UKGameshows

Poll of the Year 2025

After a little bit of downtime UKGameshows IS! BACK! And a few technical difficulties won't stop us from doing the annual UKGameshows/Bother's Bar Poll of the Year, in fact we modernised our voting a bit doing it all mainly though checkboxes, although that's also because there are so few new formats on linear TV these days it's not that much effort to set up. We're extremely pleased with the Streaming Five take up this year which is way up, we're probably in a space where we might merge some of the bigger productions into the main categories next year.

This year's poll is dedicated to the memory of UKGS editor Jennifer Turner.

Hall of FAME 2025

There were 25 shows we believed eligible for this this year, and every single one of them got at least one vote so that's nice isn't it? But the votes were not distributed equally, let's have a look at your top ten:

9= NFL Big Game Night, The Inheritance

7= Silence is Golden, The Inner Circle

6= Y Deis

The Postcode Lottery has been sponsoring gameshows on the continent for years and years, most notably in The Netherlands where they've backed Miljeonenjacht for the best part of two decades, the original Deal or No Deal played for €5m. This is not the first advertiser funded show on ITV - Marks and Spencer have been doing Cooking With the Stars for years now to unspectacular but evidently worthwhile numbers. This one promised a million pound guaranteed top prize and about the same again in luxury prizes with the big USP being that you could win those very same prizes at home by playing along on an app - you don't even have to be any good at the survey-based questions, just watch live and have a go and you've got a shot. Mel and Sue presided over the studio based quiz which felt decently large scale even if the show ended up not being exactly a must-watch. You said:

  • "Not the most groundbreaking of formats but Mel and Sue bring fun to a light-hearted game for Saturday nights. Seeing people turn down big prizes for a chance at a Million and then adding the prizes to the jackpot was a neat idea."

This has been floating around the continent for a while and has been a successful Summer show in many places - 100 people whittled down to one through 99 silly tasks, don't come last in any of the tasks and the last one standing wins a large cash prize. Well I say large, £25k for an arced Saturday evening gameshow feels a bit cheap. One innovation of the UK show is team based games, with the express intention of eliminating lots of people at once which felt like production cheating the format really. Nonetheless, it was quite fun to watch, it didn't set the ratings on fire but its axing after one series felt a bit harsh. You said:

  • "Nice to see something with a bit of spectacle on Saturday night TV (outside the singing/dancing monoliths) and certainly more well-produced than the misfire You Bet reboot. Yes, whizzing through 100 players means we don't get to know all of them, but careful storytelling would help us track the key stories of the series."
  • "The rubbishy 'mass elimination in group games' format point aside, there was a lot to like here. Nicely paced, well chosen selection of games from the international versions, the Thomas brothers brought good energy. Overall, a really well adapted version. Shame it's not coming back."
  • "I thoroughly appreciated what have so many contestant competing at once brought to this sort of game show with good execution of concept. While I will not say the presenting in strongest, I feel the show may not have worked as well without two presenter so used and comfortable with interacting with each other."
  • "A great variety of games and everyone looked like they were having fun."

I don't think anyone was expecting this glow-up to be quite as successful as it was, it's the original Puzzling in name (well and puzzles) only, really it's Channel 5's attempt to do House of Games but fair play to them it has worked out pretty well - it probably needs a few more games and doubtlessly with its upcoming fifty-episode run it will have them. Just remember not to rotate the shape. You said:

  • "5 finally manage to turn a well-intentioned failure into actual success (with 50 more on the way), turning an underpowered Only Connect into Jeremy Vine's House of Games and catching a lot of the same beats as Osman - low-stakes, played for fun."
  • "Celebrity Puzzling is just as good as the civilian version with added Jeremy Vine and good one-liners by the man himself, the puzzles in the show are very well made and good to watch "
  • "Always thought it was a shame the original Puzzling only got one series so was pleased with this retooling which included some nice new game ideas. Going to need a lot more, though, to sustain interest over a 50-episode second series if it’s staying at hour long episodes 5 nights a week."
  • "A fun game which I would even go so far as to say is an improvement on the original. Interesting puzzles and fun (if quite Channel 5) casting - who knew Jeremy Vine could host a game show and make it watchable?"

