The new show will hit UK TV screens this year and will fast-track contestants to the hot seat of the TV show that took the world by storm.
Who wants to be a Millionaire? Few people would probably answer no to that question. This is what has ensured the enduring success of the TV show which has been beamed into living rooms around the world and set hearts racing. The possibility that it could be you or your friend who defies the question master and makes off with the fortune has always been its appeal. Fans of the show have seen the format change over the years but the way to get to be asked the questions by the quizmaster is known as Fastest Finger First.
The Fastest Finger First show is now set to offer new ways to get to the famous Millionaire chair. The aim is to win a place on the new series of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Five contestants will take it, in turn, to play their way up a ladder of questions. The two players with the highest score will go head-to-head to see who has the fastest finger. At the end of the episode, one player will be fast-tracked into the Millionaire chair to face Jeremy Clarkson and get the chance to play for the million pounds. The show is being produced by Northern Ireland based Stellify Media. Broadcaster Anita Rani from BBC Woman's Hour and Country File will be asking the questions.
When Who Wants to Be a Millionaire launched back in 1998 the producers probably didn't envisage that it would still be captivating audiences 24 years later. The original series hosted by Chris Tarrant ran for a total of 592 episodes with his last show airing in 2014. The format was created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehall and Steven Knight who had been responsible for producing promotional quiz games for Tarrant on his Capital Radio Breakfast Show. Millionaire went on to be aired in over 100 countries globally with country-specific versions of the show being created in Australia, India, the USA, and Germany, to name but a few.
Millionaire became the franchise that everyone wanted to have a part of. In the early 2000s, UK brands were keen to run Who Wants to Be a Millionaire promotion and to be associated with the success of the show. Retailing giant Tesco offered its customers the chance to win a trip to a screening of the show and take part in the Fastest Finger First element of the game. Three board game versions of the UK show have been released. There are video game versions, and the best slots sites, like CasinoLab, also feature Who Wants to Be a Millionaire games.
In 2008 Danny Boyle made Slumdog Millionaire, a film that won eight Academy Awards. The story was loosely based on the book Q and A by Indian author Vikas Swarup and shows a young man competing in the Indian version of the show. He was accused of cheating but could prove his innocence.
After fifteen years hosting the show Tarrant announced that he would be retiring. ITV then axed the show from its schedules. His famous line 'Is that your final answer?" is embedded in our collective memory together with the options to "Phone a Friend" or "Ask the Audience". While the viewing figures had dropped off towards the end, celebrity editions maintained the popularity of the show.
In 2018 ITV revived the show for one series to commemorate its 20th anniversary. This time it was Jeremy Clarkson in the quizmaster's chair. Three shows were commissioned and drew significant audience numbers of over 5 million viewers. In a time of fragmented viewing, 29% of the total TV audience is significant. Those three shows morphed into several new series, the latest one to be aired featured celebrities playing for charities. The next series will feature contestants from Fastest Finger First.
