Statistics - Miscellany

A few more interesting facts about The Chase.

Most Questions Answered

Cash builder

The most questions answered in a cash builder is 16. This was by Les (S2 E1 P3) on his way to the record cash builder total of £14,000. 6 other players have answered 15 questions.

Head-to-head

The longest head-to-head, in terms of the largest number of questions broadcast, is 11. This has happened on 4 occasions, each time whilst playing for the middle offer.

Final chase (players)

The most questions answered in the first part of the final chase is 33. This was by solo player Tim (S4 E11), he got 22 of them correct.
The most questions answered by a team in the first part of the final chase is 31. This was by Catherine, Paul and Judy (S4 E2), they got 18 of them correct.
The most correct answers by a team in the final chase is 26. By Neil and Angela in S2 E19. Their target of 28 was only just good enough to beat Mark, who finished 1 behind.
The most correct answers as a percentage by a team in the final chase is 95%. By Mark and James in S15 E132. They answered 20 out of 21 questions correctly. Their target of 22 was only just good enough to beat Jenny, who finished 1 behind.

Final chase (chasers)

The most questions answered by a chaser in the final chase is 36. This was by Mark (S2 E19), against Neil and Angela. Mark got 30 of them correct, but lost by 1 to a target of 28.
The most correct answers by a chaser in the final chase is 30. The one by Mark mentioned above. Plus Paul also achieved this in S5 E31 against Callum, Marilyn, Sarah and Sean. Also losing by 1 to a target of 28.

Head-To-Heads

Missing question

Many episodes have 0-0 questions edited from the show so it can stick to it's 45 minute running time. I've only noticed 1 episode where a correctly answered question has been missed out. In S5 E90, after 4 questions Shaun is seen 1 step behind Rich (player 4), who has 4 steps to go. 10 seconds later, the next shot of the table, shows Shaun still 1 step behind the player, but now he has 3 steps to go. The remaining questions of the head-to-head are in keeping with this position on the board.

Largest gap at end of head-to-head

10 players have ended the head-to-head 6 steps in front of the chaser. This has happened for players taking the lower offer and the middle offer.
The biggest gap at the end for someone taking the higher offer is 5 steps, which has happened on 6 occasions.

Largest gap in head-to-head and losing

10 players have lost the head-to-head despite being 5 steps in front of the chaser at some point. This has happened for players taking the lower offer and the middle offer.
The biggest gap lost for someone taking the higher offer is 4 steps, which has happened just once.
3 players have lost the head-to-head after answering 5 questions wrongly when 1 step from home. 5 players have missed 4 opportunities to go through when 1 step away from home, and then got through on the 5th attempt.

Unlucky players

Michelle (S1 E9 P1) is the only player to get caught taking the middle offer despite giving 5 correct answers. For series 1, the table had an extra step in it. So in any other series she would have got home.
Lisa (S1 E1 P1) is the only player to get caught taking the lower offer despite giving 4 correct answers. For the same reason as for Michelle above.

Higher Offers

3 players taking the higher offer

In the daytime show, there have been 7 episodes where 3 players have gone for the higher offer. Although, at best only 1 of the players banked the money.
In the celebrity show, there have been 4 episodes where 3 players have gone for the higher offer. The episode featuring Jay Rayner, Lucy Porter, Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Steve Davis (S6 E14) is the only time that 3 players got home with the high offer, and they went on to win £152,000.

2 players banking the higher offer

In the daytime show, there have been 8 episodes where 2 players have gone for the higher offer and won. Although, only the team of Mickey, Hazel, Helen and Roy (S9 E167) went on to win the final chase.
In the celebrity show, there have been 8 teams that had 2 players banking the higher offer. 5 of these teams went on to win the final chase, winning a combined total of £600,000.

Lowest higher offer

The lowest higher offer is £1,000. Marge (S9 E171 P4) scored £0 in her cash builder. Shaun offered her just £1,000 for going high - no specific reason was given. She stuck with her £0. You can watch the video here.

Lower Offers

Highest lower offer

The highest lower offer is £8,999. Nicky (S10 E38 P2) said "lower offers are for losers" when giving her opinion on what player 1 should do. After her £9,000 cash builder, Shaun brilliantly offered her £8,999 for the lower offer. Nicky then said "for the sake of £1, I'm going to do the one thing I said I'd never do". You can watch the video here.

Strange lower offers

Guy (S13 E73 P2) was offered 1p - "a penny for the Guy". And appropriately it was broadcast on 5th November 2019. He went for the middle offer.
Matthew (S11 E110 P1) said he'd like to face "Shaun because I think he's the one that might crumble the easiest". So Mark said "well after that crack about Shaun" and offered him 2p. Chasers sticking together :-) He went for the middle offer.
Katie (S11 E15 P2) said she'd like to buy Bradley's CD if she won some money, so Shaun offered her £7.99. She went for the higher offer.
Penelope (S12 E20 P4) was offered £19.99 by Paul. I can't remember why this was. She took the higher offer.
Zak (S15 E174 P4) was very generously offered £0 by Shaun - the same as he earned in the cash builder. He took the lower offer.

No lower offer

There have been 10 occasions where the player has not received a lower offer. In each case it is because the player scored £0 in the cash builder, and there wasn't yet any money in the prize fund to take away from.
Although that wasn't always the case. There was 1 occasion where a player received a negative offer (-£1,000), despite there being no money in the prize fund. But Keith (S3 E27 P1) went for the higher offer, and was caught.

Prize Funds

Lowest

There have been 2 occasions where the prize fund at some point during the show was £0 - S10 E88 and S10 E115. (Until a player has got back, the prize fund is blank.) On both occasions player 1 was caught, and player 2 played for £0 and got home. After the head-to-heads, in S10 E88, 2 players were playing for £7,000, and in S10 E115, 2 players were playing for £2,000.
There have also been 2 occasions where the prize fund was £1 - S8 E102 and S8 E111. On both occasions player 1 banked £1.After the head-to-heads, in S8 E102, 2 players were playing for £9,001, and in S8 E111, 2 players were playing for £5,001.

Final Chases

Lowest score after 60 seconds

The lowest score after 60 seconds of a final chase is 1. Unfortunately this happened to Paul when he was against a team playing for £75,000 (S11 E143). You can watch the video here.

Latest time to be on 0 steps

The latest time a chaser has been on 0 steps is with 1:04 remaining. This happened to Shaun in series 11 episode 31. You can watch the video here.

Latest time to be pushed forward

The latest time a chaser has been pushed forward is with 1:19 remaining. This happened to Shaun in series 15 episode 172.

Anything Else

The very first question and answer

The first cash builder question for player 1 on series 1, episode 1 was "what is the name for a female fox?" The young lady from Bolton gave the correct answer of "vixen". All of which is a very bizarre coincidence with a future chaser.

The imperfect show

3 players have had the imperfect show - not managing to answer a single question correctly. ie. £0 in the cash builder, and then losing the head-to-head without getting off the starting point. In each case, the player went for the higher offer to try to redeem themselves.

Players introducing ad breaks

Andrew (S5 E34 P2) is possibly the only player to umpromptedly introduce an ad break. Bradley and Paul were in hysterics about an imaginary Roald Dahl book called "Tom and the Great Big Sausage", so Andrew said "we'll see you after the break folks".

A lammergeier is a species of what bird?

There is a very famous clip about a German skier. But I think this one is just as good. The player is Russell (S6 E82).

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