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REVIEW: Growing tired of The Chase? This might just be the addictive new UK quiz show you’ve been looking for.
Hosted by former EastEnders’ star Danny Dyer and British comedian Ellie Taylor, Cheat (now streaming on Netflix) is likely to become this generation’s The Weakest Link, thanks to an emphasis on skullduggery and subversive gameplay.
Billed by Dyer himself as “the ultimate battle of brains, blagging and bare-faced lying”, this is a show where having a good poker face is just as important as boasting wide general knowledge.
That’s because while posers like “the Zloty is official currency of which country?”, “What is the western-most European capital?” and “What is the name of Gigi Hadid’s supermodel sister?” might not be the most taxing ever to go to air, it’s how you get to the answer that’s most important.
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Faced with four questions each in the opening round, every episode’s initial quartet is aiming to help build the pot of money up for grabs by £1000 a pop. Get it wrong though – and they lose £1000.
So to avoid the wrath of their fellow contestants, they can choose to ensure success by pressing a hidden “cheat button”. However, if the others suspect them of having resorted to that measure – they can call them out.
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Billed as “the ultimate battle of brains, blagging and bare-faced lying”, this is a show where having a good poker face is just as important as boasting wide general knowledge.
Come the end of the round, those answers which required that option are deducted from the kitty (in the opening episode it was a whopping 9 out of the 12 correct answers) and the person who correctly identified the most instances of cheating is not only is guaranteed a spot in the next round, but also gets to pick who will be eliminated. Any wrong and any cheated answers provided by the person sent packing are then added back to the pot, so taking out the largest “lying little weasel” (as Dyer so colourfully puts it) is definitely financially beneficial to those remaining.
As an added bonus, viewers at home get to see each of the players’ record in terms of cheats versus correct answers.
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Ellie Taylor and Danny Dyer are the hosts of Cheat.
Round two operates in much the same manner, only now every question is worth three-times the original amount and we learn whether someone cheated or not after each one. Again the most accurate “cheat hunter” goes straight through to the next, final head-to-head round, with the added bonus of being able to choose their opponent. But should they choose someone they consider to be a bigger cheat, or a rival who might be able to get more questions right?
It is a tricky choice, because it’s now essentially sudden death.
“The rule are double-simple,” growls Dyer. “The game is over as soon as one of you says the c-word.”
Cue titters from the studio audience, as he then goes on to explain that both a wrong answer or a false accusation of cheating will instantly end the game in the other person’s favour. However, a successful challenge means you get to go home with your potentially ill-gotten gains.
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In the finale, the rules are “double-simple”. The game is over as soon as one of the contestants says the eponymous c-word.
Apart from Dyer’s increasingly awful attempts at Dad jokes and berating the participants – and Taylor’s quick wit – much of the joy of Cheat comes from the differing approaches the players have and how quickly you can work out just how much of a wrong’un they are.
For example, in the first episode, which featured a cosmetic dentist, a fashion designer, an English teacher and an NHS project manager, the finale pitted someone who had cheated 13% of the time up against a player with a 75% record. Cue a gripping game of cat-and-mouse as they tried to outsmart one another to ensure they were the one taking home the booty.
Cheat is now available to stream on Netflix, with a batch of new episodes dropping each Wednesday.
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