The cognoscenti's choice, or at least the original South Korean version is, this was a very creditable attempt to bring the original "brain survival" show to the UK and fair play to ITV for giving it a go (definitely not the channel we'd have expected to have a go with it). Its format was sound and its games were (on the whole) good but the appeal of the original was more than the format, it was also in its editing and soundtrack and here it was a bit less successful and certainly a lot more conservative. David Tennant a proper get for it but unfortunately not used in the way viewers would have liked. You said:

  • "Great puzzles, an interesting cast and a beautiful set. It was a show made by people who love the format. Put it together with Only Connect though and I'd be a very happy chappy. But, it's VERY intellectual and highbrow, which might make it the most un-ITV show that ITV has ever shown. If anything could be described as the antithesis of Corrie, it's this "
  • "Having never seen the original I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect but enjoyed more complicated games getting an outing on prime-time TV. In some ways I think being on ITV was its detriment to future success, as the same ratings on a “lesser” channel may have been seen as more successful. Then again a “lesser” channel may have never commissioned it in the first place."
  • "Now I think this was given a bad wrap from the reviews I've seen. Yes, its not as good as the original or its contemporaries from abroad and yes, David Tennant being involved was a bit of a bait and switch since he was just on the screen. However I enjoyed the ride and was happy to see a format like this being given a chance on broadcast TV. I hope that it will return with some more polish but we'll see."
  • "Despite its misgivings I really enjoyed it. I really liked the cast and I thought the right person won in the end. Maybe it didn't have the right TV station for the audience."
  • "As much as it had some flaws with the episode length and some of the casting being a bit naff, this is as close to an amazing debut for an adaption I could have asked for. Fun games, some delicious twists and turns and David Tennant is always a plus."
  • "Really faithful adaptation of the original where you can see those who worked on it cared a lot for it. Some really great moments, a real shame it won't be coming back."

"It's The Traitors meets Race Across the World!" said everyone breathlessly alongside the declaration that this is The Next Big Thing. Except it's not much like The Traitors or Race Across the World, and its numbers could be politely described as "OK". Still, this does make the UK version probably the most successful version of the show outside of Flanders. Rob Brydon's magical mystery tour stuck a load of people on a blacked out bus and using a number of games and clues, real and fake, challenged those people to work out where they are for a big cash prize, sort of a bit like a real life Geoguessr. You said:

  • "Destination X, or 'Bryn on the Bus' as I ended up calling it, was pretty solid after the first episode and had a deserving and likeable winner too. Interesting cast, lots of lovely scenery and good games, albeit the clues were a bit too easy. TBH, I probably wouldn't watch a second series - I've no idea where the journey goes (so to speak). Repeating the same thing in different locations isn't going to make me want to watch it."
  • "From the same vein as The Traitors, Destination X has a safe bet host in national treasure Rob Brydon and a good mix of people from different walks of life. The added element of trying to guess the location along with the contestants really helped elevate this and made it fun to play with family on the sofa while watching."
  • "The paradox of putting a show in Hall of Fame that I would hate to return. The production turned a format as substantial as a grain of rice into a pound coin. Another series won't be good fun."
  • "Destination X is a very good show and well executed by Twofour who have made the show and some people even like it plus I liked to call it “TV GeoGuessr” as it is very similar to the online game as you’re catapulted into an unknown place and you have to guess where you are by looking around for clues. It’s quite extraordinary and legendary even with Rob Brydon who was excellent."
  • "Despite the BBC billing it as the new Traitors/Race across the world it stood on its own. Great cast and Rob Brydon was a great host."
  • "This was fun to play along with and Rob Brydon was a decent host. We haven't heard much about a second series, which is slightly concerning. "

Hall of SHAME 2025

The same list of 25 formats on offer and unlike the Hall of Fame not every show received votes, although there are fewer votes in this category all round. Lets have a look at what you voted for:

