Poll of the Year 2024

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20. Twenty. The Big Two Oh. The end of 2024 marks our twentieth running of The UKGameshows/Bother's Bar Poll of the Year and we can't wait to see what you, the titans of the British format industry and the viewers thought of it all.

It's extremely sad that the list of new competitive unscripted formats on broadcast television in 2024 is so small, but we can only work with what we're given - on the brighter side we know there are some interesting shows to come in 2025, hopefully not a shorter list still.

Contents

Hall of FAME

Let's begin as ever with looking at the genre's new bright spots of the year. 23 shows received at least one vote which is quite a big drop down from the 31 that got votes last year - a really significant drop.

10 - Josh Must Win

9 - Wheel of Fortune

8 - Romesh Ranganathan's Parents' Evening

7 - The Fortune Hotel

6 - Double the Money

5 - Bullseye

A good showing for a pil... Christmas Special sorry. This leant extremely hard into having current darts sensation Luke "The Nuke" Litter, a player barely old enough to remember the Dave Spikey version let alone the original Jim Bowen one. This did extremely well, certainly well enough to justify a full series, a full series will have a lot of question marks over it - you're not going to have Luke Littler on it every week, surely? Freddie Flintoff surprisingly decent as host, quite quick with entertaining comments, certainly no stranger to a pub. There's potentially a decent 45 minute show in it, at an hour the novelty might wear off a bit quicker. You said:

  • "It's perhaps a bit tricky to judge on just one episode, but none the less it has stuck with the original format with just the odd tweak such as the round the board for charity rather than just having to score as many points as possible which I liked. I thought Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff would be a good host, which was the case and it also turns out that he's a fairly decent darts player himself!"
  • "Despite being rather padded and having way too much Luke Littner promotion, this is a good example of "if it ain't broke don't fix it". Freddie Flintoff might not have the same edge as Jim Bowen, but he definitely knows how to bring this old classic to life "
  • "Needs a larger studio, drop Richard too. Freddie was a good host, even if the charity bit felt fake. Worked as a one-off, would be hesitant to commission a full series though. "
  • "Good to see it back and kept fairly faithful to the original format. Although how many times did Luke Littler need to be introduced?"
  • "It's one of the few shows where you just can't figure out a proper reboot, because it's such an "Of The Era". However, Freddie's is the PERFECT casting for this, and the format still works."

4 - Junior Taskmaster

There was always a risk this would just be an incredibly annoying version of Taskmaster with precocious ten-year-olds but evidently it seems to have worked quite well, and Rose Matafeo and Mike Wozniak feel like inspired choices, although as a kid I'm not sure I wouldn't want the full experience with the proper Taskmaster House and Little Alex Horne and so on. You said:

  • "I was a little worried that this would have been the straw that broke the camel's back with Taskmaster, but it turned out to be quite a fun little diversion of the show. Rose and Mike are exactly at the right level they need to be, the tasks aren't dumbed down for the kids, and the contestants were pretty solidly cast."
  • "A fun and witty, kid-friendly version of a newer classic. Mike Wozniak fills Greg's boots perfectly. "
  • "Casting this would have been so difficult, you don't want irritatingly confident kids but they have to be hardy enough to take the competition and argue back a bit, and they did brilliantly. Plus Rose and Mike were great."

3 - Jeopardy!

For years and years the quiz nerds have cried out for a domestic version of Jeopardy and version number four came with everything you probably wanted and more - an extra round bringing it up to 91 answers an episode. Stakes in pounds sterling. Mr Clever Clogs himself Stephen Fry hosting, who appeears to have been given a knighthood for hosting this. It's a sincere attempt to bring the US institution to the UK. You said:

