Grand Slam is a television quiz show first created for Britain's Channel 4 in 2003. In its first and only series in the UK, the main host was Carol Vorderman. She was joined in the studio by analyst James Richardson. The off-camera "Questioner" was Nicholas Rowe.
The contestants taking part, all of them previous quiz show winners, were: Dee Voce, Geoff Owen, Olav Bjortomt, David Edwards, Mark Labbett, Clive Spate, Melanie Beaumont, Peter Lee, Gavin Fuller, David Stainer, Graham Nash, Michael Penrice, Michelle Hogan, Laura Richardson, Said Khan, and Duncan Bickley (who lost £218,000 on an episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2000). Each contestant paid £1000 to enter, which made up part of the prize fund (hence the title, which has a double meaning referring both to the sporting concept of a "grand slam" and to the entrance fee). The winner was Clive Spate.
The structure of the series is a single-elimination tournament, with two contestants competing in each programme. In the first round of the tournament, each heat consisted of five rounds: General Knowledge, Numbers and Logic, Contemporary Knowledge, Words and Letters and then the final round. In subsequent rounds, a Keyword round was added in between the Numbers and Logic and Contemporary Knowledge rounds, with questions having a given word (the keyword) as the common theme.
In each round, each player has a minute to answer his/her questions. The players take turns to answer a question; at any time, only the clock of the person whose turn it is counts down. The question must be answered correctly in order to pass the turn, otherwise the same contestant gets another question. The round ends when one player's clock reaches zero; the other player's remaining time is carried forward to the final round.
The final round uses questions from all of the categories. Initially, both contestants are given 30 seconds. The total time accumulated from the first 3 rounds is then added to this 30 seconds to determine the amount of time on each contestants' clock. Whoever has time left at the end of the final round wins the match.
Each contestant also has three switches to use over the course of the programme, i.e. opportunities to pass the turn (and the current question) to his/her opponent. Switches can be used consecutively to pass the question back and forth between opponents.
The listed score is the number of seconds the winner had remaining at the end of the match.
First round | Quarterfinals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||||||
Melanie Beaumont | 2:51.18 | ||||||||||||||||||
Peter Lee | |||||||||||||||||||
Melanie Beaumont | |||||||||||||||||||
Gavin Fuller | 55.54 | ||||||||||||||||||
Gavin Fuller | 41.35 | ||||||||||||||||||
David Stainer | |||||||||||||||||||
Gavin Fuller | 2:22.21 | ||||||||||||||||||
Michael Penrice | |||||||||||||||||||
Duncan Bickley | |||||||||||||||||||
Said Khan | 2:09.60 | ||||||||||||||||||
Said Khan | |||||||||||||||||||
Michael Penrice | 44.55 | ||||||||||||||||||
Michael Penrice | 46.93 | ||||||||||||||||||
Michelle Hogan | |||||||||||||||||||
Gavin Fuller | |||||||||||||||||||
Clive Spate | 57.79 | ||||||||||||||||||
David Edwards | |||||||||||||||||||
Olav Bjortomt | 1:47.31 | ||||||||||||||||||
Olav Bjortomt | |||||||||||||||||||
Clive Spate | 47.06 | ||||||||||||||||||
Mark Labbett | |||||||||||||||||||
Clive Spate | 1:06.08 | ||||||||||||||||||
Clive Spate | 1:43.67 | ||||||||||||||||||
Dee Voce | |||||||||||||||||||
Dee Voce | 1:43.05 | ||||||||||||||||||
Geoff Owen | |||||||||||||||||||
Dee Voce | |||||||||||||||||||
Graham Nash | |||||||||||||||||||
Graham Nash | 1:42.11 | ||||||||||||||||||
Laura Richardson |
Games are listed in the order in which they aired.
Contestant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Used | |||||
Dee Voce | 26.54 | 25.93 | 47.29 | 2:09.76 | 1:43.05 | 26.71 | |
Geoff Owen | 35.73 | 1:05.73 | 0.00 | 1:05.73 |
Contestant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Used | |||||
David Edwards | 30.00 | 0.00 | 30.00 | ||||
Olav Bjortomt | 3.01 | 24.48 | 42.84 | 24.00 | 2:04.33 | 1:47.31 | 17.02 |
Contestant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Used | |||||
Mark Labbett | 30.00 | 0 | 30.00 | ||||
Clive Spate | 5.79 | 5.81 | 45.73 | 13.14 | 1:40.47 | 1:06.08 | 34.39 |
Contestant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Used | |||||
Melanie Beaumont | 38.80 | 30.29 | 50.72 | 55.65 | 2:55.46 | 2:51.18 | 4.28 |
Peter Lee | 30.00 | 0.00 | 30.00 |
Contestant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Used | |||||
Gavin Fuller | 3.56 | 6.46 | 36.58 | 1:16.60 | 41.35 | 35.25 | |
David Stainer | 11.85 | 41.85 | 0 | 41.85 |
Contestant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Used | |||||
Graham Nash | 50.71 | 31.04 | 1:51.75 | 1:42.11 | 9.64 | ||
Laura Richardson | 8.65 | 4.44 | 43.09 | 0 | 43.09 |
Contestant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Used | |||||
Duncan Bickley | 30.00 | 0.00 | 30.00 | ||||
Said Khan | 2.58 | 35.27 | 25.83 | 46.59 | 2:20.27 | 2:09.60 | 10.67 |
Contestant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Used | |||||
Michael Penrice | 2.14 | 5.13 | 27.15 | 1:04.42 | 46.93 | 17.49 | |
Michelle Hogan | 30.29 | 1:00.29 | 0.00 | 1:00.29 |
Starting from the quarterfinals, the Keyword round was added as the third round of the match.
