Fifteen to One
Encyclopedia
Fifteen to One was a popular general knowledge
quiz show
broadcast on Channel 4
in the United Kingdom
. It ran from 4 January 1988 to 19 December 2003, and had a reputation for being one of the toughest quizzes on TV. Throughout the show's run it was presented and produced by William G. Stewart
. Some 30,000 contestants appeared on the programme, which was notable for having very little of the chatting between host and contestant that is often a feature of other television quiz shows.
The basis of the show was devised by John M. Lewis, a former sales manager for British Telecom. He submitted the idea to Regent Productions who developed the programme into a 30 minute format. Originally, there were 20 starting contestants but the figure was cut down to 15 in order to fit the available running time. The number varied in other countries: in Poland
, the number is 10 as the questions are longer in Polish
. “Jeden z dziesięciu”, The Polish version of Fifteen to One, continues to be broadcast on channel TVP (Telewizja Polska) and is firmly established as the channel's top rated quiz show http://www.jedenzdziesieciu.tvp.pl/. Also, the German
version on Sat.1
used 10 contestants. A version of the programme called "Vem vet mest?" (Who knows the most?) began to be transmitted by Sveriges Television in Sweden on 25 August 2008. The Swedish format is transmitted every week day on SVT2 with the Friday edition being a final of the week's top contestants. The Swedish version has 12 contestants.
The Fifteen to One format is sold internationally by DRG-Zeal TV from London
At the start of the grand finale of the 35th and final series, William G. Stewart provided some statistics about the show, stating that nearly 350,000 questions had been asked to 33,975 contestants in a total of 2265 programmes.
lights to represent the lives of the contestant. The numbers were allocated by drawing lots from a bag before videotaping. Upon elimination from the game, a contestant had to sit down and his or her spotlight went out.
A separate lectern was moved in place for the third round, with the semicircle behind it no longer lit.
During the first two rounds, 12 contestants had to be eliminated.
The outcome of Round 1 could vary considerably. Sometimes nobody was dismissed at all, while on other occasions there were as few as five contestants left standing. There was never a case when only three or fewer contestants remained from Round 1 (making Round 2 impossible) although William G. Stewart once jokingly said that, if this happened, he would give a talk on the Parthenon Marbles to fill the time. Stewart is an outspoken supporter of returning the Marbles to Greece, and once presented a Fifteen to One special on the subject.
At this point, each contestant had either 2 or 3 lives remaining. As in Round 1, questions were asked to contestants 1, 2, 3, etc. in turn, with one life lost for an incorrect response. As soon as one player answered correctly, the player could begin nominating – choosing and calling out the number of the next player to face a question. If the nominated player did not give a correct answer, the nominee lost a life and the nominator had to nominate again. A correctly answering nominee became the new nominator. Loss of a contestant's final life removed him or her from the game. Towards the end of the show's run, a new rule forbade contestants from nominating the person who had just nominated them. When only three contestants remained, the first phase of the quiz was over and the programme paused for a commercial break.
Round 2 had no fixed duration or number of questions; it varied depending on how many players survived from Round 1 and how well they performed.
Before the round started, a brief introduction to each of the three players was made by the voice-over, naming occupation and hobbies or interests (the introductions often being lengthened or shortened to accommodate an unusually short or long game).
In the end game, up to 40 questions were asked, with the number of remaining questions displayed at the bottom right hand corner of the televised picture. A wrong answer cost one life (three lost lives spelled elimination, regardless of score), while correct answers scored 10 points. The first question was open to all players to answer on the buzzer. Once one of the players answered three questions correctly, he or she was given the choice to answer the next question or to nominate one of the other two players to answer.
From this point on, after each correct answer, the host asked "Question or nominate?". If a nominated player failed to answer a question correctly, the nominator again had a choice of "Question or nominate?". If a player chose to answer a question himself or herself and failed to answer it correctly, the next question was asked on the buzzer. After two players had been eliminated, the remaining player was asked the remaining questions one by one. Once all 40 questions were asked or the last remaining player lost all of his or her lives, the game was over. The player who survived longest was declared the winner. If two or three players survived through all 40 questions, the player with the top score (regardless of lives left) was the winner. Any lives that remained were added to the winning player's score, with a value of 10 points each.
