The Cube is a BAFTA Award–winning British television

British television

Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...

 game show

Game show

A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...

 which first aired on ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 on 22 August 2009. Presented by Phillip Schofield

Phillip Schofield

Phillip Bryan Schofield is an English broadcaster and television personality best known for presenting shows such as This Morning, Dancing on Ice, and various game shows including The Cube.-Early life and career:...

, it offers contestants the chance to win a top prize of £250,000 by completing challenges from within a 4x4x4 metre Perspex cube. The show is based on the idea that even straightforward tasks become extremely challenging when confined and put under pressure in front of a large live studio audience. Once inside contestants can feel both claustrophobic and disorientated. Using "state-of-the-art filming techniques" the show aims to demonstrate the intense anxiety which contestants undergo as they progress through each task. Colin McFarlane

Colin McFarlane

Colin McFarlane is an English actor and voice artist. He has appeared in several TV series, including The Fast Show, Judge John Deed, Jonathan Creek, Randall & Hopkirk , Jeeves and Wooster, Black Books and The Thin Blue Line. He is also known for portraying Police Commissioner Gillian B...

 provides the disembodied voice of The Cube, who explains the rules of the games. in november 2011 they was asking for people to apply on the website by end of december 2011 for series 5 is is said that this should air spring 2012

Format

All of the games take place from inside The Cube. Contestants are set a task to complete which can range from testing their agility to more simple procedures like stopping a stopwatch after 10 seconds. If they successfully complete the task, they will move up the money ladder and closer to the top prize. Each contestant is given nine lives. Each time a contestant fails a game, one life is lost, and the contestant must repeat the game. Any contestant who runs out of lives while trying to win a game loses all of the money he or she accumulated. Contestants may stop after any game and take the money they have won, but once a contestant decides to play, he or she cannot back out until after completing that game. Before each game, there is a short demonstration by "The Body", a faceless female character described as an expert in all the games. Her demonstrations allow the contestant to see how the game is played and formulate a strategy to succeed. Her face has not been seen; her outfit is a metal plate over her face, revealing just shoulder-length hair, and at one time, she lifted part of the mask, revealing her mouth, to demonstrate Drift.

Game	Value
1	£1,000
2	£2,000
3	£10,000
4	£20,000
5	£50,000
6	£100,000
7	£250,000

The Cube offers each contestant two aids, each of which may be used only once. They may use a Simplify, which will make a certain game easier to complete. It remains in effect for all future attempts of the game until the contestant completes it. They also have the aid of a Trial Run, which is only available from the second game onwards. It gives the contestant a chance to attempt the game without any consequences. Even if the contestant completes the game, to advance to the next game, they must complete it again under the usual circumstances. However, if the contestant fails to complete the game, they will not be penalised for it. To assist contestants in making a decision on whether to play a game, the host

Phillip Schofield

Phillip Bryan Schofield is an English broadcaster and television personality best known for presenting shows such as This Morning, Dancing on Ice, and various game shows including The Cube.-Early life and career:...

 can provide the player with statistics about the game they are facing, such as the average number of lives it takes for players to win the game, the percentage of people that completed the game on their first try, or whether one group of people was better at the game than another. With the exception of two episodes, each episode generally features two contestants.

Filming

Objective Productions

Objective Productions

OBJECTIVE PRODUCTIONS is a UK-based television production company, based in London and Glasgow and was founded by Andrew O'Connor and Michael Vine in 1991...

 first approached 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 2008 with the format. It was made into a non-televised pilot

Television pilot

A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

 by the channel, and was hosted by Justin Lee Collins

Justin Lee Collins

Justin Lee Collins, commonly known as JLC, is an award-winning English comedian and television presenter.A Bristolian, he's well known for his strong West Country accent, shaggy appearance and colourful shirts....

