For the fortress see Fort Boyard (fortification)
| Fort Boyard (TV series) | |
|---|---|
| Format | Game Show |
| Created by | Jacques Antoine, Jean-Pierre Mitrecey, Pierre Launay |
| Starring | Main Presenters: Melinda Messenger (1998–2001) Jodie Penfold (2003) Olivier Minne (French version 2003–) Co-hosts: Leslie Grantham (1998–2001) Christopher Ellison (2003) Geoffrey Bayldon (1998–2001) Tom Baker (2003) |
| Theme music composer | Paul Koulak |
| Country of origin | France |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Fort Boyard |
| Running time | UK: 60 mins (inc. adverts) France: 95–110 mins (2010–) 60–120 mins (1990–2009) |
| Production company(s) | Adventure Line Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | France 2 (France: since 1992) Channel 5 (UK: 1998–2001) Challenge (UK: 2003) |
| Picture format | 4:3 (1990–2007) 16:9 (most countries) (2008–) |
| Original airing | French version: 7 July 1990 – Present (22nd Season) English version: 16 October 1998 – 3 December 2003 (UK) |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | The Crystal Maze (1990–1995) The Desert Forges (2001) Interceptor (1989–1990) The Fortress (2010–2011) Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge |
| External links | |
| Official French Fort Boyard Website | |
| Production website | |
Fort Boyard is a French game show created by Jacques Antoine that was first broadcast in 1990 (as Les Clés de Fort Boyard, shortened for the second series in 1991) and is popular to this day. It has been re-made across the globe, most successfully in the following countries: the United Kingdom, Sweden, Lebanon, Norway, Canada, Russia, Denmark, Belgium, Israel, the Netherlands, Greece, Armenia and most recently in Poland and Finland over a 20-year period since the show began in July 1990.
Set and filmed on the real Fort Boyard in France, the programme appears similar to The Crystal Maze (which was created by Antoine for Channel 4 in the United Kingdom after Fort Boyard itself was unavailable to film in because of its then ongoing refurbishment). In both programmes the contestants have to complete challenges to win prize money. However, while The Crystal Maze varies the type of games quite considerably, Fort Boyard tends to focus mainly on physical and endurance challenges. Although Fort Boyard was something of a pioneer in the area of game show fear and adventure, later programmes such as Fear Factor have pushed things even further, requiring Fort Boyard to react and adapt with new twists and games, including a couple of seasons in which the contestants spent the night in the Fort (this was particularly popular in the French version).
In the UK, two sets of presenters have been used for Fort Boyard. The first set appeared during the first four series of the show, which were broadcast by Channel 5, with the second appearing in the 2003 Challenge-aired fifth series.
The leading presenters of Fort Boyard were Melinda Messenger (series 1–4) and Jodie Penfold (series 5). Their roles were to give advice and support for the teams, commentate for the viewers, and match wits with Boyard, the "Master of the Fort". Laura Hamilton will present the new series in 2011 alongside American actor, Geno Segers. The show is now called Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge.
The other characters in Fort Boyard are:
There is also the resident Fort Boyard cast, who first appeared in the French version, and were subsequently featured in most of the other international formats, including the UK version:
On 26 December 1999, a celebrity edition of Fort Boyard was broadcast, featuring Gabby Yorath, Frank Bruno, Sharron Davies, Samuel Kane, and Glenda McKay as contestants.[1] Another celebrity edition aired at the end of series four (episode 14) in 2001 featuring Sally Gray, Scott Wright, Nell McAndrew, Keith Duffy and Tris Payne. Sally Gray was team captain and the team won £10,130 for charity.
Celebrity editions was also broadcast during the 2003 series by Challenge. It featured Doug Williams, Nikita (now stars in TNA), Paul Birchall James Tighe, and Sweet Saraya, all of whom were wrestling stars from British promotion FWA. Doug Williams captained the team.
Other celebrities appearing in series 5 included Tim Vine and Craig Phillips, Big Brother 2000 winner. The team won £1,860 for charity, which was topped up by a further £5,000 because Tim Vine accepted a challenge to tell 10 jokes in one minute.
Since 1997, teams on the French version of the show consist entirely of celebrities. These include: cyclist Laurent Fignon, figure skating champion Brian Joubert (appearing in 2004, 2007, and 2008), Panathanaikos striker Djibril Cissé, R&B singer Leslie, Tony Parker, and Eva Longoria in 2009 and others. However, in 2010 the formula was dramatically changed and the squads, of four members each, do not have celebrities anymore.
In most series of the Danish version, teams have consisted entirely of celebrities.
