Fort Boyard (TV series)
Encyclopedia
For the fortress see Fort Boyard (fortification)
Fort Boyard is a French game show created by Jacques Antoine
that was first broadcast in 1990 (as Les Clés de Fort Boyard, shortened for the second series in 1991) and is popular to this day. It has been re-made across the globe, most successfully in the following countries: the United Kingdom, Sweden, Lebanon, Norway, Canada, Russia, Denmark, Belgium, Israel, the Netherlands, Greece, Armenia and most recently in Poland and Finland over a 20-year period since the show began in July 1990.
Set and filmed on the real Fort Boyard
in France, the programme appears similar to The Crystal Maze
(which was created by Antoine for Channel 4
in the United Kingdom after Fort Boyard itself was unavailable to film in because of its then ongoing refurbishment). In both programmes the contestants have to complete challenges to win prize money. However, while The Crystal Maze varies the type of games quite considerably, Fort Boyard tends to focus mainly on physical and endurance challenges. Although Fort Boyard was something of a pioneer in the area of game show fear and adventure, later programmes such as Fear Factor
have pushed things even further, requiring Fort Boyard to react and adapt with new twists and games, including a couple of seasons in which the contestants spent the night in the Fort (this was particularly popular in the French version).
The leading presenters of Fort Boyard were Melinda Messenger
(series 1–4) and Jodie Penfold
(series 5). Their roles were to give advice and support for the teams, commentate for the viewers, and match wits with Boyard, the "Master of the Fort". Laura Hamilton
will present the new series in 2011 alongside American actor, Geno Segers
. The show is now called Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge.
The other characters in Fort Boyard are:
, Sharron Davies
, Samuel Kane
, and Glenda McKay
as contestants. Another celebrity edition aired at the end of series four (episode 14) in 2001 featuring Sally Gray
, Scott Wright, Nell McAndrew
, Keith Duffy
and Tris Payne
. Sally Gray was team captain and the team won £10,130 for charity.
Celebrity editions was also broadcast during the 2003 series by Challenge. It featured Doug Williams
, Nikita
(now stars in TNA
), Paul Birchall James Tighe
, and Sweet Saraya, all of whom were wrestling stars from British promotion FWA
. Doug Williams captained the team.
Other celebrities appearing in series 5 included Tim Vine
and Craig Phillips
, Big Brother 2000 winner. The team won £1,860 for charity, which was topped up by a further £5,000 because Tim Vine accepted a challenge to tell 10 jokes in one minute.
Since 1997, teams on the French version of the show consist entirely of celebrities. These include: cyclist Laurent Fignon
, figure skating champion Brian Joubert
(appearing in 2004, 2007, and 2008), Panathanaikos striker
Djibril Cissé
, R&B singer Leslie
, Tony Parker
, and Eva Longoria
in 2009 and others. However, in 2010 the formula was dramatically changed and the squads, of four members each, do not have celebrities anymore.
In most series of the Danish version, teams have consisted entirely of celebrities.
In the 2010 series of the Finnish version team members were celebrities.
Most (or all) games of the Russian series consisted of famous Russian singers, actors, and sportsmen.
In the Argentine version of the show, aired in 1999 and 2000, a celebrity joined the other 4 people to help them on their challenges.
game show first broadcast in 1990, but the fort is also used by television stations in other countries. In total, 29 foreign versions of the show have broadcast around the world since 1990. Currently, in 2011, seven countries (in Bold below) have produced a new series/season of Fort Boyard.
The United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden have returned this year (2011).
Belgium & Denmark recently returned for a new series but not for 2011. Armenia
in 2009, Bulgaria
and Finland in 2010, recently joined to produce their own versions of the show. Italy have only ever made a pilot for Fort Boyard back in 1991.
Countries in Bold have produced a new series/season of Fort Boyard for 2011. Fort Boyard is known as Fångarna på Fortet in Sweden and as Fangene På Fortet in Norway. The 22nd French season of Fort Boyard aired on Saturday nights at 8.35pm (CEST) from 2 July 2011 - 20 August 2011.
2011 filming dates:
In total, 84 episodes were produced worldwide in 2011.
Arab World
– 2002–2003 – 1999, 2000 – 2009 – 1991, 1999–2001, 2006–2007
Some countries, such as The Czech Republic, aired the original French version dubbed
as opposed to producing their own. Poland and Russia also did this before producing their own versions in later years.
The first thing done in the game is the sounding of the Fort’s gong
by French character ‘La Boule’. Once the gong sounds the game time begins ticking down. In the UK version the game lasted for 40 minutes, in the French version 60 to 120 minutes, depending on the year.
The show's format is outlined in the following sections, starting with 'Phase One'.
s (in series 1–4 of the UK version four keys were needed, whereas five were need in series 5; five were needed in the Canadian version, and seven in the French, Swedish, and Danish versions). These keys, once won, are used to open the gate
to the Treasure Room, a central room in the Fort where the gold is held.
The challenges that are set to win the keys are located in small cells around the Fort, with small water-timers (a Clepsydre
) outside to give the contestant a time limit (around 2–3 minutes, depending on the game) to complete it; in the UK version, Boyard would start the timer upon saying to a contestant that "their time starts now", whereas in the 5th series, Boyard would start it after telling Jacques to open the door of a challenge room. If a contestant fails to leave the challenge room before the time runs out, he or she is locked in and then shortly after taken away to a cage (by La Boule) meaning they are not allowed to continue with the rest of the key games and must stay there until then end of Phase One. In the UK's 4th series, La Boule would give the contestant a large bunch of rusty keys. One of these keys would unlock the cage allowing the contestant to re-join the team.
During this phase of the game, one contestant goes up to the Watch Tower to win an additional key for the team (see below). This could be done twice.
Once the contestants reach the end of Phase One, usually towards the end of their game time, there is a trip to the Treasure Room with all of the keys that they have won so far. If they have enough to unlock the Treasure Room Door then the keys are entered and the gate is unlocked. However, it does not open until later in the show.
If they are short of keys to open the gate then team members are 'sacrificed' for keys, one team member for each key short. The 'sacrificed' contestants are then placed in an underground cell and locked in. These team members remain for the rest of the game, and are therefore unable to contribute any more for the team.
If the team has more keys than necessary to unlock the gate then any extra keys gained can be swapped for free clue words to assist the team in the next phase of the game.
Arm Wrestling (1990–2009): The contestant has to arm wrestle
against the strongman, whilst trying to grab the key, which is in a little box, with the other hand. Between their hands is a lever, so as the contestant pushes the strongman's arm down, the key is lowered so it becomes accessible to grab.
Ball Surfing (1998–2002): To release the key the contestant has to get one ball into the bucket at the end of the runway, four sections of which are not in position. Contestants stand on a surfboard
, which swivels these sections, but if they don't move quickly enough to line up the next section in time, the ball drops to the ground, so they have to start again.
Barrel Maze (1999–2004): The player must move a barrel from one end of a maze to the other where the key is locked in a vice. On the barrel is a tool which releases the key. The maze consists of 20 barrels, including one that cannot move, and these barrels must be moved so that the key can be freed.
The Barrier (2000–2001): Inside the room the key is locked in a perspex cube which is easily opened, but when it is tampered with a door comes down blocking the exit. To get out, the contestant has to remove the boxes which make up the barrier until there's a hole big enough to get out of.
