The Chase Australia

The Chase Australia is an Australian television quiz show based on the British program of the same name. It is broadcast on the Seven Network and was originally hosted by Andrew O'Keefe.[3][4] Four contestants play against an opponent, known as the "chaser", who plays for the bank.[5] The show premiered on 14 September 2015[6][7] with Brydon Coverdale, Anne Hegerty, Matt Parkinson and Issa Schultz as chasers,[8][9] with Mark Labbett joining in 2016.[10] Shaun Wallace appeared as a guest chaser in 2018, and Cheryl Toh has appeared as guest chaser since 2019.[11][12]

The Chase Australia
GenreQuiz show
Created by
  • Danny Carvalho
  • Pete Faherty
  • Chris Gepp
  • Elliot Johnson
  • Matt Pritchard
  • Amanda Wilson
Directed by
  • Ian Hamilton
  • Stuart McDonald
Creative directorMichael Kelpie
Presented byAndrew O'Keefe (2015-2021)
TBA (2021-present)
Starring
Theme music composerPaul Farrer
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons9[1]
No. of episodes926[2]
Production
Executive producers
  • Sue Allison
  • Martin Scott
Producers
  • Jennifer Stephenson
  • David Hall
Production locationsMelbourne, Victoria
Running time60 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production companyITV Studios Australia
DistributorITV Studios Global Entertainment
Release
Original networkSeven Network
Picture format
Audio formatStereo
Original release14 September 2015 (2015-09-14) –
present
Chronology
Related showsThe Chase (America)
External links
Website

History

In mid-2014 it was reported that the Seven Network had considered producing a local version of The Chase on the back of good ratings for the British version of the show which has been airing in the 3:00 pm timeslot since August 2013. A pilot episode on the UK set was made, but ultimately it was decided not to proceed.[13]

However, interest in a local version was renewed in May 2015 and in July the Seven Network commissioned the show to eventually replace Deal or No Deal and Million Dollar Minute in the 5:00 pm timeslot in a bid to revive ratings for its struggling 6:00 pm nightly news.[14][15][16][17]

In February 2021 Seven parted company with host Andrew O'Keefe after he was charged with domestic violence.[18] Although his current contract with the network had ended in December 2020, Seven chose not to renew it in light of the charges. It was decided that Larry Emdur will replace O'Keefe as host of the program.[19][20]

Gameplay

Cash Builder and Head-to-Head rounds

Each contestant comes up one at a time and is given one minute to answer as many questions as possible with each correct answer worth $2,000.[21] This element is known as the "cash builder". After the minute is up, the money earned from the cash builder is placed three steps down on a seven-step money board. The contestant may remain at this step and play for the money in their bank. However, the contestant may also elect to be positioned one step lower down the board for a lesser award (the lowest amount), or one step further up the board for a greater award (the largest amount), with each award's value being set by the chaser.

If the contestant elects to play for the greater reward, the chaser starts two steps behind and the contestant must answer six questions correctly to reach home. If the contestant elects to remain at the standard starting position, the chaser is three steps behind and the contestant must answer five questions correctly to reach home. However, if the contestant elects to play for the smaller reward, the chaser is four steps behind and the contestant must answer four questions correctly to reach home.

Once the contestant nominates their starting position, questions must then be answered correctly in order to reach the bottom of the board and bank their money. Both the contestant and the chaser are given the same multiple-choice question with three possible answers. Each must then individually press one of the three buttons on their keypad to lock in their answer, which is kept secret until the host reveals the response each selected. When one person locks in their answer, the other is given five seconds to lock in, or else be locked out. For every correct response, the contestant will move one step towards the bank. Additionally, the chaser also moves one step down the board for each correct answer. No movement is made (either by the contestant or the chaser) if each give an incorrect answer. The chaser's job is to catch up to the contestant and eliminate him or her from the game by capitalizing on the mistakes the contestant makes before he or she can bank their money. If this happens, the contestant is out of the game and no money is added to the team's total. However, if the contestant successfully banks his or her money, this is put into the team's prize pot which will be contested for in the final round. In the case the contestant chose to play for a negative amount and wins his or her Head-to-Head round, the contestant remains in the game but the team's total pot is reduced by the negative value. This is repeated for all four contestants.

The contestants who successfully outrun the chaser proceed to the Final Chase. If all four contestants are caught by the chaser, the chaser offers a certain amount of money and the team nominates one contestant to proceed to the Final Chase.