Contestant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Used | ||||||
Olav Bjortomt | 3.48 | 14.28 | 47.76 | 0.00 | 47.76 | |||
Clive Spate | 31.89 | 12.57 | 20.24 | 1:34.70 | 47.06 | 47.64 |
The keyword was "brown" for the Keyword round.
Contestant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Used | ||||||
Michael Penrice | 19.03 | 8.67 | 20.95 | 13.58 | 4.60 | 1:36.83 | 1:06.83 | 30.00 |
Said Khan | 30.00 | 0.00 | 30.00 |
The keyword was "great" for the Keyword round.
Contestant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Used | ||||||
Melanie Beaumont | 1.10 | 31.10 | 0.00 | 31.10 | ||||
Gavin Fuller | 10.12 | 33.44 | 1.14 | 6.33 | 1:21.03 | 55.54 | 25.49 |
The keyword was "night" for the Keyword round.
Contestant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Used | ||||||
Dee Voce | - | - | - | - | - | WON | ||
Graham Nash | - | - | - | - | - |
The outcome for each round in this match is currently unknown.
Contestant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Used | ||||||
Gavin Fuller | 17.07 | 47.03 | 24.47 | 0.05 | 23.59 | 2:22.21 | 2:22.21 | 0.00 |
Michael Penrice | 30.00 | 0.00 | 30.00 |
The keyword was "black" for the Keyword round.
Contestant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Used | ||||||
Clive Spate | 10.10 | 32.23 | 10.66 | 0.27 | 35.41 | 1:58.67 | 1:43.67 | 15.00 |
Dee Voce | 30.00 | 0.00 | 30.00 |
Contestant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Used | ||||||
Gavin Fuller | 14.48 | 15.42 | 59.90 | 0.00 | 59.90 | |||
Clive Spate | 9.13 | 16.14 | 32.52 | 1:27.79 | 57.79 | 30.00 |
The keyword was "grand" for the Keyword round.
Grand Slam was produced in the US in 2007 by Michael Davies. The initial series, premiering August 4, 2007 on GSN consists of a 16 player elimination tournament.
As with the British series, the US program is presented as a grand championship of game shows. All 16 contestants selected were noted winners on other game shows. Unlike the British series, however, the contestants did not pay an entry fee; they were instead invited for a $100,000 (US) winner-take-all tournament sponsored by Sony, which produced the show. The studio host for GSN's production is Dennis Miller. The analyst is Amanda Byram. Pat Kiernan is the Questioner. Ken Jennings was the champion for 2007. Ogi Ogas was the runner up.
The Krypton Factor is a British game show produced by Granada Television for broadcast on ITV. The show originally ran from 7 September 1977 to 20 November 1995 and hosted by Gordon Burns.
Mastermind is a British television quiz show for the BBC, currently presented by Clive Myrie. Its creator, Bill Wright, drew inspiration from his experiences of being interrogated by the Gestapo during World War II. The show features an intimidating setting and challenging questions. Four contestants face two rounds, one on a specialised subject of the contestant's choice, the other a general knowledge round.
Chain Reaction is an American television game show created by Bob Stewart, in which players compete to form chains composed of two-word phrases.
Trump Card is an American syndicated game show that aired from September 10, 1990, to May 24, 1991, hosted by Jimmy Cefalo. Debi Massey served as hostess and Chuck Riley was the announcer. The show was produced by Telepictures Productions, Createl, Ltd., and Fiedler-Berlin Productions, with Warner Bros. Television distributing. It was based on the British game show Bob's Full House, which consisted of contestants trying to answer questions to fill up a 15-square bingo board.
Miljoenenjacht, officially Postcode Loterij Miljoenenjacht, is a Dutch game show, sponsored by the country's postcode lottery, where a contestant and at-home viewer could win up to €5,000,000 or as little as €0.01. The show is broadcast at various times, spanning across six episodes for each set. The program was originally shown by TROS on NPO 2, but moved to creator John de Mol's channel Tien in 2005. After the channel was discontinued after its sale to the RTL Group, the program moved to RTL 4. In 2019, the program moved to SBS6 due to the transfer of Linda de Mol from RTL to SBS.
