Bank Balance

The premise is solid, stacking gold bars on a precarious board while Gordon Ramsay tries to antagonize and psych out the stressed contestants.

But every element in the show doesnt hold up (much like the board). The rules of the game are way to convoluted and although you can get a sense of it eventually, it seems even the contestants get confused, or just plain forget what they're doing.

I honestly wonder if they told the contestants the rules ten minutes before they go on. Any sensible person would realise, if you have to put every stack on the board over the course of game, you should NEVER put a small stack on the safest spots on the board. Because all that means is you've forced a large stack to go in the worst space for it. Yet I was amazed how many teams made baffling choices that defied logic, and how many times a contestant would get a correct answer and forget they then had to place a stack, wasting valuable seconds, all while Gordon is shouting "Quick! Place a stack!" If enough contestants are forgetting what the rules are, something has gone very wrong somewhere. And I'm not going to be one of those jerks who blame 'stupid' contestants, I think the show was just poorly explained to its participants.

The biggest let down though is Gordon himself. I love his other shows but he is not good here. A great host can make or break a game show but Gordon feels like the key selling point of the show, but also a complete waste at the same time. I assume they were going for a 'rile up the teams, make them feel stupid' kind of thing. Like Anne Robinson perhaps. This would make sense given his character. But it feels half hearted. Merely telling contestants to make faster decisions, or an odd chuckle here and there. Even if he went full Gordon it dont think it would work either. This show is 'Contestants VS Board', not 'Contestants VS Board and host'. This needs a host who appears on the player's side, like Bradley Walsh.

Add to that you have WAY too much chat between questions which ruins the pacing.

The show is trying desperately to have this, intense, on the edge of your seat feel. But with confused contestants, bad pacing and a host who feels out of place, this show needs some serious reworking should a second season ever get greenlit.

Too bad to watch. Let Gordon get back to the kitchen, that is where he belongs. This should never have been made, and the contestants are too stupid to breathe air.

I'm not the biggest fan of quiz shows to start with. This is painful. Did COVID mean they couldn't do any consumer testing? Granted at least I've made myself watch an episode (as I like Ramsay's cookery programs). I don't think it would make any odds who presented this, it's so dull.

I love Gordon Ramsay, but wow this was about the most boring show imaginable, it's such a shame. It just didn't work on any level, The BBC have really fine for it with the gameshows this year, you can't fault the effort, but this just didn't work.

Maybe it needed to be on after the watershed, to allow Ramsay's full personality to come out. Ultimately this did nothing for Ramsay, and as a viewer I was bored to tears.

The BBC have coped pretty well during the pandemic- producing a steady steam of decent - excellent programmes. They managed to keep 'Strictly' on as well without much of a hiccup, which is more than ITV have done with 'Dancing on Ice'.

Their Kryptonite though has been new game shows, an area ITV do have the upper hand in.

First there was 'The Wheel', a terrible format fronted by someone pretending to be a game show host, and now we have virtually the same thing again with 'Bank Balance'.

Who on Earth came up with this format? Who on Earth thought that Gordon Ramsey was the best host for it? Were the Corporations favourite up and coming stars in Alex Scott and Jermaine Jenas both busy?

File this next to 'Pooch Perfect' as the worst Beeb programme during the pandemic.