  • "Never seen the original US version but have known about it and its legacy for years. Stephen Fry is a good choice of host and there are a decent amount of questions to answer. Some people thought it was slow and too long but I thought the length was fine and didn't seem to drag at all."
  • "I wouldn't be surprised if this makes both lists (or neither), but I've been wanting a UK version of Jeopardy for ages, and we got basically the experience I wanted. It's not got many bells and whistles on it, but it's not supposed to, it's a lovely thick slab of trivia that I can feel smug about being good at in front of the parents."
  • "The 2024 revival came so close to being my No. 1 Hall of Fame show if it weren't for the awful padding of the repeated first round because this is one of the best incarnations of the US juggernaut compared to ITV and Sky One gave us in the 90s."
  • "I’ll never get used to the ‘answer in the form of a question’ format, but I have to include this for having proper quiz questions on ITV daytime "
  • "Yes, it's slow, but it's a good quiz with a decent range of trivia levels across the questions, and intersting questions too. Hopefully future tweaks can improve the show, pace wise. Stephen Fry as host didn't really add to the show for me, but it's certainly much better than a lot of the fodder on these days."
  • "(Sir) Stephen Fry is a great fit for the show, but would be better as a 30 or 45 minute show "

2 - The Answer Run

It's Tinder: The Quiz Show! Contestants swipe items left or right for big cash prizes. A fun game with some smart mechanics hidden in its simplicity, even if the endgame isn't quite as likable as the rest of the show. Also probably the quiz show Jason Manford has looked most comfortable doing. We understand the BBC development team behind this were dissolved recently despite seemingly being quite successful so we hope this placing softens that blow a bit. You said:

  • "Been good to see some fairly strong formats breaking up the daytime hegemony in recent years, with Bridge of Lies, The Finish Line and now this, presumably the successor to the underperforming Unbeatable. The 'sort A from B' mechanic is fairly unique in a field of predominantly straight Q&A shows, and presents a lot of opportunity for possible comparative pairings, and the Cleverdicks-like 'don't crash the stack' endgame is a suitably intense climax (missus). Jason's ace with the contestants as ever, and so the show is a lot of fun "
  • "Simple format but worked really well, and the show seemed to be the best fit for Jason Manford in recent years. Also liked the staging with the giant video wall and the graphics."
  • "The endgame is quite naff in how miserly it feels in what's a comfy show the rest of the time, but it doesn't spoil what is a fun little addition to the afternoon line-up. "
  • "Nice, simple to understand format, with a good risk/reward element when the alternating cash values come into play. Would have deserved a vote anyway, but quite concerning that this was pretty much the only new daytime quiz this year."
  • "It’s not like it has much competition. It’s fast, thinky and the mechanic of the cash value switching is interesting and not as clunky as you’d think. Decent effort by the Beeb. "
  • "Fun concept to add physicality to a quiz format, similar to Moneybags's conveyor belt forcing a timed decision. Jason Manford provides light hearted banter and encouragement throughout."
  • "Where's the app, BBC? I'm waiting."

1 - Gladiators

It seems incredible but there was genuinely no guarantee this reboot would be as successful as it was - relatively straight reboots of it have been done internationally and went nowhere. But the people really wanted this reboot and Hungry Bear have delivered extemely well, the show you remember from the 1990s thoughtfully recreated but with more neon. Alright, the music's not nearly as inspiring as the original, and whether Bradley and Barney are the hosts the show needs is questionable, but it's got most of the games you remember (albeit probably not quite enough), the new games fit in well and by and large the new batch of Gladiators are fantastic. You said:

  • "Most of the time when a channel brings back an old show from the past, it never reaches the heights of the original, but this is an exception to the rule. It's as close to the original as it can get, whilst adding new technology like drone shots and pyro. I was a little sceptical about Bradley and Barney Walsh as hosts but I needed have worried as they presented the show really well, although Brad was more natural as he's been doing that sort of thing for years. I enjoyed the new games they brought in as well as seeing the classics return. I would've liked to have seen more of the original games brought back - luckily they've brought back Atlaspheres (the one where they run around in giant hamster balls) for series 2 so I look forward to seeing that. My only gripe is that Viper is just a poor man's Wolf, but don't tell that to him!"
  • "This has been faithful to the original series back in the 90’s, which I’m old enough to remember, with some of the original events making a return but it’s good to see a few new events as well. Also Legend has established himself nicely as the new Wolf. It’s good having Bradley & Barney as hosts considering Bradley took part in a celebrity edition in the original series so he has some idea of what it's about. There could be more variety in the events, but having seen the trailer for the second series it looks like Atlaspheres is being brought back, which will add excitement to the series 2."
  • "Rarely do reboots feel this close to the original in every way. Pretty much the best possible job they could have done, just sort out the wacky series structure please."
  • "One of the few new shows this year that I have even bothered watching the entire series from start to finish as it captured that same excitement that the ITV had where Sky One failed."
  • " Impressive that they can make this on a 2024 budget, Health & Safety and (number of injuries aside) it doesn't feel like an inferior version. The new gold standard for revival series."
  • "The reboot really took me by surprise. Was expecting it to be bloated and rubbish, turned out to really capture the essence of the original well. A rare case of not relying on nostalgia to get the show through, some nice modernisations."
  • "As well as the challenges, the Gladiators' characters are well thought through. Good family entertainment which is often missing these days."
  • "The younger members of my family loved this just as much as I did in the original run. It was fantastic family viewing and the cast of Gladiators was inspired."
  • "Captures a lot of the fun of the original and it's hard to emphasise just how much kids love it."
  • "Would Gladiators work in 2024? Thirty seconds into game one, we had the answer from the wean - absolutely, and where had it been all their life!"
  • "It's been far too long since something this intensely homoerotic occupied a primetime family entertainment slot."

Radio shows tend to underperfom in our poll, so we'll highlight that the radio show that did the best was Wing It which finished in 13th place. Congrats!

Hall of SHAME

But as we know, for every show you like there must be one-and-a-bit shows you don't and this time 25 shows received votes, down from 30 last year.

9= Bad Boyfriends, Dating Naked UK, Josh Must Win, Romesh Ranganathan's Parents' Evening

8 - The Fortune Hotel

7 - Bullseye

6 - Battle in the Box

5 - Jeopardy!

But tish and fipsy, how have they managed to make what is a speedily paced original sooo slloooooww and dull here? We have more quest...answers, sorry, but more than twice the runtime to fill. If you thought the original was "a bit smug", nothing here is going to change your mind, and "answer and question" is just silly to the average Brit, the show has very little nostalgia value here. At least it sounds like they're trying to up the pace for series two by adding a seventh category to the board so there's slightly less downtime between responses and adding some music beds, whether that's enough remains to be seen. The first series didn't exactly set the world alight viewing figure wise, despite a New Year's berthing. You said:

  • "As dull and smug as the American show without even the mercy of being short."
  • "When the central premise of the show is what makes it unwatchable it's a non-starter."
  • "I've never really liked it as a format (is that blasphemy?) and without knowing the heritage so much about it like the twee music didn't make any sense."

4 - Pictionary

A direct domestic version of the extremely cheap, and extremely inconsequential, US show, Mel Giedroyc is back to host a drawing show even less crucial than Draw It a decade ago. Classic US scoring system (the first rounds only really matter in case of a tie in the final) feels a bit cheap. Judging acceptable answers probably the most wacky since The Link, it's difficult to see why this was commissioned really, and probably wouldn't have been if it wasn't for a Welsh grant. It's Win, Lose or Draw but without any of the cosy edge that made that so watchable. You said:

  • "This is the sort of samey to struggle to hold my attention. Secondly the sometimes very finickity answers hurt this, particularly as I think this show, at least should have been an easy-going show. Maybe some hard questions work but not likes of 'holly wreath' where is could be argued to not be a widely used phrase."
  • "A baffling lack of energy in this show despite Mel Giedroyc’s best efforts. Draw It was much more engaging despite being pretty much the same show presented by the same person. A shame it’s so dull when it is that rare beast: a 30 minute show!"
  • "What is it with Mel Giedroyc and cheap "guess a word" formats? Her agent needs to find her a better use of her talents!"
  • "You aren't even trying any more, are you, ITV?"

3 - Password

And so companies trying to bring back shows which the country has no real nostalgia for continues apace. Password has a long and distiguished history in the US, it has a history here in that it was on 40-60 years ago but not since. Despite this, third place feels a little harsh, it's a bit obvious and broad in its comedy but the show and game doesn't feel especially broken. You said:

  • "If this was scheduled as a gentle daytime panel game then it might have felt better. In reality, is guessing words the best we can do on prime time Saturday night?"
  • "I'm 40 yet don't recall the original at all; even people who do didn't seem impressed by this resurrection; pity as I quite like Mangan but he couldn't save it."
  • "Basically fine, but the absurd standing ovations given to pass or play decisions overshadowed everything else."
  • "Just incredibly dull and poorly produced."
  • "Repetitive gameplay, slow pace and grating team captains. One episode was enough to know to avoid this one."

1= Wheel of Fortune, You Bet!

Joint losers!

Wheel of Fortune represents three out of five in the Hall of Shame top five for Jake Humphrey's Whisper North, incredible work, still someone at ITV has clearly decided they're this year's lucky winner. Actually whilst we understand why people might not be pleased with this particular reboot - it taps into very few nostalgia glands, they've Americanised everything, the Wheel whilst well constructed mechanically is actually quite boring in that you're just as likely to solve a puzzle for about £500 in round six as you are in round one, joint worst new format feels a little harsh. Oh and the audience reacting to every spin in an irritating way and Norton's surprising lack of patter don't help it. Actually maybe it wasn't harsh after all, although we can say there are some improvements to make it more watchable for series two which started as this poll was being conducted.

You Bet! however isn't positioned harshly. There was a lot of goodwill going into these episodes, especially after the success of the Gladiators reboot, all it needed was a neat reversion of the classic theme and the "da-da-DA-duh-da" clock music and that's half the job done. We didn't get those. What we got was a cold, overproduced and over edited mess, mainly more interested in people's reactions than the skill on display, that managed to turn off everyone that liked the original in the first five minutes. Challenges that were nicked wholesale from the German original but directed less well, and the audience getting to award a challenger £10,000 for... what exactly? Being in the right place at the right time? Ability to cry on camera? What? And we don't want two memory challenges out of four, thanks.

For Wheel of Fortune you said:

  • "I was so looking forward to watching this revival, as I've been wanting a return of WofF for years, but this new version disappointed me. My main gripe is that it's too similar to the US version, and the answers to some of the puzzles were ridiculous - 'yappy little chihuahuas' was the first one I believe, whereas in the original UK version it would be a film, phrase, occupation, etc, etc. I also felt like you didn't need the 'audience' cheering every time the wheel was spun, and the 3 starter puzzles after each main puzzle were unnecessary, as was the bonus jackpot round halfway through the game."
  • "Love the show, but this doesn't work as an hour-long format for me. Graham Norton also not quite doing it for me. Money between wheel and toss ups is wonky (but this has since been corrected somewhat). Trim this to 30 minutes and consequently up the pace / reduce the rules, and I'll be a happy viewer."
  • "Whilst promoted as a revival, really this was a 60-minute remake of the American version of Wheel Of Fortune. The theme tune’s gone, Graham’s surprisingly generic and the Wheel doesn’t even get used half the time."
  • "While Whisper North sort of succeeded with it's 2024 revival of Jeopardy!, they're 2024 revival of Wheel of Fortune was not so good. The padding is again the issue, the Toss-Up puzzles were overkill, the first bonus puzzle disrupted the flow and Graham Norton while he's fun to watch on Eurovision and his late-night chat show on Fridays, seemed to struggle quite a lot because there was no co-host touching the letters on the board, which he could've benefitted if he had one."
  • "One of my favourite gameshows in the past was seemingly turned into a thrown-together mess catered for US audiences rather than British ones. Far too much whooping and hollering."
  • "I mean the original was hardly a masterpiece, but this really was just dreadful."
  • "Global franchises need to adapt to local markets. The US version is so poor compared to our memories of the UK version."
  • "Too much like the US version which made it a bit irritating to play along with while having virtually no nostalgia factor to fall back on."
  • "This is not how to revive a gameshow. Losing the iconic theme song is unforgivable, the lack of a co-host pulls something away from it, and Graham Norton feels a like a mismatch."

