The Chase's fast-paced primetime sibling Beat The Chasers is even more exciting behind the scenes as it is on TV.
When I arrived at the Beat The Chasers studio, stewards showed me to my assigned seat before warning me, understandably, that there was strictly no photography allowed. As we waited for the filming to begin, the audience was warmed up by a comedian who cheekily told us to show the camera our dazzling white teeth and clap like we'd never clapped before.
He split the audience into groups and asked us trivia questions, a fun game which we returned to whenever there was a pause in filming. It was then time for Bradley Walsh to make his entrance before he then wasted no time in introducing himself to the audience.
Bradley was the same lovable presenter when the cameras stopped rolling as he is on The Chase and Beat the Chasers, chatting to the audience at every opportunity. The Chasers, Shaun Wallace, Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha, Darragh Ennis, Jenny Ryan and Mark Labbett were next to join the studio.
Despite the Chasers' desk being as high up as it looks on TV, they joined in with Bradley's cheeky one-liners at every opportunity. One of the big differences between watching the show on TV and being in the studio, is that instead of watching a complete episode being filmed from start to finish, the individual games of the celebrities or members of the public can be mixed-up into different episodes in the final edit. But, you still get to watch the same amount of action (perhaps a little more) as one fun-filled episode.
The session lasted three and a half hours, and in that time we watched three celebrities, including Pointless host Alexander Armstrong, Lioness Mary Earps and one member of the public take on the Chasers. I attended the filming in May and the episodes in question are only now being shown on TV (I have purposefully kept some details hidden as these episodes have yet to air).
Filming Beat The Chasers takes a longer time than you may expect as the process requires filming sections multiple times from different angles – the same with any TV show. After a celebrity walked out to meet Bradley, the cameras stopped. Once they had introduced themselves, the cameras stopped. After the first question, the cameras stopped. However, despite this, the filming was an incredibly fun process, with the warm-up comedian returning to the audience whenever the cameras stopped rolling to keep us all throughly entertained.
One thing that surprised me with Beat The Chasers is that there is one difference to the game in real life compared to what viewers see on TV – but, it's understandable when contestants can win life-changing sums of money. Once a player has answered their first question correctly and guaranteed themselves a chance to take on a Chaser, the 60 second quick-fire round can be stopped by the studio crew and adjudicator if they think an answer needs to be checked.
Bradley also has the power to temporarily halt a round if he fears he's mispronounced a word or if he's unsure on whether he can accept an answer. This ensures that the game remains fair for both the Chasers and the contestants.
The non-celebrity contestant was in the audience and watched all three celebrities take on the Chasers before they were picked out from the crowd and invited down. Bradley was really hands-on and chatted away to the male quiz player in between filming takes, while also speaking to the audience and making us feel involved.
After choosing the big jackpot offer and the number of Chasers he wanted to take on, the contestants 60 seconds began. The studio, inadvertently, left the best till last with the contestant going on to defeat the Chasers and win a whopping amount.
As the Chasers clock ran out of time, gold confetti immediately fell from the ceiling and the studio erupted. Bradley rushed over to congratulate him, but then suddenly the adjudicator stepped in. There was a problem with timing with the Chasers' last question, which had to be checked by those in the gallery.
There was only a few seconds left on the contestant's clock, which meant that if the Chasers had answered correctly in time, the player would miss out on his whopping jackpot. I have no idea how the contestant was able to keep his cool as he waited for his fate to be decided.
Bradley came up and sat with the audience, asking the crowd to shout out where they had travelled from – the TV stalwart is an absolute professional and had everyone laughing. After an agonising wait for the contestant and the audience, we thankfully were told he had won after all.
Everyone was thrilled for the contestant, including the Chasers, while Bradley was visibly moved by the winner's story. I throughly enjoyed the day and after getting to see a very worthy contestant win a life-changing amount of money, I couldn't have planned it better if I tried.
Beat The Chasers is back airing every Friday at 9 pm on ITV and ITVX.
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