MICHAEL McINTYRE’S THE WHEEL
LAST ONE SATURDAY / BBC1 / 8.30PM / ENTERTAINMENT
1 Prototype in the garden!
As fans of the Saturday-night smash hit will know, the titular Wheel is a thing of beauty. But during the development process, the team found a budget-friendly way to test how the show would work.
‘In the very begin ‘In the very beginning, Michael McIntyre and myself went to designer Patrick Doherty’s house and we recreated a life-size replica of The Wheel out of garden chairs, chalk and plant pots,’ recalls executive producer Dan Baldwin, 45.
‘We then ran around the garden to simulate The Wheel spinning! One month later, the actual Wheel was then carefully created and built in the studio – it weighs over 2.5 tonnes! It really is so much fun to sit on.’
2 Controlled by a ‘supercomputer’
Michael, 44, came up with the idea for the show while in the bath! But as host and co-creator, he worried they might have made the show too difficult to win…
‘The game only works if it’s completely random, and that’s why it frightens me,’ he explains.
‘I was saying to the producers: “What if most of the shows have no winners? It’s a disaster!” It’s the same thing on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? – what if everybody just gets a grand?
It is what it is, you’ve just got to see what happens.’
This story is from the January 23, 2021 edition of TV Times.
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This story is from the January 23, 2021 edition of TV Times.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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