The Burglary (1996–2011): The contestant climbs a ladder and enters the cell via its window. Inside are a number of obstacles, such as ladders and nets, which the contestant must climb over to get to the key. If the floor is touched an alarm goes off; the contestant automatically loses and is taken away to the cages. The key is in a locked cylinder which is opened using a tool given to the contestant at the beginning. The contestant must leave out the window, still not touching the floor. Some players have dropped the key or the tool, resulting in a lock-in.
Bungee Web (1998–2000): The contestant jumps into a revolving web made up of a series of bungee cords and must cross to the end to retrieve a tool. This device is then used to access the key half way back along the bungee web. This last stage is the hardest because, as the web revolves, the player must release the key, which is going from below to above the player very quickly. As a consequence, some players have been locked in due to running out of time.
Buzz Off! (1998): The contestant has to carry a heavy machine that vibrates violently along the wire without touching it, just like in the classic game. Jaba the Pirate stands in the background trying his best to distract the player. If he or she successfully gets it to the end of the wire, the key is released.
Cannonball Seesaw (2000): In this simple yet rare challenge, the contestant must bounce cannonballs of various weights into differently sized barrels by jumping on a device similar to a seesaw.
Ceiling Boxes (1994–2011) : In the cell, the female contestant has to climb onto the male contestant's back and grab the baton which hangs from the ceiling. Then, using this tool, she must bang the white latches on the ceiling boxes to open them. There are various things in each box, such as flour
and gunge
, but from one box a key falls.
Chicken Room (2001–2011) The contestant transports corn in a holey bucket from a barrel to a pair of scales. The corn must weigh down one side of the scales to lift the key which is on the other side. Inside the room are chickens. In later series, the chickens were replaced with having the contestant step through a giant loom
.
Crazy Billiards (2009–2010): The contestant enters the room and finds a pool cue. They must shoot a ball on a tilted billiards
table into three targets on the opposite side, to release the key in a tube. The catch is that the cage and the holes are moving constantly.
The Descending Rope (1998–2011): The player must climb a rope and guide the key through a maze, but the trouble is that the rope descends as the contestant tries to go up it.
Dolphin (2000-2010): The player, secured to a rope, has to follow the rope through an obstacle course requiring them to climb over and under a series of bars to grab a key and return the same way. The rope has just enough slack to allow the contestant to move through the course, but, if the key is dropped, it can't be retrieved.
Excalibur (1991–2011): The mighty sword is stuck is a wooden stump. The contender has to pull the sword out, and then use the sword to cut a rope on which the key is attached. The cutting is actually the harder part, due to the relative bluntness of the sword, and it is at this point that people usually fail the game.
The Fan (1995–1999): The two strongest contestants are sent into a room, at the end of which is a giant fan. They have to slot a perspex cover in front of it to stop the fan and release the key. As the fan is so loud the contestants are unable to hear anything; a red light goes on when there are 10 seconds left to get out.
Gas Pipes (1996–2011): the contestant is handcuffed
to a pipeline which runs around the cell. He or she has to guide the cuffs along the pipes, overcoming valves and so on which screw off, to the end where they can grab the key and run out of the room.
The Handbike (2000–2011): The contestant has to pedal a handbike overhead across the cell to push the key along. The key is only accessed if the handbike reaches the end and the key falls to the floor.
Interactive Cell (2011): The contestant enters a room to participate in a touch-screen-based computerized challenge introduced by a new resident of the fort, Luciole. These challenges vary from mazes to memory puzzles.
Jars of Fear (1990–2011): There is a long row of large jars in one of the Fort's cells. The contestant has to feel inside each jar, which contains things such as worm
s and rat
s, until the key is found.
The Library (1997–2000): When the player enters the room, the door is automatically locked. The only way out is to get the key
. Fake books must be piled up, allowing the contestant to reach a lever
to release the key
and open the door
again. This challenge was only featured on the show for a brief period due to the difficulty, but mostly because contestants often tried to stand on an unstable table
for height, which was dangerous.
Moving Monkey Bars (1993–2011): The contender has to hook the metal bars into slots in the wall and ceiling to climb the overhang and reach the key. However, there are only two bars at the bottom, with another two hanging down, so the bars have to be re-used.
Mud Wrestler (1990–2006, 2011): A female contestant takes on a strong woman, who wrestles her in the mud. The contestant must reach the key, which hangs from the ceiling at the other end of the room.
Numbered Ceiling (2005–2011): A male and two female contestants enter the room. On the ceiling are the numbers 1–9 with poles attached to them. The contestants must climb the poles to find the red buttons near the correct 3 numbers. Then they must all push the buttons in unison to fry the string holding the key in a box near the entrance. Note: This game is still on the fort but is not played in the 2011 French series.
Neon Water (1999–2005): The contestant has to fill up a long tube with green neon water which lies just by the cell's entrance. They must then carry the water through an obstacle course and fill up three cylinders with the luminous liquid. The player has to cover up both ends of the tube so that little water is lost.
Rolling Cylinders (1993–2011): The contestant must get across a series of variously sized rolling cylinders to get to the key.
Sand Boxes (1999–2003): A contestant enters a chamber that is full of sand, with wooden bars blocking the way. The contestant must slide under holes in the bottom of the bars. The contestant must then use boxes (also pushed under the holes) to reach the key. In the later series with Jodie Penfold
, the rooms included snakes and spiders with the sand
.
Sea Cabin (1997, 2011): A contestant has to guide a container containing the key along a rope through obstacles in a violently shaking room.
The Shrinking Room (1992–2011): On the ceiling of the room are many keys. The contestant has to use these keys to try to open a wooden box which has three locks on it. Each lock requires a different key. The drawback is that the ceiling is continually lowering. This game is rarely completed as the players often forget to try each key for each lock, or lose concentration due to fear of the shrinking room. As of 2011, this game is played for a clue and also features a large snake.
Sucking Key (2001–2010): The key is attached to a string inside a narrow chamber. A contestant is locked into stocks, and must use only his or her head to pull the key through the chamber and into a tunnel, where the other contestants collect it. The chamber is full of creatures such as scorpions, spiders, maggots and millipedes. If they fail to get the key
, they therefore cannot be released and are then a prisoner.
Swaying Rock Wall (2009–2010): The key is rotating on a fan on the ceiling of the room. Against the wall is a wedge-shaped rock wall that the contestant must climb. The catch is that the rock wall sways freely and if the contestant loses his or her balance, the wall will fall to one side, usually knocking the contestant off and requiring him or her to start again.
Tiger Fishing (2009–2011): The contestant is given a fishing pole and must climb atop a cage of tigers and hook a key, pull it out of the holder, and retrieve it. Unfortunately, the key may fall into the tiger cage and be irretrievable.
Tube (1990–2011): at the top of a long perspex tube that winds up to the ceiling is the key. The contestant has to crawl up, grab the key and then slide back down. Note: This game is still on the fort but is not played in the 2011 French series.
The Turning Tube (2008–2011): In the room is a spinning, square-shaped tube on the right mechanism on the left. The contestant must go through the tube, pick up the plates, go back through the tube, and slide them through the mechanism which causes plates on the other end of the tube to come out. This must be repeated until the key is found.
The Turnstile (1998–2011): The contestant has to unscrew a panel to get to the key, whilst avoiding the revolving paddles of the turnstile. In 1998-99 there was also a metal grid, which meant the contestant had to run forwards, but that was changed in 2000 for safety reasons.
Wall Walk (1995–2011): The contestant climbs through the cell window where, on the outside wall of the Fort, there is a row of very thin ledges. The player has to climb along these to the next window, grab the key, and shuffle back again.