. Channel 4 eventually decided not to commission the show because it would have been too expensive. In February 2009, ITV purchased the rights to the show and filming began during April 2009 at Wembley's Fountain Studios. The Cube is one of the first shows to use the game freeze filming technique on a frequent basis, such as when a contestant jumps. Using specially designed cameras, it allows the viewer to see one side of the Cube before the action is frozen, spun to another face of the Cube and then resumed. Slow-motion

Slow motion

Slow motion is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger....

 shots are again common to show action replays of the task a contestant just completed, or the critical moment of a game, to heighten the excitement of whether the contestant will succeed or fail. The show makes extensive use of CGI

Computer-generated imagery

Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...

 to project images onto the walls and ceiling of the Cube, while a screen on the floor is also capable of showing images. These film techniques make the seemingly simple tasks that are put before the contestants seem much more exciting than they would normally be.

Records

In the first series, Jonny Lowery became the first person to reach the final game, having only three lives left. For his final game, he was given a more difficult version of Direction, the first game he faced in The Cube, losing three lives and using his Simplify. In the more difficult version, the path had been narrowed to just 20 centimetres. He decided to leave with £100,000. In the second series, Paul McDonald became the second person to reach the final game, having five lives left. For his final game, he was given a more difficult version of Structure, in which he had to build a construction of blocks within a time limit of twelve seconds, three seconds less than his original attempt. He also decided to leave with £100,000. In the third series, Tom Fletcher

Tom Fletcher

Thomas Michael "Tom" Fletcher is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as one of the lead vocalists and guitarists of English pop rock band McFly, in addition to being the group's founder and principal songwriter...

 of boyband McFly

McFly

McFly are an English pop rock band who first found fame in 2004. The band consists of Tom Fletcher , Danny Jones , Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd . They were signed to the Island Records label from their 2004 launch until December 2007, before creating their own label, Super Records...

 managed to reach the final game, having four lives left. For his final game, he was given a more difficult version of Barrier, in which he had to cross three barriers instead of the original two. He also decided to leave with £100,000.

So far, sixteen contestants have lost all their lives:

• Rhian lost £2,000 on the first episode of Series 1 playing Drop Zone.
• Martin lost £20,000 on the third episode of Series 2 playing Side-Track.
• Alex lost £2,000 on the fifth episode of Series 2 playing Descent.
• Christian lost £20,000 on the eighth episode of Series 2 playing Pinpoint.
• Zoe lost £1,000 on the ninth episode of Series 2 playing Stabilise.
• Dame Kelly Holmes lost £1,000 on the tenth episode of Series 2 playing Gradient.
• Joe Swash
  Joe Swash
  Joseph Adam Swash is an English actor and presenter. He once played Mickey Miller in the British television soap opera EastEnders. He is the older brother of Shana Swash, who played his on-screen younger sister Demi Miller until July 2006. He also won the TV reality show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me...
  
   lost £20,000 on the eleventh episode of Series 2 playing Pinpoint.
• Jennie McAlpine
  Jennie McAlpine
  Jennie Elizabeth McAlpine is a British television actress and comedienne. She is best known for her role as Fiz Stape in the well known British soap opera Coronation Street.-Early life:...
  
   lost £1,000 on the twelfth episode of Series 2 playing Blind-Shot.
• Paul lost £2,000 on the first episode of Series 3 playing new game Vault.
• Aaron lost £2,000 on the fourth episode of Series 3 playing Cylinder.
• Yolanda lost £10,000 on the fifth episode of Series 3 playing Spike.
• Debbie lost £10,000 on the second episode of Series 4 playing Tilt.
• Sarah lost £1,000 on the third episode of Series 4 playing Revolving Shot.
• Jim lost £10,000 on the fourth episode of Series 4 playing Shatter.
• Isaac lost £2,000 on the fifth episode of Series 4 playing Placement.
• Karen lost £20,000 on the fifth episode of Series 4 playing Construction.

Games

The games are placed in the categories by when they were first introduced. If the game has been played at any other levels, the levels they have been played at have been placed in brackets. Currently, there are a total of ninety-one different games that have been played so far. Games featured in the show so far include:

Transmissions

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	22 August 2009	3 October 2009	7
2	19 September 2010	2 January 2011	12
3	3 April 2011	11 June 2011	9
4	30 October 2011	1 January 2012	9
5	2012	2012	TBA

