Rolling in It

Synopsis

Saturday night game show where correct answers allow the player to roll coins down a moving conveyor belt towards labelled slots; think Tipping Point meets Plinko.

Rolling in It is played by couples. There's one celebrity, and one civilian contestant. All of the money they win – if they win anything – goes to the civilian.

To show how the machine works, Stephen starts us off by rolling one coin down the machine. The coin will land in one of the baskets at the end, they've made the machine that way. Whichever basket it lands in – be it £1000, £2500, or a cool £5000 – will be given to every team to sweeten their pots.

Our first team steps forward, and fires a coin into the machine. On Rolling in It, they fire the coin into the machine first, and then ask questions later. The coin might land in an unhelpful basket - a Bankrupt space, which will wipe out all of the money in the player's pot. Later, there will be more Bankrupts, and some spaces that will reduce the money in the pot.

But let's assume that our players have landed in a golden, positive basket. It might be a flat cash amount, it might be a space allowing them to steal another team's money. To win the money, our players need to answer a question correctly.

These are difficult questions, so we can see the players have earned their money. Three answers are offered, at least two are plausible options. It naturally encourages discussion between the players: the old woman swallowed small things, then big things, but did she finish with a cow or a horse?

A correct answer adds the money to your bank, and gives you the option to play again. Don't have to, you can save your money and come back later. An incorrect answer adds nothing to your bank, and passes control to the next team in line. Control also passes if the team rolls into a negative basket, costing them money.

So it's roll, question, move on. We see a roll every few minutes, little peaks and troughs as the drama slowly ramps up. As the game progresses, the stakes get higher, the machine changes its slots. More Bankrupt spaces, £10,000 slots, and eventually a £25,000 basket.

The main game ends immediately after the 15th question has been resolved. (If there's a tie, the first couple to roll money and answer a question win the game; the amount they roll is added to their bank.)

Only the couple in the lead plays the quickfire round to win their money. One minute of questions: each right answer puts a "Win" lane in the machine, each error puts a "Lose" in. Play works from left to right, filling in as they go. If the team have time, they can answer further questions to turn "Lose" into "Win".

Then one final coin will determine the player's fate: £50,000 or more on the roll of a single coin. The tension is ramped up, and the joy on the winner's face is palpable.

Rolling in It is a great game show. The machine is the star of the show, eight lanes of joy and pain. We're taken on an emotional journey, there are highs and lows, ups and downs, moments of tension and relief. We can shout along at the machine, and we can play along with the questions.

Theme music

Paul Farrer composed a full score for the show.

Key moments

Jimmy Carr attempting to cheat by jumping on to the conveyor belt and transferring a bankrupt coin into a £5,000 slot. Mulhern mentioned that much of Carr's outbursts had been removed from broadcast, so we suspect we may have been deprived of some of the buildup to it.

Trivia

The machine is by Canning Conveyors, Steve Webster, and Ben Spackman.

Unusual credit alert: Rolling in It has a Coin Retriever.

A press release announced the programme as follows:

Three contestants play alongside some of their favourite celebrities in a bid to go home with a big cash prize. But they’ll need to have luck on their side because everything could change at the roll of a coin.

Three teams - made up of the player and their celebrity partner - have to roll a coin down a moving conveyor belt towards slots which are labelled with large cash sums to win, though also 'Bankrupt' slots which mean the player loses everything.

As the game progresses, the money values get larger, and as a result, so do the penalties. In this game of luck and fierce competition, the roll of one final coin could determine whether the contestant loses everything or goes home Rolling In It.

If Mulhern's to be believed, he's why the questions are multiple-choice.

Sat on the shelf for over a year before being broadcast. It might have had to wait even longer, were it not for the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic meant a number of productions had to be brought forward. One edition, an Emmerdale special, was not shown due to one of its celebrities, Asan N'Jie, being fired from Emmerdale; the other two celebrities were Amy Walsh and Mark Charnock. The second series, filmed in May 2021 and broadcast that July and August, featured a reduced audience due to the pandemic, although featured no social distancing, probably due to the fact that all the teams have to touch one communal roller and they might as well put all six in a close contact cohort.

Web links

Wikipedia entry

See also

Weaver's Week review

Pictures

Feedback

To correct something on this page or post an addition, please complete this form and press "Send":
If you are asking us a question, please read our contact us page and FAQ first.

Name: E-mail: