The Weakest Link (UK Game Show) - Variant Versions

Variant Versions

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, The Weakest Link: Champions League, which featured eight 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 sixth round being a triple round for £7,500). 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 minutes to 30, however, the prize money remained the same (with a money tree of £50-£100-£250-£1,000-£1,750-£2,500; the seventh round being a double round for £10,000).

After the seven-player edition, the studio was revamped once again to add two 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 eight players will leave with nothing, normally the losing celebrities receive a "house" amount to give to their chosen charity, as well as their own fee for appearing on the show. 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 has also regularly featured in the schedules in recent 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 two particular episodes. An April Fools' Day show which aired in 2003 featured Robinson being strangely nice to the contestants, and abandoning her traditional black wardrobe in favour of a metallic pink overcoat. However, she 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 a thousand episodes of The Weakest Link, each with nine 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 third round, despite having been the statistical 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.

Two fictional television shows, Doctor Who and My Family, have depicted their own versions of Weakest Link in their episodes. The Doctor Who edition, broadcast in 2005, showed a futuristic version of the show in the year 200,100, with only six contestants, and presented by an 'Anne Droid' (voiced by Anne Robinson) who disintegrates the contestants being voted off. The My Family version was broadcast in 2007, and was essentially portraying all of the main characters on an ordinary episode of the show, except for the fact that it was a 'family special'.