Graham Nash is Countdown's 43rd Series Champion and the 11th Champion of Champions. His current record stands at 16 wins out of 16; one of only two unbeaten champions in the show's history - the other one being Nic Brown. He later appeared on Grand Slam, losing to Dee Voce.
The Master is an Australian quiz show that debuted on Seven Network on 16 August 2006. The show was cancelled after its premiere episode. The remaining episodes aired over the non-ratings period in 2006–2007, with the final episode airing on 16 January 2007. Hosted by Mark Beretta, the show had a potential prize of $1,000,000. It was produced by Grant Rule and Seven Melbourne. Repeats aired on 7Two at 11am weekdays in late July 2021.
Skatoony is a children's live action/animated game show, pitting live-action kids against cartoon characters. The series was co-produced by Talent TV and FremantleMedia Animation, Blink Studios, and Marblemedia with Smiley Guy Studios. The series used to air on Cartoon Network in the UK until 2017, with new episodes airing every Friday until the series cancellation in 2008. Skatoony has also aired as re-runs in the UK on Boomerang and Cartoon Network Too until the channel itself closed down in 2014. The show aired on Starz Kids & Family in the US until 2019. Reruns were occasionally shown on Teletoon in Canada until August 5, 2017. It also aired on Boomerang in Australia and New Zealand.
The People's Quiz is a BBC National Lottery game show broadcast on BBC One from 24 March to 23 June 2007, hosted by Jamie Theakston.
Grand Slam is an American game show based on the British series of the same name. Unlike the British series, which was played as a regular quiz show, the American version was conducted as a super-tournament featuring contestants who had appeared on other game shows.
Are You an Egghead? is a BBC quiz show that was presented by Dermot Murnaghan. It is a spin-off from the quiz show Eggheads, with its goal to find a further Egghead to complement the existing team. The first series was aired weekdays from 20 October to 2 December 2008 and was won by Barry Simmons. The second and final series was aired from 12 October to 23 November 2009 and was won by Pat Gibson. A similar show, Make Me an Egghead, aired in 2016.
Fifteen to One is a British general knowledge quiz show broadcast on Channel 4. It originally ran from 11 January 1988 to 19 December 2003 and had a reputation for being one of the toughest quizzes on TV. Throughout the show's original run, it was presented and produced by William G. Stewart. Thousands of contestants appeared on the programme, which had very little of the chatting between host and contestants that is often a feature of other television quiz shows.
Mastermind was an Irish television quiz show that aired on TV3 as part of its autumn/winter 2011 schedule. The show was licensed to TV3 through BBC Worldwide.
The American Bible Challenge is an American biblical-themed television game show created by Game Show Network. The series is hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, with gospel musician Kirk Franklin joining Foxworthy as co-host and announcer in the second season. The series debuted on August 23, 2012.
The Chase is an American television quiz show adapted from the British program of the same name. It premiered on August 6, 2013, on the Game Show Network (GSN). It was hosted by Brooke Burns and featured Mark Labbett as the "chaser". A revival of the show premiered on January 7, 2021, on ABC. It is hosted by Sara Haines and initially featured as the chasers Jeopardy! champions James Holzhauer, Ken Jennings, and Brad Rutter. Labbett returned as a chaser in June 2021, before stepping down in 2022 along with Jennings. In their place are Buzzy Cohen, Brandon Blackwell, and Victoria Groce.
Two Tribes is a BBC game show that aired on BBC Two from 18 August 2014 to 31 August 2015, hosted by Richard Osman.
Make Me an Egghead is a British quiz show on BBC Two presented by Jeremy Vine. It was a spin-off from Eggheads with the goal to find two further Eggheads, one male and one female, to complement the existing team of seven. It ran from 22 August to 23 September 2016 and was won by Steve Cooke and Beth Webster. A similar show, Are You an Egghead?, aired in 2008 and 2009.
Divided is an American television game show broadcast by Game Show Network (GSN) based on the British series of the same name. Each episode consists of four contestants playing as one team who must agree on answers to questions they are given. The longer it takes the team to come to an agreement, the less money the team earns for each question. The series, hosted by Mike Richards, premiered January 19, 2017, and concluded May 8, 2018.
Snap Decision is a half-hour American comedy game show featuring David Alan Grier as the host. The show airs on Game Show Network and is also syndicated on Tornante-Sinclair stations. The game show premiered on August 7, 2017.
The Tournament is a British television game show, first broadcast on 8 November 2021. It is screened on BBC One, produced by QITV and hosted by Alex Scott. It was devised by James Rawson and Dan Schreiber. On 16 May 2022, the BBC renewed The Tournament for a second series, which premiered on 20 September 2022.