Water Buckets (1995–2011): Above a treadmill, hanging on the ceiling, are a series of bucket
s containing water. The contestant has to jog on the treadmill, lift down the buckets and pour the water into a tube. This tube leads into another, so that the key is pushed upwards by the water.
Window Weights (1990–2011): Hanging at the bottom of a rope out the cell window are some weight
s, and the key. The contestant has to pull on the rope until the rope locks into the pulley
. Then the contestant must climb out of the window into a cage on the side of the Fort, and reach out for the key.
Unstable table (2000): One contestant lies atop a plastic "hammock" and has to balance while the other team member turns a crank to raise the hammock. Once the hammock is high enough, the person on the hammock can reach the key when a lever is pulled by the one turning the crank.
Monkey Bridge (2006): This challenge has the format of a duel. A contestant competes against a gymnast, and must move along a rope bridge, grab a sack with a key attached, and move back along the bridge. Then, using the key, the contestant must unlock a box and retrieve a code before the gymnast destroys it. The code will enable the team to retrieve the key.
Mr. Chan (2007–2009): Mr. Chan replaced the Monkey Bridge in 2007. Mr. Chan chooses someone to be a "sacrifice". Mr. Chan will then show a tangram
puzzle which another chosen team member must replicate in a box full of creatures. About half-way through the challenge, Mr. Chan will give a hint. When the time runs out, Mr. Chan does a jump and the sacrifice becomes a prisoner. It has only had 2 wins out of 20, with no teams winning in 2008. He returned in 2009 with a new style of game, involving completing a pattern while the template rotates. 2 teams won in 2009, making the running total 4 wins out of 30.
Some older games have returned, such as the Fight in the Mud. Some clue games are also played as key games and vice versa.
Note: This is not a full list of games, and new games are added every year.
The objective in this phase is to try to figure out the password
, which, if answered correctly, will release the gold. To do this, they must try to win clue words to help them in working out the password.
These clue words can be placed either before or after the password to make a common phrase. For example: if the clues words were hall and line then the password would be dance, as in dance hall and line dance.
To make it even more difficult to get the clue word, a time limit (3 minutes usually; occasionally between 2:00–3:30 minutes) is placed on each game. The clue words are usually written on pieces of paper and kept in canisters filled with gunpowder
, and if the contestant fails to reach the canister in the allotted time the clue word explodes and the contestant loses the challenge. Unlike the First Phase, players are not locked in a cage if they fail to win the clue word.
The Swing (1999–2011): One person is strapped into the Fort’s giant swing, which is hung at a right angle to the inside Fort wall. The rest of the team pulls on a heavy rope, which moves the swing back and forth. The clue is hanging so that the swing must be horizontal in order for the contestant to grab it. The person in the swing seat has no control, so even if they want to stop, they can't unless their team lets them.
Balloon Breaker (2006–2011): A female contestant is harnessed to the inner walls of the fort. The rest of the team must pull the rope attached to the contestant all the way down to the ground and release it sending the woman in the harness flying upwards. Meanwhile, she has to break a balloon containing the number code using a stick given to her before the challenge. This number code must be used to unlock the box containing the clue scroll.
Bungee Bounce (1991–2011): The contestant stands at the top of the Fort, looking down into the centre. He or she must then jump off the platform, and grab the canister which contains the clue while bouncing back up again. Some failed to pluck the courage to make the jump.
Bungee Jump (1996–2011): The contestant has to do a bungee jump off the side of the Fort. After jumping, while hanging upside down, the player has to climb partway up the rope and undo the canister which contains the clue word.
The Catapult (1995–2004): In the centre of the Fort sits the contestant, attached to bungee cords. Another member of the team stands with an axe, while the rest of the team turns a wheel which takes the strain of the bungee. The person with the axe then has to cut the rope, which catapults the contestant up into the air. The contestant has to look out for the clue word, which is written on a large blackboard somewhere on the top of the Fort.
Everest (1998–99, 2002–03, 2006): The chosen contestant climbs up two parallel ropes to reach the clue.
Flooded Cellars (1991–2011): The contestant climbs down a hole into a series of flooded cellar
s. He or she exits the first two chambers underwater, and then climbs a ladder and crawls along a low corridor, on the floor of which is a word written in sand. This word is washed away by a torrent of water after a few seconds. The contestant climbs down another ladder into another chamber, where underwater are a series of boxes. One box has the sand word on it, and in here is the clue. The player then has to swim out via an underwater corridor. From the fourth series, the contestant instead has to guide a spanner tied to a chain through obstacles in the flooded cellars to a bolted cylinder, which the player must open to reach the clue.
The Hammock (2004): The chosen contestant attempts to climb down a hammock to reach the clue, but climbing down the hammock destabilizes it and causes it to twist and swing even further. This challenge appeared only once.
Lobster Pot (1991–2011): Two contestants, one male and one female, zip-line
down from the top of the Fort's bastion
s into the sea. One of them, usually the female, then swims to the pontoon
, whilst the other has to swim over to a buoy
, where he dives down deep to reach the lobster pot
. Once he has it, he swims over to the pontoon where the second contestant opens the lobster pot, takes out a key and opens a box which contains the clue word. Once they have it they shout it out to their team using a megaphone
. There have been a few variations to this, where the second player swims to a boat as opposed to the lobster pot. Once there, one of the pair needs to climb a ladder to reach the numbers for the other person to shout back to their team for the clue.
The Searching Head (1996–2011): The contestant moves along through a series of small chambers, with only the head exposed. In each chamber is a word which the player has to shout out to the team, who cross it off a list of similar words. The one left is the clue word. Each chamber is filled with a number of creatures to scare the player, which are in order: frog
s, stick-insects, rat
s, cockroach
es, and flies
.
Snake Pit (1991–2011): A contestant is lowered into the snake pit, via a ladder. The clue word is split in two, each half being written on a snake. The contestant must find the two halves to make a whole, and to do so they have to pick up each snake and check its belly to see if one of the two halves of the clue is on it. There are hundreds of them, but the clue is always written on the big ones, one half usually being in a barrel
and the other half in one of the small cupboards at the side of the pit.
Tightrope (1997–2011): The contestant has to walk from one end of the tightrope to the other where the clue hangs in a canister.
The Cable Cycle (1998–2011): Cycling along on the upside-down bicycle, the contestant comes to three rolled up flags
. When unrolled each displays a letter, which the rest of the team must key into a combination lock to open a safe and gain the clue.
The Darkness (1991–2001): The player must go through a series of chambers, which are in complete darkness, and follow a string and the other players' directions (with the use of a map) to reach the end. Along the way, the contestant goes through some water, coal, a skeleton, and such features to eventually meet a room filled with light by a flame held by a naked person of the gender opposite to the player. The clue is written somewhere on the person's body, but some players miss the word due to the multiple tattoo-like prints also on the body. Although the genitals were never in view, when Fort Boyard was aired before the watershed
, the topless woman's breasts would sometimes be blurred.
Spiders and Scorpions (1991–2011): A contestant enters a room filled with tarantulas and scorpions in a chest. Three of the arachnids hold slips of paper, but only one of them has a clue word on it. In 2011 during the French version the game is replaced by stretcher. However in the international versions. Abandoned cabin is replaced with the original Spiders and scorpions design. Both stretcher and spiders and scorpions are played.
