The Million Pound Drop

Answer some questions, win some money, that's how quiz game shows work, right? Wrong! Last year The Million Pound Drop subverted this tired format, giving us a simple, exciting new twist on a stale genre.

For those who haven't seen it, contestants are given £1 Million, choose a category then gamble their cash on the correct answer. If they get it wrong, it plummets into the vault below. Simple, but brilliant.

The brilliant, but sadistic aspect of this gameshow is the fact that contestants could potentially place all their cash on one answer and get it wrong, or even split the money over two or three answers, still potentially losing £500,000 in one fell swoop. And we can just sit at home and go "well I'd still have £1,000,000 if I were there".

But the beauty of the internet allows us to put our money where our mouth is and play along at home. This then provides another dynamic, as Davina reads out statistics of viewers' choices, reinforcing the live nature, and subsequently the very real fact that contestants are throwing money away in front of our very eyes.

However, Davina, usually the queen of live TV having been the face of Big Brother for the past 10 years, also reminds us that it's live as she stumbles over her words. But we can forgive her on the grounds that she's so into it, so nervous and excited for the players that it's quite endearing.

If I were to criticise one thing about the programme it would be the scene setting at the beginning. Do we really need to be told about the money's "journey from a secret vault"? Are we really expected to believe it? If it were me I'd also ditch the security guards at the bottom who re-pack the money after it falls. I'd be inclined to leave it there, making the contestants stand above it, knowing they've thrown it away - how sadistic.

All in all though, this is a really good piece of event telly. The short run keeps it fresh and the fact that it's live maintains the drama. Similarly, the fact that it's live means that we really feel like we're going along with the contestants, willing them to make the right choices. (And holding auditions for contestants ensures that we aren't watching dull duds squander 25k bundles.) All we need now is for someone to get 8 answers correct and win that Million quid. But that just wouldn't be as fun to watch!