The Chase (British game show)


The Chase is a British television quiz show broadcast on ITV and hosted by Bradley Walsh. Contestants play against a professional quizzer, known as the "chaser", who attempts to prevent them from winning a cash prize. The six chasers are Mark Labbett, Shaun Wallace, Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha, Jenny Ryan, and Darragh Ennis. Labbett and Wallace have both been chasers since series 1, while Hegerty joined in series 2, Sinha in series 4, Ryan in series 9 and Ennis in series 14. With rare exceptions for special episodes, only one chaser participates in any given episode.
A team of four contestants individually attempt to amass as much money as possible, which is later added to a prize fund if the contestant survives their chase. The chaser must attempt to catch each contestant during their chase, eliminating that person from the game and preventing the money from being added to the collective prize fund. In the individual chase, the player must choose between a higher offer, their earned money, and a lower offer. Later, in the final round, contestants who survived their chases play collectively as a team against the chaser for an equal share of the prize fund.
With a regular audience of three to five million, The Chase is one of ITV's most successful daytime shows ever. It has been nominated six times at the National Television Awards, winning in 2016, 2017, and 2019. It has also become a successful international franchise: regional versions have been made in Australia, China, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Israel, Norway, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, United States and Spain. Labbett, Hegerty and Wallace also feature as chasers on the Australian version. Labbett featured as the sole chaser on the American version.

Gameplay

Cash Builder and Head-to-Head rounds

Each contestant individually attempts to accumulate the team's prize fund through two rounds. In the first round, known as the "Cash Builder", the contestant answers as many questions as they can within one minute, with each correct answer worth £1,000. After completing the Cash Builder, the contestant enters the "Head-to-Head" round, attempting to move the money down to the bottom of a seven-step board and into the team bank without being caught by the chaser. The board had eight steps in the first series.
The contestant is given three options by the Chaser at the start of the Head-to-Head round; they can take the money they've earned and start three steps down the board, accept an offer of more money and start a step closer to the Chaser, or take a lower amount to start a step further down the board. The lower amount can be zero, or even a negative amount if there is already some money in the team's pot. Once the starting position is selected, the host asks a series of multiple-choice questions to the contestant and the Chaser, both of whom individually select one of the three answer options on keypads. After either person locks in a guess, the other must do so within five seconds or be locked out for that turn. A correct answer moves the person who gave it one step down the board, while a miss or lock-out leaves them where they are.
If the contestant successfully reaches home without being caught, they advance to the Final Chase and their money is added to the team's prize fund. If the chaser catches up, the contestant is eliminated with no money banked. If all four contestants are caught by the chaser, they nominate one contestant to play the Final Chase alone.

Final Chase

The contestants who win their head-to-head chases blindly select one of two question sets for themselves, with the other set put aside for the Chaser, and then have two minutes to answer as many questions as possible on the buzzer. Contestants use buzzers to answer questions, but only the contestant who buzzed-in counts as an answer; buzzers are not used if only one contestant participates in the Final Chase. Every correct answer moves the team one step ahead of the chaser, and they are given a head start of one step per contestant is playing in this round. The contestants may not discuss or confer on any questions during this portion of the round.
The Chaser is then given two minutes to answer questions from the unused set in an attempt to catch the team, moving one step ahead per correct response. If the Chaser passes or misses a question, the clock is briefly stopped and the team are given a chance to discuss it and respond; a correct answer pushes the Chaser back one step, or moves the team ahead one step if the Chaser is at the starting line. If the Chaser catches the team before the time expires, the prize fund is forfeited for the team and each member wins nothing. During celebrity editions, a consolation £1,000 is donated to each celebrity's chosen charity.
If the Chaser is unable to catch up to the team, the participating contestants split the prize fund equally, or in the event where all four contestants were caught in their head-to-head chases but the nominated contestants wins the chase, each contestants wins £1,000.

Filming

Three episodes are filmed in a day and each one takes around an hour and a half to film. According to Walsh, "It runs like clockwork." The Final Chase can be stopped and re-started if Walsh stumbles on a question. He told the Radio Times, "If there is a slight misread, I am stopped immediately – bang – by the lawyers. We have the compliance lawyers in the studio all the time. What you have to do is go back to the start of the question, literally on videotape where my mouth opens – or where it's closed from the previous question – and the question is re-asked. It is stopped to the split second."
In March 2020, filming was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic. In an interview with The Sun's TV Mag, Bradley Walsh said that the show was "at least 100 episodes behind schedule" due to lockdown. ITV screened repeat episodes in The Chase's regular scheduled slot.