Wall Climb (1991–2009): The contestant must climb up the side of the fort using only the rocks on the wall face. It is usually very windy and very difficult.
Note: Some of these games are still in place on the fort and have not been played recently. Not all of the clue games played have been mentioned here.
character that sets riddles for certain contestants; if the contestants give the correct answer, they receive a key. In the case of the clue riddles, the answer to the riddle is the clue word, so even if the contestant doesn't solve it in the Watch Tower he or she can still think about it during the rest of the game. If the contestant gives an incorrect answer to a key riddle, the key is thrown in to the sea, and another contestant has to swim for it (the swim was removed in series 5 of the UK version).
Since 2006, the contestants can no longer swim for the key; it is just put back where it was held. The clue word is also different and is not the same as the riddle. Therefore the riddle must be solved within the time limit to obtain the clue.
In the 2011 French version, The Watch Tower isn't used, instead there are 2 trips to the Interactive Cell. The second trip is a Visual riddle, about half-way through the key games, with Father Fouras on screen. The Clue riddle is replaced by a telephone riddle where the player is in a booth inside one of the cells and is given 1 minute to solve the riddle, asked by Father Fouras over the phone, whilst cockroaches are dropped on top of them. The Watch Tower may however be used in the other versions of the show instead.
The Treasure Room is the climax to each episode of Fort Boyard. The gold is stored here, which is guarded by Boyard's tigers.
Once the Fort’s gong sounds for a second time, the game time is over. When the gong is struck (by La Boule) the tigers are taken away by Monique, the gate to The Treasure Room rises and will only stay open for 2:00 minutes for UK series 1-4 (Actually UK series 1-4 stayed, open for 2:30, this did not include the 20 seconds before the gate started to rise, but they said only 2:00 minutes;) or 3:00 minutes in UK series 5. The 3 minutes includes 20 seconds before the gate started to rise (to open canisters/organise team). The gate takes 20 seconds to open and 25 seconds to close fully for every version of Fort Boyard worldwide.
The French version have extra games which are played in order to win extra time in The Treasure Room. Four members of the team play a game each against the "Master of Darkness", if they win they will be get 15 seconds each, a total of 1 minute, of extra time in the Treasure room, making it a full 4 minutes. From 2011 The duels against the "Master of Darkness" can reduce the team's time to 2:00 and give them a max time of 4:00.
If by this time the team has still not figured out the password from the clues won, they can "sacrifice" players in exchange for extra clues to help them. The sacrificed players have to reach the clue by putting their hand into one of the tiger-shaped hand traps around the Treasure Room entrance; once their hands are inside they cannot release them and participate in collecting the gold.
The contestants now have to spell out the password on the giant alphabet on the floor of the Treasure Room by standing on the corresponding letters on the grid and using cannonball
s if there are not enough players. The team must also ensure the word is spelled correctly, as a mistake could cost them the prize.
Once this is done, Monique rotates the tiger's head (a statue), and the word will either be declared correct or incorrect, and the gold is released if the word is correct.
Then the contestants have the remaining time to collect as much gold as they can and place it in a bucket outside of the Treasure Room. It is only what is in this bucket that they get to keep; any that lands on the floor is not counted. When the time is nearly up in the Treasure Room, a bell rings, and the gate begins to close slowly. The contestants have to leave before the gate shuts completely because when the door shuts the tigers are released back into the Treasure Room. (the release of the tigers is delayed until the contestants are out of the Treasure Room, a portcullis is pulled in some version's to block the tigers from being released). In 2006, in the Russian version of the show, a contestant was locked in the Treasure Room. The gold collected was lost as a result.
If, however, they declare an incorrect word, the gold is not released and instead the gate to the treasure room begins to close immediately, prompting the contestants to make a quick escape, and they complete the game with no winnings.
The won gold is then weighed and converted into currency; this makes the contestants’ prize money. In most countries, the money won by the team is given to a charity.
Some countries, including Spain, Argentina, the UK, and Belgium, give the money directly to the members of the team. Some give vacations instead of money, dependent on how much the team won.
In France, between 1990 and 1992, the treasure was given to the team, but since 1993, the whole prize goes to charity. Then again in 2010, the prize money was given to the contestants.
From a broadcasting perspective, Fort Boyard itself was refurbished during 1988–89 to become, essentially, a large outdoor television studio. The Fort has its own doctor, catering facilities, as well as production gallery and veterinary centre.
The Fort is equipped with 10 portable television cameras, one camera crane for overhead shots, one under-water camera as well as a number of smaller cameras which specifically cover individual games and challenges around the Fort.
The majority of shows are filmed in the 4:3 aspect ratio
, although some shows, for countries including Sweden and France since 2008, now use the more common 16:9
widescreen aspect ratio. PAL
is the favoured recording format for Fort Boyard, offering the highest quality pictures.
In total, 53 episodes were shown in the original Channel 5 series. Four celebrity editions and a The Mole
special were also aired.
Series 3 was shown in two parts (3 November 2000 - 5 January 2001, 15 June 2001 - 10 August 2001) and contained two celebrity editions.
Note: Episode 7 from Series 2 and Episode 14 from Series 4 were both celebrity editions. Episode 4 of Series 4, on 13 October 2001, was a special featuring contestants from The Mole. Two further celebrity editions were aired in the Challenge series in 2003.
had published a post asking for UK contestants aged either between 13-15 or 18 to audition for the series. The show will be produced by Foundation TV in the UK and broadcast on CITV
sometime in 2012. They were also asking for US contestants to take part in the series. Filming taking place between 9–15 July 2011 consisting of 20 episodes in total.
Disney XD
has licensed and CITV
has commissioned two 10 x 30" series to air on Disney’s cable and satellite TV channel - Disney XD around the world (excluding France and the Nordics) and to premiere on CITV in the UK.
In some seasons of the French (Seasons 14–16, 2003–2005) and Russian versions (2003–2004), the contestants stay overnight in the Fortress. During this time, they played endurance, mind, and psychological games both for the release of any prisoners they may have had, and for keys to, or time in, the Treasure Room at the end of the game.
In some seasons/programmes of the Swedish (during 2003–2004 and 2010–2011) , Russian & Greek (2006), Balkan (2008) and Danish (2009) versions, two teams played in the Fort at the same time, with only one of them winning at the end.
Although most seasons have seen changes (not least in hosts), recent changes to the French version of Fort Boyard included:
Hall of Imprints
The Treasure Room
Extra Games
The Duels
The Treasure Room
Main Overview
Game Play
The Treasure Room
The Duels
The Hall Of Judgement
This takes place after the key games. The Hall of Judgement provides opportunities for candidates to obtain the missing keys against the sacrifice of one of them but also to free the team members taken prisoner in the first part. The challenges are set by new character, White Judge. (The challenges used are similar to those on The Cube
and Minute to Win It
)
The Treasure Room
Main Overview
Some of the original music for Fort Boyard was released on CD in France, both on CD single and CD album form. Tracks that featured on these CDs include:
entry. The hero of this game has no name; he is going to look for a treasure that was hidden by Napoleon at Fort Boyard. For this he needs to look around for clues, and get people to help, in and around La Rochelle.
The game is quite short: one can finish it in two hours. One attempt to stretch it is by putting in a lot of points where the player has lost the game. For instance, if the player is rude to Liliane Denis in the bar, she will not help, so the player cannot finish the game.
