Unanimous (UK TV series)
Encyclopedia
Unanimous was a UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

-based game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...

 broadcast on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 from 27 October 2006 to 15 December 2006. It was based on an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 game show titled Unan1mous
Unan1mous
Unan1mous is an American reality television program that premiered on the Fox Network on March 22, 2006 and ran for one season. The host of the series was J. D. Roth.- Concept :...

.

Unanimous: The Fallout, was shown on E4 later at night after Unanimous. It was hosted by comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...

s Patrick McGuinness
Patrick McGuinness
Patrick Joseph "Paddy" McGuinness is an English stand-up comedian, comedy actor, television personality and presenter. Born in Farnworth, Bolton, he is best known for his performances alongside comedian Peter Kay, and as the host of dating programme Take Me Out.-Early life:He attended Mount St....

 and Olivia Lee
Olivia Lee
Olivia Lee is an English comedienne, actress and television presenter.-Life and career:Lee is from a Jewish family. She studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama...

.

The 'Host' of the show was Alex Humes. Although fairly unknown, Humes starred in the reality TV
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...

 programme Space Cadets, also for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

, where he played one of the Russian pilots. The voice-over for the programme was provided by Phil Gallagher
Phil Gallagher
Phil Gallagher is a British presenter, actor, writer and voiceover artist from Gillingham, Kent, who is best known for his title role in the CBeebies programme Mister Maker.Gallagher started his career as a presenter and sports reporter on BBC Radio Kent...

.

The show was not live but was recorded many weeks before airing. Contestants were not informed of the rules or objectives of the game before it started - only that they were going to be playing in a game show with a substantial prize fund, and they would be filmed non-stop in an enclosed environment.

Concept

Nine strangers are locked together in a bunker
Bunker
A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...

 and told they cannot leave until they unanimously
Unanimity
Unanimity is agreement by all people in a given situation. When unanimous, everybody is of the same mind and acting together as one. Though unlike uniformity, it does not constitute absolute agreement. Many groups consider unanimous decisions a sign of agreement, solidarity, and unity...

 choose to award one of them the grand prize money. Contestants are isolated from the outside world, and have no access to any time references. If a contestant leaves the bunker, the amount of the available prize is cut in half.

Votes are cast by each contestant
Contestant
A contestant is someone who takes part in a competition, usually a professional competition or a game show on television. The participants competing against each other have to go through rounds...

 taking a ball and selecting the name of one of the other contestants via a roller inside of it (a person's own name is not included in their ball). If a vote is not unanimous, something negative happens to the players in order to increase the pressure to reach a unanimous decision. Throughout the course of the game, these were the "punishments" the players received:
  • The contestants select three random envelopes, each containing a secret about one of them. It is not known whose secrets are being read, and contestants vote to decide which secret is the worst. The holder of that secret is "outcast" from the game, meaning they are no longer eligible to win the money, but that they will remain in the bunker (wearing a special uniform) and continue to vote. Outcast players are also still subject to the rule that if anyone leaves, the amount will be halved. (After Vote 1)
  • All contestants (including Outcasts) must in turn vote. The contestant who gets the least amount of votes is subsequently made an "outcast" (after Votes 2 & 3)
  • The contestants are told that every second they can not reach a unanimous decision will cost them £1 (which totals £86,400 a day) - the money will not stop shrinking until either they all agree who wins it, or the money goes down to nothing. Meaning either they agree who gets it, or no one does. Before every vote the clock is stopped. If they do not agree the clock is restarted after the end of the vote.

The Bunker

  • All voting takes place in the raised "Inner Circle". On the wall in front of it is a large screen where the unnamed host of the show (actually Alex Humes) appears when it is time to vote. Contestants sit around the table to vote, and when told to do so drop the voting spheres down holes in the table. The spheres come out subsequently in front of the host.
  • The isolation booth is a room on a raised level which is higher than any other room in the bunker. Contestants may sometimes be asked to here to vote to make a contestant an "outcast". Contestants have also been asked to nominate a member to go there for other purposes -
    • In the second episode, the group was asked to nominate one contestant to enter the booth, whilst the rest of the group openly discussed this contestant. The contestant who was nominated was Kamran. While he was in the isolation booth he was given the opportunity to phone home or to listen in on their conversation. He listened in on their conversation.
    • In the third episode, the host instructed all outcasts to go to the isolation booth claiming that they were going to hear a piece of information about one of the contestants. The Outcasts were Anna and Kamran. When in the isolation room they found that there was not actually any information and subsequently were given the choice by the host that they either told the contestants nothing or told them what had happened.