Final Chase round

In the final round, called the "Final Chase", the remaining contestants have two minutes to answer as many questions correctly as possible. During the commercial break, the contestants blindly choose one of two question sets, A or B, with the other set being put aside for the chaser. The contestants are given a head start of one space per contestant participating in the round. The contestants must press their own buzzer to answer a question; if any other contestant responds the question is treated as an incorrect answer, even if the original response was correct. The buzzer is not used if only one contestant is in the Final Chase. Every correct answer moves the contestants ahead one space. Unlike in the British version, the Chaser stays onstage to witness the contestants setting the target on the Chase.

After the two minutes, (and following a short preview of the 6:00 pm news) the chaser is also given two minutes of quick-fire questions to attempt to catch the team. If the chaser gets a question wrong or passes, the clock is briefly stopped and the question is thrown over to the contestants. They are then allowed to discuss the accurate response among themselves. A correct answer from the contestants pushes the chaser back one space, or moves the team ahead by one if the chaser is at the starting line. If the chaser succeeds in catching the contestants before the clock runs out, the contestants lose the prize pot and leave with nothing. If the contestants are not caught by the chaser, the prize pot is split equally between those contestants participating in the Final Chase. If there is only one winning contestant remaining, the contestant wins his or her head to head round amount.

Rule variations and special episodes

On 8 October 2015, an episode aired during Channel Seven's Sunrise. In this episode, one person would play in the Cash Builder round, and the next person would play for the money earned in the individual chase. $1,000 instead of $2,000 was awarded for each correct answer in the Cash Builder.

Occasionally, half-hour episodes have aired to fit in with other programming on Channel Seven. These episodes feature two contestants instead of four. Each contestant plays the cash builder round, and the contestant that earns the higher amount of money plays for the combined total of the two contestants in the individual chase. The Final Chase is played with both contestants.

On 16 February 2017, an episode aired featuring two teams from the eighth season of My Kitchen Rules.[22]

From 21 August to 23 September 2019, Seven premiered the celebrity edition of the show, entitled The Chase Australia: Celebrity Edition, in which celebrities compete against the chaser to win prize money for their chosen charities. It aired on Wednesdays at 7:30 pm.

Chasers
Note

^a Hegerty and Labbett are currently unable to get visas authorising them to travel from Britain to Australia, due to border closures implemented as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[26]

Guest chasers

Ratings

Since debuting in September 2015, The Chase Australia has generally performed well in the ratings, often beating the Nine Network's Millionaire Hot Seat and Network Ten's 10 News First in the important 5:00 to 6:00 pm timeslot.[28] The debut episode drew 520,000 for its first half-hour, and 720,000 for its second half-hour which went up against Millionaire Hot Seat.[29] This was a key factor in Seven News regaining its crown as Australia's most-watched news service,[30] but, as of September 2017, it continues to trail Nine News across the eastern seaboard,[31][32][33] while it still leads comfortably in the Adelaide and Perth markets.[34]

In response to continued strong ratings for The Chase Australia throughout 2016, the Nine Network announced rival game show Millionaire Hot Seat would extend to one hour from 2017, meaning both shows compete for the same duration.[30] As of May 2017, The Chase Australia remains well ahead of Millionaire Hot Seat in the ratings, often winning by an average margin of 100,000.[35]

Beat the Chasers

In August 2020, it was announced that an Australian version of Beat the Chasers would be produced. This version includes all the local Chasers of the series: Brydon Coverdale, Issa Schultz, Matt Parkinson and Cheryl Toh, as contestants try to beat them in order to win big cash prizes.[36] The series premiered on 1 November 2020 and aired on Sunday nights at 7:00 p.m. for five consecutive weeks.[37]

A single contestant plays the Cash Builder round, answering a series of multiple-choice questions worth $1,000 each. The round ends once they either miss a question or get five right; a miss on the first question immediately eliminates the contestant with no winnings. They must then decide how many chasers from two to four to face in a timed head-to-head round, with the chasers specifying a time limit for themselves (up to a maximum of 60 seconds) and offering larger cash prizes as an incentive to face more of them. The offer to face two chasers is always equal to the amount earned in the Cash Builder.

The contestant's clock is set to 60 seconds, while the chasers' clock is set to their agreed-on time. Only one clock runs at any given moment, starting with the contestant; the side in control must answer a question correctly to stop their clock and turn control over to the opposing side. The chasers must buzz-in to respond and may not confer on any questions. The contestant wins the money on offer if the chasers' clock runs out first, or nothing if their clock runs out.