Original French cast
Hero: Franck Perrogon
Liliane Denis: Laetitia Marx
Jacqueline Duroselle: Emmanuelle Vauquet
Librarian: Helene Coulon
Fort Boyard: La Legende was released in 1996 by Expand Images, Microids, France Television, and R&P ElectronicMedia.
International sites:
Fort Boyard is a French game show created by Jacques Antoine
Jacques Antoine
Jacques Antoine is a French writer of game shows. He had successes in the 1980s with Treasure Hunt and Interceptor, and in the 1990s with Fort Boyard and The Crystal Maze.-Credits:...
that was first broadcast in 1990 (as Les Clés de Fort Boyard, shortened for the second series in 1991) and is popular to this day. It has been re-made across the globe, most successfully in the following countries: the United Kingdom, Sweden, Lebanon, Norway, Canada, Russia, Denmark, Belgium, Israel, the Netherlands, Greece, Armenia and most recently in Poland and Finland over a 20-year period since the show began in July 1990.
Set and filmed on the real Fort Boyard
Fort Boyard
Fort Boyard is a fort located between the Île-d'Aix and the Île d'Oléron in the Pertuis d'Antioche straits, on the west coast of France. Though a fort on Boyard bank was suggested as early as the 17th century, it was not until the 1800s under Napoleon Bonaparte that work began.-Layout:Fort...
in France, the programme appears similar to The Crystal Maze
The Crystal Maze
The Crystal Maze was a British game show, produced by Chatsworth Television and shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom between 15 February 1990 and 10 August 1995. There was one series per year, with the first four series presented by Richard O'Brien and the final two by Ed Tudor-Pole, who made...
(which was created by Antoine for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in the United Kingdom after Fort Boyard itself was unavailable to film in because of its then ongoing refurbishment). In both programmes the contestants have to complete challenges to win prize money. However, while The Crystal Maze varies the type of games quite considerably, Fort Boyard tends to focus mainly on physical and endurance challenges. Although Fort Boyard was something of a pioneer in the area of game show fear and adventure, later programmes such as Fear Factor
Fear Factor
Fear Factor is an American stunt/dare reality game show. The original Dutch version was called Now or Neverland. When Endemol USA and NBC adapted it to the American market in 2001, they changed the name to Fear Factor. The show pits contestants against each other in a variety of stunts for a...
have pushed things even further, requiring Fort Boyard to react and adapt with new twists and games, including a couple of seasons in which the contestants spent the night in the Fort (this was particularly popular in the French version).
UK Cast
In the UK, two sets of presenters have been used for Fort Boyard. The first set appeared during the first four series of the show, which were broadcast by Channel 5, with the second appearing in the 2003 Challenge-aired fifth series.The leading presenters of Fort Boyard were Melinda Messenger
Melinda Messenger
Melinda Jayne Messenger is an English ex-glamour model, Page 3 Girl and a former presenter on the magazine programme Live from Studio Five. She is currently co-broadcaster of the reality show Cowboy Builders.-Biography:...
(series 1–4) and Jodie Penfold
Jodie Penfold
Jodie Penfold is a British television presenter. Her work includes hosting the 2003 UK version of French action-adventure gameshow Fort Boyard for Challenge TV.Jodie has also hosted programmes for Five in the UK.Personal...
(series 5). Their roles were to give advice and support for the teams, commentate for the viewers, and match wits with Boyard, the "Master of the Fort". Laura Hamilton
Laura Hamilton
Laura Hamilton is a British television presenter who participated in Dancing on Ice 2011 finishing in second place.-Early career:...
will present the new series in 2011 alongside American actor, Geno Segers
Geno Segers
Geno Segers is a voice, stage and television actor best known for his role as Mason Makoola in the Disney XD television series Pair of Kings. Segers also guest starred in Zeke and Luther.- Early life :...
. The show is now called Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge.
The other characters in Fort Boyard are:
- Boyard (played by Leslie GranthamLeslie GranthamLeslie Michael Grantham is an English actor best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the soap opera EastEnders. He is also a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a German taxi driver, and he generated significant press coverage as the result of an online sex scandal...
in series 1–4, Christopher EllisonChristopher EllisonChristopher Michael Ellison is an English actor. He is best known for his role as DCI Frank Burnside in the popular ITV police series The Bill and short lived spin off series Burnside....
in series 5 and Geno SegersGeno SegersGeno Segers is a voice, stage and television actor best known for his role as Mason Makoola in the Disney XD television series Pair of Kings. Segers also guest starred in Zeke and Luther.- Early life :...
in Ultimate Challenge) is the Master Of The Fort, who sets the challenges that the team must complete to win. In the UK versions of the show, he is portrayed as a selfish, commanding, and evil person who takes great pleasure in ensuring that fear and failure plague the contestants. Grantham portrayed these traits slightly more strongly, with Ellison sometimes showing sympathy, or even being generous to the contestants. - The Professor (Geoffrey BayldonGeoffrey BayldonGeoffrey Bayldon is a British actor. After playing roles in many dramas including Shakespeare, he became known for portraying the title role of the children's series Catweazle , after turning down the opportunity to play both the First and Second Doctors in the long-running BBC science fiction...
, series 1–4) is an eccentric scientist who has become mad over the years as a result of being kept prisoner by Boyard in the 'Watch Tower'. His task is to ask the contestants riddles, which, if answered correctly, will give the team a key or clue word. Along with Captain Baker, he also talks to the contestants briefly before asking the riddles and to the viewers. - Captain Baker (Tom BakerTom BakerThomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
, series 5), the replacement for The Professor, is an insane sea captain held captive by Boyard.
Fort Boyard Cast
There is also the resident Fort Boyard cast, who first appeared in the French version, and were subsequently featured in most of the other international formats, including the UK version:- Jacques and Jules (André Bouchet and Alain Prévost respectively) are two dwarves who lead the team through the Fort to the next challenge. Deni replaces Jules later in the show. The three are called Passe-Partout, Passe-Temps, and Passe-Muraille respectively in the French version. Jacques (Passe-Partout) is also responsible for locking the contestants in the cells of the Fort if they fail to get out within the time limit whilst Jules, in later series, Demi take contestants to the 'The Watch Tower'. (They will not appear in Ultimate Challenge)
- Monique (Monique d` Angeon) turns a statue shaped as a tiger's head to release the gold or close the gate in the 'Treasure Room'. She is called Felindra in the French version. In the first UK series the unnamed Tiger Master performs this role. (She will not appear in Ultimate Challenge)
- La Boule (Yves Marchesseau) bangs the gongGongA gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
to indicate the start and end of time and locks the contestants in cages when they fail to get out of challenge rooms in time.
Famous contestants
On 26 December 1999, a celebrity edition of Fort Boyard was broadcast, featuring Gabby Yorath, Frank BrunoFrank Bruno
Franklin Roy Bruno MBE is an English former boxer whose career highlight was winning the WBC Heavyweight championship in 1995. Altogether, he won 40 of his 45 contests...
, Sharron Davies
Sharron Davies
Sharron Elizabeth Davies MBE is a retired swimmer from the United Kingdom. She won a silver medal in the 400 metre individual medley at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, and two gold medals at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton...
, Samuel Kane
Samuel Kane
Samuel Kane is a British actor, who has appeared in the soap operas Brookside, Coronation Street and Emmerdale.Kane was born in Huyton; his father is Ken McGlashan, a local Labour Councillor...
