The Weakest Link is a British television quiz show, mainly broadcast on BBC Two and BBC One. It was devised by Fintan Coyle and Cathy Dunning and developed for television by the BBC Entertainment Department. The game begins with a team of nine contestants, who take turns answering general knowledge questions within a time limit to create chains of nine correct answers in a row. At the end of each round, the players then vote one contestant, "the weakest link", out of the game. After two players are left, they play in a head-to-head penalty shootout format, with five questions asked to each contestant in turn, to determine the winner.
Gordon Angus Deayton is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian and broadcaster.
A panel show or panel game is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participate. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on The News Quiz; facilitate play by non-celebrity contestants, such as on Match Game and Blankety Blank; or do both, such as on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. The genre can be traced to 1938, when Information Please debuted on U.S. radio. The earliest known television panel show is Play the Game, a charades show in 1946. The modern trend of comedy panel shows can find early roots with Stop Me If You've Heard This One in 1939 and Can You Top This? in 1940. While panel shows were more popular in the past in the U.S., they are still very common in the United Kingdom.
The News Quiz is a British topical panel game broadcast on BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 1977. The show, created by John Lloyd from an idea by Nicholas Parsons, has seen several hosts, including Barry Norman, Barry Took, Simon Hoggart, Sandi Toksvig, and Miles Jupp. Andy Zaltzman was announced as the permanent host after series 103. The show involves four panellists, often comedians or journalists, who answer questions about events of the previous week, often leading to humorous and satirical exchanges. The show was adapted for television in 1981 and has also inspired other shows.
Sandra Birgitte Toksvig is a Danish-British writer, comedian and broadcaster on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She has written plays, novels and books for children. In 1994, she came out as a lesbian.
Nadia Sawalha is an English actress, television personality, writer, TV Cook and Vlogger. She is best known as a long-term regular panellist on the ITV daytime talk show Loose Women, being one of the original panellists from its start in 1999 until 2002, before returning to the show in 2013 after a panellist revamp. She played the role of Gina in ITV comedy Second Thoughts from 1992 to 1994, and Annie Palmer on the BBC One soap opera EastEnders from 1997 to 1999. She has also had minor roles in The Bill, Casualty, Benidorm and 99-1 and presented a number of television programmes in the early 2000s, whilst taking a break from Loose Women.
Robert Brydon Jones is a Welsh actor, comedian, impressionist, presenter, singer and writer. Brydon gained prominence for his roles in film, television and radio. Brydon was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in Queen Elizabeth II's Birthday Honours in 2013 for services to comedy and broadcasting, and for charitable services.
Lorraine Smith is a Scottish television presenter, theatrical artist, journalist and singer. She has presented various television shows for ITV, including Good Morning Britain (1988–1992), GMTV (1993–2010), This Morning, Daybreak (2012–2014), The Sun Military Awards (2016–present), STV Children's Appeal (2016–present), and her eponymous programme Lorraine (2010–present).
Eggheads is a British quiz show produced by 12 Yard. It was first broadcast in November 2003 chaired by Dermot Murnaghan. In 2008, Jeremy Vine became joint chair, and subsequently sole chair. The show has inspired three spinoff series: Are You an Egghead? (2008), Revenge of the Egghead (2014) and Make Me an Egghead (2016). There have also been episodes of the regular series featuring teams of celebrities in their own short series, with their own rolling prize fund.
12 Yard Productions (Investments) Limited, trading as 12 Yard, is a British television production company. It was founded in 2001 as a joint-venture between David Young and the creative team behind the worldwide hit Weakest Link and Hat Trick Productions.
Michael Hazen James McIntyre is a British comedian, writer, and television presenter. In 2012, he was the highest-grossing stand-up comedian in the world. As of 2023, he presents his own Saturday night series, Michael McIntyre's Big Show, and the game show, The Wheel, on BBC One. He also hosted the American version of The Wheel on NBC.
Richard Edwards is an English television presenter, journalist, and author.
The Chase is a British television quiz show broadcast on the ITV network, with repeats also on Challenge, hosted by Bradley Walsh. Contestants play against a professional quizzer, known as the "chaser", who attempts to prevent them from winning a cash prize.
Richard Thomas Osman is an English author, television presenter, producer, novelist, and comedian. He is the creator and former co-presenter of the BBC One television quiz show Pointless. He has presented the BBC Two quiz shows Two Tribes and Richard Osman's House of Games and been a team captain on the comedy panel shows Insert Name Here and The Fake News Show. He has made appearances on British panel shows including Would I Lie To You? and QI.
Susan Grace Calman is a Scottish comedian, television presenter, writer and panellist on a number of BBC Radio 4 shows including The News Quiz and I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. The 'About Radio 2' BBC webpage says: "With a repertoire covering more than 40 years, Radio 2 plays the widest selection of music on the radio—from classic and mainstream pop to a specialist portfolio including classical, country, folk, jazz, soul, rock 'n' roll, gospel and blues."
Robert Anthony Beckett is an English comedian, narrator, and presenter. He was a co-host on the ITV2 spin-off show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW! from 2012 to 2014. Since 2016, Beckett has been a team captain on the E4 panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats and the narrator of the reality series Celebs Go Dating. He presents BBC One entertainment series Wedding Day Winners and All Together Now.
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.
Roman Kemp is a British radio host and television personality. Since 2014, he has presented the national radio network Capital FM and their own breakfast show from 2017 to 2024. Kemp also presents The One Show on BBC One. In 2019, he finished in third place in the nineteenth series of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.
Tuesday's Child is a British television production company founded in 2012 by Karen Smith. The company is best known for TV shows such as The Hit List and LEGO Masters.
