Weaver's Week 2026-08-16

Last week | Weaver's Week Index | Next week

This week, we're back over the channel for the most successful Dutch show of the year (so far).

Shown as part of the Postcode Loterij strand, and presumably much of the prize is funded by that organisation. Hmm. We get Win Win, the Dutch get an interesting quiz. Linda de Mol hosts, she's a safe pair of hands like Davina McCall.

The idea is quite simple. The Insiders, a pair of players, sit at the centre of the ring. Around the outside is a ring of 100 people, The Outsiders. Their aim is to get to the middle of the ring and usurp the Insiders. Whoever is in the middle of the ring at the end of the show will win the jackpot of €50.000. The money is certain to be given away, the only question is who will win it?

Inevitably, there's a chat to introduce the Insiders, hope that we might root for them. The Outsiders play in the entire series, all eight shows, so are able to develop their own stories and bring their own metas to the show. We might not hear great stories in one show, but regular viewers will be able to get to know their favourite players, perhaps cheer for them – or jeer against them.

It's a big set! Has to be, to fit 100 people in a ring. And it's lit in the usual light entertainment way, and the walk-on music is functional and upbeat. Everyone has a white circle of light on their chest, presumably to help work out who is eliminated from the game.

Before the show, the Outsiders were asked all of the questions in tonight's show, and their answers were noted down. The producers' preparation pays off in a slick programme.

The first question – to which all of the Outsiders will have given an answer – is simple. "Noem een land waarvan de naam in her Nederlands begint met de letter L." (Name a country whose name in Dutch begins with the letter L.) En met 'land', bedoelen we een soevereine staat die op eigen titel lid is van de Verenigde Naties.

The nine correct answers are Laos, Letland (Latvia), Libanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libië, Lichtenstein, Litouwen (Lithuania), Luxemburg. The possible answers are shown on a pie-chart – one of the answers was selected by 27 people, another by 17, while some of the answers were only picked by a handful of people.

Our Insiders have a think, consider the possibilities. Their aim is to match with as many of the Outsiders as possible, because a matched answer will eliminate that Outsider from the game. Ah, but which answer has been chosen by lots of people?

Eventually, they come up with an answer. "Litouwen". Is it a good answer? Yes, it's a good answer, it might not be right and it might need to be replaced. How many people has it eliminated?

Red lights shoot across the LED floor, and zap people in the chest. Zap! Zap! Zap! No fewer than 27 rays of light come out from the centre, and 27 players leave the game. "Ballen," says one eliminated Outsider. "Ballen, ballen, ballen." (But we looked at Kwiz Met Ballen a few years ago.)

The remaining Outsiders take a step forward, portentous music plays, and we're on to question two. Basically, it's the same idea for most of the show. With fewer people in the game, it's likely that the Insiders will be knocking fewer people out each time, and there's a chance that a right answer might have been picked by precisely nobody.

That's where the two "jokers" come in. Our Insiders can use one of their jokers after giving a correct answer. "Wissel" ("Change") allows the couple to change their answer. Suppose they've been asked for women named in "Mambo number 5", said "Angela", only to find that's a pointless answer and nobody said it. The pair can play their "Wissel" joker and change their answer to "Sandra", eliminating at least two more people.

The other joker is "Extra" (er, "Extra"), a double dip, a second correct answer to eliminate even more people. Generally thought best to save this quite late in the game. All of these questions assume that the Insiders will give a correct answer; in the episodes we watched, we haven't seen an incorrect answer.

And so the game continues. Eleven rings are played, eliminating some players at each turn. The remaining Outsiders get closer and closer to the centre, literally walking step by step into the middle. Because the Outsiders are on the show for the whole series, Linda is able to chat with some of them, build up their character, a bit like how Lee Mack extends The 1% Club by chatting to the last players.

Question 12 is a bit different. "De Goude Vraag" ("the golden question") has precisely ten correct answers. All of the remaining Outsiders will have given one of those answers. Our players in the middle give a correct answer, and knock out anyone who gave it. And then they need to give another correct answer, and knock out anyone who gave that. And repeat, and repeat, until all the Outsiders have been eliminated.

But! If the Insiders give one incorrect answer, the Outsiders still in play split €25.000 between them. Clear the remaining Outsiders and the Insiders keep the remaining €25 grand; another incorrect answer and that money goes to the other remaining Outsiders. The Insiders have an "insurance" answer, if it's wrong they won't lose money, if it's right they've wasted the lifeline.

In de Ring is competently hosted, we would expect nothing less from Linda de Mol, the safest pair of hands. It's a one hour show, chop out the adverts and lottery business there's about 40 minutes of game. On the shows we've seen, the questions tended to be quite simple, perhaps designed for people at home to play along and see how far they'd get as an Outsider – or see how many times they'd eliminate their family as an Insider.

Some have argued that In de Ring doesn't have much strategy: hit and hope, and need to get lucky in the final round to eliminate everyone. Others reckon that the relative lack of strategy might be a good way to differentiate In de Ring from other shows, it requires much less brainwork than (say) De Verraders.

Anyway, In de Ring has sold internationally. Will it work over here? To be honest, it's difficult to see where it would go. We can't see it being the centrepiece of an evening's entertainment over here, but we can see it as a pleasant flanker to fill out the schedules – perhaps halve the prize to £20,000, and put it out around teatime over the weekend. The key component is to keep the same Outsiders through the series, that's the hook to come back for next week's show.

"You teams are our viewers' favourites!" Colonial Geese won this week's Only Connect, beating the Double Features by 16-14. A match won on Missing Vowels, a match where both teams were close but not quite right on many early answers. Changes made for disability sport, people calling themselves "Sir" without being knighted, hours and degrees on a clock face – all nearly got, all missed. "I hate this" said one of the Double Features as their wall resolutely failed to come out, speaking for all two million viewers.

Newest members of the 300 Club on University Challenge are Warwick, who beat Magdalen Oxford by 300-40. After quite a cagy opening, Warwick got going with the picture round, and never stopped after that. Magdalen were so often beaten to the buzzers, excellent technique from the Midlands side, particularly Tobin Payne with seven starters.

Warwick were right on 44 out of 61 questions they heart, the overall score of 72% is likely to be the highest in the series. On bonuses, a little more circumspect, a "mere" 28/48 for 58%. Magdalen were brilliant on bonuses – 7/9 for 78% which will surely be the series' best – but dropped five penalties for incorrect interruptions. Warwick appear to be strong on Art, Leisure, and Maths & Physics. Magdalen will not return for the repêchage.

What's happening this week? Celebrity Masterchef is back (BBC1, from Tue). The Fabulous Iain Stirling hosts competitive sandcastles show Race Against the Tide (BBC2, Tue). A celebrity edition launches the new run of Popmaster tv (More4, Mon and Tue), and of course the radio version continues. Dragons' Den resumes its interrupted series (BBC1, Thu), and Lego Masters Down Under starts a new run (E4, Sun).

To have Weaver's Week emailed to you on publication day, receive our exclusive TV roundup of the game shows in the week ahead, and chat to other ukgameshows.com readers, sign up to our Google Group.

Last week | Weaver's Week Index | Next week