Duel

Duel is an ITV game show based on a format by Francophone production company French TV, hosted by Nick Hancock, broadcast on Saturday evenings. It ran from 19 January to 5 April 2008. Format Each 'Duel' consists of two contestants, who each began the game with 10 poker chips, which in turn each have the same monetary value. They are asked multiple-choice general knowledge questions without time limits, each with four possible answers, one of which was correct. The contestants are asked to cover the answer they believed to be correct with their chip; if they are unsure, they are permitted to cover up to four answers with their chips, to ensure that they have a chip on the right answer when revealed. Once satisfied they had done so, each contestant is asked to confirm their answer by pressing the 'Lock Down' button, at which point the further placement or removal of chips was halted. Contestants retained chips placed on correct answers. Each chip placed on a wrong answer was collected by the house and added £1,000 to the rolling jackpot, which began at a base £100,000. Each contestant also has two 'Accelerators' (similar to the 'press' in the U.S. version of the show) at their disposal. If used, an Accelerator forced their opponent to answer any given question within seven (observant viewers will note it was actually eight) seconds of it being pressed; when those seven seconds expired, any marked answers are automatically 'locked down'. Contestants have to 'lock down' before playing an Accelerator, however; doing so before 'locking down' results in the immediate sounding of a short harsh error-tone played twice quickly and the accelerator being wasted (in the US and French versions, using an accelerator before locking in will result in an automatic lock-in and the accelerator will be played). If they still have their second accelerator available, Hancock would inform the contestant that they could still lock down and play the other accelerator if they wish. At any point in the game, if a contestant did not cover the correct answer, the 'Duel' would end. If both players are wrong on the same question, they were both eliminated.