The Master (Australian Quiz Show)

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The Master

Genre	Quiz show
Picture format	16:9
Running time	60 minutes (including commercials)
Starring	Host Mark Beretta The Master Martin Flood
Country of origin	Australia
Original channel	Seven Network
Original run	August 16, 2006–August 16, 2006
No. of episodes	7 (Cancelled after premiere)

Production of The Master at Seven Melbourne's production studio

The Master was an Australian quiz show that aired on the Seven Network on Wednesday 16 August 2006 and was cancelled after its premiere episode. The remaining episodes are currently airing over the non-ratings period. Hosted by Mark Beretta, the show had a potential prize of a million dollars.

It was produced by Grant Rule and Seven Melbourne.

Five players fought out a series of rounds involving general knowledge questions. This was both against each other and the clock, all under the eyes of The Master - Martin Flood - who sat in a chair watching to find the contestants' weaknesses. The player who won earned the right to challenge The Master for his title and for the prize of one million dollars.

The five played against each other in a series of general knowledge rounds, winning $100 for each correct answer in general knowledge rounds and $200 in "Master's Choice" rounds (where Flood chose the category). If a contestant answered incorrectly, he or she was locked out from answering the next question. Players with the lowest score were gradually eliminated until three remained. If at the end of a round, two contestants were on the same score The Master would choose which contestant to eliminate. The first contestant to be eliminated in this way was customer service officer Ainsley Rayner in the first episode. Having heard that she would be eliminated in this way she screamed "Damn you master!". Each contestant was then subject to a round of questions on their "preferred category", with correct answers awarded $100 and incorrect answers resulting in a deduction of $200. The contestant with the highest score at the end of the final round won the right to play against The Master. Each eliminated contestant took home what he or she earned in the general knowledge rounds. The winner was given $50 000 to "bet" on their best-of-five questions game with The Master. The contestant could bet either $10 000, $20 000, $30 000, $40 000 or the entire $50 000. If the contestant risked any amount below $50 000, the master will choose the category of questions to be asked and if the contestant is sucessful they would win ten times the amount staked. If the contestant betted the whole $50 000 they will select the category of questions and will play for $1 million dollars and the chance to become the new Master. If they, however risk the entire $50 000 and fail, they will also lose all the money they had won in the previous rounds walk away empty-handed. On the first show the contestant, named "Michelle", won $42,300, after betting $10,000 but lost in the best-of-five game and also winning $2,300 in the general knowledge rounds.

Seven boss David Leckie ordered it off air when it rated just 744,000 capital city viewers. The remaining six episodes already recorded will air on Monday nights at 7.30pm. The second episode which screened on 12 December (non-ratings period) rated slightly higher at 839,000 capital city viewers.^[1]