International versions

Country	Name	Host	Channel	Top Prize	Premiere/Air Dates
Germany	The Cube–Besiege den Würfel!	Nazan Eckes Nazan Eckes Nazan Eckes is a German television personality of Turkish descent at the German television channel RTL.-Professional career:...	RTL RTL Television Rtl.de' redirects here. For other uses, see RTL.RTL Television , or simply RTL, is a German commercial television station distributed via cable and satellite along with DVB-T , in larger population centres...	€ Euro The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,... 250,000	29 April 2011
Italy	The Cube - La Sfida	Teo Mammucari	Italia 1 Italia 1 Italia 1 is an Italian commercial television channel on the Mediaset network. It is oriented especially at young people.Italia 1 was launched in January 1982 and, originally, was owned by Rusconi; after a few months, however, due to the aggressive dumping practices of Silvio Berlusconi's rival...	€ Euro The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,... 100,000	7 September 2011
Portugal	O Cubo	Jorge Gabriel Jorge Gabriel Jorge Gabriel Mendes Fialho, simply referred to as Jorge Gabriel, is a Portuguese TV host. The TV shows presented by him included Quem Quer Ser Milionário? , Praça da Alegria, O Preço Certo em Euros , O Cofre and Sabe Mais do...	RTP Rádio e Televisão de Portugal Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, S.A.,commonly known as RTP, is Portugal's public service broadcasting organization. It operates four terrestrial television channels and three national radio channels, as well as several satellite and cable offerings....	€ Euro The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,... 30,000	16 May–11 July 2010
Saudi Arabia	المكعب Al Moukaab	Faisal Al Issa	Saudi TV 1	SR Saudi riyal The Riyal is the currency of Saudi Arabia. It is abbreviated as ر.س or SR . It is subdivided into 100 Halalas . The Saudi Ghirsh is 5 Halalas.-History:... 250,000	24 March–8 July 2010
Ukraine	Куб Kub	Maksim Chmerkovskiy Maksim Chmerkovskiy Maksim Aleksandrovich Chmerkovskiy is a Ukrainian-American Latin Ballroom dance champion, choreographer, and instructor. He is best known as one of the professional dancers on the American television series Dancing with the Stars, on which he first appeared in season two...	СТБ	₴ Ukrainian hryvnia The hryvnia, sometimes hryvnya or grivna ; sign: ₴, code: , has been the national currency of Ukraine since September 2, 1996. The hryvnia is subdivided into 100 kopiyok. In medieval times, it was a currency of Kievan Rus'.... 250,000	21 November 2011
United States	The Cube The Cube (U.S. game show) The Cube is an upcoming American game show based on the hit UK game show under the same name. The pilot episodes are being taped in London on the set of the British version. It was first hinted that Fox would pick up the show, but they later dropped it, only to be picked up by rival network CBS...	Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...	CBS CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...	$500,000	2010 Pilot

• The British version of The Cube is also currently being broadcast in Ireland
  Republic of Ireland
  Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
  
   by TV3, in New Zealand
  New Zealand
  New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
  
   on TV1, and in Australia on the Nine Network
  Nine Network
  The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
  
  . Most versions of The Cube, even those that air outside the UK, are filmed at Fountain Studios in London.

Merchandise

An electronic board game based on the series was made available in stores from November 2010. As of June 2011, the game has been discontinued by most main retailers. The game comes with an electronic handheld system featuring games such as Time Freeze and Stop Zone, as well as plastic and card pieces, red plastic balls and a 7x7x7 plastic cube for playing a series of thirty physical games. Around the time of the release of the board game, a computerised version of the series was made available via the iTunes store for use on the iPod and iPhone. This version features sixteen games from the series: Balance, Cylinder, Descent, Drop Zone, Focus, Multisphere, Perimeter, Precision, Pulse, Quantity, Reaction, Revolution, Shatter, Stabilise, Stop Zone and Time Freeze. An update for the game was made available in January 2011, adding a further free game, Succession, and making four further games available at a cost: Exact, Pathfinder, Totalise and Tower. A second update was made available in March 2011, adding a further free game, Axis, and making four further games available at a cost: Invert, Composure, Calculate and Navigate. Invert and Axis are games that have yet to feature on the actual series. A free online game has also been created, allowing viewers to attempt three games for free. The games that are available are Stop Zone, Cylinder and Multisphere. The player starts with three lives and has three attempts to beat The Cube. Players also have the opportunity to save their high scores in the games and also use Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

to challenge friends.