I hope there’s a twist to Bradley Walsh’s grim new game show

On Sunday, likeable everyman Bradley Walsh will host a brand-new game show on Channel 4. But this isn’t just another shiny floor dream-making machine for the contestants – Bradley Walsh’s Million Pound Shot has a huge twist never seen on British television before. Instead of simply attempting to win money, players will have to use their own money to bet on their answers to general knowledge questions in the hope of turning their hard-earned cash into a million pounds. Or will they? Something feels fishy about Bradley Walsh’s Million Pound Shot. First, it’s got a primetime 9pm slot on Channel 4 on Sunday night. That’s a strange choice as quiz shows are usually reserved for Saturday nights, and this particular scheduling means going up against drama heavyweight This City Is Ours on BBC One and ITV’s swish new series Adultery. Channel 4 must really believe in it. Second, it’s a one-off. In fact, Channel 4 is promoting the show as a “quiz event”, with very little explanation as to what the programme will entail. “This programme is unlike anything we’ve seen on British TV before, and when I heard about this format I thought it was one of the most original and surprising quiz shows I’d ever encountered,” Walsh has said about the show. “Alongside playing with their own money, there are more twists and turns along the way – I’m excited for everyone to see how it plays out.” It’s all just a little too vague for my liking. And then there’s the fact that it was commissioned by Tim Hancock, the bloke behind Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat, a fake documentary disguising a satire of the cost of living crisis as a film about the consumption of human meat. Hancock is also responsible for Joe Lycett’s documentary taking the oil company Shell to task over claims of greenwashing, and Channel 4’s risqué sexperimental series Open House: The Great Sex Experiment. A Bradley Walsh-fronted game show doesn’t exactly fit in with that remit. Channel 4 says players will have to use their own money to bet on their answers to general knowledge questions (Photo: Gary Moyes/Channel 4) But let’s put all that aside for now and go along with what Channel 4 wants us to think: that this is a first-of-its-kind general knowledge quiz in which real people’s real money will be put on the line. How grim. Usually on quiz shows, the contestants playing will either win money or go home with nothing. It’s always a bit of a downer when they don’t get the money they wanted for an extension or a wedding or a holiday, but at least the bank balance they entered the game with stays the same. On Bradley Walsh’s Million Pound Shot, however, there’s a real chance they could lose money they have presumably worked for. Yes, it adds heaps of jeopardy to the show, but mere entertainment isn’t enough of a reason to make such an ill-judged show. We’re in a cost of living crisis that has lasted five years, with energy bills, fuel, and food prices rising to often unaffordable levels. When people are feeling the pinch more than ever, winning a life-changing amount of cash on a game show can feel like a legitimate – even easy – way to put all money woes to bed for ever. But when having the chance to do so involves real risk and sacrifice that could make money troubles even worse, it’s nothing but exploitation. Which is why I’m hoping that Bradley Walsh’s Million Pound Shot really is a hoax. I hope that Channel 4 bosses and Bradley Walsh are having us on, trying to make a point about the exploitation of ordinary folk for the sake of high-stakes entertainment. Or gambling. Or anything other than trying to swindle real people out of their money. We’ll have to wait until Sunday night to find out the truth, when I’ll either lose my faith in Channel 4 or gain some respect for its bravery. Until then I’m holding on to one hope – that if something sounds like it could be a Black Mirror episode, then it just might be exactly that. ‘Bradley Walsh’s Million Pound Shot’ is on Channel 4 on Sunday at 9pm