Breakaway (game show)
| Breakaway | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Game show |
| Directed by |
Richard Valentine (series 1) John L. Spencer (series 2) |
| Presented by | Nick Hancock |
| Theme music composer | Marc Sylvan |
| Composer(s) | Paul Farrer |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 40 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Pam Cavannagh (BBC) Mat Steiner and Adam Wood (Googlebox Entertainment) |
| Producer(s) |
Ed Egan (series 1) James Donkin (series 2) |
| Editor(s) |
Mick Hitchman Nick Parker (Series 1) |
| Camera setup | Multiple-camera setup |
| Running time | 45mins |
| Production company(s) | Gogglebox Entertainment |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC Two |
| Picture format | 16:9 |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original run | 12 March 2012 – 2 November 2012 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
| Production website | |
Breakaway is a British quiz show presented by Nick Hancock, which aired on BBC Two from 12 March to 2 November 2012. In it, six contestants compete for a maximum of £10,000. The money can be won by the contestants working together for a smaller amount of money, or one or two contestants deciding to "breakaway" from the group to win all the money for themselves.
Rules
Key:
Green square - Start.
Blue square - Specialist topic questions.
Yellow square - Pot luck questions.
Red square: Breakaway path.
Red line - Break point.
Green line - Finishing line.
The games take place on a special lit path, consisting of 30 steps. The path is split into two: the larger main path from which all the contestants start, and the special red "breakaway" path.
To move along the path, the contestants must answer questions correctly. The first 21 questions are on specialist topics - seven topics of three questions each - and the contestants are given 15 seconds to answer each question. The first of the specialist subjects is picked at random, unless someone chooses to "breakaway", in which case, that contestant gets to choose instead. The final 9 questions are pot luck and the contestants are given 30 seconds to answer. Each question on the main path can only be answered by one contestant, who'll step forward to answer the question. For every question answered correctly on main path, all the contestants move forward one step and £100 is added to the final jackpot. If a question is answered incorrectly, the answering contestant steps back to the last step, and the entire jackpot is wiped out. The jackpot is won when all the contestants cross the green laser finishing line at the end of the path, and the jackpot is divided equally among them.
Breaking away
At the start of the game, the contestants are offered the chance to "breakaway". The contestants are given five seconds to decide and the first contestant to press their hand-held buzzer is allowed to breakaway. If a contestant breaks away, they'll then move to the breakaway path. If this is done at the very start, a bonus £1,000 is added to the jackpot. On the breakaway path, all questions are worth £300. The contestant is allowed to nominate a second contestant to join them if they think they will need help, in exchange for half the final jackpot. If the nominated contestant accepts the offer, they join the first contestant on the breakaway path. Only two contestants are allowed on the breakaway path at any one time.
The breakaway contestants must answer all the questions on their own (the questions are exactly the same on both paths). Any time the breakaway contestant answers a question incorrectly, they'll lose a life (see below), or, if they have no lives, they are eliminated from the game. Any time a breakaway contestant answers incorrectly, the jackpot remains intact for the other contestants to win. The remaining contestants walk up all the main path to the point at which the eliminated contestant lost. If two contestants are on the path, the remaining contestants stay where they are and choose one breakaway contestant to remove a life from or, if that contestant has no lives, eliminate from the game. If the breakaway contestant(s) reach the end of the path on their own, they'll win all the money for themselves.
Break points and lives
Along the path, there are "break points", which occur every three steps, except the final one which is on Question 29. At these points, two events occur. The first is a special question in which the contestants can earn a "life", a form of insurance against being eliminated on the breakaway path. Any lives earned by the contestants are indicated by blue lights on their name badges. If a contestant with a life on the breakaway path gets a question wrong, they'll instead lose a life and move back to the last step on the path, rather than get eliminated from the game altogether. If two contestants are on the breakaway path and they both have lives, the remaining contestants choose which player loses a life. If one contestant on the breakaway path has one or more lives and a second does not, the remaining contestants choose whether they wish to remove a life from the first contestant or eliminate the second contestant from the game.
A question for a life consists of a series of clues to the correct answer, always beginning with the host saying, "Who, where, or what is this?". The first contestant to answer correctly wins the life, or can steal a life from another contestant if any are available. They also have the honour of selecting the next category. If a contestant answers a life question wrong, they are locked out for the rest of the question. Five lives are on offer throughout the game (after questions 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15).
After the life question is answered, the contestants are then offered the chance to breakaway from the group, if there is a spot available on the Breakaway path (only two contestants are allowed to breakaway at any one time). If a contestant has already broken away, the breakaway contestant is given the opportunity to offer a second contestant the chance to join them. If two contestants have broken away, play then continues as normal. If there are only two contestants left and they are both on the breakaway path, the contestant who came on last is eliminated. If all the contestants are knocked out, no-one wins the money.
Series 2
A second series began on 8 October 2012, with a few rule changes from Series 1.
Instead of 30 questions, there are now just 25, split into 6 topics of 3 questions, followed by 7 general knowledge questions. By "breaking away", you now receive £400 for each correct answer, but there is no £1,000 bonus for "breaking away" before question 1.
There are now only 4 chances to gain lives, with the one after question 15 being removed. Lives can also now not be stolen from other people who have lives. Lives can also be used on the main track for the first time; if a question is answered incorrectly on the main track, anyone who has a life can sacrifice it, to keep the jackpot in play, and not reduce it to £0. As with the Breakaway, it is first on the buzzers (only among those have lives), with 5 seconds to act.
In addition, the 20th and final episode of the series, broadcast on 2 November 2012, was a Champion of Champions game, with the 6 highest winning contestants of the series returning to try and win another £10,000.
Transmissions
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 March 2012 | 6 April 2012 | 20 |
| 2 | 8 October 2012 | 2 November 2012 | 20 |
Reception
Readers of UKGameshows.com named it the best new game show of 2012 in their "Hall of fame" poll.[1]
International version
Chinese version
The Chinese version of this show is called "谁敢站出来"(Simplified Chinese Characters, English meaning: Who dares to stand out?). The first season is premiered on October 26, 2013, and it will be aired at Zhejiang Satellite Television on 21:10 (UTC+8) every Saturday night in the subsequent weeks. The show is presented by Shen Tao, a Chinese host who was one of the former hosts of the Chinese version of Deal or No Deal.
Although it's the Chinese version of this show, there are several changes to the original version. This show's first season is similar to Series 2 of the original version.
If someone want to "breaking away" before Question Number One, the bonus is ￥5,000($820, £506); On the main path, each question is worth ￥500($82, £51), while on the breakaway path, each question is worth ￥2,000($328, £203). So the theoretical top prize is ￥55,000($9,025, £5,571).
But up to now nobody in China won the top prize. The biggest winner is a contestant in Episode 3, which was aired on November 9, 2013, won CN¥38,500.