In the 2010 series of the Finnish version team members were celebrities.
Most (or all) games of the Russian series consisted of famous Russian singers, actors, and sportsmen.
In the Argentine version of the show, aired in 1999 and 2000, a celebrity joined the other 4 people to help them on their challenges.
Fort Boyard is a French game show first broadcast in 1990, but the fort is also used by television stations in other countries. In total, 29 foreign versions of the show have broadcast around the world since 1990.[2] Currently, in 2011, seven countries (in Bold below) have produced a new series/season of Fort Boyard.
The United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden have returned this year (2011).[3][4]
Belgium & Denmark recently returned for a new series but not for 2011. Armenia in 2009, Bulgaria and Finland in 2010, recently joined to produce their own versions of the show. Italy have only ever made a pilot for Fort Boyard back in 1991.
Countries in Bold have produced a new series/season of Fort Boyard for 2011. Fort Boyard is known as Fångarna på Fortet in Sweden and as Fangene På Fortet in Norway. The 22nd French season of Fort Boyard aired on Saturday nights at 8.35pm (CEST) from 2 July 2011 - 20 August 2011.
2011 filming dates:[7]
| # | Country | Local title | Format | Start Date | End Date | Number of Episodes | Premiere/Air Dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | "Fort Boyard" | 1 Team | May 30 | June 3 | 7 + (2 children episodes not aired on TV) |
2 July - 20 August 2011 |
| 2 | Sweden | "Fångarna på fortet" | Duel | June 6 | June 14 | 12 | 23 August - 22 October 2011 |
| 3 | Norway | "Fangene på fortet" | June 16 | June 28 | 20 | 15 August - 28 August 2011 | |
| 4 | Algeria | "Bordj El Abtal" | 1 Team | June 30 | July 5 | 13 | Summer 2012[8] |
| 5 | USA and UK | "Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge" | Duel | July 9 | July 15 | 20 | 17 October - 7 November 2011[9] (US Season 1.1), 1 January 2012 (UK) |
| 6 | The Netherlands | "Fort Boyard" | July 18 | July 22 | 10 | 5 September 2011 |
In total, 84 episodes were produced worldwide in 2011.
Each year below donates to a series/season of Fort Boyard.
Some countries, such as The Czech Republic, aired the original French version dubbed as opposed to producing their own. Poland and Russia also did this before producing their own versions in later years.
Fort Boyard’s format varies from country to country, but the basics are the same. A team of friends enter the Fort with the intention of winning Boyard’s gold. To do this, the contestants have to successfully complete a series of challenges set by Boyard himself.
The first thing done in the game is the sounding of the Fort’s gong by French character ‘La Boule’. Once the gong sounds the game time begins ticking down. In the UK version the game lasted for 40 minutes, in the French version 60 to 120 minutes, depending on the year.
The show's format is outlined in the following sections, starting with 'Phase One'.
The first set of challenges the contestants have to complete is to win a certain number of keys (in series 1–4 of the UK version four keys were needed, whereas five were need in series 5; five were needed in the Canadian version, and seven in the French, Swedish, and Danish versions). These keys, once won, are used to open the gate to the Treasure Room, a central room in the Fort where the gold is held.
The challenges that are set to win the keys are located in small cells around the Fort, with small water-timers (a Clepsydre) outside to give the contestant a time limit (around 2–3 minutes, depending on the game) to complete it; in the UK version, Boyard would start the timer upon saying to a contestant that "their time starts now", whereas in the 5th series, Boyard would start it after telling Jacques to open the door of a challenge room. If a contestant fails to leave the challenge room before the time runs out, he or she is locked in and then shortly after taken away to a cage (by La Boule) meaning they are not allowed to continue with the rest of the key games and must stay there until then end of Phase One. In the UK's 4th series, La Boule would give the contestant a large bunch of rusty keys. One of these keys would unlock the cage allowing the contestant to re-join the team.
During this phase of the game, one contestant goes up to the Watch Tower to win an additional key for the team (see below). This could be done twice.
Once the contestants reach the end of Phase One, usually towards the end of their game time, there is a trip to the Treasure Room with all of the keys that they have won so far. If they have enough to unlock the Treasure Room Door then the keys are entered and the gate is unlocked. However, it does not open until later in the show.
If they are short of keys to open the gate then team members are 'sacrificed' for keys, one team member for each key short. The 'sacrificed' contestants are then placed in an underground cell and locked in. These team members remain for the rest of the game, and are therefore unable to contribute any more for the team.
If the team has more keys than necessary to unlock the gate then any extra keys gained can be swapped for free clue words to assist the team in the next phase of the game.
