Decimate (game show)

Gameplay

In each episode, a team consisting of three contestants can win up to £20,000 by answering a series of questions correctly, keeping as much money in play as possible held by ten sections of a "golden wall".

In round one, host Shane Richie gives the team ten keywords, one per question, and one member of the team is chosen to play. That contestant is then briefed by their teammates on what those keywords mean for twenty seconds, and is asked ten multiple-choice questions, each with three possible answers. To aid the contestants, five passbacks and five overrides are given to the contestant; these are to last the first three rounds. If the contestant gets the answer correct, that section of the wall is lit up, but if isn't, then that section of the wall is decimated; every wrong answer decimates their bank by £2,000. A deep, ominous voice booms "decimate"; this voice comes from producer Hugh Rycroft.

In round two, the remaining money from the first round is split evenly into the ten possibly shorter sections and one of the remaining team members is chosen to play. For example, if one section had been decimated, each section would be worth £1,800, if two sections had been decimated each section would be worth £1,600 and so on.

In round three, as before, the remaining money from the second round is divided equally among the ten sections and the last remaining team member plays. Any overrides and passbacks not used in this round are wasted and are of no use to the player in the final round.

In the final round, one player is nominated to answer questions for the team. As in the previous three rounds, ten keywords are given before the player is selected. There are three questions for each keyword, and if one keyword completely stumps that player, the prize fund is decimated, the clock is stopped and that player has to sit back down and another player steps up. If the prize fund has been decimated five times, it is rounded up to the nearest pound; £3,456 decimated again becomes £3,111, up from £3,110.40. If all three contestants are 'defeated' in this manner, the team leaves with nothing. The team have two minutes to win their bank by answering ten questions correctly. If they succeed, they win their bank. If they fail, they leave with nothing.

Critical reception

Steve Finan of Sunday Post praised the show for upholding the true meaning of the word 'decimate', which is to reduce by one tenth and is of Latin origin; in Roman times a 'decimatio' was a punishment. Finan wrote that the word had "been suffering a lingering death" as a synonym for "damage, devastate, or ... destroy", leaving a "poorer" vocabulary with no word to "express a reduction of one in ten". Finan stated that he was "indebted" to the show's host for restoring the word's Roman use and called him a "swashbuckling warrior on the side of the grammatical good guys".

Ian K of the Carrick Gazette said that the show "was pleasant enough viewing, but it seemed to me to be one which lacked that 'something special' that really successful quiz shows have".

In addition, Hayden Woolley gave the show a mixed review; while he commended the choice of host, he criticized the complexity and slow pace of the game, facetiously noting how overpowering the wall was and giving an overall review of 3/5.

International versions

A Spanish version of the show was produced by Spanish production company Veralia, and Shine France picked up the rights to remake the show in France.