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The Cube (British game show)

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The Cube
Also known asThe Million Pound Cube (2020)
Created byAdam Adler
Presented byPhillip Schofield
Voices ofColin McFarlane
Theme music composerNick Foster
Ken Bolam
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series11
No. of episodes95
Production
Production locationsFountain Studios (2009–15)
Television Centre, London (2020–21)
Running time60–75 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production companiesObjective Media Group
Wildcard Television (2020)
Triple Brew Media (2021)
Original release
NetworkITV
Release22 August 2009 (2009-08-22) –
23 December 2021 (2021-12-23)

The Cube is a British television game show that aired on ITV from 22 August 2009 to 23 December 2021. It was hosted by Phillip Schofield.

The original series offered contestants the chance to win a top prize of £250,000 by completing challenges from within a 4m × 4m × 4m perspex cube. The challenges involve physical and mental tasks including catching, throwing, estimation, reacting, memorisation, and balancing. Colin McFarlane provides the disembodied voice of The Cube, who explains the rules of the games.[1]

The show ran from 2009 to 2015, before returning as The Million Pound Cube in 2020, and again under its original title in 2021.[2][3]

Format

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Original series (2009–15)

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The game is played by a single contestant within a transparent Perspex cube that measures 4 metres along each edge. The goal is to complete a series of seven games, each of which awards an increasing amount of prize money, before failing a total of nine times. Games are selected for each individual contestant before the show to test their mental and physical faculties in various ways. A typical episode consists of two contestants' games; depending on how successful the contestants are and on editing, a contestant's game may split across two episodes.

The contestant begins with nine lives and loses one for every unsuccessful attempt at a game. The contestant must repeat the game until they either complete it or run out of lives; in the latter case, the game ends and all money is forfeited. When a contestant succeeds, they are shown a preview of the next game and can decide to either stop playing and keep their winnings or continue and risk the money. During a preview, the game is named and described by a male voice (provided by McFarlane) and demonstrated by "The Body," a woman dressed in a full-body jumpsuit and featureless metal mask. Her name is not stated on camera or listed in the credits.

Schofield occasionally comments on the difficulty that past contestants have had with a game and notes the average number of lives lost while playing it, in order to help the contestant decide whether to continue or stop. Friends and family members in the audience may offer advice on decision-making and techniques for playing the games. Certain games have specific restrictions added to increase their difficulty, such as a time limit or allowing the use of only one hand. If the contestant violates any such restriction, they immediately lose a life.

The contestant is given two forms of assistance, each of which may be used once. "Simplify" reduces the difficulty of a game, and may be used after any unsuccessful attempt. The exact nature of the change, such as by allowing more time or increasing the size of a target zone, is not revealed until the contestant chooses to use Simplify. The change remains in effect until the contestant either completes that game or runs out of lives. "Trial Run" allows the contestant to make one practice attempt at a game with no lives or money at stake, then decide if they want to play or stop. This assistance becomes available after they complete the first game, and can only be used upon the introduction of a new one.

The seventh and final game is worth a jackpot of £250,000; contestants who complete this game are said to have "beaten the Cube". It is a more difficult version of one of the six games a contestant previously played. In the original format, seven contestants have reached this level, with six choosing to stop and keep their winnings of £100,000. The seventh is runner Mo Farah, who successfully completed the final game on an episode of a 2012 celebrity series in which British gold medallist athletes competed for charity.

On 25 October 2020, model Andrianna Christofi was revealed as the portrayer of the Body during the original run of the programme.[4]

Revival (2020–21)

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On 15 June 2020, after five years off the air, it was reported that The Cube would return with the jackpot being significantly increased.[5] A month later, the return was confirmed, with the jackpot raised to £1,000,000 and Phillip Schofield returning as host.[6]

The revival aired in 2020, renamed to The Million Pound Cube,[7] with pairs of contestants taking part who have a pre-existing relationship. Some games involve only one contestant, while others involve both; in the former case, the team must decide which contestant will play the game once it is introduced. The "Trial Run" lifeline is replaced by a new one called "Swap," which allows the participant in a single-player game to swap places with their teammate. The seven-step money ladder is still used, with higher values at each step culminating in a top prize of £1 million. In the following series in 2021, the show returned to being known as simply The Cube, and the original money ladder was restored. Otherwise, the format remained the same as the previous series.

When a two-player game is introduced, it is demonstrated by two Bodies dressed in jumpsuits and masks as in the original version. While the original Body displayed collar-length brown hair behind her mask, however, these two wear hoods that cover the backs and sides of their heads so that all physical features except their hands are entirely hidden from view. In the revival format, a team have managed to beat the sixth game for the very first time, which became the eighth contestant to have a chance to attempt the jackpot but decided to walk away with £100,000.

In April 2022, it was announced that The Cube was to be put on hiatus, with no immediate plans for a new series, but did not rule out future series being commissioned.[8]

Filming

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Objective Productions first approached Channel 4 in 2008 with the format. It was made into a non-televised pilot by the channel,[9] and was hosted by Justin Lee Collins. Channel 4 eventually decided not to commission the show because it would have been too expensive.[10]

In February 2009, ITV purchased the rights to the show and filming began during April 2009 at Wembley's Fountain Studios. The Cube is one of the first shows to use the game freeze filming technique on a frequent basis, such as when a contestant jumps in celebration. The technique used is called "Bullet Time". Using specially designed cameras, it allows the viewer to see one side of the Cube before the action is frozen, spun to another face of the Cube, and then resumed. Slow-motion shots are again common to show action replays of the task a contestant just completed, or the critical moment of a game, to heighten the excitement of whether the contestant will succeed or fail.

The show makes extensive use of CGI to project images onto the walls and ceiling of the Cube, while a screen on the floor is also capable of showing images. These film techniques make the seemingly simple tasks that are put before the contestants seem much more exciting than they would normally be.

Prize money

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Originally, The Cube had a prize money structure starting at £1,000 and ending at the £250,000 jackpot; in the 2020 series, the jackpot was raised to £1,000,000.[11]

Below is a breakdown of the prize money structure as used from Series 1–9, showing the game number and amount of prize money that can be won for successfully completing that game. If a player loses all their lives at any point, their game ends, and they leave with nothing. The only exception is for celebrities, playing for charity, in which £1,000 is awarded.

A different game is played at each of the first six levels; the seventh and final level was a game which contestants played before, but at a much higher difficulty level, such as decreased time or a smaller target area.

Stage Game value
Series 1–9, 11 Series 10
Game 1 £1,000 £2,000
Game 2 £2,000 £5,000
Game 3 £10,000 £10,000
Game 4 £20,000 £25,000
Game 5 £50,000 £100,000
Game 6 £100,000 £250,000
Game 7 £250,000 £1,000,000

Transmissions

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Series Start date End date Episodes
1 22 August 2009 3 October 2009 7
2 19 September 2010 2 January 2011 12[12]
3 3 April 2011 11 June 2011 9[12]
4 30 October 2011 31 December 2011 9[12]
5 14 April 2012 21 July 2012 8[12]
6 23 December 2012 13 April 2013 8[12]
7 20 April 2013 22 February 2014 8[12]
8 1 March 2014 7 July 2014 9[12]
9 3 June 2015 8 August 2015 8[12]
10 17 October 2020 20 December 2020 8[12]
11 28 August 2021 23 December 2021 9[12]

Ratings

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Awards

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Year Group Award Result
2010 Broadcast Awards Best New Programme Nominated
Rose d'Or Best Game Show Nominated
2011 RTS Awards Best Entertainment Show Nominated
Broadcast Awards Best Entertainment Programme Won
BAFTA Best Entertainment Craft Team Won
Best Entertainment Programme Won
2012 Best Entertainment Craft Team Won
National Reality TV Awards Best Game Show Nominated
TV Choice Awards Won
Rose d'Or Nominated
National Television Awards Best Entertainment Programme Nominated
2013 Nominated
2014 Nominated

International versions

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The format has been sold to international broadcasters. In the case of the Greek, Turkish and U.S. versions from 2010, only a pilot was ever made.

Below is a breakdown of the countries that have created their own versions along with other information including the Jackpot available and broadcast dates.

Most versions of The Cube aired until 2017 used a version of the British intro, for example in the Arab World, Chinese, German, Italian, Russian, Saudi Arabian, and Ukrainian versions, whilst the French and Spanish versions used custom-composed cues whilst maintaining the British music for the games. When the original British version returned, the Australian and Dutch versions also used the new intro, with the Dutch version adding new sound effects.