Round 3 could vary considerably in length. Thus, the programme was structured in such a way that it could be shortened or lengthened easily. For example, if the recording was running short, Stewart could show the finals board to the viewers at the end, or show the trophies for that series. If it were running long, the contestant introductions before Round 3 could be cut short.
In the Grand Final each season, all questions in the final round were asked on the buzzer, until two contestants had lost all their lives. If and when this happened, the remaining questions were asked to the winning contestant in the usual way.
The format of a grand final differed in two ways from the format of a regular episode. Due to the high standard of the competitors, and to allow time for presentation of the trophies, the running time was 45 minutes. Also, in Round 3, after the first few series, all the questions were played on the buzzer. Presumably this was to prevent any individual player from hogging the limited number of questions available.
Presenter William G. Stewart began the show by explaining some statistics about the show, which had run from January 1988. Some 350,000 questions had been asked, with 33,975 contestants in 2265 shows.
Round One:
'(X) down, (Y) to go.' From 24 September 2001 until the show's end on 19 December 2003, this part was added to the catchphrase: 'And those (X) must now leave us.'
During the show's run, X was usually between 2 and 5 and Y was often between 10 and 13 respectively.
'Laura/Philip, please?' 'And they are..../And those eliminated are....'
'And of the remaining contestants....'
'(generally two or three) still have their three lives intact.'
'...only one still has three lives intact.'
'....no one has three lives intact.'
Round Two:
'A number please, (Name)?'
'Again please, (Name)?'
'12 down, 3 to go and after the break....'
'....will be here for the final, do please stay with us.'
Round Three:
'The three surviving contestants in today's 15 to 1 final are....'
'Put your fingers on the buzzers and off we go.'
'Three correct answers, (Name), question or nominate?'
'Fingers back on the buzzers please.'
'Again please, (Name), question or nominate?'
'You have to leave us....' (in early series: 'We have to say goodbye to you').
'There you are, (Name), (score), 10/20/30 for that, (score+10/20/30)....'
'Position number (1-15) on the finals board...'
'(#) is a winning score, no place on the finals board, but go away, come back, and try again. Well done, (Name)!'
'I think I'll see you in the grand final.'
In the Grand Final:
'Let battle commence!'
'(Name), I think Laura has something for you.'
The series prize tended to be a classical artefact (for example a Greek
vase), and was presented to the winning contestant by the regular voice-over artist, Laura Calland (who married Stewart in 1997). Calland's voice-overs were occasionally provided by other presenters, usually Philip Lowrie
and occasionally Sarah Wynter
, but only Calland was seen on screen, when she presented the prize. In later series, the highest scoring person on the finals board also received a minor trophy. Between 1988 and 1990 the original voice-over was Anthony Hyde, although he was never seen on screen, and in the early days William G. Stewart presented the prize himself in the Grand Final. Calland became the regular voice-over artist in 1991 after Anthony Hyde left the series
The grand final of the first series of 2003 saw the only series tie. It was one of only four real ties in the show's history, as normally when contestants finished on equal points, the winner was decided by the usual "remaining lives = 10 extra points each" formula. Only when two contestants were level on both points and lives remaining, would a tie be declared. No provision had been made for a tie breaker so the presenter offered to buy a prize of equal value for the two winners.
. He did this in April 1999 (Series 25). The two final contestants who lost against him in that episode, Martin Penny and Alison Shand, were invited back for the next series even though they had not won, a very rare exception to the rule preventing losers from competing on the show again.
The feat of answering all 40 third round questions correctly was also achieved by Daphne Fowler
in May 2000 (Series 28), except this time she scored 432, having answered a question incorrectly in round 2 of that episode; as with the time Bill McKaig managed his 433 score, Daphne's losing competitors (Don Street and Eric Matthews) in the final of that episode were allowed to try again. Michael Penrice achieved a score of 423 on 30 January 2002 (Series 32), having been beaten to the buzzer for one of the questions at the start of the final. Matti Watton achieved a score of 412, after attempting all 40 questions but incorrectly answering one in the process. Incredibly, this was in the same series as Michael Penrice achieved his 423 score, so a masterful performance was not rewarded with a finals board trophy. Watton did however atone for this by winning the subsequent Grand Final.
The highest number of people to ever go out of the first round is 11, leaving just 4 contestants for Round 2. This happened in September 2000 (Series 29) The lowest number is 0, which also happened on a few occasions, but was very rare, and even in Grand Finals it was rare despite the much higher standard level of competitors, even though the questions weren't thought to be much harder in the Grand Final as opposed to normal heats.