Cast and vote table

(Outcasts Are Not Eligible To Receive Votes)
Contestant Age Occupation Episode 1Anonymised secrets (revealed to the audience to be about Kelly, Kamran and Anna) were selected randomly and read out loud. The secret chosen as worst was revealed to be Anna's, so she was made an outcast. This was that she had slept with their best friend's partner behind their back. Anna then claimed that she had lied during her interview, and that this was false. Episode 2Kamran was voted as outcast. Episode 3On being voted outcast, Andy was given access to a safe. The contents of this were not revealed to the viewers. Episode 4The contents of the safe were revealed to be a slip of paper telling Andy to nominate another participate to become an outcast. He selected Pip. There was no vote. At the end of the episode, the group were ordered to select a participate to take a lie detector test. This person was not revealed to the viewers. Episode 5Alex was selected to take the lie detector test. He told the truth on all but one question. Asked if he would stick with the group's decision if it decided to vote in a certain way, he answered yes, however this was revealed to be a lie. Ultimately, the outcasts voted for him to join their group, much to the discontent of Pip. However, there was a twist to this episode - one of the outcasts got voted back into the game, as chosen by the contestants left in the game. The outcast elected back into the game turned out to be Kamran. Episode 6Sian was chosen as a "leader", and led the group in discussions etc. before the vote. As leader she had to choose a participant to vote as outcast. She chose to make Lusipher an outcast, however he was given the option of staying in the game but this would cause the prize money to be cut in half. Episode 7Lusipher accepted the offer to remain active, causing the money to be cut in half. He also revealed the information that no more outcasts will be made active again, and Anna chose to leave, cutting the money in half again. Beverley, Kamran and Lusipher decided that they were unlikely to win, so the group focussed on trying to decide between Kelly and Sian. There was no vote during this episode. During this episode, the prize fund dropped from £746,275 down to £133,447 (A decrease of £612,828). Episode 8The final 5 seem to have become a final 2, Sian vs. Kelly. Kamran is considered after a family message is shown, mentioning that Kamran is flat broke, but this is quickly dismissed. At the end of the episode, a vote is cast at £106,562, and a Unanimous decision is made, for Sian, the young mother, to win the remaining money. Final Status
Vote Other Vote Outcast Vote Outcast Outcast Vote Other Vote Outcast Other Vote
Sian 21 Young mum
Mother
A mother, mum, mom, momma, or mama is a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that grew into a child. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally...

 studying law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

0 0 2 Lusipher 2 6 Lusipher 7 Winner (£106,562)
Beverley 33 Art dealer
Art dealer
An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art. Art dealers' professional associations serve to set high standards for accreditation or membership and to support art exhibitions and shows.-Role:...

0 2 0 Lusipher 2 1 0 Active
Kamran 38 Property developer 1 Secret 2 X Pip X Voted in 1 0 Active
Kelly 25 Lap dancer 1 Secret 2 1 Andy 2 0 1 Runner Up Kelly became runner up after receiving one vote in the final episode.
Lusipher 31 Unemployed 0 1 1 Andy 1 1 Halved prize 0 Active
Alex 22 Law student 2 0 1 Andy 2 Voted out X X Outcast
Pip 37 Nurse 3 1 1 Andy X X X Outcast
Andy 22 Athlete 0 1 3 Pip Pip X X X Outcast
Anna 44 Business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...

 woman
2 Worst Secret X X Andy X X Walked Episode 7

Reception

Unanimous did not attract high ratings and could therefore be considered commercially unsuccessful. The opening episode
Episode
An episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book. The term sometimes applies to works based on other forms of mass media as well, as in Star Wars...

 attracted just 990,000 viewers, falling to under 450,000 by episode four and less than 350,000 by episode seven. The final episode attracted just over 370,000 viewers. Such a sharp fall in ratings could be largely due to the time-slot change from 9pm to 8pm from episode four onwards, thus forcing the show to compete for viewers with EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...

 on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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