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"The naughtiest noughties show of all. From grannies playing chicken in mobility scooters to students braving Russian roulette…with pop-up umbrellas! Can YOU guess who’ll win these bonkers bets?”
Launch year: 2001
Genre: Comedy gameshow
About the show
Banzai ran for 3 seasons on E4/C4 in the UK and sold all over the world including an incredible 3 times to 3 different US broadcasters. It won loads of awards including a BAFTA and even beat David Attenborough’s Blue Planet to win best Ent Show at the RTS. Banzai 1: Endangered Animals 0. Result!
We’re looking to reboot the series, modernizing it and making it fit today’s sensibilities, but WITHOUT losing any of the outrageous antics and viral grabbiness. We’re definitely keen to hear Creators’ thoughts on how this can be achieved. Shock and awe, but not offend and inflame.
Format structure
Banzai is unique in that it already has a short form structure, perfect for YouTube.
Episodes were originally 23–24 minutes in length and would feature around 10 stunts to bet on. Between the stunts we see interstitials of regular characters performing physical signature moves or talking to camera and teasing or setting up the next stunt. This is the structure of each stunt/bet:
Title card
Back in 2001 this was a literal Japanese title, as if badly translated, e.g. “Old Lady Wheelchair Chicken Challenge”. Is this still appropriate for today’s audience?
Rules of the challenge
Host in VO would establish the rules of the stunt and who’s playing. The VO talent was not on site for these stunts. Would you keep this structure, or would you be more present at the shoots?
Place Your Bets Now
Viewers are invited to make a guess about the outcome from a multiple choice of potential answers. How would you handle this interactivity? Would you keep it fun and throwaway, or would you seek to have some kind of true interactivity? If so, how?
Challenge resolve
The stunt plays out, and the correct answer is revealed.
"Two sets of friends/neighbours put their relationships and their residences on the line as they attempt to transform each other’s homes.”
Launch year: 1996
Genre: Lifestyle
About the show
Changing Rooms is one of the most iconic and best-loved makeover formats of all time – a show that turned DIY into primetime telly and changed how audiences everywhere think about interior design.
Each episodes sees two sets of neighbours swap keys – and control of their own homes – as they totally transform a room in each other’s houses.
With just 48 hours on the clock, a modest budget, the vision of a larger-than-life interior designer and the help of some expert trades, the pressure is on to deliver a makeover that their neighbours will love…or face the consequences.
Throughout the process, both sets of neighbours are hands on – painting, upcycling and wallpapering – providing room for comic mishaps, a bit of DIY how to for viewers at home and lots of opportunity for chat about whether their friends will love or hate their new home.
But the genius of changing rooms lies in the big reveal. At the end of the two-day renovation process, both couples finally get to see their transformed homes. Whether they love them or loathe them, the reactions are always memorable. And after the dust has settled, both couples come face to face for some honest feedback, leading to conversations that can be heartfelt, hilarious or downright hostile.
Changing Rooms is a winning blend of interior design, DIY, jeopardy packed reveals and relatable relationship drama that is as relevant today as it was when it first launched.
Format structure
The Intro
- We start by meeting the couples and that week’s interior designers and seeing the homes as they look now
- We get a design brief from each of the couples – what they would love and hate their homes to turn out like and what their vision is for their neighbours’ home
- Neighbours swap keys and the interior designers reveal the designs that they have planned for the house
The Refurb
- The designer, couples and tradespeople get to work – they have just 48 hours to complete the designs.
- Couples are hands on – painting, upcycling and wallpapering. This is a great way of getting interior design takeout content for viewers. They voice their thoughts on the design throughout – whether positive or negative.
- Interior designers check out each other’s designs on a couple of occasions during the redesigns
The Reveal
- Couples return home and see their redecorated rooms for the first time. Sometimes, they love them, sometimes they hate them, but there’s always a big reaction.
- After both couples have viewed their redecorated homes, they meet up and tell each other what they think
Teenagers take their first summer holiday without their parents, who are secretly watching everything that unfolds.
Launch year: 2011
Genre: Reality-based documentary
About the show
A group of young BFFs think they’ve landed their dream summer trip – a week living it up in the sun away from their parents. They’re hyped. They’re lit. They’re mic’d up.
What they don’t know... their parents will secretly watch EVERYTHING that unfolds!
How will they react to the twerkathons, PDA with strangers, and tattoos in questionable places, when they are all reunited at the end of the wild week?
Format structure
The Setup (pre-holiday)
- Meet the teens: Each episode begins by introducing a few teenagers or young adults preparing for their first-ever trip abroad without their parents.
- Meet the parents: The teens' parents are also introduced. They explain their concerns and expectations, often describing how innocent or responsible they believe their children are.
- Setting the rules: The parents give their children a list of rules or a heartfelt talk, believing their instructions will be followed while they are away. The teens often promise to behave.
The Holiday (main event)
- Teens arrive and party: The teenagers arrive at a popular European party destination and begin their holiday.
- Parents arrive and spy: Unbeknownst to the teens, the parents secretly fly to the same resort. From a hidden location, they watch their children's every move on video screens, captured by a camera crew.
- Shocking footage: The parents observe footage of their children's activities, which often involve excessive drinking, flirting, and wild behavior. They react with a mixture of horror, disbelief, and disappointment… but sometimes with pride. A classic shot is a split-screen showing the teen's antics next to their parents' stunned faces.