10= Am I the A**hole?, NFL Big Game Night

9 - The Inheritance

8 - Stranded on Honeymoon Island

7 - Chess Masters: The Endgame

6 - Silence is Golden

But ooohhhh it's very complicated isn't it? It's not a show for people who can't get their head around rules and learning games. And David Tennant just pre-recorded on a screen? That's not what we want from David Tennant! And it's not cool like the original is it? Doesn't really edit in the same way. You said:

  • " I'm sorry to put this here as I expect it will be in the Hall of Fame but I thought this was such a tedious attempt at the format and one show I actually could've appreciated seeing dumbed down a bit to get viewers onside. Definitely not the right fit for ITV but I think it could have been with games that were less complex and a different cast."
  • "This could have been huge, considering the talent involved and the range of things they could've done with the format. But ITV basically said "here's David Tennant" and then lost interest. Ended up turning into a Waitrose Big Brother with unlikeable (on screen at least) players screwing each other over, rather than focusing on gameplay. Great set and visuals, though."
  • "As much as I enjoyed it it had its faults. Case in point David Tennant not even being there to host. And some of the games were a little hard."
  • "Didn't finish the first episode. The fact that David Tennant wasn't in the same room as the players was a missed opportunity."
  • "Genius Game was probably the slowest watch ever."

What you could have done is mocked up a bus for contestants to live in at Pinewood or whatever, taken some drone shots of a bus driving through Europe, played some games in a field and made pretty much exactly the same show and saved yourselves the best part of £10m and would be just as compelling i.e. not all that really. You said:

  • "So fundamentally flawed, filled with suggestions of strategy even though there's so little you can actually execute, awful red herrings that I was certain they wouldn't bring from the original version but they sadly did. I'm definitely not bitter because I had to work on two rival tenders in the long and inane BBC process but it was quite obvious from the very beginning that this format was a dud and whilst it did rate to a degree I'm still not convinced this has got longevity with viewers."
  • "It didn't really come together. A travel show, but without really seeing the places you're going to. A guessing game, but with puzzles either too easy or made impenetrable by a deluge of Masked Singer-style red herrings. And contestants getting cabin fever to the point where they are acting quite unpleasantly, assuming they haven't left the show five minutes in. Just not that fun to watch. (You can, however, improve it with a drinking game: drink every time you hear "Jackie P". Inform your next of kin first though.)"
  • "Deserves credit for the lavish production values, but when it’s difficult to know whether clues relate to the country or the end destination etc, it breaks its own game to a certain extent. Also, a bizarre episode in the middle of the series which, whilst a fun game of trying to identify other people’s loved ones, didn’t actually contribute anything to the overall game at all!"
  • "I've put Destination X in both Fame and Shame - the idea, a real-life Geoguesser, is great; and there were moments where this shine through. But the execution left so much to be desired - turning it into a rubbish puzzle to be solved, with clues either too obscure or too obvious. Shoehorning in the social engineering aspects of The Traitors didn't help."
  • "Competitive Coach Trip where the trip is non existent. I really wanted to like it but there was kind of nothing to grab hold on to. Rob Brydon is an amazing host though."

Well at least it didn't beat all the other shows here. You said:

  • "Fine on paper but let down by being a bit too stodgy, I feel like it's tricky to follow the "journey" of 100 separate people, so I'm not that emotionally invested. And the Thomases seem to think they're in the pub rather than hosting a game show."
  • "I think there's a very solid idea in the format, but it felt like they focused more on making the hosts react very over-the-top to the challenges than they cared about actually making the challenges interesting."
  • "Felt like it was meant for a YouTube video, poor choice of hosts. Not sad to see it go."
  • "Having Adam and Ryan Thomas be the new ant and Dec was a bad move."
  • "AKA how to ruin a show with annoying hosts and the addition of unnecessary team games."