Legend:

  Currently airing  
  No longer airing  
  Non-broadcast pilot  
Country Name Host Channel Top prize Premiere/air dates Status
Arab World[14] The Cube Dhaffer L'Abidine Dubai TV Dhs250,000 2 February – 27 April 2014 No longer airing
Australia[15] The Cube Andy Lee Network 10 AU$250,000 24 February – 14 April 2021 No longer airing
China 梦立方
Mèng lìfāng 		Cheng Lei Dragon TV Prize[a] or ¥250,000 13 May 2012 – 4 September 2013[16] No longer airing
France Le Cube Nagui France 2 €50,000 1 July – 30 August 2013 No longer airing
Germany The Cube – Besiege den Würfel! Nazan Eckes RTL €250,000 29 April 2011 – 10 June 2011[17] No longer airing
Greece O κύβος
O kubos 		Unknown Mega Channel €75,000 2010 (pilot rejected) Non-broadcast pilot
Hungary A Kocka Nóra Ördög TV2 10,000,000 Ft 23 November – 23 December 2015[18] No longer airing
Italy The Cube – La Sfida Teo Mammucari Italia 1 €100,000 7 – 28 September 2011[19] No longer airing
Netherlands The Cube Gordon Heuckeroth SBS6 €100,000 23 April – 11 June 2021 No longer airing
Portugal O Cubo Jorge Gabriel RTP1 €30,000 16 May – 11 July 2010 No longer airing
Russia[20] Куб
Kub 		Dmitry Kharatyan Channel One ₽3,000,000 30 March – 30 November 2013 No longer airing
Saudi Arabia المكعب
Al Moukaab 		Faisal Al Issa KSA 1 SR250,000 17 March – 8 July 2010 No longer airing
Spain El Cubo Raquel Sánchez Silva Cuatro €150,000 8 February – 14 August 2012[21] No longer airing
€250,000
Turkey Kup Unknown Kanal D 250,000 TL 2010 (pilot rejected) Non-broadcast pilot
Ukraine Куб
Kub 		Maksim Chmerkovskiy STB 250,000 ₴ 21 November 2011 – 24 December 2012[22] No longer airing
Dmytro Tankovych 500,000 ₴ 26 August 2013 – 29 December 2014
United States The Cube Neil Patrick Harris CBS US$500,000 2010 (pilot rejected) Non-broadcast pilot
Dwyane Wade TBS US$250,000 10 June 2021 – 30 July 2023 No longer airing
Note
  1. ^ For example, the prize of the first 5 games for the very first contestant were football boots, complete set of freestyle football equipments, freestyle football party, replacement of old home appliances and a freestyle football studio respectively.

The UK version of The Cube was formerly simulcast in Ireland by Virgin Media One. It is broadcast in New Zealand on TV1, and in Australia on the Nine Network. Old series were broadcast in Bosnia and Herzegovina by RTRS, in Serbia by IQS Life and in Singapore by MediaCorp Channel 5. The American version of The Cube was previously broadcast in Hong Kong by ViuTV.[23]

Filming locations

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The German, Italian, Portuguese, Saudi Arabian, Spanish versions, and the 2010 U.S. pilot of The Cube were filmed at The Fountain Studios in London using the British set and games. Other international versions have created their own studio sets. The Chinese version of the show is filmed at the Zhabei Gymnasium in Shanghai; the Ukrainian version of the show is filmed at the Antonov Serial Production Plant in Kyiv; the Russian version of the show is filmed at the Ostankino Technical Center in Moscow; the Arabian version is filmed at the Dubai Studio City in Dubai; the French version of the show is filmed in La Plaine Saint-Denis, near Paris and the 2021 U.S. version is filmed in Atlanta.

Top prize winners

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Across all versions of the show, 8 contestants have won the final game and taken away the jackpot.

Country Contestant(s) Jackpot game Jackpot won Number of lives left Date
Arab world Hamad Al Yahmadi Blind Shot Dhs250,000 4 20 April 2014
China Chen Kun Extraction ¥250,000 3 22 July 2012 (Charity special)
Wu Jing Tower 1 2 May 2013 (Charity special)
Portugal Vítor Costa Barrier €30,000 5 30 May 2010
Ukraine Andriy Serko Rapid Fire ₴250,000 1 29 October 2012
United Kingdom Mo Farah Barrier £250,000 (original series) 6 14 July 2012 (Charity special)
United States Brian and Branden Final Pathfinder $250,000 4 16 July 2023

Games

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Board games

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An electronic board game based on the series was made available in stores from November 2010.[24] As of June 2011, the game has been discontinued by most main retailers.[25] The game comes with an electronic handheld system featuring games such as Time Freeze and Stop Zone, as well as 9 balls- six 18mm blow moulded balls, 1 30mm EVA foam ball, 1 25mm hard ball and one 50mm hard ball. The balls are used for different reasons and the foam ball is used for most games with a ball. For Multisphere, all balls are used unless it is being played in a room with hard floors, in that case, eight balls are used. Tubes are used for almost every physical game for starting positions, voids, tubes, towers, and columns.

