Winning Lines

For the U.S. version, see Winning Lines (U.S. game show).

Winning Lines
Created by	David Briggs Steve Knight Mike Whitehill
Presented by	Simon Mayo (1999–2000) Phillip Schofield (2001–04)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	6
No. of episodes	81
Production
Production location(s)	The Fountain Studios
Running time	35 minutes (1999) 40 minutes (2000) 45 minutes (2001–4)
Production company(s)	Celador
Release
Original network	BBC One
Picture format	16:9
Original release	12 June 1999 (1999-06-12) – 16 October 2004 (2004-10-16)
Chronology
Preceded by	We've Got Your Number
Followed by	Red Alert
Related shows	Winning Lines (US version)
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Winning Lines was a National Lottery game show that ran on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 12 June 1999 to 16 October 2004. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo from 1999 to 2000, then Phillip Schofield from 2001 to 2004.

Round 1

49 contestants took part in this round, but only six would move on to round two. The host reads a question that can be answered by a number from 1 to 49. Anyone who thinks that their own number is the answer buzzes in. If the owner of that number buzzed, he or she moves on to round two. Anyone who buzzed but was wrong is eliminated. If the owner didn't buzz, but should have, he or she is out. This process repeats until 6 people qualify for the second round.

The last digit from each of the winner's numbers are shown at the end of the show. If all 6 numbers match the last 6 digits of your phone number in any order then you can call in to try to appear on the next show.

In series two onwards, this changed to the host asking the 49 contestants a question with a number for an answer. The contestants use keypads to enter their answers, and the contestant who keyed in the correct answer in the quickest time possible moved on to Round 2. The contestants who keyed in the correct answer but not in the quickest time possible and the contestants who did not key in an answer moved on to the next question. The contestants who key in an incorrect answer were eliminated. This continues until six have qualified for the next round. All of the remaining 43 contestants are eliminated.

Round 2 - Looking After Number One

Each contestant carries their number from Round 1 with them to Round 2. Schofield (or Mayo) asks questions that can be answered by one of the six numbers in play. Contestants buzz in to answer the question. A right answer means that the owner of that number is eliminated, unless the person who buzzed in had the number; in that case no one is eliminated. If the contestant is wrong, regardless of whose number the answer is, he or she is eliminated. If nobody answers, the person with the answer is eliminated. This goes on until one contestant is remaining. The winner plays the Wonderwall for a grand prize trip.

Bonus Round - The Wonderwall

The champion is asked as many questions as possible in three minutes, the answers to which appear on three projection screens and are numbered 1-49. When answering, players must give both the number and its answer before moving onto the next question. Each answer wins a better trip as follows, and 20 correct answers wins a three-week trip around the world. Players were given 15 seconds to check out the answers on display before beginning the round as well as two "pit stops", each of which froze the timer for 15 seconds to allow the player to look over the board again; however they cannot answer during this time. During Schofield's run, the winner of the grand prize then played the Wonderwall again (on the same day as the Wednesday Lotto draw) to win as much spending money as possible. Right answers were worth £200, with a possible £4,000 at stake. The 15-second browse before the game still applied but there were no "pit stops".

Correct Answers	Prize
20	Around the World
19	Australia
18	Barbados
17	Hawaii
16	Texas
15	African Safari
14	Caribbean Cruise
13	Mauritius
12	USA
11	Hong Kong
10	New York
9	Italy
8	Majorca
7	Monte Carlo
6	Paris
5	Amsterdam
4	Ireland
3	Scottish castle
2	London
1	Spaghetti Junction

Transmissions

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	12 June 1999	4 September 1999	13
2	15 April 2000	22 July 2000	13
3	9 June 2001	24 November 2001	22
4	3 August 2002	2 November 2002	14
5	19 July 2003	18 October 2003	13
6	11 September 2004	16 October 2004	6

Ratings

Episode Viewing figures from BARB.

