Join our CLUB

The secrets behind the success of the TV quiz everyone is talking about...

- REBECCA FLETCHER

THE 1% CLUB
SAT, 8.50PM, ITV1 QUIZ SHOW

Lee Mack’s smash-hit quiz The 1% Club returns to our screens this week, thrilling the millions of us who play along at home in challenges testing common sense and logic.

‘Once again I am delighted to cause household arguments, as kids mock their parents for being not as bright as them,’ grins BAFTA-nominated host Lee, 55. ‘But us grown-ups can stay out as late as we want, so we get the last laugh!’

The third series sees double the number of episodes of previous runs, going from eight to 16. But the award-winning format remains exactly the same with 100 contestants taking their seats at the beginning of every show, competing for a chance to win the top prize of up to £100,000, which requires them to correctly answer a question that only 1% of the country would get right.

Sounds simple, but then, the best game shows are, says Dean Nabarro, who, along with co-executive producer Andy Auerbach, came up with the idea for the Saturday-night ITV show.

‘It’s event TV,’ enthuses Dean, as he joins TV Times for an exclusive interview. Here, he shares with us the secrets of its success…

BROAD APPEAL 

Devising a hit quiz show is not easy, but Dean had a winning formula in mind.

'It needs to be uncomplicated, have a compelling host and have common ground so it appeals to teens as much as it does to 70-year-olds,' he says, citing ITV's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? as his favourite game show.