And on You Bet! you said:

  • "As soon as they took the clock off the first challenge I know it was a goner. Overly produced, some challenges were impossible to follow (the climber vs car at the car park in particular). Needed a better sound track and longer shots that don't cut away after 0.75 seconds each time."
  • "Didn’t get off to a good start by replacing the theme tune with some generic modern music and continued to irritate with lots of chopping around and cutaways. Feels like the sort of show that might get recommissioned anyway because ITV like the idea of it more than we like the execution of it."
  • "Everything that was good when ITV made my all time favourite game show back in the 90s is now gone for the 2024 revival. Awful BGT-fast editing, boring hosts, lack of suspense and at least give the challengers a trophy, scroll or medal for whether they win or lose because asking the audience which challenge should get £10,000 is a massive no-no."
  • "Loved this during the Matthew Kelly era but this was not that; could at least have kept the failed/successful bet stings for that small pang of nostalgia at the end of each challenge."
  • "Cast iron proof that the commissioning process at ITV consists of someone randomly clicking 80s shows in UKGS.com, yelling "Will this do?" in a blind panic and then being told "try again in two weeks, Mulhern's still performing at Butlins right now". Genuinely baffling how a show like this gets literally every single decision wrong."
  • "I was so, so excited when I heard that You Bet was coming back… imagine my disappointment. Got off to the worst start when it didn’t use the iconic theme tune (not the Bruce’y rap), and never recovered for me. A real shame."
  • "Deeply worrying that a 2024 UK show can turn out ten times more annoying than its 2008 American equivalent. It must be the Mulhern."
  • "I give every game show a chance, I think it's fun to watch shows and think about who the target audience is, and just feel "too old to understand", but when Gladiators showed up and was deemed one of the best reboots in the last decade. I need to signal the alarm that this is the worst. Stephen is trying to play Ant and Dec on BGT with the side cam reaction of "THIS IS INCREDIBLE" "THIS IS EPIC" and Holly isn't given much to work with, so she's stuck on repeating what Stephen says minutes later. It all feels less like a one off intended to go to series in 2025 and more so "we want to make a pilot for NBC in America" with the most obnoxious editing in the world."

Streaming Five of 2024

This is getting more and more votes each year which is good to see and in fact more shows were voted for here than in the Halls of Fame and Shame, even if the depth of those votes isn't as deep. Still, let's have a look at the sorts of things you've watched on non-linear in the past year - it doesn't not have to be made in the UK, but it does need to be a returnable format that's shown first legitimately in the UK or practically day and date with the rest of the world.

5 - The Mole (Netflix)

Well look, the second series released last year was better than the first but we have to say there are way better versions out there (the Flemish you absolutely should, and you can watch The Dutch one on Youtube with English subs even if it was going through a bit of a 'meh' period) if you're prepared to put the effort in. We'll be nice and say that it's nice you got at least two challenges between eliminations this time. It's a shame there are so many cheap pot drains though. You said:

  • "It's still not a good as Rik and Giles and most likely nobody will bat for it. However, you can argue, it's the best English Speaking series of the Mole, even if there were pot drains for no reason and concepts like jokers going unutilized, THE THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM? Ari was actually really fun, almost this cross of Andy Cohen and Alan Cumming. Here's hoping."

