Perfection (game show)

Perfection
Genre	Quiz show
Format	Game show
Created by	Josephine Brassey Liz Gaskell Nick Pagan
Developed by	Nicole Quinn James Woolley
Directed by	Geraldine Dowd
Presented by	Nick Knowles
Theme music composer	Will Slater
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	180
Production
Location(s)	The London Studios (2011) BBC Pacific Quay (2012–)
Running time	45 minutes
Production company(s)	12 Yard BBC Scotland (2012–)
Distributor	ITV Studios
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC Two (2011–2012) BBC One (2013–)
Picture format	16:9
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	17 January 2011 (2011-01-17) – present
External links
Website

Perfection is a BBC television series that was first shown on BBC Two from 17 January 2011 to 10 February 2012, and then shown on BBC One since 2 January 2013.

Rules

Main game

Four players, referred to by the host as the "usual suspects", compete. One contestant is chosen at random from the four to compete in the main game on stage, while the other three play against the contestant from their soundproof booth. In each of the three initial rounds of the game, the host starts by turning off the booth, so the usual suspects can neither hear, nor see anything happening on stage. The contestant is then given four true-or-false statements to answer in 45 seconds. Only the first "true" or "false" utterance is accepted for each question; "yes", "no', "that's right" etc. are ignored. Once all four answers have been given, the booth is turned back on so the usual suspects can see the contestant's answers. S/he will then ask them if they would change any answers or not.

The host then reveals how many answers the contestant got right, but not which specific ones. If all four are correct, the contestant wins the round immediately. If the contestant gets zero correct, then the usual suspects win automatically as they could simply take the opposite answers. In any other case, the usual suspects have the chance to change the contestant's answers, with the knowledge of how many he/she got wrong. Should the usual suspects correctly change the contestant's answers, they will win the round. If they get one or more wrong, then neither the contestant nor the usual suspects win. The winning side (if any) then gets to choose two categories from a list of 12 to place on the board for the final, with the assumption being that the contestant wants to choose categories that they will know, and the usual suspects want to choose categories that would make the game harder for the contestant. If nobody won the round, then the two category choices are carried over to the next round. If in the third and final round nobody wins the contestant and usual suspects take turns, starting with the contestant, until outstanding choices are used up and the board is full.

The final

The contestant then plays the final for a rolling jackpot that starts at £1,000 and rises by an additional £1,000 for each game not claimed. In order, the true/false questions behind the six categories are revealed. There's no time limit, however, once an answer is given, it is locked in. Once all six questions are answered, the usual suspects are brought back one last time. They will each give their opinions on whether the answers are correct or incorrect, though, they are not allowed to comment on whether specific questions are right or wrong. Each of the three is also given the option to offer assistance in changing any answers they believe are wrong, by negotiating a price for their assistance with the contestant. However, in some cases, it is in their best interest to not offer assistance, since any usual suspects left in the booth stay for the next game. Should the player accept any assistance offered, the player who offered comes out of the booth and is allowed to suggest changes to any answers they believe are wrong, although the main contestant has the final decision if there are any disagreements. After the change, or if no assistance is offered or accepted, the answers are revealed. If any one answer is wrong, the contestant (and helper, if assistance was accepted) leaves with nothing. If all answers are correct, the contestant wins the jackpot, and if assistance was accepted, he/she splits it with the helper.

Continuity

Players remain on the show as long as they are usual suspects. When one is chosen to play, they leave the show. Any usual suspect that is chosen to help a player in the final also leaves the show.

Records

Largest win

The largest amount of money won on the show was £18,000 by Patsie on 14 February 2013. She achieved perfection on her own, after the usual suspects chose all of her final round categories, and her offer of £12,000 to help in the final was declined by the usual suspects.

Achieving perfection

It was not until show 57, and the 113th game that somebody, a contestant called Pat, achieved perfection in all three rounds - though she did not manage to win the jackpot. After this, it did not take long for someone to complete the ultimate achievement of Perfection in all three rounds and the final. It happened in the very next game, with contestant Niall answering all 18 questions correctly and taking away £7,000.^[1]

Longest appearance

Aubrey and Jane of series 2 both hold the record for the longest run as a usual suspect before they were chosen. That record is 16 games.

Transmissions

References

External links

• Perfection at BBC Programmes.
• Perfection at UKGameshows.com.