The Chase is a quiz show where a team faces against a professional quizzer called the 'Chaser'.

The Chase is one of the most popular game shows in the UK, with millions of viewers watching it each day. The show has been nominated for Best Daytime Programme (Best Quiz Show in 2019) six times since 2013 and won three times in the National Television Awards since 2016. Four contestants on the show compete against a professional quizzer, known as the “Chaser”, who attempts to chase down the cash prize and eliminate contestants.

Since 2012, the show has spread to other countries such as the United States, Australia, Croatia, Germany, Finland, and Israel. Those versions also do generally well in ratings. The Australian version produced solid ratings and had a fierce competition with Channel Nine’s Millionaire Hot Seat, whilst the American version was one of the highest-rated GSN original programmes in history. The British version also spawned two spin-offs: The Celebrity Chase, which features four celebrities, and the Family Chase, which features four family members as contestants.

There is also a wide range of merchandise based on this game show including:

• Board and card games (by Ideal and Ginger Fox respectively)

• Fruit machines (by Betcom)

• Mobile games (by Barnstorm Games and ITV Studios Ltd)

• Quiz books

Traditional Format

Each episode starts with four contestants who had never met each other before. Each of the four contestants plays three rounds: the Cash Builder, the Individual Chase, and the Final Chase. First, each contestant, one at a time, plays the first two rounds. Then, the surviving contestants play the Final Chase for the chance to take home their accumulated prize.

In the Cash Builder, after a contestant introduces himself/herself to the host, he/she has one minute to answer as many questions as he/she can. Each correct answer is worth £1,000. The money that a contestant accumulates in this round will go to the money board.

If the first contestant is playing, the host introduces to him/her the Chasers after he/she finishes the round. Sometimes, he asks the contestant who he/she would want to be up against. Then, the Chaser is unleashed. In some versions, the Chaser is unleashed before the first contestant plays the Cash Builder.

In the Head-to-Head round, the money is placed three steps from the top of the seven-step money board. The host then explains that by going for what a contestant earned, he/she must answer five multiple-choice questions correctly to bank the money and move on. The Chaser determines the amount for the low and high offers. Sometimes, the Chaser may even offer a negative amount for the lower offer, which means that if a contestant made it to the end, that amount is taken away from the prize fund.

The contestant has three choices: He/she can play for the amount earned in the Cash Builder (Middle Offer), begin one step closer to the Bank for a lower amount (Low Offer), or begin one step farther from the Bank for a higher amount (High Offer).

After selecting an offer, the Chase is on. Both the contestant and the Chaser are given a 3-choice question. If either one locks in an answer, the other must lock in an answer within 5 seconds to avoid being locked out. The cash space moves one step down on the board if the contestant gets the question correct and stays in place if he/she gets it incorrect or is locked out. The same procedure goes for the Chaser with the red arrow on the board.

The questions keep going until either the cash space reaches the Bank or the Chaser catches the cash space. The contestant banks the cash and moves on to the next round if the cash space reaches the bottom of the board and the contestant gets the last question correct. The contestant is eliminated (caught) if the Chaser reaches the cash space. The first two rounds are repeated for the other contestants.

In the Final Chase, the contestants who made it to this round work together to build enough steps to beat the Chaser in the final round of questions. But first, the contestants choose one of the two question sets: A or B. The other set goes to the Chaser. These two question sets are maintained by an independent adjudicator (Beyond Dispute) to ensure fairness.

The contestants are then given a one step head start for each surviving contestant, so a full house has a four step head start, whereas a solo contestant has a one step head start. If no one made it through, the contestants nominate one person to play the Final Chase, and the prize fund is set at £4,000 (£20,000 in the Celebrity Chase) divided among four contestants. Then, they have two minutes to answer as many questions as they can with their chosen question set, with each correct answer within the time limit adding one step to their total. If more than one contestant is playing the Final Chase, they must use their buzzer to call out answers. If a contestant buzzes in and another contestant calls out an answer, that answer is not accepted, even if the answer is correct. Only the first answer that is called out is accepted.