From 1990 to 2011, there were precisely 165 different events (key games).[12] Here is a selection of some of these challenges:
Arm Wrestling (1990–2009): The contestant has to arm wrestle against the strongman, whilst trying to grab the key, which is in a little box, with the other hand. Between their hands is a lever, so as the contestant pushes the strongman's arm down, the key is lowered so it becomes accessible to grab.
Ball Surfing (1998–2002): To release the key the contestant has to get one ball into the bucket at the end of the runway, four sections of which are not in position. Contestants stand on a surfboard, which swivels these sections, but if they don't move quickly enough to line up the next section in time, the ball drops to the ground, so they have to start again.
Barrel Maze (1999–2004): The player must move a barrel from one end of a maze to the other where the key is locked in a vice. On the barrel is a tool which releases the key. The maze consists of 20 barrels, including one that cannot move, and these barrels must be moved so that the key can be freed.
The Barrier (2000–2001): Inside the room the key is locked in a perspex cube which is easily opened, but when it is tampered with a door comes down blocking the exit. To get out, the contestant has to remove the boxes which make up the barrier until there's a hole big enough to get out of.
The Burglary (1996–2011): The contestant climbs a ladder and enters the cell via its window. Inside are a number of obstacles, such as ladders and nets, which the contestant must climb over to get to the key. If the floor is touched an alarm goes off; the contestant automatically loses and is taken away to the cages. The key is in a locked cylinder which is opened using a tool given to the contestant at the beginning. The contestant must leave out the window, still not touching the floor. Some players have dropped the key or the tool, resulting in a lock-in.
Bungee Web (1998–2000): The contestant jumps into a revolving web made up of a series of bungee cords and must cross to the end to retrieve a tool. This device is then used to access the key half way back along the bungee web. This last stage is the hardest because, as the web revolves, the player must release the key, which is going from below to above the player very quickly. As a consequence, some players have been locked in due to running out of time.
Buzz Off! (1998): The contestant has to carry a heavy machine that vibrates violently along the wire without touching it, just like in the classic game. Jaba the Pirate stands in the background trying his best to distract the player. If he or she successfully gets it to the end of the wire, the key is released.
Cannonball Seesaw (2000): In this simple yet rare challenge, the contestant must bounce cannonballs of various weights into differently sized barrels by jumping on a device similar to a seesaw.
Ceiling Boxes (1994–2011) : In the cell, the female contestant has to climb onto the male contestant's back and grab the baton which hangs from the ceiling. Then, using this tool, she must bang the white latches on the ceiling boxes to open them. There are various things in each box, such as flour and gunge, but from one box a key falls.
Chicken Room (2001–2011): The contestant transports corn in a holey bucket from a barrel to a pair of scales. The corn must weigh down one side of the scales to lift the key which is on the other side. Inside the room are chickens. In later series, the chickens were replaced with having the contestant step through a giant loom.
Cotton Bales (2003-2011): A cargo net in the center of the room is filled with bales marked with cities and other destinations and a box containing a slip of paper naming a destination. The contestant must go to the bottom of the cargo net, find the sheet of paper, and then find the corresponding cotton bale which may contain either another destination or the key. However, once the contestant enters the room, a gate locks shut behind them that can only be unlocked with the key; accordingly, if the contestant does not acquire the key within the time limit, they are automatically locked in.
Crazy Billiards (2009–2010): The contestant enters the room and finds a pool cue. They must shoot a ball on a tilted billiards table into three targets on the opposite side, to release the key in a tube. The catch is that the cage and the holes are moving constantly.
The Descending Rope (1998–2011): The player must climb a rope and guide the key through a maze, but the trouble is that the rope descends as the contestant tries to go up it.
Dolphin (2000-2010): The player, secured to a rope, has to follow the rope through an obstacle course requiring them to climb over and under a series of bars to grab a key and return the same way. The rope has just enough slack to allow the contestant to move through the course, but, if the key is dropped, it can't be retrieved.
Excalibur (1991–2011): The mighty sword is stuck is a wooden stump. The contender has to pull the sword out, and then use the sword to cut a rope on which the key is attached. The cutting is actually the harder part, due to the relative bluntness of the sword, and it is at this point that people usually fail the game.
The Fan (1995–1999): The two strongest contestants are sent into a room, at the end of which is a giant fan. They have to slot a perspex cover in front of it to stop the fan and release the key. As the fan is so loud the contestants are unable to hear anything; a red light goes on when there are 10 seconds left to get out.