In Series 32, Matti Watton set the record for the highest score in the final of the Grand Final, of 222 (not including the points for the remaining lives). A close second is Nick Terry with 221, set in series 25. He also holds the record for the lowest score in a Grand Final, of 52 in series 26 (September 1999). This came after the other 2 finalists, Eddie Collins and Martin Ewers, had lost all three lives. Terry has four Grand Final titles; however, he has never held a finals board trophy.
In the final series, in late 2003, Gwyneth Welham achieved a perhaps unwanted feat of the highest winning score which failed to make the Grand Final, with the score being 211. Worse, she was told by William G Stewart, as one of his common phrases when a high score had been achieved, "I'll see you in the Grand Final." She was knocked off the Finals Board with 8 shows remaining in the series when Barry Smith scored 232. Wil Ransome and Andrew Dickens were joint 14th, with a score of 221. Their participation in the Grand Final was under threat as a result, despite a very high score. Two scores of 201 had also been posted in the series. Andrew Auger's score of 203 failed to make the Grand Final in series 27 (early 2000), as did Nick Terry's and Alan Gibbs' scores of 202 in series 27 and 32 respectively. Dennis Collinson's score of 201 in series 25 (1999), which he achieved in the very first episode of the series, failed to make the Grand Final when his name was displaced from the board on the very last episode before the Grand Final.
Other arguably dubious honours attained in Fifteen to One are: lowest ever winning score (10, scored by Milo First in series 1), most appearances without winning either trophy (14, by Chris Russon from series 4 to series 12); also, Paul Hillman was the only Fifteen to One champion (he won the series 24 grand final) to win only once.
In the Grand Final, several people have achieved an excellent feat of not getting a question wrong in the first two rounds. People who have done this are Mike Kirby (series 7), Stanley Miller (series 13), Leslie Booth (series 14), Matti Watton (series' 28 & 29), Olav Bjortomt
(series 32) and Debra Carr (series 33). Only 3 of them went on to win the Grand Final however
The lowest score to lift the finals board trophy is 202, set by Thomas Dyer in series 4. In the same series, a score of 111 made the Grand Final (although a four-way play-off was required).
The rules of the series also state that if a losing contestant achieves a score that would otherwise have given them a place in a Grand Final, they are given a second chance. In 2001, two contestants achieved scores of 272 (the highest losing score in the series' history) before going out on the penultimate question. The first, Liam Maxwell, a teacher from Roslea, County Fermanagh appeared in the next series Grand Final with a score of 223 (series 30). The second, Alan Gibbs achieved a winning score of 202 when he returned a year later in series 32, but failed to make the Grand Final after his name was displaced from the board with three episodes remaining.
The show somewhat unexpectedly hit the headlines in 1998 when one of its former contestants, Trevor Montague
, was sued by Regent Productions. Montague broke the rule which states that losers on the programme cannot take part again. Having been knocked out in 1989, he entered again in 1992 under the name Steve Romana. When a viewer saw a repeat of the series on Challenge TV, they noticed the same appearance between Montague and "Steve Romana" and contacted Channel 4
.
, South London
. Only in the first few series was there a live audience. William G. Stewart
decided to abolish the studio audience after audience members audibly whispered answers to questions on too many occasions. After that, the audience sounds were pre-recorded, and the only real audience were any contestants who had already been knocked out and one guest per contestant (for the last few series however the contestants' guests were also barred from the studio, due to a change in the layout of the filming and production equipment).
broadcast the one and only schools version of the show, in which 108 schools from across the UK took part. Instead of 15 individuals, each episode featured 3 teams of 5 players per school. Round 1 consisted of questions to each player in turn (no conferring) worth 10 points each. In round 2, each player was asked further questions worth 10 points each if they answered themselves, or 5 points if they opted to confer with team-mates. In the final buzzer round, the captain of each school went head-to-head over 30 questions. The "three lives" rule was in play in the final round only. The 9 highest-scoring schools played in 3 semi-final episodes.
Series champions were Audenshaw School
, from Audenshaw
in Tameside
, who claimed victory after a hard-fought Grand Final episode. Audenshaw scored 270 points (plus a nominal 20 for 2 remaining lives) and triumphed over Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School
from Elstree
in Hertfordshire
(250 points), and Westbourne High School from Ipswich
(245 points).
