Today there is a very special episode on ITV to celebrate 1000 episodes of The Chase. The best quiz show EVER!
The Chase has reached a massive mile stone of 1000 episodes of the daytime show and 78 celebrity specials. Who could have ever possibly have imagined that when it started in June 2009 all those years ago. Back then it was filmed in Manchester and there were only Bradley Walsh, Greg the floor manager, Michael Kelpie, Mark Labbett and Shaun Wallace from the beginning. Now The Chase has grown in popularity and it's now on it's eleventh series and still going strong as the number 1 daytime quiz show.
Four contestants who have never met before, have to work as a team to build up chase to take to the table and face the chaser who will try to stop them from winning the money by chasing them down the board, if the contestant gets caught, they and their money are gone, make it back and they through to the final chase with a chance to win a share of the total prize fund.
Just this year in January 2016 it won a National Television Award for best daytime show. The show is hosted by the one and only Mr Bradley Walsh, who in my personal opinion is an absolute diamond. He is the perfect host for it and I couldn't really see anybody else doing it apart from him, it would never be the same.
The Chasers consist of five top ranking quizzers in the world, those are Mark Labbett who is "The Beast" who is a trivia fanatic, Shaun Wallace "The Dark Destroyer" who is a barrister and former Mastermind champion 2004, Anne Hegerty "The Governess" who joined the chasers in Series 2 in 2010, today she is the number 2 female quizzer in the world and number 55 in general. Paul Sinha "The Sinnerman" who started out as a chaser in 2011 in Series 4 he's a qualified doctor and stand up comedian, also the number 14 quizzer in the world, and last but not least the newest chaser Jenny "The Vixen" Ryan who joined us not so long ago, about just over a year ago in Series 9 in 2015. Jenny is a known on the show as "The Bolton Brainiac" and has worked in television for years, she wrote the questions for the pilot episode of the chase, and has worked on many great shows such as QI so she most certainly knows her stuff and she is the youngest of all the chasers.
With audience figures ranging between 3 and 5 million, The Chase has become one of ITV's most successful daytime shows ever. It has also become a successful international franchise, with other versions of it being made in: Australia, China, Croatia, Germany, Norway, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and the United States. As well as being chasers on The Chase UK, Mark and Anne are both chasers on The Chase Australia and Mark was the American chaser.
In a very special episode to celebrate 1000 shows, today at 5pm on ITV, all five chasers will be participating in the episode like they do on the christmas specials. Each chaser will be playing a section of all five parts of the game, four chasers - one for each head to head, and one left over to do the final chase.
The show has been sponsored by several companies over the time it's been on from Aunt Bessie's to Anadin to it's current sponsors Lloyd's Pharmacy and the current series of Celebrity Chase is sponsored by SCS.
In terms of locations, The Chase series one was filmed Granada Studios, then it moved to The London Studios, then Teddington Studios and now at its current location which is Elstree studios. They film three episodes per day, making around 190 shows per series. The Celebrity Specials are filmed in London at the London Studios, and unlike the daytime show, the celebrity shows have an audience, so you can watch the show being recorded. I've been to 29 episodes of celebrity chase and I highly recommend you go and see it if they are ever recording again.
In regards to the chasers, Anne Hegerty "The Governess" is my personal favourite out of the five chasers. Why? It's very simple, because she has the best personality out of all of them, and she's just so adorable when you see her live. It's also down to the fact that she has a good relationship with Bradley, they have terrific banter together and her sense of humour speaks volumes and helps to communicate her personality more directly.
I also like Paul. Out of all five chasers, I think Paul is the best at quizzing, some would argue that Shaun is the best quizzer but I personally think it's Paul. His general knowledge is improving every time you see him. He is a formidable opponent for contestants to face. He only plays good teams and because he's a comedian his banter is always on point. Also I love his come backs to things, his answers to anything are always just the best. So in regards to favourite chasers, Anne and Paul are the best.
But I suppose the question that remains is why do I love the chase so much? Well, I thought I might reflect and share with you all my love for this great show with the fact that it has reached an all important mile stone of 1000 shows. The fact that it's lasted so long has really proved in its popularity and entertainment factor.
I just came across it just flicking through the channels, it was a final chase and Mark was the chaser and the team had set a target of maybe 17 or 18, I can't remember the exact number, anyway Mark beat them and the team didn't go home with any money. But since that day it always seemed to have a fix in my mind, and then I started watching the celebrity shows and I became a fan since then. Anne became my favourite very quickly.
As I mentioned before I've been to 29 celebrity chases and in all the years I've been a fan of the show, you learn about it, you study it and you become addicted to it. It's a lot of fun, as Bradley says as well as learning stuff in the show from all the facts that the chasers give you also play along with it. I've got both versions of the boardgame, the quiz book, signed photos of Bradley and the Chasers (all apart from Jenny. I need The Vixen's autograph), I've met Mark, Shaun and Paul in person and they're all lovely and nice people, seen and met Bradley loads of times and he's a diamond. I've got personal, specially made badges of Bradley and all the chasers, I've got spread sheets and recorded data of all the episodes, contestants in final chase, total prize fund, who the chaser is, did he or she win or lose etc. As you can tell, I'm a mega fan. I know this show back to front.
The reason why The Chase has reached 1000 shows is because it works with people, people like it and therefore as long people keep loving it and enjoying it, it will never go old. Here's to the next 1000 shows! Many congratulations!
#TheChaseison!
