1000 Heartbeats

1000 Heartbeats
Genre	Game show
Created by	Paul Farrer
Presented by	Vernon Kay
Starring	The Quartet Sarah Chapman Catriona Parker Hayley Pomfrett Llinos Richards
Voices of	Dilly Barlow
Composer(s)	Paul Farrer
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	55 (as of 15 January 2016)
Production
Running time	60 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production company(s)	Hungry Bear Media
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	16:9 (HDTV)
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	23 February 2015 (2015-02-23) – present
Chronology
Related shows	The Cube

1000 Heartbeats is a British daytime game show that aired on ITV which started on 23 February 2015 and is hosted by Vernon Kay.^[1]

Format

Contestants (wearing an electronic heart-rate counter device) answer questions in an attempt to win money. While contestants compete, the number of times their heart beats is measured. Each beat counts down from the initial 1,000. Once the counter reaches 0, the game is over and the contestant is defeated. During gameplay, the contestant's heart rate is relayed to a live string quartet playing the soundtrack on set at the tempo of the contestant's heart rate (beats per minute) to maximise tension.

Contestants can win up to £25,000 by making their way through seven rounds, and the required number of correct answers reduces round by round (seven in round one, six in round two, etc.). If the contestant gives an incorrect answer at any point, they lose 25 heartbeats. The contestant can also change out a question by stepping off "the plate", a circular area marked on the stage, but this will cost them 100 heartbeats (50 heartbeats in Series 1). If the question is one that requires multiple answers, any correct answers are carried over for the next question. For example, if a contestant is in the process of playing Unscramble and manages to identify three of the five anagrams before stepping off the plate, then they only need to identify two anagrams on the next question to complete the round.

After each round has been completed, the contestant banks increasing sums of money:

• Round 1 – £250
• Round 2 – £500
• Round 3 – £1,000
• Round 4 – £2,500
• Round 5 – £5,000
• Round 6 – £10,000
• Round 7 – £25,000

However, completing a round does not mean that the contestant has won the money. At any stage of the game, the contestant can elect to "cash out" with the money that has been banked so far, but in order to win it, they must complete the Cashout game. The contestant is shown a series of true-or-false statements and must complete a string of five correct answers in a row before their remaining heartbeats run out. Any errors break the contestant's chain and also costs 25 heartbeats. If the contestant is successful, they leave with the amount banked; otherwise, they lose all money banked up to that point and leave empty-handed.

Games

Round 1 – £250

• Compare: The contestant is shown a single comparative question. Two possible answers are then shown, and the contestant must decide which answer goes along the static comparative question. To win, the contestant has to give seven correct answers. This game can be seen as the counterpart of Contrast. This game was added in Series 2.
• Contrast: The contestant is shown two answer options. A statement is then shown, and the contestant must decide if the statement corresponds to the first or the second answer option. To win, the contestant has to give seven correct answers.

Round 2 – £500

• Reflection: The contestant is shown an analog clock, but reflected horizontally. The contestant must correctly announce six different times shown to move onto the next game. This game was added in Series 2.
• Reorder: The contestant is shown a list of six items. The contestant must then place those six items in a specific order (i.e., largest to smallest, earliest to most-recent, etc.) to move onto the next game.
• Unravel: The contestant is shown a rotating circle of six, seven, eight or nine letters which spell out a word in the proper order. The contestant must find six words to move onto the next game.

Round 3 – £1,000

• Assemble: A photo of a celebrity is shown to the contestant. After approximately five seconds, the photo disappears and is divided into eight pieces, with five pieces missing. Using the pulsing blue square, the contestant must find and place the correct missing pieces from twelve available options, which may be rotated to make finding the correct pieces more difficult.
• Definition: The contestant is shown a number of circles corresponding to the number of letters in a word and the word's definition. One letter is given to start, and others fill in as time goes on. The contestant must get five words to move on to the next round. This game was added in Series 2.
• Unscramble: Five anagrams are shown in front of the contestant along with a category. The contestant must unscramble the anagrams to win the money. The contestant can say "clue" to receive a more precise description of the category; however, this'll cost them 25 heartbeats.

Round 4 – £2,500

• Identify: The contestant is shown a list of eight answer options and a statement. However, only four of the eight answer options correspond to the statement. The contestant then chooses four answers. If any of the four chosen options do not fit the statement, the contestant loses 25 heartbeats but is told how many correct answers of the four were chosen. The process is repeated until all four correct answers are chosen in one turn.
• Link: The contestant is shown two columns of six answers and is given an instruction. To complete the game, the contestant must link four options in the left column with four options in the right column.

Round 5 – £5,000

• Keep Up: The contestant is shown a number and a mathematical sum, the answer of which then becomes the subject of the next sum. To complete the round, the contestant must answer three sequences of sum, which correspond to 18 calculations. In Series 1, the required number of calculations was 24.
• Pinpoint: The contestant is shown a grid of numbers and must answer questions based upon numbers within the grid, with each correct answer removing numbers from the grid. To complete the round, the contestant has to correctly answer questions and complete three grids of numbers.

Round 6 – £10,000

• Decipher: The contestant is shown a list of five statements and must choose from those five the one that fits in the question. To proceed to the next round, the contestant must clear out two lists in total.

Round 7 – £25,000

• Recall: The contestant is shown an alphanumeric sequence consisting of eleven characters in total. The contestant then must recall the sequence in the correct succession in order to win the round. If the contestant recalls a character incorrectly, the sequence is then reset.

Cashout

In order to cash out their bank, the contestant must complete this round successfully before running out of heartbeats. This round is identical the Contrast game; however, only two options are given: true or false. The contestant must give five correct answers in a row to win. Also, the contestant is not able to step off the plate until end the round prematurely.

Transmissions

Series

Specials

References

External links

• 1000 Heartbeats at the Internet Movie Database
• 1000 Heartbeats at UKGameshows.com