* Montague lost his prize in a court case. William G. Stewart was tipped off by an eagle-eyed viewer that Montague had previously appeared on the programme in disguise and under a different name to avoid the programme's strict rules that losing players could not re-enter unless invited.
, who later won the top prize on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
.
In the grand final of series 29 shown in December 2000 (won by Matti Watton), one contestant, who was standing at position 4, could not be identified for legal reasons, so all traces of this contestant participating in the show had to be removed. In round one, the contestant's two questions were edited out, and the camera jumped from contestant 3 to 5. The contestant was eliminated in the first round, so the episode progressed as normal.
General knowledge
General knowledge has been defined by differential psychologists as referring to 'culturally valued knowledge communicated by a range of non-specialist media' General knowledge therefore encompasses a wide range of knowledge domains...
quiz show
Quiz Show
Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical drama film produced and directed by Robert Redford. Adapted by Paul Attanasio from Richard Goodwin's memoir Remembering America, the film is based upon the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s...
broadcast on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It ran from 4 January 1988 to 19 December 2003, and had a reputation for being one of the toughest quizzes on TV. Throughout the show's run it was presented and produced by William G. Stewart
William G. Stewart
William Gladstone Stewart is an English television producer and director of comedy and game shows, now best known as the former presenter of the Channel 4 quiz show Fifteen to One.-Career:...
. Some 30,000 contestants appeared on the programme, which was notable for having very little of the chatting between host and contestant that is often a feature of other television quiz shows.
The basis of the show was devised by John M. Lewis, a former sales manager for British Telecom. He submitted the idea to Regent Productions who developed the programme into a 30 minute format. Originally, there were 20 starting contestants but the figure was cut down to 15 in order to fit the available running time. The number varied in other countries: in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, the number is 10 as the questions are longer in Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
. “Jeden z dziesięciu”, The Polish version of Fifteen to One, continues to be broadcast on channel TVP (Telewizja Polska) and is firmly established as the channel's top rated quiz show http://www.jedenzdziesieciu.tvp.pl/. Also, the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
version on Sat.1
Sat.1
Sat.1 is a privately owned German television broadcasting station. Sat.1 was the first privately owned television broadcasting station in Germany, having started one day before RTL Television....
used 10 contestants. A version of the programme called "Vem vet mest?" (Who knows the most?) began to be transmitted by Sveriges Television in Sweden on 25 August 2008. The Swedish format is transmitted every week day on SVT2 with the Friday edition being a final of the week's top contestants. The Swedish version has 12 contestants.
The Fifteen to One format is sold internationally by DRG-Zeal TV from London
At the start of the grand finale of the 35th and final series, William G. Stewart provided some statistics about the show, stating that nearly 350,000 questions had been asked to 33,975 contestants in a total of 2265 programmes.
Layout
The 15 contestants stood in a semicircle, each behind a lectern with a number from 1 to 15. Though the design varied slightly over the years, the essential elements were a number on the front of the lectern, a name badge either on top of the lectern or worn by the contestant, and three green neonNeon
Neon is the chemical element that has the symbol Ne and an atomic number of 10. Although a very common element in the universe, it is rare on Earth. A colorless, inert noble gas under standard conditions, neon gives a distinct reddish-orange glow when used in either low-voltage neon glow lamps or...
lights to represent the lives of the contestant. The numbers were allocated by drawing lots from a bag before videotaping. Upon elimination from the game, a contestant had to sit down and his or her spotlight went out.
A separate lectern was moved in place for the third round, with the semicircle behind it no longer lit.
During the first two rounds, 12 contestants had to be eliminated.
Round 1
Each of the 15 numbered contestants began the quiz with three 'lives'. Each contestant was asked a general-knowledge question in numerical order and given three seconds to answer. If the correct answer was not given, the contestant lost one of the three lives. After all of the 15 contestants were asked a question, another round of questioning began in the same manner. Any player who failed to answer the first question correctly and also failed the second question lost both remaining lives and was out of the game. Stewart's succinct explanation of round 1 was "Two questions each: one correct answer from you to survive."The outcome of Round 1 could vary considerably. Sometimes nobody was dismissed at all, while on other occasions there were as few as five contestants left standing. There was never a case when only three or fewer contestants remained from Round 1 (making Round 2 impossible) although William G. Stewart once jokingly said that, if this happened, he would give a talk on the Parthenon Marbles to fill the time. Stewart is an outspoken supporter of returning the Marbles to Greece, and once presented a Fifteen to One special on the subject.
