The $64,000 Question (British game show)

Format

In the original series, Jerry Desmonde hosted while former Detective Superintendent Robert Fabian served as "custodian of the questions". Contestants answered questions in their chosen subject. The first correct answer earned 100 sixpences (£2/10/-); the next raised winnings to 500 sixpences (£12/10/-). The following two questions each had two parts, doubling winnings to 1,000 sixpences (£25) and 2,000 sixpences (£50). Subsequent questions required three, four, five, six, and finally at least seven parts to win the top prize of 64,000 sixpences (£1,600). In late 1956 the currency changed from sixpences to shillings, making the top prize £3,200 (64,000 shillings). This amount, adjusted for inflation, exceeded any prize on British television for most of the 1960s–1980s, after the Independent Television Authority imposed prize limits following US quiz show scandals and rumours of corruption in the British version of Twenty-One.

The 1990 revival started with £1, then £25, doubling with each question; £400 and £1,600 were guaranteed. The £200 and £400 questions each had two parts; the £800 question required three correct answers, and the next needed four to secure £1,600. Contestants then entered a soundproof booth (the "Isolator") for a five-part £3,200 question. The £6,400 question had six parts; missing one part on the £3,200 or £6,400 questions allowed a "reserve part". In 1991 the Basic 64 replaced the £1–£50 questions, starting at £1 and doubling to £64 guaranteed before the £100 question. Prize limits were lifted by the Independent Television Commission in 1993, paving the way for later high-stakes shows.