Chasers

A spin-off series titled The Chase: Celebrity Special featuring celebrity teams as contestants began airing on ITV in 2011. As many contestants are comedians or actors, there is a much-higher comedic element. The game is played the same way as the regular version. However, if all four celebrities have been caught by the chaser, the prize fund during the Final Chase is £20,000. If the team is caught during the Final Chase, a consolation prize of £1,000 is awarded to the charities for each celebrity who advanced to this stage.

''The Family Chase''

In February 2017, ITV commissioned The Family Chase, a spin-off featuring a team of four family members. The six-episode spin-off debuted on 2 September 2017. The second series of 8 episodes was commissioned and commenced airing on 24 March 2019. The Family Chase works the same way like the Regular and Celebrity versions, but the winning system is different; if the Family wins, they do not share money, but they keep the whole win in the family since they knew each other.

''Beat The Chasers''

In November 2019, ITV commissioned another spin-off called Beat The Chasers. It began airing in prime-time on 27 April 2020 and features contestants attempting to beat up to five chasers to win big cash prizes. A single contestant plays the Cash Builder round, answering a series of multiple-choice questions worth £1,000 each; the round ends once they either miss a question or get five right. They will be eliminated from the show if they miss the first question to secure £1,000. They must then decide how many chasers from two to five to face in a timed head-to-head round, with the chasers specifying a time limit for themselves and offering larger cash prizes as an incentive to face more of them.
The contestant's clock is set to 60 seconds, while the chasers' clock is set to their agreed-on time and offer. If the contestant only takes on one chaser, they only play for a maximum of £5,000 in a minimum time advantage of 20 seconds. Only one clock runs at any given moment, starting with the contestant; the side in control must answer a question correctly to stop their clock and turn control over to the opposing side. The chasers must buzz-in to respond and may not confer on any questions. The contestant wins the money on offer if the chasers' clock runs out first, or nothing if their clock runs out. Anne Hegerty has confirmed the spin-off will return for a second series.

Transmissions

Regular editions

All five chasers took part in the 1,000th episode on 29 September 2016, with a different chaser selected at random for each head-to-head round and the fifth participating in the Final Chase. This format has also been used for the Christmas edition of the Celebrity Specials.

EXTRA editions

In this special isolation version of the show, broadcast on The Chase's YouTube channel and shown straight after the main show, all five Chasers are presenters and viewers at home can play along, for they are the contestants. Each series has five episodes; the first series was shown in mid-May 2020, and was hosted by Jenny "The Vixen" Ryan. Between late-May and early-June, the second series was shown across consecutive days and presented by Shaun "The Dark Destroyer" Wallace. The third series will be shown later in June or July 2020, while the fourth and fifth series are scheduled to air later in 2020.
SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodesPresenterBroadcastSeries average
118 May 202022 May 20205Jenny RyanFrom Monday to Friday98,000
226 May 202014 June 20205Shaun WallaceOn Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday12,000
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Celebrity Special editions

Family Chase editions

Beat The Chasers editions

International broadcasts

Critical reception

The Chase is highly popular with critics and viewers. Despite early criticism, opinion has improved over time. Some critics, as well as the chasers, put the show's success down to Walsh as host and his many memorable moments, some of which come from questions or answers which often leave him in hysterics. Labbett also said that the sense of fun and the variety of chasers is a major factor. Sinha said, "The format has been brilliantly thought out. No matter the relative strengths of the players, it is resolutely a team game, with a dramatic climax."

Controversies

The Chase has also been at the criticised on several occasions, such as the Final Chase, when Walsh asks the chasers' questions more quickly than those of the contestants. In an interview with the Radio Times, Walsh repudiated those claims: "We have lawyers on the floor to watch all of this. I read at the same speed for both." He went on to say, "Don't forget, if I've got Mark Labbett answering questions for two minutes and I've got a team answering for two minutes, the team aren't going to be quicker. Simple as that, because they have to press the button , which is why they get a head start based on how many people are in the final. If you've got three people in the final chase that's a three-step head start–that's about a twelve-second advantage."
There have also been a number of games where the chaser has won with no time remaining on the clock, but spokespeople have insisted that an independent adjudicator – a representative from Beyond Dispute Ltd – always checks each show.
On 6 April 2016, on an episode where Labbett was the chaser, a glitch occurred whereby the clock froze at 10 seconds and then increased to 11 seconds, giving Labbett an extra second. Although the contestants were far ahead and there was no chance of their being caught, a spokesperson for the show told OK! Online the following day that an error occurred during the editing process, but gameplay was otherwise not affected by it.
On 4 March 2019, on an episode where Hegerty was the chaser, Walsh asked a question about which band had the fewest members – with the possible answers being the Proclaimers, the Pretenders or the Prodigy. Many viewers criticised ITV for deciding to air the episode hours after the news had publicly broken about the death of the Prodigy's frontman Keith Flint.

