History Series / RedOrBlack

Each episode consisted of ten rounds, each featuring an event with [[TitleDrop red or black]] as its outcome (i.e. whether one of two celebrity guests corresponding to said colour will win a competition). If the contestant makes the correct choice (or has the correct choice thrusted upon them), they advance. If not, you're going home; it's called a LuckBasedMission for a reason. The contestants are eventually whittled down to 8 for the live portion of the show later in the night. The final two then partake in a final "Duel" round which involved revealing pieces of an eight-segmented pie; whoever revealed their half of it first got to play the roulette game for the million.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Simon claimed that his inspiration for the series was Ashley Revell, a man who sold all of his possessions and wagered it on a roulette spin in Las Vegas (and won).

* DownerEnding: Whenever the million pounds was ''not'' won...which only happened three times.

** Series 1 had the roulette wheel

As such, ITV's chief programmer Peter Fincham demanded a ReTool for Series 2; it wasn't live anymore, the game only started with the eight studio contestants, and all luck-based elements were expunged. While maintaining the "red or black" theme, all of the challenges became prediction and observation challenges, and the musical acts were integrated into the challenges themselves. The first three challenges were worth 1, 2, and 3 points respectively, after which the bottom 4 players were eliminated. The final two played a modified version of the Duel round (expanded to 10 slices, and the players got to memorize the board because not a game of chance) to decide who played for the progressive jackpot in the new Vortex game.

* Personnel:
** {{Game Show Host}}s: Creator/AntAndDec.
** StudioAudience

The show was a ratings success for ITV (well, "success" being relative of course); during its original weeklong event, ITV managed to get a larger audience share than BBC One on five out of seven nights, topping out on its first live show with 6.93 million viewers, but progressively dropping throughout the week. It was somewhat better than how ITV was doing the week prior, though. Cowell thought it did well, reporting that had already gotten at least three offers from U.S. networks wanting to produce an American version. However, critics felt it shouldn't even be able to leave the country, considering the show to be "dull" and "a mess", and criticizing the fact that the game was way too dependent on luck.

* BonusRound: Series 1 had the roulette wheel

* JustInTime: One [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSnes65llPs Vortex victory]] was so close that it was initially ruled a loss, ''with rollover onto the next episode''. However, after production wrapped, ITV went back and checked the footage from a camera positioned right in front of the hole, which revealed that the ball landed in a black hole ''milliseconds'' before it cycled back to red.

As such, ITV's chief programmer Peter Fincham demanded a ReTool for Series 2; it wasn't live anymore, the game only started with the eight studio contestants, and all luck-based elements were expunged. While maintaining the "red or black" theme, all of the challenges became prediction and observation challenges, and the musical acts were integrated into the challenges themselves. The first three challenges were worth 1, 2, and 3 points respectively, after which the bottom 4 players were eliminated. The final two played a modified version of the Duel round (expanded to 10 slices, and the players got to memorize the board because not a game of chance) to decide who played for the big money. This time, it was played for a progressive jackpot starting at £500,000 with a new game known as "The Vortex", which consisted of a giant bowl with a circle at the bottom flashing between red and black. The contestant had to adjust a launcher and send the ball into the Vortex, timing it so that it would rest in the centre when it was lit in their specified color.

* LuckBasedMission: Played straight by Series 1, subverted by 2 in that ''Series/ThePriceIsRight''-like "yes, you can beat it with skill because it's obviously a game of skill, but you'll probably fall back on pure luck because you're unsure of yourself" manner.

As such, ITV's chief programmer Peter Fincham demanded changes for the show's eventual return in 2012; it wasn't live anymore, and it got downsized--with only eight contestants in the beginning. More signifigantly, all luck-based elements were thrown out; while still maintaining the "red or black" theme, all of the challenges became prediction and observation challenges, and the musical acts were integrated into the challenges themselves. The first three challenges were worth 1, 2, and 3 points respectively, after which the bottom 4 players were eliminated. The final two played a modified version of the Duel round (expanded to 10 slices, and the players got to memorize the board because not a game of chance) to decide who played for the big money. This time, it was played for a progressive jackpot starting at £500,000 with a new game known as "The Vortex", which consisted of a giant bowl with a circle at the bottom flashing between red and black. The contestant had to adjust a launcher and send the ball into the Vortex, timing it so that it would rest in the centre when it was lit in their specified color.