Round 2
Round 2 had no fixed duration or number of questions; it varied depending on how many players survived from Round 1 and how well they performed.
Round 3
The end game (usually called "the final") was played for points. Before it began in earnest, the three contestants were restored to the full set of three lives; also, after the first few series, the number of lives that each player had remaining at the end of Round 2 also becomes part of the player's score. Thus, for example, those contestants who had three lives left started the second phase with a score of three points. This serves to give players who had not lost a life in the first phase of the game a small advantage.Before the round started, a brief introduction to each of the three players was made by the voice-over, naming occupation and hobbies or interests (the introductions often being lengthened or shortened to accommodate an unusually short or long game).
In the end game, up to 40 questions were asked, with the number of remaining questions displayed at the bottom right hand corner of the televised picture. A wrong answer cost one life (three lost lives spelled elimination, regardless of score), while correct answers scored 10 points. The first question was open to all players to answer on the buzzer. Once one of the players answered three questions correctly, he or she was given the choice to answer the next question or to nominate one of the other two players to answer.
From this point on, after each correct answer, the host asked "Question or nominate?". If a nominated player failed to answer a question correctly, the nominator again had a choice of "Question or nominate?". If a player chose to answer a question himself or herself and failed to answer it correctly, the next question was asked on the buzzer. After two players had been eliminated, the remaining player was asked the remaining questions one by one. Once all 40 questions were asked or the last remaining player lost all of his or her lives, the game was over. The player who survived longest was declared the winner. If two or three players survived through all 40 questions, the player with the top score (regardless of lives left) was the winner. Any lives that remained were added to the winning player's score, with a value of 10 points each.
Round 3 could vary considerably in length. Thus, the programme was structured in such a way that it could be shortened or lengthened easily. For example, if the recording was running short, Stewart could show the finals board to the viewers at the end, or show the trophies for that series. If it were running long, the contestant introductions before Round 3 could be cut short.
In the Grand Final each season, all questions in the final round were asked on the buzzer, until two contestants had lost all their lives. If and when this happened, the remaining questions were asked to the winning contestant in the usual way.
Finals Board
The Finals Board was the table of the fifteen highest scoring winners so far in that series. It started empty and as winners got sufficiently high scores they would be displayed on it: the first fifteen winners of a series were therefore guaranteed a slot on the board. If someone tied with the person in 15th place, both would be removed from the board and displayed to one side, with position 15 left empty.Grand final
At the end of the series, those people whose names remained on the finals board competed in the grand final. An unscreened playoff took place immediately before the Grand Final if there were still people on the sidelines tied for 15th place.The format of a grand final differed in two ways from the format of a regular episode. Due to the high standard of the competitors, and to allow time for presentation of the trophies, the running time was 45 minutes. Also, in Round 3, after the first few series, all the questions were played on the buzzer. Presumably this was to prevent any individual player from hogging the limited number of questions available.
Final Episode
The Grand Final of series 35 of Fifteen to One, which originally aired on December 19, 2003, was the last ever edition of the quiz. It was won by John Harrison, who also won the finals board trophy of that series with a score of 291.Presenter William G. Stewart began the show by explaining some statistics about the show, which had run from January 1988. Some 350,000 questions had been asked, with 33,975 contestants in 2265 shows.
Notable catch phrases
The programme over the 16 years it was shown was also noted for a number of famous catch phrases:Round One:
'(X) down, (Y) to go.' From 24 September 2001 until the show's end on 19 December 2003, this part was added to the catchphrase: 'And those (X) must now leave us.'
During the show's run, X was usually between 2 and 5 and Y was often between 10 and 13 respectively.
'Laura/Philip, please?' 'And they are..../And those eliminated are....'
'And of the remaining contestants....'
'(generally two or three) still have their three lives intact.'
'...only one still has three lives intact.'
'....no one has three lives intact.'
Round Two:
'A number please, (Name)?'
'Again please, (Name)?'
'12 down, 3 to go and after the break....'
'....will be here for the final, do please stay with us.'
Round Three:
'The three surviving contestants in today's 15 to 1 final are....'
'Put your fingers on the buzzers and off we go.'
'Three correct answers, (Name), question or nominate?'
