| High Stakes | |
|---|---|
| Format | Game show |
| Presented by | Jeremy Kyle |
| Narrated by | Elizabeth Conboy Marc Silk |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Granada Studios, Manchester |
| Running time | 60mins (inc. adverts) |
| Production company(s) | ITV Studios Escalate Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV (ITV1/STV/UTV) (also ITV1 HD/STV HD/ UTV HD) |
| Picture format | 16:9 (HDTV) |
| Original run | 11 October 2011 – 13 December 2011 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Who Wants to be a Millionaire? |
High Stakes is a British television gameshow series hosted by Jeremy Kyle. The series commenced broadcasting on 11 October 2011 and finished broadcasting on 13 December 2011
Contents |
Contestants use all their skill and nerve to try to win up to a half a million pounds. Players must try to cross the High Stakes grid, and the further they progress, the more cash they accumulate. However, along the grid is a series of traps, and if the contestants land on a trap they lose their money and must leave the game immediately. Luckily, they are given clues which will help them avoid the obstacles - but only if they can interpret the hints correctly.
Each stage of the High Stakes grid uses 7 consecutive numbers (for example, the numbers 41-47 or 52-58). As the player completes each stage, the money they win will increase:
Each stage also has an increasing number of traps squares, going from 1 in Stage 1 to 6 in Stage 6, with the amount of traps increasing by 1 each stage. The player may elect to take a risk and step on what they believe to be a safe square or they may use one of the 10 clues they are given at the start of the game. If the player chooses to use a clue, a female voice will inform the player that they need to avoid the number the clue states. As an example, a clue may read "AVOID the highest number in the UK Lotto game". As the highest number in UK Lotto is 49, the player should step on a square OTHER than 49 to progress in the game. The player may also ask the host for help, and Jeremy will usually tell the player what he believes to be the correct answer.
As each stage is completed, Jeremy will ask the player if they wish to 'cash out' and leave the game, or 'Raise the stakes' and proceed to the next stage of the game. Should the player fail on Stages 1 or 2, they will leave with nothing, but if they fail from the 3rd stage onwards, they drop down 2 money levels (for example, if a player fails on Stage 3, they leave with £1,000 which is the prize for completing Stage 1, and a graphic will appear on the video wall to show this).
Should a player raise the stakes, having exhausted all 10 of their clues, the game enters Sudden Death, and the gameplay changes significantly. The contestant first selects a square they believe to be safe, and then selects a square they believe to be a trap. If the square is indeed a trap, it is marked as such. If it is a safe square, then it is eliminated from the game. In either case, the contestant again chooses a square to stand on, and then repeats the process until they have either found every trap or they have eliminated every safe square. In the first instance, the contestant would advance to the next stage and be given the choice to 'cash out' or 'Raise the stakes.' In the second, the player is eliminated as in the main game.
The programme is produced by ITV Studios and filmed in Studio 12 of the Granada Studios, Manchester. The studio facility is listed as 3SixtyMedia in the closing credits, which refers to the holding company that maintains the studios.