Gas Pipes (1996–2011): the contestant is handcuffed to a pipeline which runs around the cell. He or she has to guide the cuffs along the pipes, overcoming valves and so on which screw off, to the end where they can grab the key and run out of the room.
The Handbike (2000–2011): The contestant has to pedal a handbike overhead across the cell to push the key along. The key is only accessed if the handbike reaches the end and the key falls to the floor.
Interactive Cell (2011): The contestant enters a room to participate in a touch-screen-based computerized challenge introduced by a new resident of the fort, Luciole. These challenges vary from mazes to memory puzzles.
Jars of Fear (1990–2011): There is a long row of large jars in one of the Fort's cells. The contestant has to feel inside each jar, which contains things such as worms and rats, until the key is found.
The Library (1997–2000): When the player enters the room, the door is automatically locked. The only way out is to get the key. Fake books must be piled up, allowing the contestant to reach a lever to release the key and open the door again. This challenge was only featured on the show for a brief period due to the difficulty, but mostly because contestants often tried to stand on an unstable table for height, which was dangerous.
Moving Monkey Bars (1993–2011): The contender has to hook the metal bars into slots in the wall and ceiling to climb the overhang and reach the key. However, there are only two bars at the bottom, with another two hanging down, so the bars have to be re-used.
Mud Wrestler (1990–2006, 2011): A female contestant takes on a strong woman, who wrestles her in the mud. The contestant must reach the key, which hangs from the ceiling at the other end of the room.
Numbered Ceiling (2005–2011): A male and two female contestants enter the room. On the ceiling are the numbers 1–9 with poles attached to them. The contestants must climb the poles to find the red buttons near the correct 3 numbers. Then they must all push the buttons in unison to fry the string holding the key in a box near the entrance. Note: This game is still on the fort but is not played in the 2011 French series.
Neon Water (1999–2005): The contestant has to fill up a long tube with green neon water which lies just by the cell's entrance. They must then carry the water through an obstacle course and fill up three cylinders with the luminous liquid. The player has to cover up both ends of the tube so that little water is lost.
Rolling Cylinders (1993–2011): The contestant must get across a series of variously sized rolling cylinders to get to the key.
Sand Boxes (1999–2003): A contestant enters a chamber that is full of sand, with wooden bars blocking the way. The contestant must slide under holes in the bottom of the bars. The contestant must then use boxes (also pushed under the holes) to reach the key. In the later series with Jodie Penfold, the rooms included snakes and spiders with the sand.
Sea Cabin (1997, 2011): A contestant has to guide a container containing the key along a rope through obstacles in a violently shaking room.
The Shrinking Room (1992–2011): On the ceiling of the room are many keys. The contestant has to use these keys to try to open a wooden box which has three locks on it. Each lock requires a different key. The drawback is that the ceiling is continually lowering. This game is rarely completed as the players often forget to try each key for each lock, or lose concentration due to fear of the shrinking room. As of 2011, this game is played for a clue and also features a large snake.
Sucking Key (2001–2010): The key is attached to a string inside a narrow chamber. A contestant is locked into stocks, and must use only his or her head to pull the key through the chamber and into a tunnel, where the other contestants collect it. The chamber is full of creatures such as scorpions, spiders, maggots and millipedes. If they fail to get the key, they therefore cannot be released and are then a prisoner.
Swaying Rock Wall (2009–2010): The key is rotating on a fan on the ceiling of the room. Against the wall is a wedge-shaped rock wall that the contestant must climb. The catch is that the rock wall sways freely and if the contestant loses his or her balance, the wall will fall to one side, usually knocking the contestant off and requiring him or her to start again.
Tiger Fishing (2009–2011): The contestant is given a fishing pole and must climb atop a cage of tigers and hook a key, pull it out of the holder, and retrieve it. Unfortunately, the key may fall into the tiger cage and be irretrievable.
Tube (1990–2011): at the top of a long perspex tube that winds up to the ceiling is the key. The contestant has to crawl up, grab the key and then slide back down. Note: This game is still on the fort but is not played in the 2011 French series.
The Turning Tube (2008–2011): In the room is a spinning, square-shaped tube on the right mechanism on the left. The contestant must go through the tube, pick up the plates, go back through the tube, and slide them through the mechanism which causes plates on the other end of the tube to come out. This must be repeated until the key is found.
The Turnstile (1998–2011): The contestant has to unscrew a panel to get to the key, whilst avoiding the revolving paddles of the turnstile. In 1998-99 there was also a metal grid, which meant the contestant had to run forwards, but that was changed in 2000 for safety reasons.
Wall Walk (1995–2011): The contestant climbs through the cell window where, on the outside wall of the Fort, there is a row of very thin ledges. The player has to climb along these to the next window, grab the key, and shuffle back again.