, and Glenda McKay
Glenda McKay
Glenda McKay is a British actress.She is best known for playing the character of Rachel Hughes on the popular ITV soap Emmerdale from 1988 until the character was killed off in 1999, in an iconic scene where she is pushed of a cliff by Graham Clark.Glenda's brother Craig McKay also starred...
as contestants. Another celebrity edition aired at the end of series four (episode 14) in 2001 featuring Sally Gray
Sally Gray (television presenter)
Sally Gray MBE is a British television presenter.- Education and early career :Gray earned a BA Degree in Communication and Media Studies from Queen Margaret College University in Edinburgh. After graduation Gray began to work behind the scenes at the BBC, and soon after, entered a BBC Journalism...
, Scott Wright, Nell McAndrew
Nell McAndrew
Nell McAndrew is an English glamour model.-Career:...
, Keith Duffy
Keith Duffy
Keith Peter Thomas Francis John Duffy is an Irish singer-songwriter, actor, drummer, dancer and television presenter. He began his career as part of Boyzone in the 1990s. In the 2000s, he achieved critical acclaim for his acting roles, particularly in soap operas such as Coronation Street and Fair...
and Tris Payne
Tris Payne
Tris Payne is a television presenter, best known for appearances on Wish You Were Here...? and House Doctor, as well as Real Rooms on BBC1, Hot Property on Channel 5, and This Morning on ITV....
. Sally Gray was team captain and the team won £10,130 for charity.
Celebrity editions was also broadcast during the 2003 series by Challenge. It featured Doug Williams
Doug Williams (wrestler)
Douglas Clayton Durdle is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Doug Williams. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Douglas Williams...
, Nikita
Katarina Waters
Katarina Leigh Waters is a German-born English professional wrestler and valet, currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Winter. She is best known for her time in World Wrestling Entertainment, performing on its Raw brand under the ring name Katie Lea...
(now stars in TNA
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
), Paul Birchall James Tighe
James Tighe
James Tighe is a British professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with Frontier Wrestling Alliance. He currently competes around the United Kingdom.-Professional wrestling career:...
, and Sweet Saraya, all of whom were wrestling stars from British promotion FWA
XWA (professional wrestling)
XWA is a British professional wrestling promotion, based in the English north west seaside town of Morecambe, Lancashire, dealing primarily in the professional wrestling industry...
. Doug Williams captained the team.
Other celebrities appearing in series 5 included Tim Vine
Tim Vine
Timothy "Tim" Mark Vine is an English actor, writer and comedian. He has released a number of DVDs of his stand-up comedy, as well as starring in the successful series Not Going Out with Lee Mack on the BBC...
and Craig Phillips
Craig Phillips
Craig Phillips is an English builder, DIY expert, television personality and presenter, best known for winning the first series of the British reality television show Big Brother...
, Big Brother 2000 winner. The team won £1,860 for charity, which was topped up by a further £5,000 because Tim Vine accepted a challenge to tell 10 jokes in one minute.
Since 1997, teams on the French version of the show consist entirely of celebrities. These include: cyclist Laurent Fignon
Laurent Fignon
Laurent Patrick Fignon was a French professional road bicycle racer. He won the Tour de France in 1983 and in 1984. He missed winning it a third time, in 1989, by 8 seconds, the closest margin ever to decide the tour. He also won the Giro d'Italia in 1989, after having been the runner-up in 1984,...
, figure skating champion Brian Joubert
Brian Joubert
Brian Joubert is a French figure skater. He is the 2007 World Champion, a three-time European champion, a seven-time French National champion, and the 2006-7 Grand Prix Final champion...
(appearing in 2004, 2007, and 2008), Panathanaikos striker
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
Djibril Cissé
Djibril Cissé
Djibril Aruun Cissé is a French international footballer who currently plays for Serie A club Lazio as a striker. He is noted particularly for his speed and acceleration. Since 2005, he has held the title of Lord of the Manor of Frodsham....
, R&B singer Leslie
Leslie (singer)
Leslie is a French pop-R&B singer born on February 4, 1985 in Le Mans, France. Her father is Vietnamese and Polynesian while her mother is FrenchIn 2007, she recorded a duet single with the R&B singer Bobby Valentino, "Accorde-moi"....
, Tony Parker
Tony Parker
William Anthony "Tony" Parker is a French professional basketball player who currently plays for the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA....
, and Eva Longoria
Eva Longoria
Eva Jacqueline Longoria is an American actress, best known for portraying Gabrielle Solis on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives...
in 2009 and others. However, in 2010 the formula was dramatically changed and the squads, of four members each, do not have celebrities anymore.
In most series of the Danish version, teams have consisted entirely of celebrities.
In the 2010 series of the Finnish version team members were celebrities.
Most (or all) games of the Russian series consisted of famous Russian singers, actors, and sportsmen.
In the Argentine version of the show, aired in 1999 and 2000, a celebrity joined the other 4 people to help them on their challenges.
Fort Boyard Around The World
Fort Boyard is a FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
game show first broadcast in 1990, but the fort is also used by television stations in other countries. In total, 29 foreign versions of the show have broadcast around the world since 1990. Currently, in 2011, seven countries (in Bold below) have produced a new series/season of Fort Boyard.
Production history
Belgium & Denmark recently returned for a new series but not for 2011. Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
in 2009, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and Finland in 2010, recently joined to produce their own versions of the show. Italy have only ever made a pilot for Fort Boyard back in 1991.
Countries in Bold have produced a new series/season of Fort Boyard for 2011. Fort Boyard is known as Fångarna på Fortet in Sweden and as Fangene På Fortet in Norway. The 22nd French season of Fort Boyard aired on Saturday nights at 8.35pm (CEST) from 2 July 2011 - 20 August 2011.
Productions for 2011
Algeria – 2006, 2008–2011
Early Modern France – 1990 – present (22nd Season) 
Netherlands – 1991–1992, 2011
Norway – 1993–1996, 1999–2001, 2010, 2011
Sweden – 1990, 1992–1998, 2000 (two seasons), 2003, 2005, 2010–2011, 2011
United Kingdom – 1998–2001, 2003, 2011 (Joint production with US) 
United States – 1992 (only a pilot was made for ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
), 2011 (Joint production with UK)
2011 filming dates:
| # | Country | Local title | Format | Start Date | End Date | Number of Episodes | Premiere/Air Dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | "Fort Boyard" | 1 Team | May 30 | June 3 | 7 + (2 children episodes not aired on TV) |
2 July - 20 August 2011 |
| 2 | Sweden | "Fångarna på fortet" | Duel | June 6 | June 14 | 12 | 23 August - 22 October 2011 |
| 3 | Norway | "Fangene på fortet" | June 16 | June 28 | 20 | 15 August - 28 August 2011 | |
| 4 | Algeria | "Bordj El Abtal" | 1 Team | June 30 | July 5 | 13 | Summer 2012 |
| 5 | USA and UK | "Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge" | Duel | July 9 | July 15 | 20 | 17 October - 7 November 2011 (US Season 1.1), January 2012 (UK) |
| 6 | The Netherlands | "Fort Boyard" | July 18 | July 22 | 10 | 5 September 2011 |
In total, 84 episodes were produced worldwide in 2011.