'Fingers back on the buzzers please.'
'Again please, (Name), question or nominate?'
'You have to leave us....' (in early series: 'We have to say goodbye to you').
'There you are, (Name), (score), 10/20/30 for that, (score+10/20/30)....'
'Position number (1-15) on the finals board...'
'(#) is a winning score, no place on the finals board, but go away, come back, and try again. Well done, (Name)!'
'I think I'll see you in the grand final.'
In the Grand Final:
'Let battle commence!'
'(Name), I think Laura has something for you.'
Prizes
There was no actual prize for winning an individual episode. This meant that a lot of players would win one of the daily shows but would not post a winning score to trouble the high score board for a place in the grand final. All winning players were invited back for the next series. Some players became so regular that in the last few series Grand Final winners would not get such an invitation. Initially, players who did not win were generally not permitted to compete again; this rule applied even if they had been previous winners. However, in the year 2000, the rule was altered to allow players who had previously played a while ago and had not got as far as the grand final to apply to be on the show again. See discussion notes for an example.The series prize tended to be a classical artefact (for example a Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
vase), and was presented to the winning contestant by the regular voice-over artist, Laura Calland (who married Stewart in 1997). Calland's voice-overs were occasionally provided by other presenters, usually Philip Lowrie
Philip Lowrie
Colin Philip Lowrie is an English television actor. He played Dennis Tanner, the son of Elsie Tanner in Coronation Street, from 1960 until 1968. On 25 January 2011, it was announced that he would return to the role, reappearing on screen later in the year...
and occasionally Sarah Wynter
Sarah Wynter
Sarah Wynter is an Australian actress, most widely known for her roles on American television – such as Kate Warner on the television drama 24 and as Beth on Windfall.-Personal life:...
, but only Calland was seen on screen, when she presented the prize. In later series, the highest scoring person on the finals board also received a minor trophy. Between 1988 and 1990 the original voice-over was Anthony Hyde, although he was never seen on screen, and in the early days William G. Stewart presented the prize himself in the Grand Final. Calland became the regular voice-over artist in 1991 after Anthony Hyde left the series
The grand final of the first series of 2003 saw the only series tie. It was one of only four real ties in the show's history, as normally when contestants finished on equal points, the winner was decided by the usual "remaining lives = 10 extra points each" formula. Only when two contestants were level on both points and lives remaining, would a tie be declared. No provision had been made for a tie breaker so the presenter offered to buy a prize of equal value for the two winners.
Records
A maximum end game score of 433 could be achieved if a player started the second phase with all three lives intact and correctly answered all 40 questions. The player scored 3 points for retaining 3 lives from the first two rounds, 400 points for answering 40 questions correctly and 30 points for retaining 3 lives from the end game. The maximum score was achieved only once by Bill McKaig, a minister from GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. He did this in April 1999 (Series 25). The two final contestants who lost against him in that episode, Martin Penny and Alison Shand, were invited back for the next series even though they had not won, a very rare exception to the rule preventing losers from competing on the show again.
The feat of answering all 40 third round questions correctly was also achieved by Daphne Fowler
Daphne Fowler
Daphne Fowler born January 1939 in Warwick, Warwickshire, England, is a British retired bank secretary and game show champion who currently resides in Weston-super-Mare. Since taking early retirement, she has taken part in many televised game shows...
in May 2000 (Series 28), except this time she scored 432, having answered a question incorrectly in round 2 of that episode; as with the time Bill McKaig managed his 433 score, Daphne's losing competitors (Don Street and Eric Matthews) in the final of that episode were allowed to try again. Michael Penrice achieved a score of 423 on 30 January 2002 (Series 32), having been beaten to the buzzer for one of the questions at the start of the final. Matti Watton achieved a score of 412, after attempting all 40 questions but incorrectly answering one in the process. Incredibly, this was in the same series as Michael Penrice achieved his 423 score, so a masterful performance was not rewarded with a finals board trophy. Watton did however atone for this by winning the subsequent Grand Final.
The highest number of people to ever go out of the first round is 11, leaving just 4 contestants for Round 2. This happened in September 2000 (Series 29) The lowest number is 0, which also happened on a few occasions, but was very rare, and even in Grand Finals it was rare despite the much higher standard level of competitors, even though the questions weren't thought to be much harder in the Grand Final as opposed to normal heats.