Water Buckets (1995–2011): Above a treadmill, hanging on the ceiling, are a series of buckets containing water. The contestant has to jog on the treadmill, lift down the buckets and pour the water into a tube. This tube leads into another, so that the key is pushed upwards by the water.
Window Weights (1990–2011): Hanging at the bottom of a rope out the cell window are some weights, and the key. The contestant has to pull on the rope until the rope locks into the pulley. Then the contestant must climb out of the window into a cage on the side of the Fort, and reach out for the key.
Unstable table (2000): One contestant lies atop a plastic "hammock" and has to balance while the other team member turns a crank to raise the hammock. Once the hammock is high enough, the person on the hammock can reach the key when a lever is pulled by the one turning the crank.
Monkey Bridge (2006): This challenge has the format of a duel. A contestant competes against a gymnast, and must move along a rope bridge, grab a sack with a key attached, and move back along the bridge. Then, using the key, the contestant must unlock a box and retrieve a code before the gymnast destroys it. The code will enable the team to retrieve the key.
Mr. Chan (2007–2009): Mr. Chan replaced the Monkey Bridge in 2007. Mr. Chan chooses someone to be a "sacrifice". Mr. Chan will then show a tangram puzzle which another chosen team member must replicate in a box full of creatures. About half-way through the challenge, Mr. Chan will give a hint. When the time runs out, Mr. Chan does a jump and the sacrifice becomes a prisoner. It has only had 2 wins out of 20, with no teams winning in 2008. He returned in 2009 with a new style of game, involving completing a pattern while the template rotates. 2 teams won in 2009, making the running total 4 wins out of 30.
Some older games have returned, such as the Fight in the Mud. Some clue games are also played as key games and vice versa.
Note: This is not a full list of games, and new games are added every year.
Once again in this part of the game the contestants have to complete a series of challenges, but instead of playing for keys they are playing for clue words. In addition, these games are more physically and mentally challenging to the contestants than those played in Phase One. Before these challenges, one contestant goes to the Watch Tower to try to win a clue word. Phase Two is around 10–20 minutes long in the UK version, this depends on how long the team take to win the required amount of keys needed to open the Treasure Room gate.
The objective in this phase is to try to figure out the password, which, if answered correctly, will release the gold. To do this, they must try to win clue words to help them in working out the password.
These clue words can be placed either before or after the password to make a common phrase. For example: if the clues words were hall and line then the password would be dance, as in dance hall and line dance.
To make it even more difficult to get the clue word, a time limit (3 minutes usually; occasionally between 2:00–3:30 minutes) is placed on each game. The clue words are usually written on pieces of paper and kept in canisters filled with gunpowder, and if the contestant fails to reach the canister in the allotted time the clue word explodes and the contestant loses the challenge. Unlike the First Phase, players are not locked in a cage if they fail to win the clue word.
From 1991 to 2011, there was precisely 71 different adventures.[13] This section details some of Fort Boyard's most famous games. Examples of the clue games, also known as ‘ordeals’ or 'adventures', are listed below:
The Swing (1999–2011): One person is strapped into the Fort’s giant swing, which is hung at a right angle to the inside Fort wall. The rest of the team pulls on a heavy rope, which moves the swing back and forth. The clue is hanging so that the swing must be horizontal in order for the contestant to grab it. The person in the swing seat has no control, so even if they want to stop, they can't unless their team lets them.
Balloon Breaker (2006–2011): A female contestant is harnessed to the inner walls of the fort. The rest of the team must pull the rope attached to the contestant all the way down to the ground and release it sending the woman in the harness flying upwards. Meanwhile, she has to break a balloon containing the number code using a stick given to her before the challenge. This number code must be used to unlock the box containing the clue scroll.
Bungee Bounce (1991–2011): The contestant stands at the top of the Fort, looking down into the centre. He or she must then jump off the platform, and grab the canister which contains the clue while bouncing back up again. Some failed to pluck the courage to make the jump.
Bungee Jump (1996–2011): The contestant has to do a bungee jump off the side of the Fort. After jumping, while hanging upside down, the player has to climb partway up the rope and undo the canister which contains the clue word.
The Catapult (1995–2004): In the centre of the Fort sits the contestant, attached to bungee cords. Another member of the team stands with an axe, while the rest of the team turns a wheel which takes the strain of the bungee. The person with the axe then has to cut the rope, which catapults the contestant up into the air. The contestant has to look out for the clue word, which is written on a large blackboard somewhere on the top of the Fort.
