First And Last: How BBC One’s new game show works

First And Last is the new game show coming to BBC One – how does it all work?

Hosted by comedian Jason Manford, First And Last has one simple rule: players mustn’t come first or last in any game. If they do, they will be eliminated.

Eleven contestants start each show and compete across a range of five rounds that will end with one of them walking away £10,000.

The first and last players are eliminated from each round. To triumph, they’ll need to judge every round to perfection and hold their nerve in the nail-biting endgame – contested by the remaining three players.

First And Last: How it works?

Round one
The first round is simple: All contestants start either hidden inside boxes or holding buckets down over their heads. They need to choose their moment to jump out of their box or let go of their bucket. The first and last contestants to make their appearance will be eliminated.

Round two
The remaining nine contestants are given a category and asked to secretly write something within that category. The goal is to offer an answer which gives neither the most nor least successful result which will see two more contestants eliminated.

Round three
In round three the remaining contestants will each have to pick from one entry from a ranked list, ensuring it is not the first or last item. Examples include: Marathon runners and their running times, song streams on Spotify, celebrities and their numbers of Twitter followers.

Round four
Five contestants face round four where there’s a range of games that will pit them against each other. Examples include: Your Mum’s On The Phone, where each contestant asks their mum to telephone Jason within a specified time window – but the contestants whose mums call Jason first and last will be eliminated.

Or the five contestants must head out into the audience and pick someone who they think will be neither the oldest nor the youngest. Or a game where contestants must pick audience members who are currently carrying neither the most nor least amount of cash.

Round five
The final three contestants go head to head to win the £10,000 prize. Each must write down how much of the pot they want to win in secret. Those who write down the highest and lowest amounts leave with nothing, leaving just one contestant who will walk away with whatever number amount they’ve written.

First And Last airs Saturday nights on BBC One.

The first series runs for six episodes.