In Series 32, Matti Watton set the record for the highest score in the final of the Grand Final, of 222 (not including the points for the remaining lives). A close second is Nick Terry with 221, set in series 25. He also holds the record for the lowest score in a Grand Final, of 52 in series 26 (September 1999). This came after the other 2 finalists, Eddie Collins and Martin Ewers, had lost all three lives. Terry has four Grand Final titles; however, he has never held a finals board trophy.
In the final series, in late 2003, Gwyneth Welham achieved a perhaps unwanted feat of the highest winning score which failed to make the Grand Final, with the score being 211. Worse, she was told by William G Stewart, as one of his common phrases when a high score had been achieved, "I'll see you in the Grand Final." She was knocked off the Finals Board with 8 shows remaining in the series when Barry Smith scored 232. Wil Ransome and Andrew Dickens were joint 14th, with a score of 221. Their participation in the Grand Final was under threat as a result, despite a very high score. Two scores of 201 had also been posted in the series. Andrew Auger's score of 203 failed to make the Grand Final in series 27 (early 2000), as did Nick Terry's and Alan Gibbs' scores of 202 in series 27 and 32 respectively. Dennis Collinson's score of 201 in series 25 (1999), which he achieved in the very first episode of the series, failed to make the Grand Final when his name was displaced from the board on the very last episode before the Grand Final.
Other arguably dubious honours attained in Fifteen to One are: lowest ever winning score (10, scored by Milo First in series 1), most appearances without winning either trophy (14, by Chris Russon from series 4 to series 12); also, Paul Hillman was the only Fifteen to One champion (he won the series 24 grand final) to win only once.
In the Grand Final, several people have achieved an excellent feat of not getting a question wrong in the first two rounds. People who have done this are Mike Kirby (series 7), Stanley Miller (series 13), Leslie Booth (series 14), Matti Watton (series' 28 & 29), Olav Bjortomt
Olav Bjortomt
Stein Olav Bjortomt is an England international quiz player. He was the winner of the inaugural 2003 individual World Quizzing Championships, in the absence of Kevin Ashman when it was a fledgling event with then only 45 participants...
(series 32) and Debra Carr (series 33). Only 3 of them went on to win the Grand Final however
The lowest score to lift the finals board trophy is 202, set by Thomas Dyer in series 4. In the same series, a score of 111 made the Grand Final (although a four-way play-off was required).
The rules of the series also state that if a losing contestant achieves a score that would otherwise have given them a place in a Grand Final, they are given a second chance. In 2001, two contestants achieved scores of 272 (the highest losing score in the series' history) before going out on the penultimate question. The first, Liam Maxwell, a teacher from Roslea, County Fermanagh appeared in the next series Grand Final with a score of 223 (series 30). The second, Alan Gibbs achieved a winning score of 202 when he returned a year later in series 32, but failed to make the Grand Final after his name was displaced from the board with three episodes remaining.
Trevor Montague
Trevor Montague
Trevor Howard Montague is a British author and sports and fitness enthusiast who compiles books of facts. Best known for A to Z of Almost Everything, he has since compiled A to Z of Sport and A to Z of Britain And Ireland....
, was sued by Regent Productions. Montague broke the rule which states that losers on the programme cannot take part again. Having been knocked out in 1989, he entered again in 1992 under the name Steve Romana. When a viewer saw a repeat of the series on Challenge TV, they noticed the same appearance between Montague and "Steve Romana" and contacted Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
.
Behind the Scenes
The shows were filmed at Capital Studios in WandsworthLondon Borough of Wandsworth
The London Borough of Wandsworth is a London borough in southwest London, England, and forms part of Inner London.-History:The borough was formed in 1965 from the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea and much of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth, but...
, South London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Only in the first few series was there a live audience. William G. Stewart
William G. Stewart
William Gladstone Stewart is an English television producer and director of comedy and game shows, now best known as the former presenter of the Channel 4 quiz show Fifteen to One.-Career:...
decided to abolish the studio audience after audience members audibly whispered answers to questions on too many occasions. After that, the audience sounds were pre-recorded, and the only real audience were any contestants who had already been knocked out and one guest per contestant (for the last few series however the contestants' guests were also barred from the studio, due to a change in the layout of the filming and production equipment).
