The National Lottery: In It to Win It

The National Lottery: In It to Win It
Genre	Game show
Created by	Andrew Brereton Sarah Edwards Gail Sloan
Presented by	Dale Winton
Narrated by	Alan Dedicoat
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	18
No. of episodes	172 (as of 16 July 2016)
Production
Running time	45 minutes (2002–6) 50 minutes (2006–)
Production company(s)	12 Yard BBC Scotland (2012–)
Distributor	ITV Studios
Release
Original network	BBC One
Picture format	16:9
Original release	18 May 2002 – 16 July 2016
Chronology
Preceded by	Jet Set
Followed by	Wright Around the World

The National Lottery: In It to Win It, was a BBC National Lottery game show broadcast on BBC One which began on 18th May 2002 and ended on 16 July 2016. The programme is hosted by Dale Winton. It was the longest running game show to accompany the UK lottery draws, celebrating 14 years in May 2016.

Format

Five contestants wait on the right side of the studio, hoping to be randomly picked to play by joining 'winners row' by way of a lottery machine filled with balls of various colours. When in ‘winners row’, players are given multiple choice questions to answer. £5,000 is added to the prize fund if a question is answered correctly. However, in the event of the player getting the question wrong, they are sent to the ‘red area’, situated in the middle of the studio.

At this point, another player is randomly selected to join 'winners row'. However, before they are asked a question, the player in the red area is given one more chance to be on 'winners row' by answering a non-multiple choice question correctly. If they fail to answer correctly, they'll go back to the beginning row of contestants.

After 20 questions, a klaxon sounds, signalling the end for anyone not in 'winners row'. At this point, each player in 'winners row' has to answer one more multiple choice question to gain an equal share of the prize fund. Players who get their question wrong push up the winnings of those who have answered correctly. In the event of no-one getting their final questions right, no-one goes home with the money.

The maximum prize fund is £100,000 (twenty £5,000 questions answered correctly), although every time a player gets their question wrong, they'll effectively reduce the maximum possible total by £5,000. The top prize was finally won single-handedly by Eleri Owen, on 29 July 2006, who answered all twenty questions and her final question correctly, to walk away with the top prize of £100,000. The £100,000 top prize was won for a second time by Toni Cox on 24 January 2009. The £100,000 top prize was in sight for Olly Lewin on 15 May 2010, who had got to the end single-handedly, however, his last question was to name the year that Richard Pryor, Bruce Lee and John Lennon were born. The options were 1935, 1940 and 1945. After much deliberation, he wrongly answered 1945, losing everything. The actual correct year was 1940.

One question was edited out on 27 February 2010. It concerned the fashion designer Alexander McQueen, who had died between the show being recorded and broadcast. After the unfortunate death of David Elias, Kevin Ashman began to set the questions for the show in 2007.

The programme includes the Saturday night Thunderball and Lotto draws. Originally, the entire show was pre-recorded with Dale Winton presiding over the Lottery draws live, however, now, the programme is fully recorded with a presenter at 'Lottery HQ' conducting the live draw.

John McGivern from Northern Ireland is the youngest winner in the shows history, winning £50,000 at 18 years old. The show was broadcast on 4 September 2004.

Transmissions

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	18 May 2002	20 July 2002	9
2	26 April 2003	12 July 2003	12
3	1 May 2004	4 September 2004	15
4	9 July 2005	15 October 2005	15
5	22 July 2006	16 September 2006	9
6	25 November 2006	6 January 2007	7
7	22 September 2007	3 November 2007	7
8	12 January 2008	9 February 2008	4
9	27 December 2008	14 February 2009	8
10	2 January 2010	27 February 2010	8
11	8 May 2010	10 July 2010	8
12	25 September 2010	5 February 2011	8
13	25 June 2011	13 August 2011	8
14	10 March 2012	23 June 2012	12
15	5 January 2013	20 July 2013	16
16	12 April 2014	14 June 2014	10
17	6 September 2014	26 September 2015	8
18	12 September 2015	16 July 2016	8[1]

Ratings

Episode viewing figures from BARB.^[2]

Series 1 (2002)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	18 May 2002	7,680,000	10
2	25 May 2002	5,660,000	17
3	1 June 2002	5,580,000	13
4	8 June 2002	5,350,000	28
5	15 June 2002	6,490,000	14
6	22 June 2002	5,710,000	16
7	29 June 2002	5,540,000	17
8	6 July 2002	5,110,000	17
9	20 July 2002	5,970,000	9

