The National Lottery People's Quiz

Infobox Television
show_name = The National Lottery People's Quiz


country = UK
caption =
format = Quiz
picture_format =
runtime = 55 minutes
creator =
language = English
presenter = Jamie Theakston
starring = William G. Stewart, Myleene Klass and Kate Garraway
channel = BBC One
first_aired = 24 March 2007
last_aired = Present
num_series = 1
num_episodes = 6 (as of 28 April 2007)
producer =
related =
imdb_id =

"The National Lottery People's Quiz", sometimes shortened just to "The People's Quiz", was a quiz show shown on BBC One, usually at the time of 7:35pm on a Saturday. It was hosted by Jamie Theakston.

Auditions

Auditions were held throughout January 2007 all around the UK.

The quiz was open to nearly everyone, in that the only excluded categories were:
*BBC Employees
*Under 16's
*Those with a criminal conviction in the last seven years
*Bankrupts or people with a County Court Judgement in the last five years

Round 1

The first round of the audition consisted of contestants turning up at six major venues in the UK: Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Belfast and London. Contenders had to get ten questions in a row correct to progress to the second round.

Contestants were allowed multiple attempts to qualify but organisational problems meant that this was not always possible at the earlier venues.

Round 2

On the evening of 5 February 2007 all surviving contestants rung up a phone line to receive a randomly selected 20 question quiz. The contestants were split into six categories based on age and sex. The top eight in each category qualified for the final audition round.

Round 3

The 48 survivors turned up for what had been billed as a three day quiz boot camp on 16 February 2007. The contestants were split into a male and female group and further subdivided into three age categories:

*Under 25's
*Over 40's
*Those in between

Each contestant was given a Mastermind style two minute general knowledge round (interrupting the question master was allowed) and each contestant was then summoned back in front of the judging panel to hear of their fate: four in each category went through and four did not.

Audition Controversies

The open auditions were clearly a very ambitious and time-consuming process and teething problems were inevitable. In particular a thread on the Quizzing.co.uk website has led to over 400 posts, many of them from disgruntled contestants.

Complaints ranged from long delays at the early auditions through to being effectively kept in solitary confinement at Pinewood Studios.

tudio phase

Rules of the Game

Ten players compete in each show.

The first round is called "Only the Strong survive" and is played four times to find the four qualifiers for round two.

Each time this game is played the competitors start with one life and are eliminated by getting a question wrong. At the end of the alloted time period - 2 minutes (or 90 seconds in the final show) - all the survivors get an "On the Buzzer" question. A correct answer qualifies a player for round two. A wrong answer to the "On the Buzzer" question also eliminates the player and a new question must be asked.

The Second round is called "Brain Chain"

Here, the four contestants who qualified from "Only the Strong survive" take turns to try and make a chain of questions in 90 seconds. Whoever makes the longest saved chain goes through to the head-to-head play-off called "Do or Die".

The winner of "Brain Chain" selects who s/he thinks will be the weakest competition out of the other nine for the final round. The winner qualifies for The Grand Final, the loser is eliminated from the competition. There are 12 categories on the screen - five of them have a 'Q' hidden behind it and seven do not. The winner of "Brain Chain" starts by picking a category, and then the fastest person to buzz in and get the answer right gets to see if there is a 'Q' behind that category. If there is, the contestant gets the Q and whoever gets three Qs wins and will win their round and qualify for the final. The next week, the eight contestants from the start who didn't play in "Do or Die" are joined by two of the other survivors from the Final Audition Weekend.

Finalists

*Olav Bjortomt.He defeated Amanda 3–0 (6–0 on questions answered) on 21 April 2007 and was the first contestant to go through to the grand final.

*Mark Labbett.He ruthlessly defeated the lovely Danielle Winter-McQue 3–0 (6–0 on questions answered) on 28 April 2007 and was the second contestant to go through to the grand final .

*Mick McCarthy.He defeated Ben Phillips 3–2 (6–6 on questions answered) on 5 May 2007 and was the third contestant to go through to the grand final. With only one question left it was 2–2, and Mick buzzed in a fraction of a second before Ben, getting it right.

*David BuckleHe defeated Lucy 3–2 (9–3 on questions answered) on 19 May 2007 and was the fourth contestant to go through to the grand final. He answered 6 questions correctly before getting a Q. At the end, it was 2–2 and there was one category left. Lucy buzzed in and answered incorrectly, and David then got it right.

*Will CudmoreHe defeated Barbara 3–0 (5–1 on questions answered) on 26 May 2007 and was the firth contestant to go through to the grand final.

*Stephanie BruceShe defeated Martin 3–0 on 2 June 2007 and was the sixth contestant to go through to the final.

*Julia HobbsShe defeated Carol 3–0 on 9 June 2007 and was the seventh contestant to go through to the final.

*Judith SearleShe defeated Cate 3–1 on 16 June 2007 and was the eighth contestent to go through to the final.

*Alan MorganHe was the winner of the People's Quiz Wildcard series on BBC2, taking the last available place at the last available minute.

Final

In the Grand Final only Stephanie, Mark, Mick, and Will respectively qualified from "Only the Strong survive" and into "Brain Chain". Will and Mick both managed to save a chain of zero meaning Mark and Stephanie only needed one to qualify. Stephanie did just that, but Mark managed a score of six giving him an advantage into the final.

Mark and Stephanie went on to battle in the final "Do or Die" round of the series. Stephanie won with three 'Q's to Mark's one, taking home the £200,700 prize money.

Quizmasters

The quiz has three celebrities making up the Quiz Panel: William G. Stewart, Kate Garraway and Myleene Klass.

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/peoplesquiz Official Website]