Schools Series
In the summer of 1999, Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
broadcast the one and only schools version of the show, in which 108 schools from across the UK took part. Instead of 15 individuals, each episode featured 3 teams of 5 players per school. Round 1 consisted of questions to each player in turn (no conferring) worth 10 points each. In round 2, each player was asked further questions worth 10 points each if they answered themselves, or 5 points if they opted to confer with team-mates. In the final buzzer round, the captain of each school went head-to-head over 30 questions. The "three lives" rule was in play in the final round only. The 9 highest-scoring schools played in 3 semi-final episodes.
Series champions were Audenshaw School
Audenshaw School
Audenshaw School is a male-only secondary school in Audenshaw, Greater Manchester, England, established in 1932 as Audenshaw Grammar School. An adjoining co-educational sixth form college was opened in 1997, the same year the school was granted foundation school status...
, from Audenshaw
Audenshaw
Audenshaw is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It is located on the east side of the River Tame, along the course of both the M60 motorway and the Ashton Canal, southwest of Ashton-under-Lyne and east of the city of Manchester...
in Tameside
Tameside
The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after the River Tame which flows through the borough and spans the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge. Its western...
, who claimed victory after a hard-fought Grand Final episode. Audenshaw scored 270 points (plus a nominal 20 for 2 remaining lives) and triumphed over Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School
Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School
The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School is a British independent school for boys aged 4–19. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and of the Haileybury Group....
from Elstree
Elstree
Elstree is a village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire on the A5 road, about 10 miles north of London. In 2001, its population was 4,765, and forms part of the civil parish of Elstree and Borehamwood, originally known simply as Elstree....
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
(250 points), and Westbourne High School from Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
(245 points).
Winners of Fifteen to One
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
||
| Kevin Ashman Kevin Ashman from Winchester, Hampshire in England is one of the world's most successful quiz players and since 2002 a professional quizzer, an Egghead since 2003... |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
||
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
||
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
||
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
||
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
||
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
||
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
||
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
||
| Trevor Montague Trevor Howard Montague is a British author and sports and fitness enthusiast who compiles books of facts. Best known for A to Z of Almost Everything, he has since compiled A to Z of Sport and A to Z of Britain And Ireland.... * |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
||
| |
|
|
||
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
||
| |
|
|
||
| |
|
|
|
|
| Schools Series | Audenshaw School Audenshaw School is a male-only secondary school in Audenshaw, Greater Manchester, England, established in 1932 as Audenshaw Grammar School. An adjoining co-educational sixth form college was opened in 1997, the same year the school was granted foundation school status... |
Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution, is a Grammar School in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Locally referred to as Inst, the school educates boys from ages 11–18... |
||
| |
|
|
||
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Daphne Fowler Daphne Fowler born January 1939 in Warwick, Warwickshire, England, is a British retired bank secretary and game show champion who currently resides in Weston-super-Mare. Since taking early retirement, she has taken part in many televised game shows... |
|
||
| |
|
|
||
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
||
| Olav Bjortomt Stein Olav Bjortomt is an England international quiz player. He was the winner of the inaugural 2003 individual World Quizzing Championships, in the absence of Kevin Ashman when it was a fledgling event with then only 45 participants... |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
||
| |
Robert Waller (pundit) Robert Waller is a British election expert, author, teacher, and former opinion pollster. His best known published work is The Almanac of British Politics , a guide to the voting patterns of all United Kingdom parliamentary constituencies.Education and CareerEducated at Buxton College secondary... |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Famous Episodes
In one show, in the 15th series in 1995, William G. Stewart famously dropped his cards whilst explaining the rules of the first round. The questions had to be wasted. A notable contestant on this show, and clearly seen in the outtake as he was standing at position 7, was Ingram WilcoxIngram Wilcox
Ingram Wilcox is a British quiz enthusiast who is best known for becoming the fifth person to win one million pounds on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the United Kingdom on September 23, 2006. When he reached the million-pound question, he had already used up all his lifelines...
, who later won the top prize on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (UK game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a British television quiz show which offers a maximum cash prize of one million pounds for correctly answering successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty...
.
In the grand final of series 29 shown in December 2000 (won by Matti Watton), one contestant, who was standing at position 4, could not be identified for legal reasons, so all traces of this contestant participating in the show had to be removed. In round one, the contestant's two questions were edited out, and the camera jumped from contestant 3 to 5. The contestant was eliminated in the first round, so the episode progressed as normal.
Transmissions
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
External links
- Fifteen to One at BFI