Other equipment in the board game are track pieces, discs, clips, z-shaped platform pieces, cannons, blocks, a ball flipper, a beam and card pieces, and a 7 cm x 7 cm x 7 cm plastic cube for playing a series of physical games. The cube is used for a container and to connect onto the cube platform for the electronic games. A reducer also comes with the cube, allowing it to reduce the size of the open top of the cube. This is, in almost all games involving the cube, removed in a simplify. Many well-known and classic games are here as well as new games such as Roller, Catch, Retrieval and Bounce, everyday life games and interesting and complex games.

Mobile games

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Around the time of the release of the board game, a Game App version of the series was made available via the iTunes store for use on the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad. This app version originally featured sixteen games from the series: Balance, Cylinder, Descent, Drop Zone, Focus, Multisphere, Perimeter, Precision, Quantity, Reaction, Revolution, Shatter, Stabilise, Stop Zone, and Time Freeze. The first update for the game came in April 2011 with Pulse added Another update for the game was made available in June 2011, adding a further free game, Succession, and making eight games available via in-app purchase in 2 "packs" Exact, Pathfinder, Totalise and Tower in Pack one and Invert, Composure, Calculate and Navigate in Pack two. A further update was made available in October 2011, adding a further free game, Axis. 2 further games followed in 2012, Eliminate in April, and Symmetry in October. In February 2013, Chase, which at that time had not been shown on TV, was made available. Almost a year later on 21 February 2014 Avoid was added. The most recent update came on 19 May 2014 when 4 games new games were made available via In-App Purchase. These new games were Reset, Plummet, Selection, and Tally all of which are new games from the most recent series. Following the show's revival in 2020, the app saw the first appearance of a two-player game: Circumvent, and a new 4 game pack featuring Cascade, Downfall, Loop, and Dual Stop. In March 2021, three new two-player games were added: Dual Extraction, Revolve, and Interchange. There are currently 42 games available to play in the App version.[26]

Console game

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Main article: The Cube (video game)

On 16 November 2012, a Cube game was released on consoles for the first time. It was available on the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo 3DS. 33 games are playable in this version including two unseen new games: Flight Path (already played in international versions) and Retrace. If the Cube is beaten, Extreme Mode is unlocked, featuring more extreme versions of five popular games: Revolution, Pathfinder, Perimeter, Rebound, and Momentum.[27]

References

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  1. ^ Rollo, Sarah (14 March 2009). "Schofield to host ITV gameshow 'The Cube'". Digital Spy.
  2. ^ "The Cube is returning to ITV this year - and you could take part". 10 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Be on TV".
  4. ^ Freedman, Joanna (25 October 2020). "Essex Model Andrianna Christofi Unveiled as the Body in The Cube". Tyla.
  5. ^ White, Peter (15 June 2020). "ITV Brings Back Big-Budget Gameshow 'The Cube' From Objective Productions". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  6. ^ Cremona, Patrick (15 July 2020). "The Cube reboot sets £1m prize with Phillip Schofield to return as host". Radio Times. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  7. ^ "The Cube returns. Coming to ITV later this year". Press Centre. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  8. ^ "THE CUBE PUT ON HIATUS BY ITV WITH NO PLANS FOR 2022 SERIES". TVZoneUK. 2 April 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  9. ^ West, Dave (13 June 2008). "Channel 4 piloting gameshow in a cube". Digital Spy.
  10. ^ "ITV snaps up C4-piloted gameshow". Broadcast.
  11. ^ "THE CUBE IS RETURNING TO ITV!". Facebook. 15 July 2020.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "The Cube". All3Media. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  14. ^ "Dubai TV". Dmi.ae. 6 May 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  15. ^ "Andy Lee to host The Cube for 10". Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  16. ^ 东方卫视梦立方官方网站. dragontv.cn. Archived from the original on 15 May 2012.
  17. ^ "TVmatrix". tvmatrix.de.
  18. ^ "TV2". tv2.hu. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  19. ^ "Mediaset Play: Programmi TV, Video, Dirette Live e Film". Mediaset Play. Archived from the original on 24 September 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  20. ^ суббота, 16:50. Куб - Анкета - Первый канал. 1tv.ru. Archived from the original on 3 April 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ "Cuatro busca concursantes para 'El Cubo'". cuatro.com. 15 November 2011.
  22. ^ Шоу Куб: смотреть онлайн. КУБ.
  23. ^ 玩轉超立方 - 美國篇. ViuTV. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  24. ^ "Buy The Cube Family Electronic Game at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for Games and board games". argos.co.uk.
  25. ^ "Generic Error". debenhams.com.
  26. ^ "The Cube". www.pocketgamer.com. 9 November 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  27. ^ "The Cube (Nintendo 3DS) Review - Page 1 - Cubed3". www.cubed3.com. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
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