Weakest link currently

Some of you will not be sure what the weakest link is or what the concept of the game is it is pretty simple The game begins with a team of nine contestants, who take turns answering general knowledge questions within a time limit to create chains of nine correct answers in a row. At the end of each round, the players then vote one contestant, "the weakest link", out of the game. After two players are left, they play in a head-to-head penalty shootout format, with five questions asked to each contestant in turn, to determine the winner.

The first original episode was broadcast on 14 August 2000. The show was presented by Anne Robinson and narrated by Jon Briggs. It ran in different variations, originally as a daytime series but also at primetime and with celebrity contestants playing for charity with a modified set and format. The format has since been produced around the world, most notably in the United States, where Robinson was the original presenter.

On 22 April 2011, Anne Robinson announced that she would end her role as the quiz show's presenter by the time her contract would expire as she had served longer than she had originally intended. The original run ended on 31 March 2012 with a 1,693rd episode.

In November 2017, Weakest Link returned for a celebrity Children in Need edition, marking the 1,694th (and also last-ever) episode of the programme. The 40-minute edition aired on 17 November 2017 on BBC Two at 10pm GMT.

The game show was very popular due to the suspense and sheer drama. In comparison the weakest link has had 1,693 episodes while the popular quiz program the chase has 910.

Special editions[edit]
After the huge success of the show in its early evening slot on BBC Two, a prime-time edition was shown on BBC One, usually broadcast on Wednesday evenings.

Originally, Weakest Link: Champions League, which featured 8 players who had won games on the daytime edition, battled off once again for £20,000 (with a money tree of £50-£100-£200-£500-£1,000-£1,500-£2,000-£2,500; with the 7th round being a double round for £5,000). The set was slightly altered, with electronic podiums being installed, as well as the adding of a studio audience. The Champions format was not successful, and instead new players competed for the money. A few months later, the contestants were cut down to seven, as well as the time from 45 min to 30, however, the prize money remained the same (with a money tree of £50-£100-£250-£1,000-£1,750-£2,500; the 6th round being a triple round for £7,500).

After the 7-player edition, the studio was revamped once again to add 2 more podiums, and the potential prize money was raised to £50,000. Non-celebrities played on the show at first, however, at present, the primetime version features celebrities playing for charity. Although Briggs and Robinson state that 8 players will leave with nothing, normally the losing celebrities receive a "house" amount to give to their chosen charity[citation needed], as well as their own fee for appearing on the show[citation needed]. In some celebrity editions, two celebrities have represented one position in the game, with the two conferring before giving their answer. There have also been several editions featuring entirely celebrity couples. A Christmas edition of the programme was also aired in some years. Some contestants, such as Christopher Biggins, Peter Duncan and Basil Brush, have appeared several times. A puppet edition also aired, which included a Robinson puppet introducing the show before twelve famous puppets played for charity.

The daytime version has also seen its share of variance, as was the case in 2 particular episodes. An April Fools' Day show which aired in 2003 featured Robinson being strangely and uncharacteristically nice to the contestants and abandoning her traditional black wardrobe in favour of a metallic pink overcoat. The nice nature of the episode even extended to the narrator - with the normally stern narrator, being an excited and optimistic in his narration. However, Anne did not remain kind to the contestants for the entire episode, resuming her old behaviour after declaring the winner and contestants as "so stupid".

Another variant of the daytime show was the 1,000th episode, complete with an audience, a departure from the normally spectator-free background. Fan-favourites played again for £10,000, and some previous contestants also sat in the audience. The show's first winner, David Bloomfield was one of the returning contestants, and was asked the question: If there have been 1,000 episodes of The Weakest Link, each with 9 players, how many contestants in total have appeared on the show? He answered the question correctly (9,000) but banked prior to it being asked. He did not win any money on the 1,000th episode, and was voted off in only the 3rd round, despite having been the strongest link in the first two rounds. In the end, Miss Evans (who had previously appeared on the Strong Women special but had lost out to curate Emma Langley) defeated Basil Brush, winning £2,710, which she split with her co-finalist to give to charity. Robinson then announced that a bonus of £1,000 would be added to the final total, as it was the 1,000th episode, resulting in a final total of £3,710, or both contestants receiving £1,855 each. It also marked the first time that Anne Robinson did not say the phrase "...you leave with nothing." to the losing contestant.

The final episode[edit]
The 1,693rd episode was titled "You are The Weakest Link - Goodbye" and aired on BBC One on 31 March 2012. Filming for the final original edition took place on 11 December 2011. It was the 1,693rd edition of Weakest Link in the United Kingdom. The ending of the show was the only special part to the last edition.

A normal daytime edition of the show was made, with some of Anne's favourite contestants from over the years taking part, and with no audience present during filming or changes to the money tree (see above). The first round of questions was notably different and was mainly about Weakest Link and the host, Anne Robinson. The last question asked was "If the Roman numeral 'X' is halved, the result can be represented by which other Roman numeral?", the answer being "V". The last UK winner was Archie Bland, the editor of The Independent newspaper's Sat edition, that won £2,090.

A short montage of clips from the show was shown at the end of the game. After saying goodbye, all of the lights turned off with Anne being the only person left in the studio. The programme was eventually replaced by the Alexander Armstrong-fronted Pointless as the big BBC teatime quiz (it had aired on the BBC for some years previously).