is one Daily Double in each of the first two rounds, and two Daily Doubles in the Double Jeopardy! round.

Earlier incarnations of Jeopardy! in the UK had rule differences in comparison to the U.S. version. Due to limits on cash prizes enforced by broadcast regulators, the game was originally played with points rather than cash, with values of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 in the Jeopardy! round, and three Daily Doubles in each round. Champions received a flat £500 for each victory; a champion retired undefeated after five consecutive victories, and won an additional £500 for a total of £3,000. Beginning in the Steve Jones run, the top three scorers of each series returned for Master Jeopardy! (the equivalent of the Tournament of Champions in the American show) to play for the grand prize of a holiday.

Points were replaced by pounds at some point in the Jones run, but later reverted to points by the time Ross took over as host—having increased to 100 to 500 for the Jeopardy! round and 200 to 1000 for Double Jeopardy! The Daily Double amount was reduced to the standard of one in the Jeopardy! Round and two in the Double Jeopardy! round. As with the U.S. version, the current Stephen Fry version is played for cash, and does not have limits on returning champions, .

In the Hobson, Donat, and Jones runs, the contestants only saw their own scores, although, at the end of each round, they were told their relative positions (i.e., who was in first, second, and third place). This had the side effect of reducing "runaways", a common phenomenon in the U.S. version, where contestants heading into Final Jeopardy! with more than double their nearest opponent would be guaranteed victory by betting a small amount; most contestants did not pay enough attention to others' correct or incorrect responses to know if they had clinched a runaway game.

Also under Hobson, Donat, Jones and Ross, the response had to be grammatically correct in addition to the usual requirement of phrasing in the form of a question. For example, a response that began "Who is..." when a "What is..." prefix was grammatically correct was ruled incorrect, and the contestant received a penalty.

2024 revival

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On 27 February 2023, ITV announced that the show would be revived again, produced by Whisper Films (Jeopardy! rightsholder Sony Pictures Television had invested in the company in 2020)[3] and presented by comedian Stephen Fry.[1][2] In April 2023, Fry was also announced as host of an Australian revival using the same format, which premiered on 20 April 2024 on the Nine Network.[4] The new British series, delayed from October 2023,[5] premiered on 1 January 2024.[6][7] By the request of Fry, the revival would be modelled extensively after the current U.S. version (including using a nearly identical set and graphics), although extended with an extra round between the Jeopardy! and Double Jeopardy! rounds to fill an hour-long time slot.[8]

The version received mixed reviews, with the slow pace and Fry's hosting style being common criticisms. American online magazine Slate similarly noted that it was "slower, sleepier, and irritatingly nonchalant" in comparison to the U.S. syndicated version of Jeopardy!, noting its lower clue values, and that the show was padded out by a third round (not unlike the U.S. primetime Celebrity Jeopardy!) and Fry's slow pace, observing that "When Trebek was really cooking, he could marshal out three questions in 30 seconds. Fry is lucky to get through one a minute, such is his need to comment on every right and wrong answer." It was also noted that Jeopardy! had never been as ubiquitous of a quiz show in the United Kingdom as it has in the United States (noting the lengths of its prior runs, as well as the U.S. version being treated like a "professional sport" with an extensive following).[9][2][10]

Transmissions

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Series
overall		 Series Start date End date Episodes
Channel 4 era
1 1 12 January 1983 30 March 1983 12
2 2 2 April 1984 2 July 1984 13
ITV era
3 1 3 September 1990 26 October 1990 40
4 2 14 October 1991 20 December 1991 50
5 3 22 February 1993 9 April 1993 35
Sky One era
6 1 4 December 1995 7 June 1996 135
ITV revival era
7 1 1 January 2024 26 January 2024 20[1]
8 2 TBC in 2025[citation needed] TBC in 2025 25[citation needed]

Notes

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  1. ^ In association with Columbia TriStar Television and King World Productions
  2. ^ In association with Sony Pictures Television and Paramount Global Content Distribution

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Whisper North Reboots Jeopardy! For ITV1 And ITVX This Autumn". Dock10. February 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Winkie, Luke (24 January 2024). "Can I Get "Hell No" for £150?". Slate. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  3. ^ Croll, Ben (18 February 2020). "Sony Pictures Television Takes Minority Stake in U.K. Sports Producer Whisper". Variety. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  4. ^ "Jeopardy! Australia to begin filming next month with Stephen Fry as host". nine.com.au. April 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  5. ^ Willix, Pierra (10 August 2023). "First look at Stephen Fry as host of huge game show returning after 27 years". Metro. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Jeopardy! Episode 1 Week 01". ITV Press Centre. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  7. ^ Mensah, Katelyn (1 January 2024). "How does Jeopardy! work? Rules explained". Radio Times. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Stephen Fry explains how UK Jeopardy! is different to the US version". Radio Times. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  9. ^ Vassell, Nicole (2 January 2024). "UK Jeopardy! divides viewers with 'dull' format". The Independent. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  10. ^ Winkie, Luke (24 January 2024). "Can I Get "Hell No" for £150?". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
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