Series 2 (2003)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	26 April 2003	7,160,000	8
2	3 May 2003	5,480,000	18
3	10 May 2003	6,270,000	11
4	17 May 2003	6,920,000	11
5	24 May 2003	5,140,000	20
6	31 May 2003	4,790,000	25
7	7 June 2003	6,280,000	11
8	14 June 2003	5,290,000	18
9	21 June 2003	6,370,000	9
10	28 June 2003	7,460,000	5
11	5 July 2003	6,520,000	6
12	12 July 2003	4,690,000	21

Series 3 (2004)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	1 May 2004	6,420,000	8
2	8 May 2004	7,580,000	9
3	15 May 2004	4,670,000	19
4	22 May 2004	6,360,000	9
5	29 May 2004	8,240,000	5
6	5 June 2004	7,000,000	7
7	19 June 2004	Under 4,580,000	Outside top 30
8	26 June 2004	5,980,000	16
9	3 July 2004	7,710,000	11
10	17 July 2004	5,970,000	10
11	24 July 2004	5,240,000	14
12	31 July 2004	5,660,000	13
13	7 August 2004	5,570,000	11
14	14 August 2004	6,120,000	12
15	4 September 2004	5,100,000	21

Series 4 (2005)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	9 July 2005	4,810,000	15
2	16 July 2005	5,860,000	8
3	23 July 2005	6,130,000	7
4	30 July 2005	6,670,000	8
5	6 August 2005	6,070,000	9
6	13 August 2005	6,490,000	7
7	20 August 2005	5,240,000	10
8	27 August 2005	4,960,000	15
9	3 September 2005	5,520,000	13
10	10 September 2005	5,780,000	11
11	17 September 2005	5,310,000	17
12	24 September 2005	5,380,000	13
13	1 October 2005	5,170,000	16
14	8 October 2005	5,060,000	18
15	15 October 2005	6,590,000	14

Series 5 (2006)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	22 July 2006	5,600,000	9
2	29 July 2006	6,630,000	8
3	5 August 2006	6,270,000	8
4	12 August 2006	6,890,000	7
5	19 August 2006	7,270,000	6
6	26 August 2006	7,090,000	5
7	2 September 2006	6,820,000	5
8	9 September 2006	6,580,000	7
9	16 September 2006	5,970,000	9

Series 6 (2006–07)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	25 November 2006	6,740,000	9
2	2 December 2006	6,550,000	9
3	9 December 2006	6,050,000	11
4	16 December 2006	5,470,000	12
5	23 December 2006	7,120,000	13
6	30 December 2006	7,100,000	15
7	6 January 2007	6,970,000	10

Series 7 (2007)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	22 September 2007	4,830,000	18
2	29 September 2007	5,160,000	17
3	6 October 2007	6,350,000	7
4	13 October 2007	5,210,000	19
5	20 October 2007	4,510,000	23
6	27 October 2007	5,980,000	8
7	3 November 2007	6,220,000	8

Series 8 (2008)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	12 January 2008	7,070,000	6
2	19 January 2008	7,750,000	5
3	2 February 2008	7,800,000	5
4	9 February 2008	7,390,000	7

Series 9 (2008–09)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	27 December 2008	6,030,000	23
2	3 January 2009	5,860,000	18
3	10 January 2009	6,890,000	6
4	17 January 2009	7,000,000	7
5	24 January 2009	6,960,000	5
6	31 January 2009	7,530,000	4
7	7 February 2009	7,810,000	4
8	14 February 2009	6,130,000	11

Series 10 (2010)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	2 January 2010	5,930,000	21
2	9 January 2010	6,500,000	20
3	16 January 2010	5,900,000	17
4	23 January 2010	6,400,000	11
5	30 January 2010	6,020,000	10
6	6 February 2010	6,480,000	9
7	20 February 2010	6,880,000	6
8	27 February 2010	6,270,000	11

Series 11 (2010)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One Weekly ranking
1	8 May 2010	Under 4,240,000	Outside top 30
2	15 May 2010	4,280,000	29
3	22 May 2010	5,290,000	13
4	5 June 2010	Under 3,470,000	Outside top 30
5	12 June 2010	Under 4,020,000	Outside top 30
6	19 June 2010	4,480,000	19
7	26 June 2010	Under 3,870,000	Outside top 30
8	10 July 2010	4,790,000	15

