The Chase is a British television quiz show broadcast on ITV and hosted by Bradley Walsh. Contestants play against a professional quizzer, known as the "chaser", who attempts to prevent them from winning a cash prize determined by the amount of questions get right and the choices.
A brief description[]
There are six chasers in total who are Mark Labbett, Shaun Wallace, Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha, Jenny Ryan, and Darrah Ennis. Mark Labbett and Shaun Wallace have both been chasers since the start of the program, while Anne Hegerty joined in series 2,Paul Sinha in series 4, Jenny Ryan in series 9 and Darrah Ennis in series 13. With some exceptions for special episodes, although only one chaser participates in any given episode.
A team of four contestants individually attempt to amass as much money as possible, which is later added to a prize fund if the contestant survives their chase. The chaser must attempt to catch each contestant during their chase, eliminating that person from the game and preventing the money from being added to the collective prize fund. In the individual chase, the player must choose between a higher offer, their earned money, and a lower offer. Later, in the final round, contestants who survived their chases play collectively as a team against the chaser for an equal share of the prize fund.
With a regular audience of three to five million, The Chase is one of ITV's most successful daytime shows ever. The show has been nominated six times at the National Television Awards, winning in 2016, 2017 and 2019. It was also nominated for the inaugural Best Daytime award at the 2021 British Academy Television Awards. Additionally, The Chase has become a successful international franchise: regional versions have been made in Australia, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Israel, Norway, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Turkey and the United States. Labbett and Hegerty feature as chasers on the Australian version (with Wallace appearing as a "Guest Chaser" in 2018). Labbett featured as the sole chaser on the 2013–2015 American version, and joined the 2021 American version during its second season.
Gameplay[]
Cash Builder and Head-to-Head rounds[]
Each contestant individually attempts to accumulate money for the team's prize fund through two rounds. In the first round, known as the "Cash Builder", the contestant answers as many questions as they can within one minute, with each correct answer worth £1,000 and no penalty for incorrect answers or passes. After completing the Cash Builder, the contestant enters the "Head-to-Head" round, attempting to move the money down to the bottom of a seven-step board and into the team's prize fund ("home") without being caught by the chaser. The board had eight steps in the first series.
The contestant is given three options by the Chaser at the start of the Head-to-Head round; play for the money earned in the Cash Builder and start three steps down the board (requiring five correct answers to reach home), accept a higher offer and start two steps down, or accept a lower offer and start four steps down. The lower offer can be zero, or even a negative amount if the team has already banked some money. Once the starting position is selected, the host asks a series of multiple-choice questions to the contestant and the Chaser, both of whom individually select one of the three answer options on keypads. After either person locks in a guess, the other must do so within five seconds or be locked out for that turn. A correct answer moves the person who gave it one step down the board, while a miss or lock-out leaves them where they are.
If the contestant successfully reaches home without being caught, they advance to the Final Chase and their money is added to the team's prize fund (or deducted, if they took a negative amount). If the chaser catches up, the contestant is eliminated and the money is forfeited. If all four contestants are caught by the chaser, they nominate one contestant to play the Final Chase alone.
Final Chase[]
The contestants who have won their head-to-head chases blindly select one of two question sets for themselves (Set A and Set B), with the other set put aside for the Chaser, and then have two minutes to answer as many questions as possible on the buzzer. Any response given by a contestant who has not buzzed-in is automatically ruled wrong; if only one contestant is participating in this round, the buzzer is not used. Every correct answer moves the team one step ahead of the Chaser, and they are given a head start of one step per contestant participating in this round. The contestants may not discuss or confer on any questions during this portion of the round and may pass as often as desired. There is no time limit on individual questions; the host will only ask a new question after someone has either answered or passed on the current one.
The Chaser is then given two minutes to answer questions from the unused set in an attempt to catch the team, moving one step ahead per correct response. If the Chaser passes or misses a question, the clock is briefly stopped and the team are given a chance to discuss it and respond; a correct answer pushes the Chaser back one step, or (from series 3 onwards) moves the team ahead one step if the Chaser is at the starting line. If the Chaser catches the team before the time expires, the prize fund is forfeited and the contestants receive nothing. During celebrity editions, a consolation £1,000 is donated to each celebrity's chosen charity.
If the Chaser is unable to catch up to the team, the participating contestants split the prize fund equally. If all four contestants are caught in their head-to-head chases and the one they nominate wins the Final Chase, each contestant wins £1,000.
The singlest ever win was achieved by contestant Eden Nash, 20, on 31 August 2021, who won £75,000 against Ennis.
Filming[]
Three episodes are filmed in a day, each one taking around an hour and a half to film. According to Walsh, "It runs like clockwork." The Final Chase can be stopped and re-started if Walsh stumbles on a question. He told the Radio Times, "If there is a slight misread, I am stopped immediately – bang – by the lawyers. We have the compliance lawyers in the studio all the time. What you have to do is go back to the start of the question, literally on videotape where my mouth opens – or where it's closed from the previous question – and the question is re-asked. It is stopped to the split second."
Between March 2020 and late June 2020, production of the series was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic; the series was already on a previously-scheduled production hiatus at the time of the suspension. In an interview with The Sun's TV Mag, Walsh said that the show was "at least 100 episodes behind schedule" due to lockdown; during the production hiatus, repeats were shown in the programme's regular timeslot.
Records[]
- Largest offer (daytime): £101,000 (against Mark Labbett, 8 February 2018 - also largest daytime Final Chase loss)
- Largest offer (primetime): £150,000 (against Jenny Ryan, 3 October 2020)
- Smallest accepted offer (daytime): -£17,000 (against Paul Sinha, 9 December 2021)
- Largest win (daytime): £120,000 (against Mark Labbett, 7 September 2023)
- Largest win by a single player (daytime): £75,000 (against Darragh Ennis, 31 August 2021)
- Largest win (primetime): £200,000 (against Shaun Wallace, 24 December 2021)
- Largest loss (daytime): £101,000 (against Mark Labbett, 8 February 2018)
- Largest loss (primetime): £160,000 (against Jenny Ryan, 12 November 2017)
- Least steps for Chaser: 3 steps for £1,000 (against Mark Labbett, 17 March 2017)
- Most steps for Chaser:
- 28 steps for £16,000 (against Mark Labbett, 2010)
- 28 steps for £28,000 (against Paul Sinha, 2013)
Gallery[]