Past productions 1990–2010
Each year below donates to a series/season of Fort Boyard.Arab World
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
– 2002–2003 – 1999, 2000 – 2009 – 1991, 1999–2001, 2006–2007
- BalkansBalkansThe Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
(joint production of
Kingdom of Bulgaria, 
Serbia & 
Turkey) – 2007, 2008 – 2010 – 1993–2001 – 1993–1997, 1999–2002, 2009–2010 – 2010 – 1990, 2000, 2001, 2010 – 2004 – 2004–2008 – 2000 – 1998–1999 – 1991 (only a pilot was made) - 2002–2003 – 2008–2009 – 1998, 2002–2004, 2006, 2010 – 1998–1999 – 2003 – 2001 – 1995 – 2000 – 2004
Some countries, such as The Czech Republic, aired the original French version dubbed
Dub localization
Dub localization, also often simply referred to as localization, which is a form of a voice-over. It is the practice of voice-over translation altering a foreign language film, art film or television series by voice actors to further adapt the material for a "local" audience.Dub localization is a...
as opposed to producing their own. Poland and Russia also did this before producing their own versions in later years.
Format
Fort Boyard’s format varies from country to country, but the basics are the same. A team of friends enter the Fort with the intention of winning Boyard’s gold. To do this, the contestants have to successfully complete a series of challenges set by Boyard himself.The first thing done in the game is the sounding of the Fort’s gong
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
by French character ‘La Boule’. Once the gong sounds the game time begins ticking down. In the UK version the game lasted for 40 minutes, in the French version 60 to 120 minutes, depending on the year.
The show's format is outlined in the following sections, starting with 'Phase One'.
Phase One
The first set of challenges the contestants have to complete is to win a certain number of keyKey (lock)
A key is an instrument that is used to operate a lock. A typical key consists of two parts: the blade, which slides into the keyway of the lock and distinguishes between different keys, and the bow, which is left protruding so that torque can be applied by the user. The blade is usually intended to...
s (in series 1–4 of the UK version four keys were needed, whereas five were need in series 5; five were needed in the Canadian version, and seven in the French, Swedish, and Danish versions). These keys, once won, are used to open the gate
Gate
A gate is a point of entry to a space enclosed by walls, or a moderately sized opening in a fence. Gates may prevent or control entry or exit, or they may be merely decorative. Other terms for gate include yett and port...
to the Treasure Room, a central room in the Fort where the gold is held.
The challenges that are set to win the keys are located in small cells around the Fort, with small water-timers (a Clepsydre
Water clock
A water clock or clepsydra is any timepiece in which time is measured by the regulated flow of liquid into or out from a vessel where the amount is then measured.Water clocks, along with sundials, are likely to be the oldest time-measuring instruments, with the only exceptions...
) outside to give the contestant a time limit (around 2–3 minutes, depending on the game) to complete it; in the UK version, Boyard would start the timer upon saying to a contestant that "their time starts now", whereas in the 5th series, Boyard would start it after telling Jacques to open the door of a challenge room. If a contestant fails to leave the challenge room before the time runs out, he or she is locked in and then shortly after taken away to a cage (by La Boule) meaning they are not allowed to continue with the rest of the key games and must stay there until then end of Phase One. In the UK's 4th series, La Boule would give the contestant a large bunch of rusty keys. One of these keys would unlock the cage allowing the contestant to re-join the team.
During this phase of the game, one contestant goes up to the Watch Tower to win an additional key for the team (see below). This could be done twice.
Once the contestants reach the end of Phase One, usually towards the end of their game time, there is a trip to the Treasure Room with all of the keys that they have won so far. If they have enough to unlock the Treasure Room Door then the keys are entered and the gate is unlocked. However, it does not open until later in the show.
If they are short of keys to open the gate then team members are 'sacrificed' for keys, one team member for each key short. The 'sacrificed' contestants are then placed in an underground cell and locked in. These team members remain for the rest of the game, and are therefore unable to contribute any more for the team.
If the team has more keys than necessary to unlock the gate then any extra keys gained can be swapped for free clue words to assist the team in the next phase of the game.
Phase One challenges
From 1990 to 2011, there were precisely 165 different events (key games). Here is a selection of some of these challenges:Arm Wrestling (1990–2009): The contestant has to arm wrestle
Arm wrestling
Arm wrestling is a sport with two participants. Each participant places one arm on a surface with their elbows bent and touching the surface, and they grip each other's hand...
against the strongman, whilst trying to grab the key, which is in a little box, with the other hand. Between their hands is a lever, so as the contestant pushes the strongman's arm down, the key is lowered so it becomes accessible to grab.
Ball Surfing (1998–2002): To release the key the contestant has to get one ball into the bucket at the end of the runway, four sections of which are not in position. Contestants stand on a surfboard
Surfboard
A surfboard is an elongated platform used in the sport of surfing. Surfboards are relatively light, but are strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding a breaking wave...
, which swivels these sections, but if they don't move quickly enough to line up the next section in time, the ball drops to the ground, so they have to start again.
Barrel Maze (1999–2004): The player must move a barrel from one end of a maze to the other where the key is locked in a vice. On the barrel is a tool which releases the key. The maze consists of 20 barrels, including one that cannot move, and these barrels must be moved so that the key can be freed.
The Barrier (2000–2001): Inside the room the key is locked in a perspex cube which is easily opened, but when it is tampered with a door comes down blocking the exit. To get out, the contestant has to remove the boxes which make up the barrier until there's a hole big enough to get out of.
The Burglary (1996–2011): The contestant climbs a ladder and enters the cell via its window. Inside are a number of obstacles, such as ladders and nets, which the contestant must climb over to get to the key. If the floor is touched an alarm goes off; the contestant automatically loses and is taken away to the cages. The key is in a locked cylinder which is opened using a tool given to the contestant at the beginning. The contestant must leave out the window, still not touching the floor. Some players have dropped the key or the tool, resulting in a lock-in.
Bungee Web (1998–2000): The contestant jumps into a revolving web made up of a series of bungee cords and must cross to the end to retrieve a tool. This device is then used to access the key half way back along the bungee web. This last stage is the hardest because, as the web revolves, the player must release the key, which is going from below to above the player very quickly. As a consequence, some players have been locked in due to running out of time.
Buzz Off! (1998): The contestant has to carry a heavy machine that vibrates violently along the wire without touching it, just like in the classic game. Jaba the Pirate stands in the background trying his best to distract the player. If he or she successfully gets it to the end of the wire, the key is released.
Cannonball Seesaw (2000): In this simple yet rare challenge, the contestant must bounce cannonballs of various weights into differently sized barrels by jumping on a device similar to a seesaw.
Ceiling Boxes (1994–2011) : In the cell, the female contestant has to climb onto the male contestant's back and grab the baton which hangs from the ceiling. Then, using this tool, she must bang the white latches on the ceiling boxes to open them. There are various things in each box, such as flour
Flour
Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
and gunge
Gunge
Gunge as it is known in the British Isles, or slime as it is known in America and other parts of the world is a thick, gooey, runny substance similar in consistency to paint. It has been a feature on many children's programmes for many years around the world and has made appearances in game shows...
, but from one box a key falls.
Chicken Room (2001–2011) The contestant transports corn in a holey bucket from a barrel to a pair of scales. The corn must weigh down one side of the scales to lift the key which is on the other side. Inside the room are chickens. In later series, the chickens were replaced with having the contestant step through a giant loom
Loom
A loom is a device used to weave cloth. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads...
.
Crazy Billiards (2009–2010): The contestant enters the room and finds a pool cue. They must shoot a ball on a tilted billiards
Billiards
Cue sports , also known as billiard sports, are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber .Historically, the umbrella term was billiards...
table into three targets on the opposite side, to release the key in a tube. The catch is that the cage and the holes are moving constantly.
