Fort Boyard (TV series)
| Fort Boyard | |
|---|---|
Logo of Fort Boyard since 2015.
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| Also known as | Les Clés de Fort Boyard |
| Genre | Game show |
| Created by |
Jacques Antoine Jean-Pierre Mitrecey Pierre Launay |
| Presented by |
Melinda Messenger (1998–2001) Jodie Penfold (2003) Patrice Laffont (French version, 1990–1999) Jean-Pierre Castaldi (French version, 2000–2002) Olivier Minne (French version, 2003–) |
| Starring |
Leslie Grantham (1998–2001) Christopher Ellison (2003) Geoffrey Bayldon (1998–2001) Tom Baker (2003) |
| Theme music composer | |
| Country of origin | France |
| No. of series | 152 (in total, all countries up to 2016) 27 (French version) 5 (English version) |
| No. of episodes | 1,689 (overall total, all countries up to 2016) 307 (French version, at the end of 2016 season) 78 (English version) |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Fort Boyard, France |
| Running time | UK: 60 mins (inc. adverts) France: 100 mins (2011–) France: 60–120 mins (1990–2010) |
| Production company(s) |
Adventure Line Productions Grundy Productions (UK: 1998–2001) Thames Television (UK: 2001) Ronin TV (UK: 2003) |
| Distributor |
Pearson Television (UK: 1998–2001) FremantleMedia (UK: 2001) Zodiak Media Group |
| Release | |
| Original network |
Antenne 2 (France: 1990–91) France 2 (France: since 1992) Channel 5 (UK: 1998–2001) Challenge (UK: 2003) |
| Picture format |
4:3 (1990–2007) 16:9 (most countries, 2008–) 16:9 HD (2013–) |
| Original release |
French version: 7 July 1990 – present English version: 16 October 1998 – 3 December 2003 (UK) |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge |
| Related shows |
The Crystal Maze (1990–95) The Desert Forges (2001) Interceptor (1989–1990) |
| External links | |
| Official French Fort Boyard website | |
| Production website | |
Fort Boyard is a French game show created by Jacques Antoine that was first broadcast on 7 July 1990 (originally as Les Clés de Fort Boyard, however shortened to Fort Boyard from the second series in 1991). Foreign versions of the show have aired around the world since 1990.
Set and filmed on the real fortress of the same name in France, the programme appears similar to The Crystal Maze (which was created as an alternative format by Antoine for Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, after Fort Boyard itself was unavailable to film in because of its then ongoing refurbishment during 1988–89). Channel 5 later bought the rights to Fort Boyard and made their own British version, using the now refurbished set, which aired from 16 October 1998 to 29 December 2001 for four series. It was briefly revived by Challenge in 2003 for one series and the show later returned to UK television in 2012 under a new format aired on CITV, Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge.
In both programmes the contestants have to complete challenges to win prize money. However, while The Crystal Maze varies the type of games quite considerably, Fort Boyard tends to focus mainly on physical and endurance challenges. Although Fort Boyard was something of a pioneer in the area of game show fear and adventure, later programmes such as Fear Factor have pushed things even further, requiring Fort Boyard to react and adapt with new twists and games, including a couple of seasons in which the contestants spent the night in the Fort (this was particularly popular in the French and Russian versions).
Fort Boyard is the most exported French TV format and the fourth most exported adventure-style game show format in the world after Wipeout, Fear Factor and Survivor.
In the UK, two sets of presenters have been used for Fort Boyard. The first set appeared during the first four series of the show, which were broadcast by Channel 5, with the second appearing in the 2003 Challenge-aired fifth series. The Channel 5 years were produced by Paul Kirrage and executive produced by Richard Holloway, later known for producing The X Factor and other high-profile shows on UK television. Although pulling in reasonable ratings for the channel, in March 2002 it was announced that Channel 5 had cancelled the show as part of a station revamp.
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Wikipedia