Wisdom of the Crowd

Can a single contestant give a better guesstimate than a studio full of people? £10,000 says they can.

How the game works is simple. A contestant comes on stage, and is given a question with a numerical answer. For example, "How many driving tests were taken in England during 2024?" While the contestant considers their response, the studio audience is typing in their answers.

Whichever answer is closer - from the player, or from the audience - wins. A win for the solo player nets them the £10,000 straight away; if the audience is right three times, they keep the £10,000 and the contestant leaves empty-handed.

But, after giving one or two incorrect answers, the solo contestant can choose to join the audience - they won't win the £10,000, but would take a share of the money.

Three contestants play each episode, so the audience could potentially split £30,000 between them.

This programme has not yet aired. A full review will appear here after broadcast.

"Let the heads roll."

Aired on Saturday evenings after Strictly Come Dancing, a slot occupied a few years earlier by The Wall.

John Bishop's first time as permanent host of a game show - the comedian and actor had been a regular on our screens for about fifteen years, but never assumed the host's chair before now.

Publicity for Wisdom of the Crowd cited the work of Francis Galton, an early 20th century statistician, who observed a "guess the weight of the ox" contest at a country fayre. Galton found that the median guess was more accurate than almost any individual suggestion. The show consistently claimed "the science says the audience should win", which somewhat misrepresents Galton's work: after all, correlation does not imply causation.