National Lottery shows
Contents |
Host
"Voice of the balls": Alan Dedicoat
Broadcast
BBC1, 19 November 1994 to 31 December 2016
BBC iPlayer, 7 January to 1 April 2017
ITV, 14 April 2018 to present
Synopsis
Hard to imagine now, but when the National Lottery launched in 1994, it was just about the most exciting thing ever. Of course its appeal waned somewhat once we all realised we were never going to win the thing. Anyway, being stuck with it, the BBC deigned to build a few game show formats around the draws, which was nice - or would have been, if they were any good. Here they are, in chronological order, and if you click on the links you can read all about them.
- The National Lottery Live (1994)
- The National Lottery Big Ticket (1998)
- We've Got Your Number (1999)
- Winning Lines (1999-2004)
- The Third Degree (midweek, 1999-2000)
- Red Alert (1999-2000)
- On the Spot (2000)
- Jet Set (2001-7)
- In It to Win It (2002-16)
- Wright Around the World (2003-5)
- Come and Have a Go (2004-5)
- Millionaire Manor (2005-6)
- Everyone's a Winner (2006, one off)
- 1 vs 100 (2006-9)
- People's Quiz (2007)
- The National Lottery Big 7 (annual specials, 2007-9)
- Who Dares Wins (2007-19)
- This Time Tomorrow (2008)
- Guesstimation (2009)
- Secret Fortune (2011-2)
- Break the Safe (2013-4)
- Win Your Wish List (2014-6)
- 5-Star Family Reunion (2015-6)
There was also an unofficial lottery-related show on ITV:
- The Big Call (2005)
In November 2016, the BBC announced that the draws would no longer be shown on BBC1, and so the shows still running at that point were quietly dropped at the end of the year - with the exception of Who Dares Wins, which was popular enough to continue as a standalone show on BBC1 until 2019. Of the shows that were dropped, Win Your Wish List found a new home on Channel 5, of all places, in 2018.
Trivia
In addition to the Saturday draws, the BBC also showed the midweek draw on Wednesday from its launch in 1997 until 2013. Some of the midweek draws were enhanced by extra rounds of Jet Set and Winning Lines.
Among the gameshow celebrities who've presented non-gameshow lottery formats are Anthea Turner, the great Bob Monkhouse ("I know I'm a sinner, but make me a WINNER!") and Ulrika Jonsson. Shauna Lowry and Claudia Winkleman have both hosted the midweek show. For a while Carol Vorderman was a regular on the main Saturday night show, giving advice on mathematical strategies for winning, none of which were any of use at all as it's a lottery, for crying out loud. You'd think she might have noticed that.
After the Saturday draws departed from BBC1 at the end of 2016, they went out on the BBC's iPlayer internet service until April 2017. In April 2018, ITV began airing a show during commercial breaks on Saturday nights that features the results of the main Lotto draw and promotes a Lottery-funded location, but does not feature the draw itself.