Everest (1998–99, 2002–03, 2006): The chosen contestant climbs up two parallel ropes to reach the clue.
Flooded Cellars (1991–2011): The contestant climbs down a hole into a series of flooded cellars. He or she exits the first two chambers underwater, and then climbs a ladder and crawls along a low corridor, on the floor of which is a word written in sand. This word is washed away by a torrent of water after a few seconds. The contestant climbs down another ladder into another chamber, where underwater are a series of boxes. One box has the sand word on it, and in here is the clue. The player then has to swim out via an underwater corridor. From the fourth series, the contestant instead has to guide a spanner tied to a chain through obstacles in the flooded cellars to a bolted cylinder, which the player must open to reach the clue.
The Hammock (2004): The chosen contestant attempts to climb down a hammock to reach the clue, but climbing down the hammock destabilizes it and causes it to twist and swing even further. This challenge appeared only once.
Lobster Pot (1991–2011): Two contestants, one male and one female, zip-line down from the top of the Fort's bastions into the sea. One of them, usually the female, then swims to the pontoon, whilst the other has to swim over to a buoy, where he dives down deep to reach the lobster pot. Once he has it, he swims over to the pontoon where the second contestant opens the lobster pot, takes out a key and opens a box which contains the clue word. Once they have it they shout it out to their team using a megaphone. There have been a few variations to this, where the second player swims to a boat as opposed to the lobster pot. Once there, one of the pair needs to climb a ladder to reach the numbers for the other person to shout back to their team for the clue.
The Searching Head (1996–2011): The contestant moves along through a series of small chambers, with only the head exposed. In each chamber is a word which the player has to shout out to the team, who cross it off a list of similar words. The one left is the clue word. Each chamber is filled with a number of creatures to scare the player, which are in order: frogs, stick-insects, rats, cockroaches, and flies.
Snake Pit (1991–2011): A contestant is lowered into the snake pit, via a ladder. The clue word is split in two, each half being written on a snake. The contestant must find the two halves to make a whole, and to do so they have to pick up each snake and check its belly to see if one of the two halves of the clue is on it. There are hundreds of them, but the clue is always written on the big ones, one half usually being in a barrel and the other half in one of the small cupboards at the side of the pit.
Tightrope (1997–2011): The contestant has to walk from one end of the tightrope to the other where the clue hangs in a canister.
The Cable Cycle (1998–2011): Cycling along on the upside-down bicycle, the contestant comes to three rolled up flags. When unrolled each displays a letter, which the rest of the team must key into a combination lock to open a safe and gain the clue.
The Darkness (1991–2001): The player must go through a series of chambers, which are in complete darkness, and follow a string and the other players' directions (with the use of a map) to reach the end. Along the way, the contestant goes through some water, coal, a skeleton, and such features to eventually meet a room filled with light by a flame held by a naked person of the gender opposite to the player. The clue is written somewhere on the person's body, but some players miss the word due to the multiple tattoo-like prints also on the body. Although the genitals were never in view, when Fort Boyard was aired before the watershed, the topless woman's breasts would sometimes be blurred.
Spiders and Scorpions (1991–2011): A contestant enters a room filled with tarantulas and scorpions in a chest. Three of the arachnids hold slips of paper, but only one of them has a clue word on it. In 2011 during the French version the game is replaced by stretcher. However in the international versions. Abandoned cabin is replaced with the original Spiders and scorpions design. Both stretcher and spiders and scorpions are played.
Wall Climb (1991–2009): The contestant must climb up the side of the fort using only the rocks on the wall face. It is usually very windy and very difficult.
Note: Some of these games are still in place on the fort and have not been played recently. Not all of the clue games played have been mentioned here.
In the Watch Tower of the Fort lives a usually eccentric character that sets riddles for certain contestants; if the contestants give the correct answer, they receive a key. In the case of the clue riddles, the answer to the riddle is the clue word, so even if the contestant doesn't solve it in the Watch Tower he or she can still think about it during the rest of the game. If the contestant gives an incorrect answer to a key riddle, the key is thrown in to the sea, and another contestant has to swim for it (the swim was removed in series 5 of the UK version).
Since 2006, the contestants can no longer swim for the key; it is just put back where it was held. The clue word is also different and is not the same as the riddle. Therefore the riddle must be solved within the time limit to obtain the clue.
In the 2011 French version, The Watch Tower isn't used, instead there are 2 trips to the Interactive Cell. The second trip is a Visual riddle, about half-way through the key games, with Father Fouras on screen. The Clue riddle is replaced by a telephone riddle where the player is in a booth inside one of the cells and is given 1 minute to solve the riddle, asked by Father Fouras over the phone, whilst cockroaches are dropped on top of them. The Watch Tower may however be used in the other versions of the show instead.
