by James Kent

Created on: August 02, 2011   Last Updated: August 03, 2011

The Weakest Link is a quiz style TV show hosted by Anne Robinson and, as the name suggests, the aim is not to be the weakest link. The concept is a fairly easy one and certainly doesn’t require a complicated review to explain it. The game show has a number of rounds in order to find a winner and the last one standing wins the money accumulated over the course of the game.

At the start of the game, there are nine players and Anne goes around to each of them individually to ask questions based on general knowledge. Each round of the game has around two minutes put onto the clock and a correct answer increases the amount of money accumulated. However, that money does not automatically go into the prize fund. Players must say ‘Bank’ in order to put money into the jackpot. However, a string of correct answers is far more valuable than individual correct answers. Therefore, timing is very important – especially because a wrong answer in the sequence of correct answers will reset the balance to zero. So players need to be very careful because there could be a string of correct answers – but no money banked.

The best players don’t qualify for the next round automatically – because at the end of each round there is a voting process. The idea is quite simple; with all players voting on who they thought was the weakest player was. Someone may be considered the weakest player due to incorrect answers or failing to bank vital cash. This is a slightly controversial part of the TV show, because the weakest player statistically isn’t always the player that is voted off. In the event that a majority vote can’t be reached – the strongest player has the deciding vote. The player that is voted off is, of course, known as the weakest link.

The TV show tends to continue along the same lines with each round, but questions may get harder and players start to vote more tactically. The reason being is that players will want to face an easier opponent in the final should they get there. The game changes a little bit for the final round, up to now it has basically been a team game; with players working together to try and bank as much money as possible. However, all of the money can only be won by one player and the final round is like a penalty shoot-out, with the best of five winning the money. If the players cannot be separated; a sudden death round will begin, again similar to a penalty shoot-out. At this stage, the first player to get a question right when the other player gets it wrong will win the money.

There is also some interaction with Anne over the course of the game, this usually occurs during the voting – when Anne will ask various questions about what they do, before she asks why they voted the way that they did. This is all done in a somewhat amusing and condescending way, which all adds to the appeal of the TV show. If after reading this review, you haven’t yet seen The Weakest Link – please check it out. It can usually be found on either BBC1 or BBC2 in the afternoon during weekdays.    

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