Despite the promise of you at home possibly winning all the big prizes it didn't exactly set the ratings alight, and survey questions leave a lot of people quite cold. You said:

  • "Should've been named 'Postcode Lottery Why Why'. The survey-style questions made it feel a bit too flippant/trivial. The non-cash prizes weren't worth the 'gamble', which meant contestants swapped it for a place in the final, making that part rather pointless."
  • "Just trying to be too much at once, really - Mel & Sue have had better. The "live" elements were poorly integrated, the hosts reacting to a clearly blank (for them) screen looked quite obvious."
  • "Lose lose for ITV and the Postcode Lottery: a meh format with a £1,000,000 prize doesn't cut it in 2025."
  • "The fruit tea of the quiz show world, the smell and concept of it is much better than the taste and outcome. Somehow very shallow and disappointing."

Much anticipated - for the wrong reasons - afternoon quiz, the winner of a big tendering process where the BBC managed to annoy absolutely everyone, a quiz that's both largely unoriginal but also hopes for Golden Balls-esque drama over really quite small amounts of money. So confident were they a celebrity version was commissioned to run alongside, where all the celebrities were basically nothing more than talking playing pieces for their civilian partners. Amazingly could have been even worse as it was pitched as an incredibly basic buzzer quiz, at least the Pressure Pad style rounds add a bit of variety. Second series (because axing it after one after the big tender suggests you might have made the wrong decision, and it fulfils a regional quota) ought to be quite interesting just to see what they do with it. You said:

  • "A proper dictionary on how not to do a quiz show. A real mess of a commission that had a tortuous development process that should have killed it off long before it got on screen. Not made by a production company with quiz credentials and boy did it show."
  • "I understand this show was the product of a tender designed to produce an innovative format? It is not that. The Traitors with insufficient time to explore the concept, and with Golden Balls/Weakest Link bolted on. I thought we had learned 20 years ago from Shafted that you can't spice up the prisoners dilemma with a needlessly aggressive host. Such a waste."
  • "A show that was all over the place, and yet bland. The quiz rounds were ok, but I've seen them done better elsewhere. In general, there was too much empty chat. And Prisoner's Dilemma for daytime cash stakes is just crap TV."
  • "A mish mash of ideas that didn’t really belong together with Split or Ste… sorry, Share or Sha… sorry, Split or Shaft bolted on the end of it."
  • "Ended up being a let-down in that it wasn't great, but it wasn't an absolute car crash either. A combination of the very unbalanced money amounts and the fact that basically everyone who wanted to spend it on a "once-in-a-lifetime experience" (which was most players) shafted meant it was really unsatisfying to watch."
  • "Started with a terrible idea and managed to make it worse every single step of the way. It's also quite impressive that they managed to do the Split or Steal reveal, something that's been done many times before on British TV, in the most unclear way possible."
  • "Runaround? Nah. Holden is far more Marmite than producers and bookers realise."
  • "Kilroy's back, except its Amanda Holden. The format here just felt incredibly forced and the bare bones game play was drawn out to a painful extent. I was left yearning for the good ol' days of Golden Balls."

STREAMING FIVE for 2025

This has really taken off this year, presumably having a list of shows meant everyone who previously went "I don't watch streaming, actually" actually realise that they do, the top show in this category would have almost won the Hall of Fame if it was eligible. Maybe next time we'll do something about that. Anyway, here's what you voted for:

10 - Physical: Asia (Netflix)

9 - The Loop (Youtube)

7 = What's In The Box? (Netflix), Squid Game: The Challenge 2 (Netflix)

5 = Game Changer (Dropout), The Devil's Plan: Death Room (Netflix)

Game Changer is Dropout's premier strand where the contestants don't know what the games are until they start playing, and often really original and interesting ideas. You said:

  • "Game Changer on Dropout continues to be relentlessly innovative. It's worth a Dropout subscription all on its own."
  • "Honestly the subscription to Dropout is worth it for Game Changer alone. I binged the whole back catalogue in a few days. The show continues to be fresh and innovative in it's new series, with One Year Later and Samalamadingdong sticking out in my mind as highlights. Could not recommend it more."
  • "It gave us the larping, room-escaping, logic puzzling, love-letter delight of Samalamadingdong."