After time is up, the Chaser is given two minutes to answer a different set of questions and to match his/her score to that of the contestants. If the Chaser gets a question wrong or passes, the clock stops, and the question is thrown to the contestants. If the contestants answer the question correctly, they push the Chaser back one step (or add one step to their total if the Chaser is still at the start). Otherwise, the Chaser stays put. Then, the timer resumes and the Chaser continues to answer questions.

If the Chaser matches his/her steps with the contestant’s before the time runs out, the contestants are “caught”, and they go home empty-handed. However, if the Chaser fails to catch the contestants within two minutes, the contestants win an equal share of their prize fund.

Half-hour format (The Chase Australia)

This shorter format is designed by The Chase Australia to fit with other programmes on Channel Seven. Two contestants play in each episode. Each contestant plays their respective Cash Builder rounds, and the contestant who built the most money then plays the Head-to-Head round with the combined amount. The Final Chase is played with two contestants regardless if the contestant is caught.

XXL episodes (Gefragt-Gejagt)

The German version of the show sometimes airs XXL episodes. Think of these episodes as four-episode marathons of The Chase. Four teams of four contestants play against the Chaser one-by-one. Once a team completes a game, another team will come to the podium and play the game. This brings the episode length from 45 minutes (not including ad breaks) to as long as three hours!

HaMirdaf ad HaBait

This is a home variation of the Isreali version of The Chase that was produced following social distancing measures due to COVID-19. The contestants are contacted via Skype or a phone call.

Only the Final Chase is played in this variation, and the prize fund increases by ₪1,500 for each team that lost against the Chaser. The contestants get a 3-step head start regardless of how many contestants are playing the round. Instead of having 2 minutes to answer as many questions as they can, they get 60 seconds. The Chaser also gets 60 seconds to answer questions.

From the Chaser's end, the difference mainly relies on the pushbacks. When the Chaser gets a question wrong, the contestants have 10 seconds to correct the Chaser's answer, and they are allowed to use the internet or reference books.

Beat the Chasers

This spin-off version of The Chase uses a format that is very different from the traditional one. Instead of multiple contestants attempting to beat one Chaser for money, one contestant faces up to all five Chasers to win money. The format of this show is somewhat similar to Channel 4's Grand Slam and ITV's The Fuse.

In the Cash Builder, a contestant answers up to five questions. Each correct answer is worth £1,000. The round ends if he/she gets a question wrong, or if he/she gets all five questions correct. He/she is automatically eliminated from the game if the first question is answered incorrectly in this round.

Then, that contestant is shown two Chasers selected at random that he/she has to face for the amount built, and these Chasers make the initial head start offer (which comes in a form of seconds, not steps). For example, if the Chasers offer a contestant a 20-second head start, that means the Chasers would have 20 seconds less on their clock in the final round. After they make an offer, the contestant is shown a third randomly selected Chaser to face. That Chaser makes a bigger cash offer, but also a different head start offer. If the contestant chooses this offer, he/she must face that Chaser plus the two Chasers selected beforehand. This same process goes for the fourth and fifth Chasers.

That means the contestant has four offers to choose from. Below is an example scenario (Let's use Steven as a contestant who built £1,000 in the Cash Builder).

1. Paul and Mark were selected first. They offer Steven a 30-second head start (30 seconds on the Chasers' clock) to play for the £1,000 he has banked.

2. Jenny offers him £6,000 and a 25-second head start (35 seconds on the Chasers' clock). Steven would have to face against Paul, Mark, and Jenny if he selects this offer.

3. Anne offers him £20,000 and a 19-second head start (41 seconds on the Chasers' clock). Steven would have to face against Paul, Mark, Jenny, and Anne if he selects this offer.

4. Shaun offers him £50,000 and a 13-second head start (47 seconds on the Chasers' clock). Steven would have to face against all five Chasers if he selects this offer.

The final round is played for the cash offer selected. The contestant is given 60 seconds on his/her clock. The Chaser is given time corresponding to the head start offer selected on their clock. Similar to Grand Slam, each side takes turns to answer a question (For the Chasers, they must use their buzzers to call out answers). The clock for whose turn it is ticks down, and once a correct answer is given, their clock stops and the opponent's clock begins to tick down. The round ends if either clock reaches zero.

If the contestant's clock reaches zero first, the contestant loses and goes home empty-handed.

If the Chasers' clock reaches zero first, the contestant wins the money.