3 = Game Changer (Drop Out/Youtube), Pop Culture Jeopardy (Prime Video)

We're always surprised Game Changer doesn't get more votes in the Streaming Five, although we suppose it is behind a paywall and you've got to know about it to be able to appreciate it, nonetheless some superb ideas last year, we particularly enjoyed the more meta ones (Second Place, Sam Says, Bingo, Deja Vu, Beat the Buzzer, to name five in particular) in what is already quite a meta show. You said:

  • "Dropout had a great year of shows, however, the one thing that keeps me enjoying game shows was "Bingo" that played into the concept of Bingo Cards into 4D Chess, and it's homage to "The Circle" at the season finale. It's a show that loves it's contestants and challenges it's production team more than it's audience. Finding Buzzers in random things in a studio lot has never been so much fun."
  • "Subverting of traditional game show elements keeps this one fresh."
  • ""Sam Says 3" and "Beat The Buzzer" were particular highlights for me."

If pop culture's your thing then this is as close to watching a straight US version of Jeopardy as you can get over here, although it's mainly US pop culture so how much of this will chime with you is up for debate. Still, if this is what you want you will have (it's halfway through at time of writing) a 40 episode quiz compendium of pop culture answers and questions to play along with. Colin Jost is quite fun as host, doesn't take it overly seriously, although his announcement pauses once heard can't be unheard and become quite annoying.

  • "Jeopardy UK was just too slow, and while the mainline Jeopardy USA is "good", it's not available internationally. A workaround has been Pop Culture Jeopardy, which has this pub quiz style of three people in a team and three teams with nine buzzers as they figure out song lyrics or Oscar winners. Colin is a good enough host, and it's fun to watch even as background noise."

2 - Lateral (podcast)

Tom Scott and Producer David have had quite a year, the podcast has expanded to include a tie-in book and there was even a sold-out live recording, like Tom's the new Ed Gamble. The problem with being an established podcast is that there's not much you can say about it. Perhaps TV will be beckoning in future.

  • "Full of questions you want to try out on friends and family and with some great guests, it's a really entertaining listen."

1 - Jet Lag: The Game (Nebula/Youtube)

The game with the entire world as the board continues to impress 12 seasons in with more random challenges, chasing and hide and seek toomfoolery. Last year we remarked that we were surprised it didn't get more votes, this year it did. You said:

  • "Thouroughly well executed show. I either do not notice the flaws or don't care about them."
  • "Nebula's greatest concept. This year had so many fun ideas such as a Hide and Seek in Switzerland and Japan as well as an auction game in Australia. It's ability to be a "real" travel show while keeping this silly game concept gives higher budget shows a run for it's money."

All these came in joint sixth, give them a look!

6= Agents of Mystery (Netflix), Beast Games (Prime Video), Is It Cake? Netflix, we are charitably assuming the Holiday one, Reverse Trivia (Youtube), The Circle (Netflix), The Getaway (Nebula), The Influencer (Netflix)

The Golden Five of 2024

And so to probably the biggest award of the night, this one is open to any show that's had a new episode broadcast on broadcast linear TV in 2024. How have tastes changed over the years? Is Only Connect top *again*? Let's find out shall we?

5 - Gladiators

This year's highest New Entry, these tend to do extremely well on the year they win but drop quite quickly. Will Glads endure?

  • "It has been included for how well both with me and other factors such as tv ratings, cultural relevance it has succeeded it provide something different to the current tv line-up. Whilst being a good show on its own merit."
  • "Maybe it's because I wasn't a huge fan of the original but feel this stood up as a new show for 2024 and it managed to feel both current and play into the nostalgia."
  • "Hit every beat in a near-perfect revival."

4 - Taskmaster

No change from last year but not having to share its spot, two good line-ups this year, a Junior spin-off and a live experience cap off another highly successful year for the show.

