Delegation (TV)

Delegation is an Irish quiz show, broadcast on RTÉ One, produced by Adare Productions and hosted by Tomás Ó'Brannagain.

Each week, three teams of six players compete to win prizes, including the star prize of a holiday to a destination which at the start of the programme is only known to the viewers.

The studio is very large, and has a large audience presence. The host stands at a podium in the middle, facing the contestants. Each team nominates a player as the team captain, known as the "Delegator". They control the key decisions in the game, choosing players to answer the questions. They stand at their own podium, facing the host. Every other player is seated behind them, at two rows, three in the bottom row, two at the back. Above each team are three giant video screens, which for a lot of the time display the show's logo.

In Round 1, each team is asked a series of questions on various categories. The Delegator in each team is told the category, and then must choose a member of their team who they think will be able to answer the question. There are no penalties for incorrect answers. Once the host moves on to the next team, each video screen displays the number of questions they have answered correctly. At the end of the round, the team with the least number of correct answers is eliminated.

In Round 2, the two remaining teams compete head-to-head in a test of speed. The team with the most correct answers from Round 1 go first, and are asked a series of rapid fire questions. The Delegator is again given the category, and must delegate a team-mate to answer each question. They are being timed for this round, however. They have as much time as they need to get four correct answers. Once this is achieved, the clock is stopped, and their time displayed on their video screen, and on the opposing team's screen as well. Now comes the test of speed. From the point that the clock stopped for the first team, the other team now only have that amount of time to get the same number of correct answers, and the clock begins counting back down to zero. If they run out of time, they lose, and the first team goes through to the final round. Obviously, if they beat the clock, they go through instead.

In the end game, the tables are turned. Now the Delegator must answer the questions themselves. Before the show, each team member, including the Delegator, named a special prize that they would like to win on the show. Each player in turn, ending with the Delegator, names their prize, and must rely on the Delegator to win them that prize by answering a question correctly. Each player is given a choice of three categories, and chooses one which they think the Delegator will know something about. If the Delegator answers correctly the player wins the prize, if they answer incorrectly, they don't. Once this is completed, the destination of the star prize holiday is revealed to the team, and the Delegator is given the category of one final question. They must then decide whether to stick with the prizes already won up to this point, or gamble them all on winning the holiday for all six players to go on. If they choose to gamble, the Delegator nominates a player to answer the final question. If they answer correctly, the team keeps their prizes and also wins the holiday on top of that. If they answer incorrectly, they lose everything.