The Devil's Plan: Death Room is the second series of Netflix's sort-of sequel to The Genius (aka Genius Game) and this one had some absolutely ingenious puzzles and secrets - the layer upon layer of Treasure Island and the surprisingly tense Time Auction being some of many highlights, although many think it drops the ball towards the end. You said:

  • "Devil's Plan 2 has taken "The Genius Game on Steroids" and turned it into a split house with different secret puzzles and risk taking. I really love the set design for not just the elimination game, but the well."
  • "Was steered to this after seeing Genius Game UK and was very pleased to see the format taken to the fullest. The mixture of personalities works well and there are some good story arcs over the course of the games. Did feel the ending was not quite as good as the first series but still a quality show overall."
  • "I loved the concepts and aesthetics behind Crooked Cops, Halloween Monster, Treasure Island and the prison Hidden Level, and Unknown has one of my favourite game designs of all time."
  • "Felt it was even better than the previous season!"

Series two is very different to series one, it's become more of a standard round-based eliminatory competition. It still feels like it's got scale, and some of the early setpieces are very good, but there's a lot of Carrot In A Box and it peters out a bit, and not many people seemed to watch. You said:

  • "007 isn't like the first season, less money to win. However, it figured out how to do intense challenges on a smaller budget PICK AN ITEM AND IF IT MATCHES YOU WIN is such thrilling TV."

3 - Lateral (Podcast)

Tom and David are in their fourth year of doing this now.

  • "Funny, engaging, interesting - it's the net generation's QI. The book's worth having, too."

2 - Jet Lag (Nebula/Youtube)

In the last year they've been to Japan, raced around Europe with Tom Scott (his second thing on the Streaming Five) across the Schengen area, played hide and seek across New York City, Snake around South Korea, more tag around Europe and at time of writing are playing hide and seek across the UK. And you can't get enough!

  • "Started watching for the recent Hide+Seek UK series and asked myself "Why have I not been watching this sooner?!?". The production is well polished, with great clear explanations for the game rules and Adam, Ben and Sam's personalities shine through."
  • "Jet Lag continues to go from strength to strength. The Tom Scott season was brilliantly simple in planning, and even though the Snake: South Korea run didn't land; the current UK Hide and Seek more than makes up."
  • "Jet Lag continues to be the best thing on the Internet, especially in 2025 with a Europe-wide season with Tom Scott, an all stars season of Tag which brought back all the winning guests, and hide and seek in the UK (we don't talk about SnaKe)"
  • "Admittedly didn't have a GOOD year, but they had a home game and bless them to plug it, the All Stars Season was a fizzle of the format, and now you just wonder if it's just Tag or Hide and Seek from here on out."
  • "I've only seen one Jet Lag (crossing Europe and completing tasks) but enjoyed it, even though they didn't explain what they were doing very well to start with!"

There was actually no guarantee of success for this - there have been lots of versions of this internationally, there are places where it's done very well indeed but none of the English language ones seem to have been very successful, or at least they've been one and done. What those other versions didn't have though is Bob Mortimer. Possibly the dryness of UK humour lends itself well to this sort of format, it's a bit less overtly wacky than some other versions, but watching other people desperately trying not to laugh at something someone has said manages to be just as funny as the jokes themselves.

  • "Meats and cheeses always pleases, and so does this format. Pretty sure it will feature prominently in the Magic Moments section."
  • "Now THIS is a perfect adaption! There were moments where I was in tears due to the batshit insanity that was happening in that room. Probably the best casting for a show this side of Taskmaster."
  • "Actually pulled a muscle laughing when watching Last One Laughing UK."
  • "Last One Laughing: Really well-chosen cast, great premise."
  • "Genuinely lovely competition of mutual respect between comedians wanting to impress each other."
  • "Excellent and original format. Definitely the winner for me for the best gameshow of 2025. It's wasted on Amazon, definitely deserves a larger audience (BBC1/ITV/C4). Jimmy Carr also works brilliantly as host."

THE GOLDEN FIVE of 2025

And so it's time to look at your top five shows currently on television new or not and so far we've resisted changing the name to The Only Connect Golden Five Award like they did with the Ant and Dec Entertainment award at the NTAs and last year it was especially exciting as it was a tie with The Traitors. Has The Traitors, the top rated show in all of television overtaken it this year? Let's find out!

