Are You Smarter than a/Your 10 Year Old? is a British quiz show which aired on Sky 1 from 2007 to 2010. There were two editions, one broadcast weekly in primetime, hosted by Noel Edmonds and a daily version, originally hosted by Dick and Dom and later by Damian Williams. The show welcomes adult contestants, who attempt to answer ten questions (plus a final bonus question) taken from primary school textbooks, two from each school year from ages 6 to 10. Each correct answer increases the amount of money the player banks; a maximum cash prize of £250,000 (or £500,000 in series three) in primetime and £50,000 in daytime can be won.
In each game, the contestant (an adult) is asked a series of up to eleven questions, spanning ten subjects (such as history, maths or science) taken from textbooks for 6- to 10-year-old students. Each question is associated with an age level; there are two questions per age group, from 6 to 10. The player can answer the questions in any order, and each correct answer raises their cumulative amount of winnings to the next level (see table). There is a safe point after five correct answers, guaranteeing the player the value of the fifth question, and after ten questions players may take a jackpot question for the top prize.
Classmates
Along the way, the player can be assisted by a "classmate", one of five ten-year-old children, in answering the questions. The classmate, chosen for two questions at a time, attempts to answer the question at the same time as the contestant, writing their answer on a virtual blackboard hidden from the contestant's view. The player picks a child to come and stand on the podium beside them and they answer the question at the same time as the adult. They lock in their answer and the adult is given the option of copying the child's answer or peeking at it. If they lock in their own answer and get the question wrong, they can be saved by the child's answer provided it is correct.
Prior to the show, the children are provided with workbooks which contain a variety of material, some of which could be used in the questions asked in the game. One of the producers, Hannah Dobson, is quoted as saying: "A lot of it they've seen at school, it's just refreshing their memories, really". However, when pushed as to whether the packs contained a random selection of the syllabus or a very specific selection of information, she replied: "I would say it's somewhere in the middle." It can be argued that the questions are actually not representative of the general knowledge of the average 10-year-old, however, as the TimesOnline article states, to have entitled the show "Are you Smarter Than a 10 Year Old Who's Been Hand-picked for High Academic Achievement and Been Given an Answer Pack While You Haven't" would not have been as catchy as the current title. Of course, the children are not immune from getting the answer wrong as well, and they do sometimes enter incorrect answers.
For the first two series, the following children were hired specifically for the show:
Series 1
Group A – Louis, Lizzie, Reece Darlington-Delaire,[1] Qasim Ali,[2] Katie Bilsborough[3]
Group B – Kaya, Luisa, Richard Linnell,[4] Kieran Potts,[5] Lewis Holmes[6]
Group C – Lloyd Donovan,[7] Rhiannon Obinyah[8] Meisha Kelly,[9] Jack Roberts,[10] Jonathan Danciger[11]
Some children were used as reserves and as such could appear in any of the groups.
The third series of the programme changed the format slightly and was called Are You Smarter Than Your 10 Year Old? with contestants playing against a class including a relative and four of their friends. The Prime Time version jackpot was increased to £500,000 and featured 10 episodes, hosted by Noel Edmonds.
A further 20 teatime episodes of the spin-off, Are You Smarter Than Your 10 Year Old were hosted by Damian Williams, a comedy actor and well-known pantomime star, who was new to television. His version included The Safety Dance in which he led the class, crew and sometimes the contestant around the set to the theme tune of 'Please Sir'
Date
Adult
10-year-olds
Relation
?
Chrissy
Chloe, Jade, Isabella, Claudia, Gracie
Mother of Chloe
25 December 2009
Stuart
Daniel, Jasmine, Jake, Euan, Sam
Father of Daniel
25–26 December 2009
Lara
Santiago, Andrew, Roseanne, Ross, Gabriella
Mother of Santiago
17–24 January 2010
Danny
Megan, Eloise, Rachel, Fleur, Millie
Father of Megan
24 January 2010
Phil
Megan, Patrick, Tom, Alice, Jordan
Father of Megan
"?"
Nicki
Abby, Jonah, Lucas, Sienna and Billie Joe
Mother of Abby
“?”
Clare
Grace, Mhairi H, Mhairi U, Robin and Ronan
Mother of Ronan
All of the third series episodes were filmed in HD and one in 3D.
Cheats
Contestants have three aids they can use during their game. Each of the following cheats can only be used once in any game. (up to, but not including, the final question):
Peek: The player is shown their classmate's answer and may choose whether to use it or not. There is no obligation and the player is free to lock in an alternative answer.
Copy: The player uses their classmate's answer, regardless of whether it's right or wrong.
Save: If the player answers incorrectly but their classmate is correct, they are said to have been saved and the game continues. The player can only use this cheat after supplying an answer.
Once all three cheats are used, the children no longer play an active role in the game. There are no cheats available for the final question regardless of how many, if any, are still available by this point in the game.
Question
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Value
prime time (2007-2010)
£250
£500
£1,000
£2,500
£5,000
£10,000
£15,000
£25,000
£50,000
£100,000
£250,000 (£500,000 in series 3)
daytime
£250
£500
£750
£1,000
£1,500
£2,500
£5,000
£7,500
£15,000
£25,000
£50,000
Jackpot question
The rules change slightly for the jackpot question. The player is only shown the subject of the question before deciding if they will continue or drop out. This question will always be for a ten year old regardless of the subject. If the player chooses to see the question, they are no longer eligible to drop out and must answer the question, with no assistance from the classmates. Answering the question incorrectly will cause the contestant to drop back down to the prize for 5 questions.
If the contestant gets any answer wrong (and is not saved), they "flunk out", and a contestant doing so in the first five questions loses all their winnings (if they passed the 5th question, they will instead drop down to that amount). For this reason, they may choose to drop out at any point during the game, which entitles them to leave the game with the winnings they have accumulated, if any.
If, at any point during the game, the player chooses to drop out or is flunked out, they must face the camera and state, "I am not smarter than a/my 10 year old." However, if the final question is answered correctly, the contestant has the opportunity to claim, "I am smarter than a/my 10 year old."
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