Break the Safe

Did You Know?

• Filming of the first series took place in Glasgow in July 2013.
• The show's executive producers were Suzy Lamb, the head of entertainment at Thames Scotland, and Sarah Thompson-Woolley.
• According to the Glasgow Times, the first series was the highest rated entertainment show of last summer for BBC One, with a viewership of over four million.

Format

Three teams of two contestants compete on each episode, answering questions to build up a cash prize that is stored in a large safe on set. The safe has six locks, and a 36-minute countdown timer runs for the entire show. Four of these locks are unlocked during the program; the final team left must open the remaining two locks to claim the money, which can reach up to £100,000. The contestants stand at podiums split down the middle, with each half able to slide forward or backward using pneumatics. At the start of a round, the three contestants on the left side are pushed to the back. The host reads 12 buzzer questions, each requiring two correct answers. Only the contestant in the front position can buzz in; after buzzing, they give one answer, and their partner in the back must supply the other. If both answers are correct, the team earns £1,000. If not, the host restarts the question, and any other team may buzz in. A second incorrect attempt causes the question to be dropped. Contestants can buzz in at any point, but they must answer based only on the information the host has read so far. After the first 12 questions, the front and back positions are swapped, and another 12 questions are asked, each worth £2,000. Once this set ends, the team with the lowest score is eliminated and receives no winnings. The totals of the two remaining teams are added to the safe. In this round, the two advancing teams can accumulate a combined maximum of £36,000.

Scores are then reset to zero, and each team chooses one member to move to the back. The host asks one question per team, starting with the team that carried less money from the first round. After hearing a question, the front contestant can either answer immediately or pass it to their partner for double the value, without knowing whether the partner knows the answer. Three pairs of questions are played, with values of £2,000/£4,000, £4,000/£8,000, and £6,000/£12,000. For the second pair, team members reverse positions; for the third, each team again decides who goes forward and who goes back. After all six questions, the team with the lower total is eliminated and gets no winnings, while the higher-scoring team’s money is added to the safe. A team can earn up to £24,000 in this round. The episode then concludes with the Thunderball draw.