Also placed fifth last year. You said:

  • "I was a bit iffy on the reboot on the first series but series two turned it around, I think Barney hasn't become a Nepo Hire and it's now a feel good fun sports show."
  • "Needs a few more games but otherwise a great revival continues!"

Also placed fourth last year. You said:

  • "Series 19 in particular was one of the best they've ever had, although looking back at the earlier series I do worry that the tasks are becoming heavily reliant on unnecessary rules."
  • "It turns out to me a fantastic year for Alex Horne's Comedy Gaslight Show. All you needed was a chaotic American like Jason Manzoukis to show up to reinvigorate the format."
  • "Series 19 I was laughing so much at it and 20 also had some real standout moments. It continues to be something big to watch."

Also placed third last year. Notably had a Rollover spin-off just before Christmas. You said:

  • "Quite possibly ITV's biggest quiz in years, quietly becoming a massive hit. The Rollover week was a nice gimmick that thankfully didn't mess up the core format, and the Soccer Aid special grabbing 100 famous (to various extent) faces was impressive."
  • "Great banter between Lee Mack and the contestants. I’ve got the 1% question right 7 times and haven’t missed or failed to catch up on a single episode."
  • "The rollover week sounded really odd but worked well in practice - not sure how long it will stay on our screens, but deserves better."
  • "Rollover week was fun and added a bit of additional interest and the questions and Lee are always good value, but I do wonder if they’re starting to overexpose it a bit!"

Also finished... oh hang on, this finished joint top last year and is one of the few shows to regularly hit eight figures after its phenomenally successful celebrity version. Lots of you putting The Celebrity Traitors on its own but they've all been put in the same bucket. You said:

  • "THE show to watch right now. It’s epic viewing and even when you think you’ve got it sussed or know what’s coming next there’s another twist to it."
  • "Should count itself lucky to have made my Golden 5 - despite the wonderful celebrity series, I must account for the civilian one showing the format's myriad of flaws - but parting would have been such sweet sorrow."
  • "The Seer was maybe a slight misstep, but Celebrity Traitors more than dispelled any fears about it not being as good as the original. Remarkable!"
  • "For services to proving that there's an audience for event television, and hopefully that will spur on some comissioning editors. Celia Imrie's fart for the win."
  • "What can I say. Casting great on both the civilian and the celebrity version. And Alan Carr winning celebrity version was my moment of the year."

Number one for the eighth year running and its twelfth year total, Only Connect is your number one, again.

  • "The greatest quiz show for those that love red yarn and pointing that these two things both come in cylinders."
  • "Part of me, wants to pick another show over it for the Golden Five to vary matters, as there is nothing fresh about it. However I can think of no show to bump it out for and its ability to keep up the quality and my interest in it, is enough for inclusion."
  • "Can it ever be topped?"

Quite.

Bubbling under: 6 - The Wheel, 7= Richard Osman's House of Games, The Chase, 9 - Genius Game, 10= Limitless Win, The Masked Singer, 12= Bullseye. Countdown, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

As feels like happens quite a lot, shout out to the Hall of Fame show doing worse in the Golden Five than other shows in the Hall of Fame, Destination X only picked up a handful of votes here. And also congratulations to the several people who thought nobody else would vote for The Unbelievable Truth - they did, it's the year's top radio offering.

MAGIC MOMENTS of 2025

And to end the usual big wins, big losses and funny moments:

  • "Ken making a truly Genius move by fooling his opponents with a cheque which would intentionally bounce."
  • "Ken's cheque bounce."
  • "The guy who just happened to know the answer on One Question to win £100,000. "
  • "Dave and Emily (mainly Emily) win £100,000 on One Question going for the correct answer immediately."
  • "Joe Marler (obligatory "as seen on Celebrity Traitors" suffix) helping a contestant win £110,000 on The Wheel and then £64k on Millionaire: it must be his breakout year, surely?"

Television in 2025, there.

And that's it

Although if you want more you can find stats on POTY Mouth on Bother's Bar. Thanks for all your votes and we'll hopefully see you next year.