The 1% Club

Entered into: Best Studio-Based Gameshow Format 2023

Produced by: Magnum Media
For: Various globally
Distributed by: BBC Studios

Imagine a game show where an eight-year-old has as much chance of winning as an 80 year old. Or where intelligence isn’t based on how many exams you passed, but is all about how your brain works. The 1% Club is a unique, compelling and funny game show that tests the nation’s intelligence, based on a scientific survey. This primetime entertainment format is not about what you learned at school or your ability to memorise facts – it’s about real intelligence. It’s a chance to test how your brain works through a series of questions that often lead to extremely entertaining answers. Everyone is on a level playing field, which means anyone can play along, making it perfect co-viewing for the whole family. Plus, if you’re smart enough, you could earn yourself a place in the 1% Club: an elite group of people who can honestly say they’re smarter than 99% of the population. Over the course of this primetime weekly show, 100 members of the live studio audience are whittled down through a series of 15 questions. At the start of the show there is no money at all in the Prize Pot, but each contestant is given £1,000 when they enter the studio - meaning there is a total of £100,000 out there in the audience. At any point in the show, if a contestant gets a question wrong then they are out of the game and their £1,000 gets transferred to the Prize Pot. The game begins with a 90% Question – i.e. a question that 90% of the nation could answer correctly, followed by 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, 45%, 40%, 35%, 30%, 25%, 20%, 15% and 10% questions, before reaching the 5% question. Any player still in the game after the 5% question can choose to take £10,000 and leave the show right now, or play on to answer the 1% question. If they get that one correct they'll win everything in the Prize Pot - up to £100,000 and become an official member of The 1% Club. If they get it wrong they lose the lot. If there is more than one person who gets the 5% question correct they each have the choice of playing on or taking the £10,000, and if more than one player answers the 1% question correctly, they share the jackpot.