Unlike the original British version, the Australian version of Beat the Chasers utilises a tournament format. The seven contestants with the highest cash winnings after the first four episodes are invited to return for a final showdown against the chasers in the fifth. The final follows the same rules, with some changes:

  • Cash Builder questions are worth $5,000 each.
  • A miss on the first question eliminates the contestant with only their winnings from the preliminary heats.
  • For the head-to-head, the contestant must wager some portion of their heats winnings, which is added to their Cash Builder total.
  • The contestant faces all four chasers and must choose one of three money/time offers.
  • If the contestant loses, they forfeit the portion of their heats winnings that they risked.

Transmissions
Regular editions
Series Start date End date Episodes Notes References
1 14 September 2015 9 December 2015 65 Two thirty-minute specials aired on 3 and 5 November respectively. [38]
2 10 December 2015 5 May 2016 65 Series 2 took breaks from: 16 December – 9 January, 14–31 January, 24 March and 28 March. [38]
3 9 May 2016 29 August 2016 65 Series 3 had no breaks. [38]
4 30 August 2016 16 February 2017 65 Two thirty-minute specials aired on 1 and 3 November respectively. Series 4 took a break from: 25 November – 29 January. [38]
5 16 February 2017 7 August 2018 260 The first four editions were My Kitchen Rules specials, broadcast in the evening on 16 Feb, 23 Feb, 3 March and 10 March respectively. Two thirty-minute specials aired on 7 and 9 November respectively. Series 5 took breaks from: 7 April – 23 April, 1 December – 28 January and 23 March – 15 April. [38]
6 8 August 2018 27 November 2018 64 Two thirty-minute specials aired on 6 and 8 November respectively. Series 6 took a break on 21 November and 22 November. [38]
7 28 January 2019 TBC 100 Series 7 took breaks from: 12 April – 28 April, 15 May & 16 May, 26 July – 4 August, 6 August – 18 August, 20 August – 2 October, 3 October – 12 May 2020, 14 May 2020 –(There is still one episode to be broadcast, this is episode 99.) [38]
8 15 May 2019 5 May 2020 68 Series 8 took breaks from: 17 May – 28 July, 5 August, 19 August, 3 October, 28 November – 2 February, 4 February – 4 May [38]
9 4 February 2020 TBC 174 Series 9 took breaks from: 26 February, 7 April – 19 April, 28 April, 5 May, and 13 May. [38]
Celebrity editions
Series Start date End date Episodes Notes References
1 21 August 2019 25 September 2019 6 All 6 episodes aired on a weekly basis. [38]
2 TBC TBC 6 Upcoming [38]
Beat the Chasers editions
Series Start date End date Episodes Notes References
1 1 November 2020 29 November 2020 5 Uses tournament format, unlike its British counterpart

The Chase Australia airs at 5:00 p.m. on weeknights in most markets, however, on the Gold Coast it airs at 4:30 pm due to Seven Gold Coast News airing at 5:30 p.m. It also airs at 4:30 in all of Regional and Remote Western Australia because of GWN7 Local News broadcasting statewide except Perth at 5:30 p.m. In New Zealand, episodes of The Chase Australia air weekly on TVNZ 1.[39][40] On 14 March 2016, The Chase Australia began airing on UK TV channel Challenge, also available in Ireland.[41][42]

Merchandise

A localised version of the iOS and Android game from Barnstorm Games was released. The app features all five chasers and can be played by up to four people, as in the actual show. There is one significant difference between the show and the app; only three choices are presented for questions in the Cash Builder and Final Chase rounds, and no Final Chase is played if all the players are caught in their individual chases.[43][44]

On 8 February 2016, a board game version was released by Crown and Andrews. It features three of the chasers: Issa, Brydon, and Matt.[45]

References
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  2. "ITV Studios – The Chase Australia". ITV Studios. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
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  14. "Seven in The Chase for new game show". TV Tonight.
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  31. MrTvAus (22 July 2017). "Congrats 👏 🎉 Won 21 weeks out of 40 (ratings survey): • @9NewsSyd #1 for 7 years running. • @9NewsMelb #1 for 6 years running. #9News". Twitter. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
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  33. HowieBennett9 (3 September 2017). "Congratulations @9NewsQueensland team winning 7-day ratings year @AlisonAriotti @DarrenCurtis9 @9MelissaDownes @Loftea #9NewsAt6". Twitter. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
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