First & Last. Jason Manford. Copyright: Zeppotron
First & Last

First & Last

  • TV comedy
  • BBC One
  • 2020
  • 6 episodes (1 series)

Jason Manford hosts a comedy game show in which contestants mustn't win, but mustn't come last either.

First & Last. Jason Manford. Copyright: Zeppotron

Key details

Genre
Comedy
Broadcast
2020
Channel
BBC One
Episodes
6 (1 series)
Star
Jason Manford
Writers
Scott Bennett, Gary Delaney, Steve Edge, James Farmer, Shaun Pye, Christine Rose, Aiden Spackman, Ali Crockatt and more
Director
Barbara Wiltshire
Producers
Keith Cotton, Peter Holmes, Ruth Phillips, Karen Murdoch, Pinki Chambers, Katie Taylor, Ruth Wallace, Chris Cohen and more
Company

First & Last, hosted by Jason Manford, is a series that puts contestants through a succession of ingenious rounds, all of which have one golden rule - players mustn't come first or last in any game. If they do, they will be eliminated.

Eleven players start each show and compete across a range of downright daft, stupidly funny, play-along-at-home games that will see one of them leave with a cash prize of up to £10,000. To win, they'll need to judge every round to perfection and hold their nerve in the nail-biting endgame - contested by the remaining three players.

The format

Round 1: The show opens to reveal eleven contestants either hidden inside boxes or holding buckets down over their heads. All the contestants have to do is choose their moment to jump out of their box or let go of their bucket. The first and last contestants to make their appearance will be eliminated.

Round 2: The remaining nine contestants are given a category and asked to secretly write something within that category. The goal is to offer an answer which gives neither the most nor least successful result. The game will vary each time. Categories include various search engines.

Weigh To Go: Prior to Round 3, the seven remaining contestants always play Weigh To Go. This isn't a game in itself, but a way to decide the order in which the contestants will play the next game. It's a version of drawing straws. The contestants are all asked to bring a vegetable, such as a potato, into the studio. Amidst "OTT dramatic lighting" they are then asked to reveal their vegetable and place it on the podium. The vegetables are weighed, and the contestant who brought in the vegetable of the middling weight will pick first in the next game.

Round 3: The seven contestants pick from one of seven things. They might be represented by props, pictures or people in the studio. They must try not to pick the thing that is first or last in a given category. Examples include: Marathon runners and their running times; song streams on Spotify; celebrities and their numbers of Twitter followers.

Round 4: In the fourth round the remaining five contestants face a range of games. Examples include: Your Mum's On The Phone, where each contestant asks their mum to telephone Jason within a specified time window - but the contestants whose mums call Jason first and last is eliminated. Or the five contestants must head out into the audience and pick someone who they think will be neither the oldest nor the youngest. Or a game where contestants must pick audience members who are currently carrying neither the most nor least amount of cash.

Round 5: The final three contestants are told that there is £10,000 up for grabs. But how do they win it? "We could tell you, but then we'd have to kill you."

Additional details

Also known as
  • Last And First
  • First & Last With Lee Mack (Working title)
Production
Studio
Camera set-up
Multi-camera
Picture
Colour

Website links

Broadcast details

First broadcast
Saturday 4th January 2020 at 8:15pm on BBC One
Most recent repeats
  • Wednesday 19th February 2020 at 11:30pm on BBC1 - Episode 6
  • Thursday 6th February 2020 at 12:00am on BBC1 Wales - Episode 5
  • Wednesday 5th February 2020 at 11:30pm on BBC1 - Episode 5

Recording details

  • Pinewood Studios

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