  • "I feel like 2024's series weren't its strongest, but it's still good fun."
  • "Two more great series in 2024, they continue to find interesting combinations of contestants and tasks to throw at them."
  • "Is there too much Taskmaster? ...possibly? However, it's a show that keeps creating new material that still delivers a decade on. I'm not sure how much longer the shelf life is on it, and where Channel 4 goes when that time happens, but for now I'm very much enjoying the ride."

3 - The 1% Club

Amazingly seemingly haven't run out of workable questions yet, there's a danger ITV might overplay its hand with this with stripping it before Christmas (we don't think it's a show that suits daily viewing) and repeats however it's still holding up right now. A triumph.

  • "Still my favourite game show halfway through the decade. It’s one of the best game shows to watch with friends or family, and it’s great bragging to others when you get a difficult question right. Only time will tell how long this show can run without getting stale, it might get to that point eventually, but we’ll see. Just hoping I can get a 1% question right before then."
  • "Doing very well internationally and I suspect we might be running out of questions, but not since WWTBAM have I seen a straight-laced game show take the country by storm."
  • "Lee Mack's completely brilliant and quick-witted of course, but also it's one of those shows you can't help but play along with. It even tells you exactly how smug you should be about getting the answers right."
  • "Always pleased to see this back and impressive that they are still coming up with some new question ideas, for now!"

1= The Traitors, Only Connect

What's going on here? We're hearing that Victoria Coren-Mitchell is unfollowing Claudia Winkleman on Insta as we speak.

We have collanders with fewer holes than the format of The Traitors and really we shouldn't be praising it as much as we do. But there is extremely little on television that provides the drama, open mouth reactions and watercooler moments that The Traitors seems to manage to provide, if ever there was a show that encapsulated the idea that "people watch shows not formats," well it's this one. Series two felt impeccably cast and felt like some effort had gone on in designing the missions (The Funeral Procession! The cabin in the woods! Everyone being useless with a crossbow!). The Round Table discussions! The betrayals! The heartbreaking ending! This actually wasn't eligible in 2023 as the vagaries of scheduling meant it wasn't actually on in 2023, but in 2022 it finished second in the Hall of Fame and 4th in the Golden Five. The question is will this be a one-year list topper or will it continue to represent the reality game subgenre going forward? Series three ratings are absolutely huge, but we can't shake the feeling Series two was a bit better. But that's for next year.

Because we can't see Only Connect giving up its number one spot which its held since 2018 without a fight.

On The Traitors you said:

  • "Most shows on offer has this feeling of "cheap" as viewership is gotten and production budgets diminish, however. This show feels "high budget" and the cinematography make it feel less like a reality show and more like Bridgerton or Downton Abbey. Every episode put me at the edge of my seat and it's just so brilliant in the ease of concept, and the game playing."
  • "It's not perfect - the challenges need to be bigger and better. Wonderful to see a game being played as a game and be a fly on the wall in the process."
  • "The best format around at the moment and a reminder how reality TV works best with real people from all walks of life. A rare chance now to see a genuine cross section of Britain reflected on screen."
  • "Seriously well done second series. Great casting, epic missions and awe inspiring cinematography. The final is one of the most intense pieces of television I’ve ever witnessed."
  • "Astonishing really how such an imperfect format can make so much perfect TV."

On Only Connect you still managed to find things to say after all these years:

  • "It's hard to believe this quiz has been around for a long time. It is my comfort watch. My favorite "new" thing of recent series is an overlying arc Victoria does in the opening, rather it's talking gardening or the use of AI in the opening. But the format itself has become just concrete and hasn't lost its clever wit."
  • "Consistently good show. I also enjoy the specials for doing something different and it way provide for a different sort of successful creativity. I will say after hating the last series-long in-joke (not sure of the right words) I found this series’ one (on AI writing) enjoyable."
  • "After seeing Only Connect winning this Golden Five vote so many times, I decided to actively begin watching it, and it became a good part of my weekly schedule, and I love it. It’s a bit difficult for me, but it’s all the more satisfying when you get something right, and the light mocking of generative AI during the current series is very welcome."
  • "Becoming a national institution. So rewarding and satisfying to play along with and get an answer right."