Ratings and rivalry with ''Pointless''

During its first two series, the show averaged 1–2 million viewers, then over 2 million during series three. By December 2012, The Chase had become ITV's most popular "teatime" programme since The Paul O'Grady Show in 2005, with over 3 million viewers an episode. On 21 January 2013, The Chase managed a peak audience of 5.1 million, a new all-time high. Almost every episode is now in ITV's Top 30 weekly broadcasts.
In its timeslot, The Chase airs at the same time as BBC One's Pointless, a game show launched in August 2009, two months after The Chases debut. The two programmes usually receive similar ratings. However, between October 2012 and January 2013, The Chase beat Pointless in the ratings each week. For two weeks in February 2013, Pointless received a higher share than The Chase.

Awards

International versions

Legend:
Currently airing
No longer airing
Upcoming
CountryLocal titleChannelPresenterChaserPremiere dateEnd date
The Chase AustraliaSeven NetworkAndrew O'KeefeBrydon Coverdale
Anne Hegerty
Mark Labbett
Matt Parkinson
Issa Schultz
Shaun Wallace
Cheryl Toh 		2013–1014 September 2015
挑战文化名人
Tiǎozhǎn wénhuà míngrén
Jiangxi TelevisionLiú WèiMeng Man
Ji Lianhai
A Yi
Kang Zhen
Li Bo		2014–0720 July 20144 October 2014
Potjera
HRTTarik Filipović
Joško Lokas 		Dean Kotiga
Mirko Miočić
Morana Zibar
Krešimir Međeral-Sučević
Mladen Vukorepa 		3 November 2013
Jahti
MTV3Mikko LeppilampiEero Ylitalo
"Mr. Archive"
Magnus Mali
"The Sharp"
Markus Leikola
"The Know-it-all" 		30 August 2018
Gefragt – Gejagt
NDR Fernsehen
Das Erste 		Alexander BommesHolger Waldenberger
"The Giant"
Sebastian Jacoby
"The Quiz God"
Sebastian Klussmann
"The Know-it-all"
Klaus Otto Nagorsnik
"The Librarian"
Grażyna Werner
"The Governess"
Manuel Hobiger
"The Quiz Volcano"
Thomas Kinne
"The Quiz Doctor" 2012–08		8 July 2012
המרדף
HaMirdaf
'		KAN 11Ido RosenblumItai Hermann
Ron Kofman
Nadav Jacobi
Michal Sharon 		2017–0518 May 2017
המרדף עד הבית
HaMirdaf ad HaBait
'		KAN 11Dudu ErezItai Hermann26 March 2020
Jaget
TV 2Sturla Berg-JohansenTrine Aalborg
Jan Arild Breistein
Thomas Kolåsæter		2014–097 September 201411 May 2016
Погоня
Pogoniya
Russia 1Alexander GurevichAlexander Ediger
Yuriy Hashimov
Olga Uspanova
Boris Burda		2012–1117 November 201214 September 2013

Потера
Potera
RTSJovan MemedovićMilorad Milinković
Uroš Đurić
Milica Jokanović
Žarko Stevanović
Slobodan Nešović
Maja Lalić 		2013–1028 October 2013

El Cazador
La 1Ion AramendiErundino Alonso
"The Executioner"
Paz Herrera
"The Professor"
Ruth de Andrés
"The Governess"
Lilit Manukyan
"The Spy" 		10 February 2020
Takip
Kanal DUraz KaygilaroğluMuhsin Divan2014–049 April 201419 January 2015

The ChaseGSN
ABC 		Brooke BurnsMark Labbett
Brad Rutter
James Holzhauer
Ken Jennings 		2013–086 August 2013

Merchandise

A board game based on the show was released in 2012 by Ideal. In 2013, a card game based on the show was released by Ginger Fox.
On 12 December 2012, a version for iOS was released by Barnstorm Games. The app features four chasers and can be played by up to four people, as in the actual show. The only differences between the app and the show are that four choices are presented for questions in the Cash Builder and the Final Chase rounds and that no Final Chase is played if all players are caught in their chases. The app is designed for both iPhones and iPads. An updated version, The Chase: Ultimate Edition, was released in 2017 and features all five chasers and host Walsh.