The Treasure Room is the climax to each episode of Fort Boyard. The gold is stored here, which is guarded by Boyard's tigers.
Once the Fort’s gong sounds for a second time, the game time is over. When the gong is struck (by La Boule) the tigers are taken away by Monique, the gate to The Treasure Room rises and will only stay open for 2:00 minutes for UK series 1-4 (Actually UK series 1-4 stayed, open for 2:30, this did not include the 20 seconds before the gate started to rise, but they said only 2:00 minutes) or 3:00 minutes in UK series 5. The 3 minutes includes 20 seconds before the gate started to rise (to open canisters/organise team). The gate takes 25 seconds to open and close fully for every version of Fort Boyard worldwide.
The French version have extra games which are played in order to win extra time in The Treasure Room. Four members of the team play a game each against the "Master of Darkness", if they win they will be get 15 seconds each, a total of 1 minute, of extra time in the Treasure room, making it a full 4 minutes. From 2011 The duels against the "Master of Darkness" can reduce the team's time to 2:00 and give them a max time of 4:00.
If by this time the team has still not figured out the password from the clues won, they can "sacrifice" players in exchange for extra clues to help them. The sacrificed players have to reach the clue by putting their hand into one of the tiger-shaped hand traps around the Treasure Room entrance; once their hands are inside they cannot release them and participate in collecting the gold.
The contestants now have to spell out the password on the giant alphabet on the floor of the Treasure Room by standing on the corresponding letters on the grid and using cannonballs if there are not enough players. The team must also ensure the word is spelled correctly, as a mistake could cost them the prize.
Once this is done, Monique rotates the tiger's head (a statue), and the word will either be declared correct or incorrect, and the gold is released if the word is correct.
Then the contestants have the remaining time to collect as much gold as they can and place it in a bucket outside of the Treasure Room. It is only what is in this bucket that they get to keep; any that lands on the floor is not counted. When the time is nearly up in the Treasure Room, a bell rings, and the gate begins to close slowly. The contestants have to leave before the gate shuts completely because when the door shuts the tigers are released back into the Treasure Room. (the release of the tigers is delayed until the contestants are out of the Treasure Room, a portcullis is pulled in some version's to block the tigers from being released). In 2006, in the Russian version of the show, a contestant was locked in the Treasure Room. The gold collected was lost as a result.
If, however, they declare an incorrect word, the gold is not released and instead the gate to the treasure room begins to close immediately, prompting the contestants to make a quick escape, and they complete the game with no winnings.
The won gold is then weighed and converted into currency; this makes the contestants’ prize money. In most countries, the money won by the team is given to a charity.
Some countries, including Spain, Argentina, the UK, and Belgium, give the money directly to the members of the team. Some give vacations instead of money, dependent on how much the team won.
In France, between 1990 and 1992, the treasure was given to the team, but since 1993, the whole prize goes to charity. Then again in 2010, the prize money was given to the contestants.
| Series | Year(s) | Number of Keys required |
Game Play | Tresure Room Time |
Missing Keys | Extra Clues | Notes |
| 1 | 1998 | 4 (1 free key after swim) |
40 minutes | 2:00 minutes | Dungeon (1 person per missing key) |
Sacrifies (Tigers head outside Treasure Room) |
arrival on boat |
| 2 | 1999–2000 | 45 minutes | arrival on boat + open gate to enter fort |
||||
| 3 | 2000–2001 | ||||||
| 4 | 2001 | 40 minutes | arrival onboard helicopter | ||||
| 5 | 2003 | 5 (no free key) | 3:00 minutes | arrival on boat |
Fort Boyard has aired on many networks around the world, including:
From a broadcasting perspective, Fort Boyard itself was refurbished during 1988–89 to become, essentially, a large outdoor television studio. The Fort has its own doctor, catering facilities, as well as production gallery and veterinary centre.
The Fort is equipped with 10 portable television cameras, one camera crane for overhead shots, one under-water camera as well as a number of smaller cameras which specifically cover individual games and challenges around the Fort.