The show was a ratings success for ITV (well, "success" being relative of course); during its original weeklong event, ITV managed to get a larger audience share than BBC One on five out of seven nights, topping out on its first live show with 6.93 million viewers, but progressively dropping throughout the week. It was somewhat better than how ITV was doing the week prior, though. Cowell thought it did well, reporting that had already gotten at least three offers from U.S. networks wanting to produce an American version. However, critics felt it shouldn't even be able to leave the country, considering the show to be "dull" and "a mess", and criticizing the fact that the game was way too dependent on luck. As such, ITV's chief programmer Peter Fincham demanded changes for the show's eventual return.

The show returned in 2012 with some tweaks; it wasn't live anymore, and it got downsized--with only eight contestants in the beginning. More importantly, anything that even ''smelled'' like a LuckBasedMission was expunged from the game; while still maintaining the "red or black" theme, all of the challenges became prediction and observation challenges, and the musical acts were integrated into the challenges themselves. The first three challenges were worth 1, 2, and 3 points respectively, after which the bottom 4 players were eliminated. The final two played a modified version of the Duel round (expanded to 10 slices, and the players got to memorize the board because not luck-based) to decide who played for the big money. This time, it was played for a progressive jackpot starting at £500,000, and wasn't roulette anymore either. Now, it's a skill game known as "The Vortex"; a giant bowl with a circle flashing between red and black at the bottom. The contestant now must adjust the parameters of a launcher and send the ball into the Vortex, and then hope that the color matches up with their guess when it rests in the centre.

The second series only managed to top out at 3.30 million viewers (prior to its premiere, [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames a certain sporting event happening in London]] caused ITV to suffer its worst weekend of viewership ''[[EpicFail ever]]''). The second series did bring about at least one historic moment: Graham Fletcher became the biggest winner in the history of British game shows with his prize of £1,500,000. That's about it, however, since it was cancelled afterward with little fanfare.

Each game consisted of ten rounds, each featuring an event with [[TitleDrop red or black]] as its outcome (i.e. whether one of two celebrity guests corresponding to said colour will win a competition). If the contestant makes the correct choice (or has the correct choice thrusted upon them), they advance. If not, you're going home; it's called a LuckBasedMission for a reason. The contestants are eventually whittled down to 8 for the live portion of the show later in the night. The final two then partake in a final "Duel" round which involved revealing pieces of an eight-segmented pie; whoever revealed their half of it first got to play the roulette game for the million.

A short-lived Creator/{{ITV}} GameShow created by ''Series/TheXFactor'' creator and former ''Series/AmericanIdol'' judge Simon Cowell, wherein a group of 1,000 contestants were whittled down to one that could potentially win £1,000,000 by guessing whether a ball on a giant roulette wheel will land in a red space or a black space.

Each game consisted of ten rounds, each featuring an event with [[TitleDrop red or black]] as its outcome (i.e. whether one of two celebrity guests corresponding to said colour will win a competition). If the contestant makes the correct choice (or has the correct choice thrusted upon them), they advance. If not, you're going home; it's called a LuckBasedMission for a reason. The contestants are eventually whittled down to 8 for the live portion of the show. The final two then partake in a final "Duel" round; which involves revealing pieces of an eight-segmented pie; whoever revealed their half of it first got to play for the million pounds. And then, the final player faced his destiny: a giant roulette wheel, 16 red spaces, 16 black. Correctly pick the color in which the ball lands, you win. It's just that simple.

The show was a ratings success for ITV 1 (well, "success" being relative of course); during its original weeklong event, ITV managed to get a larger audience share than BBC One on five out of seven nights, topping out on its first live show with 6.93 million viewers, but progressively dropping throughout the week. It was somewhat better than how ITV was doing the week prior, though. Cowell thought it did well, noting that he had already gotten at least three offers from U.S. networks wanting to produce an American version. However, critics felt it shouldn't even be able to leave the country, considering the show to be "dull" and "a mess", and criticizing the fact that the game was way too dependent on luck. As such, ITV's chief programmer Peter Fincham demanded changes for the show's eventual return.