The Climax (big reveal)
- The confrontation: On the final night of the holiday, the parents surprise their children. The confrontation typically takes place in a neutral location, such as a restaurant or the hotel.
- Reactions: The teens are shocked and often embarrassed by the ambush, while the parents express their disappointment with the discovered behavior or pride at how they acted in certain situations.
The Resolution (post-holiday)
- Reflecting on the experience: A follow-up segment, sometimes an entire extra episode, features the parents and teens back home. They reflect on what happened and discuss how their relationship has been impacted by the holiday.
- Bringing the families closer?: The segment explores whether the experience brought the families closer together or drove them further apart.
"The quiz show where contestants trapped in a bank vault aim to get rich, and get out.”
Launch year: 2012
Genre: Quiz show
About the show
The Bank Job is the quiz show where general knowledge quiz meets high-stakes bank heist.
Originally a live show broadcast from a disused bank in central London.
Contestants enter a bank vault filled with real cash hidden in safe deposit boxes. By correctly answering rapid-fire general knowledge questions, players earn the chance to open a box and add its contents to their briefcase.
The catch: a ticking clock, rounds with escalating stakes, and the constant threat of elimination. At any moment, players can choose to “take the money and run”… or risk it all to stay in the vault and go for more. Push your luck too far, and you could lose everything.
The game builds to its legendary finale: the Cash or Trash endgame (a dramatic variation of the Prisoner’s Dilemma) where the final two players must secretly decide whether to split the cash or betray each other. This nail-biting twist has become an iconic moment, still going viral more than a decade later.
Why does it work? The format is simple yet inherently dramatic, combining smarts, strategy and adrenaline to create a fast-paced game where every decision is loaded with risk.
With its iconic 'Cash or Trash' climax, the show delivers moments that are perfect for a modern, digital-first audience.
Format structure
The Vault Setting
- The game takes place in a high-security bank vault; this drives the narrative of the game.
The Safe Deposit Boxes
- Money of differing amounts is spread across safe deposit boxes for contestants to find and add to their briefcases.
Push Your Luck Decisions
- Stay in the vault to earn more cash and risk time running out? Or take the money and run?
'Cash or Trash’ Endgame
- The dramatic endgame and climax: each player is given a case — one containing half the jackpot ('Cash') and one containing newspaper ('Trash'). If both choose 'Cash', they split the money. If one chooses 'Trash' and the other 'Cash', the 'Trash' player steals the entire jackpot. If both choose 'Trash', the jackpot is lost entirely.
"Lifting people up. On the down low.”
Launch year: 2006
Genre: Factual entertainment
About the show
The Secret Millionaire is a hugely popular hit format which ran for a massive ten series in the UK on Channel 4 but also in the US, Australia and Ireland. It’s a fairytale narrative – a hero millionaire goes undercover in a disadvantaged community in order to find people or projects to help.
To seek out the most genuinely deserving, the millionaire adopts a new identity and fully immerses themselves in the community, working and volunteering alongside residents to learn about their struggles and identify people or projects worthy of financial support. Residents believe that a documentary is being filmed about the area not knowing the real reason for the visitor’s presence. At the end of the episode, the millionaire reveals their true identity and donates substantial sums of money to change their lives.
It’s full of jeopardy – will the millionaire be found out? And above all, who will they pick? It’s a window into Britain we never get to see – truly heartwarming stories about the selfless people who have so little and give so much. It ends with a deeply emotional, lifechanging transformation.
Format structure
The Undercover Arrival
- We meet the millionaire and understand their motivation: they’ve succeeded and want to give back; perhaps they came from nothing or are acutely aware of their privilege.
- They prepare to leave their life of luxury behind and pack for a new life in a deprived community.
- They are given a sophisticated disguise and a new identity.
The Immersion
- The undercover millionaire explores the community, witnessing hardship and extraordinary generosity from foster parents, volunteers and community heroes.
- They form genuine relationships, face near misses and feel guilty about the deception, yet know it’s the right way to find the most deserving.
- They can’t help everyone; deciding who to support is one of the hardest choices they’ll make.
The Reveal
- At week’s end, the millionaire reveals their true identity to shock and surprise the people they’ve met.
- The big reveal: who will receive a lifechanging donation? It’s hugely emotional for everyone involved.
- The millionaire says a tearful goodbye; changed by the experience, they’ll never see their fellow Britons the same way again.
We've got five of Banijay's most-iconic formats on offer. Which show do you want to put your spin on?
Send us a video (max. 4 mins) outlining your pilot idea. This can be in any format – a simple piece to camera, production examples, editing styles – however you feel best sells your idea! The most important thing is that we understand your vision for the format, your creative universe, and above all, who you are.
If your idea is shortlisted, you'll be invited to come and meet the Banijay UK team and tell us more about your concept. This is your chance to sell your creative vision face-to-face.
If selected to take part in the Banijay UK Creators Lab, you'll have the chance to spend time with the teams behind the format to develop your idea further and iron out any outstanding questions or queries you have ahead of starting production on your pilot.
It's time to bring your idea to life! You'll be given up to £50,000 to produce your pilot. Once you've made your masterpiece, your pilot will premiere on your YouTube page.
