by Claire_Wolfe

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

The Weakest Link has been a long running quiz show on BBC1 for many years now. It is hosted by the feisty Anne Robinson and involves quick fire questions aimed at nine contestants. The aim of the game is to create as much money as possible so that the last person remaining will take this amount me.

The set is very simple – there are just nine podiums, one for each contestant, that go round in a semi circle. Anne Robinson stands at the head of the players to fire off the questions to them. The set is a blue colour which seems quite cold but that matches Anne’s personality quite well.

The game starts with the players introducing themselves by saying who they are, where they are from, their age and what they do for a living. This information is later used by Anne, often to humiliate the players, which adds a bit of humour to a quite serious game.

Then the questions start and it goes round the semi-circle so that each player is asked a question. There are no multiple choice answers, the questions rely on the contestants general knowledge. When they get one correct the chain on the left of the screen adds an amount of money to the pile, however this is not safe until a contestant has banked it. The more correct answers they get the more money is available. They can only bank at the beginning of their turn and if they get a question wrong all the money that has been saved by the other contestants is lost and they have to start from the beginning again.

It is quite a hard game and requires lots of concentration. As well as focusing on the questions being asked they also need to remember how many questions have been answered correctly and who banked when. The best tactic is to leave it for a few questions before banking but then there is the risk that you may get your question wrong and loose all the money.

After the round has finished, Anne informs the contestants how much money they have managed to bank. The contestants then have to vote for who they think is the weakest link. This could be the person who has got the most questions wrong, or the person who has forgotten to bank, or that who has taken the longest time to answer a question. The voice over for the show informs the watchers who is statistically the weakest link and it’s then very interesting to see if the players pick up on this fact or if they vote for someone who actually was a strong link.

When the contestants have cast their votes, Anne goes round them all to see who they have chosen, there is then a bit of banter that goes on between Anne and the contestants, either based on their performance in the round or by what they do for a living. This is what has made the show so popular because of Anne’s brashness and the way she treats the contestants. She tries to make them feel as stupid as possible sometimes which can be quite funny.

When the person has been voted off, they have to perform the walk of shame, which involves walking from their podium, past Anne and off backstage. They then have a few seconds to vent their anger at being voted off and give their opinion on who should have been voted off instead of them.

The game carries on like this until there are only two people left. They then play one last round to try and get as much money as possible and then they have to answer five questions as elimination. The person who gets the most questions right is the winner.

Overall, the game is full of both general knowledge which the viewer can test themselves against and the comedy value with Anne Robinson being very harsh and sometimes a bit abusive. It will stand the test of time and continue to be one of the most popular game shows on television.

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