Series 12 (2010–11)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	25 September 2010	Under 4,030,000	Outside top 30
2	2 October 2010	Under 4,300,000	Outside top 30
3	9 October 2010	Under 4,140,000	Outside top 30
4	8 January 2011	6,170,000	14
5	15 January 2011	6,240,000	14
6	22 January 2011	6,180,000	13
7	29 January 2011	6,690,000	12
8	5 February 2011	6,540,000	11

Series 13 (2011)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	25 June 2011	4,860,000	12
2	2 July 2011	4,780,000	15
3	9 July 2011	5,350,000	11
4	16 July 2011	5,460,000	11
5	23 July 2011	5,600,000	8
6	30 July 2011	4,550,000	15
7	6 August 2011	4,910,000	14
8	13 August 2011	5,690,000	13

Series 14 (2012)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	10 March 2012	5,590,000	8
2	17 March 2012	5,760,000	11
3	24 March 2012	4,270,000	26
4	31 March 2012	4,180,000	23
5	7 April 2012	4,450,000	22
6	14 April 2012	4,340,000	24
7	21 April 2012	4,550,000	20
8	28 April 2012	4,580,000	21
9	5 May 2012	4,430,000	20
10	12 May 2012	Under 3,820,000	Outside Top 30
11	19 May 2012	4,410,000	22
12	23 June 2012	Under 3,680,000	Outside Top 30

Series 15 (2013)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	5 January 2013	5,900,000	16
2	12 January 2013	5,540,000	16
3	19 January 2013	5,480,000	25
4	26 January 2013	5,200,000	22
5	2 February 2013	4,970,000	25
6	9 February 2013	4,880,000	28
7	16 February 2013	5,440,000	17
8	2 March 2013	4,500,000	28
9	9 March 2013	4,500,000	29
10	16 March 2013	Under 4,700,000	Outside Top 30
11	1 June 2013	Under 3,600,000	Outside Top 30
12	8 June 2013	Under 3,110,000	Outside Top 30
13	29 June 2013	4,090,000	20
14	6 July 2013	4,020,000	27
15	13 July 2013	4,070,000	17
16	20 July 2013	3,090,000	30

Series 16 (2014)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	12 April 2014	Under 3,700,000	Outside Top 30
2	19 April 2014	Under 3,910,000	Outside Top 30
3	26 April 2014	Under 4,000,000	Outside Top 30
4	3 May 2014	Under 3,880,000	Outside Top 30
5	10 May 2014	Under 4,010,000	Outside Top 30
6	17 May 2014	Under 3,730,000	Outside Top 30
7	24 May 2014	3,750,000	30
8	31 May 2014	Under 3,590,000	Outside Top 30
9	7 June 2014	Under 3,220,000	Outside Top 30
10	14 June 2014	Under 4,200,000	Outside Top 30

Series 17 (2014–15)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	6 September 2014	Under 3,450,000	Outside Top 30
2	13 September 2014	Under 3,210,000	Outside Top 30
3	20 September 2014	Under 3,490,000	Outside Top 30
4	11 April 2015	Under 3,860,000	Outside Top 30
5	16 May 2015	Under 3,640,000	Outside Top 30
6	25 April 2015	Under 3,570,000	Outside Top 30
7	2 May 2015	Under 3,710,000	Outside Top 30
8	26 September 2015	Under 3,950,000	Outside Top 30

Series 18 (2015–16)

Episode no.	Airdate	Total viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	12 September 2015	Under 3,590,000	Outside Top 30
2	19 September 2015	Under 3,570,000	Outside Top 30
3	14 May 2016	3,460,000	30
4	28 May 2016	Under 3,350,000	Outside Top 30
5	4 June 2016	3,560,000	25
6	11 June 2016	Under 3,520,000	Outside Top 30
7	9 July 2016	Under 3,690,000	Outside Top 30
8	16 July 2016	Under 3,280,000	Outside Top 30

References

1. "BBC announces entertainment commissions". BBC Online. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
2. http://www.barb.co.uk/

External links

• The National Lottery: In It to Win It at BBC Programmes
  
  .
• The National Lottery: In It to Win It at UKGameshows.com.
• The National Lottery: In It to Win It at the Internet Movie Database.
• In It to Win It at the 12 Yard website.
• A contestant's experience of being on the show