Millionaire Hot Seat finally brings the format to a better length, since the 60-minute shows have been way too long for some time, and the original format’s well has run dry. However, this new format has been running for a while in other countries.
For 24 minutes plus adverts, you can finally escape Jeremy Clarkson moaning about the Labour party, as six contestants line-up to take the hot seat in question.
If a contestant gets a question wrong, they’re instantly out of the chair, so double-barrelled Susan Murray-Smith might get an early bath if she’s asked her name.
There are 15 questions to get to £1m, but in some changes, a contestant can pass just once, and the other five-in-waiting get a turn, with the potential for this one to return after that. When the next person rocks up, they continue where the last person left off.
However, if they get one wrong, the top-most prize money disappears, and the contestant goes home. They also only get a very short amount of time to answer each question in the first place.
Naturally, no spoilers as to who wins, loses, etc. but there are TWO contestants in the opener with double-barrelled names. What’s going on?! And another one used their pass on the EASIEST of questions!
I can see that playing the game will be potentially confusing if you’re each jumping out of the main seat, given that you’d lose the flow of going from one question to another, but even if their heads are all over the place, why do they all give waffly explanations as to how they arrived at each answer? You only have a limited amount of time to actually SAY the answer, so just get on with it! Have they been told to waffle, in advance of recording?
Still, while the Millionaire Hot Seat format comes across better than the original, and has been doing the rounds elsewhere since at least 2009 – so clearly has legs, I was wrong about one thing… in the opener, Clarkson STILL gets in a dig about Keir Starmer. 14 years of Tories, fella. 14 years… stick that in your pipe and smoke it.
Thanks to our friends at ITV for the screener prior to release.
Millionaire Hot Seat begins tonight on ITV at 7.30pm, then airs each weeknight afterwards, except when sport overlaps. After broadcast, each episode will be on ITVX.
It’s unlikely to get released on Blu-ray or DVD, but if it does, it will be listed on the New DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K releases UK page.
Millionaire Hot Seat – Official Trailer – ITV
Director: Simon Staffurth
Music: Paul Ferrer
Presenter: Jeremy Clarkson
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.