Series 1

Episode No.	Airdate	Total Viewers	BBC One Weekly Ranking
1	12 June 1999	8,460,000	9
2	19 June 1999	7,490,000	13
3	26 June 1999	7,000,000	12
4	3 July 1999	7,770,000	8
5	10 July 1999	6,560,000	13
6	17 July 1999	7,760,000	8
7	24 July 1999	6,860,000	12
8	31 July 1999	6,340,000	12
9	7 August 1999	8,490,000	6
10	14 August 1999	8,240,000	10
11	21 August 1999	7,350,000	12
12	28 August 1999	5,790,000	21
13	4 September 1999	Under 5,310,000	Outside Top 30

Series 2

Episode No.	Airdate	Total Viewers	BBC One Weekly Ranking
1	15 April 2000	6,940,000	19
2	22 April 2000	5,910,000	29
3	29 April 2000	5,520,000	30
4	6 May 2000	5,560,000	27
5	13 May 2000	5,290,000	28
6	20 May 2000	5,560,000	25
7	27 May 2000	7,090,000	17
8	3 June 2000	7,420,000	11
9	10 June 2000	5,990,000	17
10	1 July 2000	5,190,000	22
11	8 July 2000	6,280,000	14
12	15 July 2000	6,380,000	14
13	22 July 2000	5,990,000	16

Series 3

Episode No.	Airdate	Total Viewers	BBC One Weekly Ranking
1	9 June 2001	5,650,000	24
2	16 June 2001	6,220,000	16
3	23 June 2001	5,850,000	19
4	30 June 2001	5,660,000	12
5	7 July 2001	5,790,000	12
6	14 July 2001	5,820,000	17
7	21 July 2001	5,730,000	20
8	28 July 2001	4,990,000	18
9	4 August 2001	5,010,000	16
10	11 August 2001	6,290,000	12
11	18 August 2001	7,630,000	6
12	25 August 2001	7,290,000	6
13	8 September 2001	7,370,000	9
14	15 September 2001	7,760,000	12
15	22 September 2001	7,680,000	11
16	29 September 2001	7,360,000	13
17	6 October 2001	7,900,000	10
18	13 October 2001	8,310,000	11
19	27 October 2001	7,820,000	10
20	3 November 2001	8,200,000	10
21	17 November 2001	7,180,000	18
22	24 November 2001	7,000,000	18

Series 4

Episode No.	Airdate	Total Viewers	BBC One Weekly Ranking
1	3 August 2002	4,910,000	15
2	10 August 2002	5,830,000	12
3	17 August 2002	4,840,000	21
4	24 August 2002	5,910,000	12
5	31 August 2002	4,950,000	21
6	7 September 2002	5,010,000	21
7	14 September 2002	5,270,000	21
8	21 September 2002	5,310,000	17
9	28 September 2002	5,840,000	19
10	5 October 2002	6,810,000	14
11	12 October 2002	6,120,000	17
12	19 October 2002	5,960,000	17
13	26 October 2002	6,380,000	16
14	2 November 2002	6,400,000	15

Series 5

Episode No.	Airdate	Total Viewers	BBC One Weekly Ranking
1	19 July 2003
2	26 July 2003	5,570,000	11
3	2 August 2003	4,470,000	23
4	9 August 2003	3,940,000	26
5	16 August 2003	Under 3,970,000	Outside Top 30
6	23 August 2003	5,100,000	19
7	30 August 2003	4,380,000	23
8	13 September 2003	5,330,000	14
9	20 September 2003	5,600,000	17
10	27 September 2003	5,720,000	16
11	4 October 2003	6,410,000	14
12	11 October 2003	4,910,000	27
13	18 October 2003	5,600,000	20

Series 6

Episode No.	Airdate	Total Viewers	BBC One Weekly Ranking
1	11 September 2004	5,600,000	12
2	18 September 2004	5,560,000	14
3	25 September 2004	6,260,000	10
4	2 October 2004	5,640,000	14
5	9 October 2004	5,490,000	14
6	16 October 2004	5,410,000	17

American version

An American version of Winning Lines aired on CBS in 2000 between January 8 to February 18. It was presented by Dick Clark. In the first round, Like the British Winning Lines, it had 49 contestants. The differences were that in Round 1 instead of contestants answering questions with answers arranging from 1 to 49, they had to answer six mathematical questions, each with a numerical answer, and the contestants have five seconds to enter their answers on numerical keypads. On each question, the contestant who enters the correct answer in the shortest time advances to the next round. The other 43 contestants are eliminated at the end of the round. Round 2 stayed true to the British Winning Lines. Round 3 also stayed true to the British Winning Lines except that the contestant was playing for money instead of a holiday.

External links

• Winning Lines at UKGameshows.com