Bubbling Under: 6- Richard Osman's House of Games, 7- The Chase, 8=Deal or No Deal, Popmaster TV 10- Limitless Win, 11= Bridge of Lies, Countdown, Pointless, 14= The Finish Line, The Wheel

Magic Moments of 2024

And so we come to the freestyle element, what were the standout moments of 2024? In no particular order:

Impressively there appear to be no clips of this on Youtube, which is incredible given how much it was spoiled leading up to it:

  • "Helen and Charlie’s million pound win on Limitless Win at the start of the year - and on my birthday no less! I did see it coming due to some hints being dropped, and it was unceremoniously spoiled in the promos and the spoiler packages in the first episode."
  • "Limitless Win £1 Million win, although very much not the massive spoiling of it the week before."
  • "Charlie “knows when he knows” and wins with Helen £1M on Limitless Win."
  • "The million pound winning Limitless Win pair, all because they remembered when Blur's Country House was released!"

And speaking of traitors, many moments mentioned from series two, here are some of your favourites:

  • "The Murder in Plain Sight task on The Traitors. The library search, Diane turning up for her funeral - pure TV magic."
  • "Miles's role giving away look of surprise when he saw his murder victim Diane alive at breakfast on The Traitors."
  • "Everything about the poisoned chalice on The Traitors. They knew Diane would be a fan favourite, so teasing the ‘will she/won’t she’ drink made for a lot of fun on social media that weekend. But then the funeral episode happened; I don’t think anyone foresaw the overblown pomposity of Diane’s funeral. It was camp and wonderful. One of the best competition reality show moments ever."
  • "Could easily have just put “any moment from The Traitors”, but to be specific, the reveal of who Diane’s son is, the most shocking twist this side of “Soylent Green is people”"
  • "[https://youtu.be/Op6iGAB6RMM "Paul just couldn't be my son... but Ross is."" (We had many people just quoting this bit.)
  • "The final roundtable from The Traitors capped by Mollie finding out Harry was a traitor."
  • "The ending of The Traitors UK S2 (the only moment I had where I shouted at the TV screen for a gameshow in 2024) "
  • "The Ending of UK Traitors will go down in history. The fact that Mollie had Harry's name written down and then changed it was so frustrating (and I wanted Harry to win)."
  • "The Traitors final: Harry, Molly, need I say more!"
  • "Mollie’s reaction to finding out Harry is a Traitor…poor girl."
  • "The finale of The Traitors UK, you know the one."

And finally:

  • "Fiona Wood buzzing in correctly on the final conundrum to win Series 90 of Countdown, and become the show's first female series champion in 26 years (and the oldest series champion in almost as long, too, having first appeared on the show over 30 years previously). Proof, if proof were needed, that you *don't* need to be a young man who spends hours practicing on the computer in order to be a champion."
  • "Fiona Wood: Countdown’s first female champion since 1998."
  • "Fiona Wood winning series 90 of Countdown and becoming the first female champion in 26 years, and only the 6th female winner overall."
  • "Fiona Wood becoming the first woman since Kate Ogilvie in 1998 to win a series of Countdown. And the first Scot since 2001!"
  • "A gripping season of Countdown ending with the first female winner of the show this century."

The End

Thanks everybody for your votes, this almost concludes the twentieth running of of our Poll, but turn over to Bother's Bar for Poll of the Year: POTY Mouth for the numbers and discussion, including loads of your quotes for the shows that didn't quite make main billings, and hopefully there will be a bit more to get excited about in 2025. Bye!

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