The majority of shows are filmed in the 4:3 aspect ratio, although some shows, for countries including Sweden and France since 2008, now use the more common 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. PAL is the favoured recording format for Fort Boyard, offering the highest quality pictures.
| Series | Year(s) | Episodes | Start Date | End Date | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1998 | 10 | 16 October 1998 | 25 December 1998 | Channel 5 |
| 2 | 1999–2000 | 14 | 19 November 1999 | 18 February 2000 | |
| 3 | 2000–2001 | 15 | 3 November 2000 | 10 August 2001 | |
| 4 | 2001 | 14 | 22 September 2001 | 29 December 2001 | |
| 5 | 2003 | 20 | 20 October 2003 | 3 December 2003 | Challenge |
| 6 | 2012 | 20 | 1 January 2012 | 2012 | CITV |
In total, 53 episodes were shown in the original Channel 5 series. Four celebrity editions and a The Mole special were also aired.
Series 3 was shown in two parts (3 November 2000 - 5 January 2001, 15 June 2001 - 10 August 2001) and contained two celebrity editions.
Note: Episode 7 from Series 2 and Episode 14 from Series 4 were both celebrity editions. Episode 4 of Series 4, on 13 October 2001, was a special featuring contestants from The Mole. Two further celebrity editions were aired in the Challenge series in 2003.[15][16]
Casting calls have been made for Fort Boyard UK. UKGameshows.com had published a post asking for UK contestants aged either between 13-15 or 18 to audition for the series.[17] The show will be produced by Foundation TV in the UK and broadcast on CITV sometime in 2012. They were also asking for US contestants to take part in the series. Filming taking place between 9–15 July 2011 consisting of 20 episodes in total.[18]
Disney XD has licensed and CITV has commissioned two 10 x 30" series to air on Disney’s cable and satellite TV channel - Disney XD around the world (excluding France and the Nordics) and to premiere on CITV in the UK.[19]
In 1996, at the height of the French version's popularity, a mini-series entitled Fort Boyard at Night was shown in the autumn. It was filmed entirely at night, and the teams also had slightly more time in which to complete the challenges. In 1997, there were three night-time specials, at Halloween, Christmas, and New Year.
In some seasons of the French (Seasons 14–16, 2003–2005) and Russian versions (2003–2004), the contestants stay overnight in the Fortress. During this time, they played endurance, mind, and psychological games both for the release of any prisoners they may have had, and for keys to, or time in, the Treasure Room at the end of the game.
In some seasons/programmes of the Swedish (during 2003–2004 and 2010–2011) , Russian & Greek (2006), Balkan (2008) and Danish (2009) versions, two teams played in the Fort at the same time, with only one of them winning at the end.
Although most seasons have seen changes (not least in hosts), recent changes to the French version of Fort Boyard included:
Hall of Imprints
The Duels
The Treasure Room
Extra Games
The Duels
The Treasure Room
In 2010, a duel format was introduced to the show following the low ratings for the previous season in 2009. The duel format is used by other countries from 2010 who prefer this version. Although, this was not successful in the French version so was later dropped the same year. The duel format was already being used by Sweden in 2003 and 2005 who still continue to use it. The changes made to the French version in 2010 were:
Main Overview
Game Play
The Treasure Room
Main Overview
The Duels
The Hall Of Judgement
This takes place after the key games. The Hall of Judgement provides opportunities for candidates to obtain the missing keys against the sacrifice of one of them but also to free the team members taken prisoner in the first part. The challenges are set by new character, White Judge. (The challenges used are similar to those on The Cube and Minute to Win It)
The Treasure Room
Main Overview
The music for the original French version of Fort Boyard was composed by Paul Koulak, a French music composer. He composed the main themes for the show as well as the incidental and game music that is used throughout the show. His music has been used for every version of Fort Boyard around the world, except the German version, where they composed their own music for the show and games.
Some of the original music for Fort Boyard was released on CD in France, both on CD single and CD album form. Tracks that featured on these CDs include:
Fort Boyard: La Legende is a live action adventure game, based in and around La Rochelle and on Fort Boyard. It was only released in the original French version (as a sort of tie-in to the game show Fort Boyard) and the later Dutch dubbed versions. The lack of an English version made this game highly obscure: it doesn't have a MobyGames entry. The hero of this game has no name; he is going to look for a treasure that was hidden by Napoleon at Fort Boyard. For this he needs to look around for clues, and get people to help, in and around La Rochelle.
The game is quite short: one can finish it in two hours. One attempt to stretch it is by putting in a lot of points where the player has lost the game. For instance, if the player is rude to Liliane Denis in the bar, she will not help, so the player cannot finish the game.[22]
Original French cast
Hero: Franck Perrogon
Liliane Denis: Laetitia Marx
Jacqueline Duroselle: Emmanuelle Vauquet
Librarian: Helene Coulon
Fort Boyard: La Legende was released in 1996 by Expand Images, Microids, France Television, and R&P ElectronicMedia.
The French version has two popular fan sites:
International sites: