Winning Lines

Round 1

49 contestants (humorously called the 49ers) took part in this round, but only six would move on to round two. The host reads a question that can be answered by a number from 1 to 49. Anyone who thinks that their own number is the answer buzzes in. If the owner of that number buzzed, he or she moves on to round two. Anyone who buzzed but was wrong is eliminated. If the owner didn't buzz, but should have, he or she is out. This process repeats until 6 people qualify for the second round.

The last digit from each of the winner's numbers are shown at the end of the show. If all 6 numbers match the last 6 digits of your phone number in any order then you can call in to try to appear on the next show.

In series two onwards, this changed to the host asking the 49 contestants a question with a number for an answer. The contestants use keypads to enter their answers, and the contestant who keyed in the correct answer in the quickest time possible moved on to Round 2. The contestants who keyed in the correct answer but not in the quickest time possible and the contestants who did not key in an answer moved on to the next question. The contestants who key in an incorrect answer were eliminated. This continues until six have qualified for the next round. All of the remaining 43 contestants are eliminated.

Round 2 - Looking After Number One

Each contestant carries their number from Round 1 with them to Round 2. Schofield (or Mayo) asks questions that can be answered by one of the six numbers in play. Contestants buzz in to answer the question. A right answer means that the owner of that number is eliminated, unless the person who buzzed in had the number; in that case no one is eliminated. If the contestant is wrong, regardless of whose number the answer is, he or she is eliminated. If nobody answers, the person with the answer is eliminated. This goes on until one contestant is remaining. The winner plays the Wonderwall for a grand prize trip.

Bonus Round - The Wonderwall

The champion is asked as many questions as possible in three minutes, the answers to which appear on three projection screens and are numbered 1-49. When answering, players must give both the number and its answer before moving onto the next question. Each answer wins a better trip as follows, and 20 correct answers wins a three-week trip around the world. Players were given 15 seconds to check out the answers on display before beginning the round as well as two "pit stops", each of which froze the timer for 15 seconds to allow the player to look over the board again; however they cannot answer during this time. During Schofield's run, the winner of the grand prize then played the Wonderwall again (on the same day as the Wednesday Lotto draw) to win as much spending money as possible. Right answers were worth £200, with a possible £4,000 at stake. The 15-second browse before the game still applied but there were no "pit stops".

Ratings

Episode Viewing figures from BARB.

American version

An American version of Winning Lines aired on CBS in 2000 between January 8 to February 18. It was presented by Dick Clark. In the first round, Like the British Winning Lines, it had 49 contestants. The differences were that in Round 1 instead of contestants answering questions with answers arranging from 1 to 49, they had to answer six mathematical questions, each with a numerical answer, and the contestants have five seconds to enter their answers on numerical keypads. On each question, the contestant who enters the correct answer in the shortest time advances to the next round. The other 43 contestants are eliminated at the end of the round. Round 2 stayed true to the British Winning Lines. Round 3 also stayed true to the British Winning Lines except that the contestant was playing for money instead of a holiday.

French Version

A French version of Winning Lines, named Le Numéro gagnant, aired on France 2 between 2001 and 2002. It was presented by Nagui. The format was identical to the first series of the original BBC version.