The Descending Rope (1998–2011): The player must climb a rope and guide the key through a maze, but the trouble is that the rope descends as the contestant tries to go up it.
Dolphin (2000-2010): The player, secured to a rope, has to follow the rope through an obstacle course requiring them to climb over and under a series of bars to grab a key and return the same way. The rope has just enough slack to allow the contestant to move through the course, but, if the key is dropped, it can't be retrieved.
Excalibur (1991–2011): The mighty sword is stuck is a wooden stump. The contender has to pull the sword out, and then use the sword to cut a rope on which the key is attached. The cutting is actually the harder part, due to the relative bluntness of the sword, and it is at this point that people usually fail the game.
The Fan (1995–1999): The two strongest contestants are sent into a room, at the end of which is a giant fan. They have to slot a perspex cover in front of it to stop the fan and release the key. As the fan is so loud the contestants are unable to hear anything; a red light goes on when there are 10 seconds left to get out.
Gas Pipes (1996–2011): the contestant is handcuffed
Handcuffs
Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists close together. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge, or rigid bar. Each half has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchet that prevents it from being opened once closed around a person's wrist...
to a pipeline which runs around the cell. He or she has to guide the cuffs along the pipes, overcoming valves and so on which screw off, to the end where they can grab the key and run out of the room.
The Handbike (2000–2011): The contestant has to pedal a handbike overhead across the cell to push the key along. The key is only accessed if the handbike reaches the end and the key falls to the floor.
Interactive Cell (2011): The contestant enters a room to participate in a touch-screen-based computerized challenge introduced by a new resident of the fort, Luciole. These challenges vary from mazes to memory puzzles.
Jars of Fear (1990–2011): There is a long row of large jars in one of the Fort's cells. The contestant has to feel inside each jar, which contains things such as worm
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
s and rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s, until the key is found.
The Library (1997–2000): When the player enters the room, the door is automatically locked. The only way out is to get the key
Key (lock)
A key is an instrument that is used to operate a lock. A typical key consists of two parts: the blade, which slides into the keyway of the lock and distinguishes between different keys, and the bow, which is left protruding so that torque can be applied by the user. The blade is usually intended to...
. Fake books must be piled up, allowing the contestant to reach a lever
Lever
In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or pivot point to either multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object or resistance force , or multiply the distance and speed at which the opposite end of the rigid object travels.This leverage...
to release the key
Key (lock)
A key is an instrument that is used to operate a lock. A typical key consists of two parts: the blade, which slides into the keyway of the lock and distinguishes between different keys, and the bow, which is left protruding so that torque can be applied by the user. The blade is usually intended to...
and open the door
Door
A door is a movable structure used to open and close off an entrance, typically consisting of a panel that swings on hinges or that slides or rotates inside of a space....
again. This challenge was only featured on the show for a brief period due to the difficulty, but mostly because contestants often tried to stand on an unstable table
Table (furniture)
A table is a form of furniture with a flat and satisfactory horizontal upper surface used to support objects of interest, for storage, show, and/or manipulation...
for height, which was dangerous.
Moving Monkey Bars (1993–2011): The contender has to hook the metal bars into slots in the wall and ceiling to climb the overhang and reach the key. However, there are only two bars at the bottom, with another two hanging down, so the bars have to be re-used.
Mud Wrestler (1990–2006, 2011): A female contestant takes on a strong woman, who wrestles her in the mud. The contestant must reach the key, which hangs from the ceiling at the other end of the room.
Numbered Ceiling (2005–2011): A male and two female contestants enter the room. On the ceiling are the numbers 1–9 with poles attached to them. The contestants must climb the poles to find the red buttons near the correct 3 numbers. Then they must all push the buttons in unison to fry the string holding the key in a box near the entrance. Note: This game is still on the fort but is not played in the 2011 French series.
Neon Water (1999–2005): The contestant has to fill up a long tube with green neon water which lies just by the cell's entrance. They must then carry the water through an obstacle course and fill up three cylinders with the luminous liquid. The player has to cover up both ends of the tube so that little water is lost.
Rolling Cylinders (1993–2011): The contestant must get across a series of variously sized rolling cylinders to get to the key.
Sand Boxes (1999–2003): A contestant enters a chamber that is full of sand, with wooden bars blocking the way. The contestant must slide under holes in the bottom of the bars. The contestant must then use boxes (also pushed under the holes) to reach the key. In the later series with Jodie Penfold
Jodie Penfold
Jodie Penfold is a British television presenter. Her work includes hosting the 2003 UK version of French action-adventure gameshow Fort Boyard for Challenge TV.Jodie has also hosted programmes for Five in the UK.Personal...
, the rooms included snakes and spiders with the sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
.
Sea Cabin (1997, 2011): A contestant has to guide a container containing the key along a rope through obstacles in a violently shaking room.
The Shrinking Room (1992–2011): On the ceiling of the room are many keys. The contestant has to use these keys to try to open a wooden box which has three locks on it. Each lock requires a different key. The drawback is that the ceiling is continually lowering. This game is rarely completed as the players often forget to try each key for each lock, or lose concentration due to fear of the shrinking room. As of 2011, this game is played for a clue and also features a large snake.
Sucking Key (2001–2010): The key is attached to a string inside a narrow chamber. A contestant is locked into stocks, and must use only his or her head to pull the key through the chamber and into a tunnel, where the other contestants collect it. The chamber is full of creatures such as scorpions, spiders, maggots and millipedes. If they fail to get the key
Key (lock)
A key is an instrument that is used to operate a lock. A typical key consists of two parts: the blade, which slides into the keyway of the lock and distinguishes between different keys, and the bow, which is left protruding so that torque can be applied by the user. The blade is usually intended to...
, they therefore cannot be released and are then a prisoner.
Swaying Rock Wall (2009–2010): The key is rotating on a fan on the ceiling of the room. Against the wall is a wedge-shaped rock wall that the contestant must climb. The catch is that the rock wall sways freely and if the contestant loses his or her balance, the wall will fall to one side, usually knocking the contestant off and requiring him or her to start again.
Tiger Fishing (2009–2011): The contestant is given a fishing pole and must climb atop a cage of tigers and hook a key, pull it out of the holder, and retrieve it. Unfortunately, the key may fall into the tiger cage and be irretrievable.
Tube (1990–2011): at the top of a long perspex tube that winds up to the ceiling is the key. The contestant has to crawl up, grab the key and then slide back down. Note: This game is still on the fort but is not played in the 2011 French series.
The Turning Tube (2008–2011): In the room is a spinning, square-shaped tube on the right mechanism on the left. The contestant must go through the tube, pick up the plates, go back through the tube, and slide them through the mechanism which causes plates on the other end of the tube to come out. This must be repeated until the key is found.
The Turnstile (1998–2011): The contestant has to unscrew a panel to get to the key, whilst avoiding the revolving paddles of the turnstile. In 1998-99 there was also a metal grid, which meant the contestant had to run forwards, but that was changed in 2000 for safety reasons.
Wall Walk (1995–2011): The contestant climbs through the cell window where, on the outside wall of the Fort, there is a row of very thin ledges. The player has to climb along these to the next window, grab the key, and shuffle back again.
Water Buckets (1995–2011): Above a treadmill, hanging on the ceiling, are a series of bucket
Bucket
A bucket, also called a pail, is typically a watertight, vertical cylinder or truncated cone, with an open top and a flat bottom, usually attached to a semicircular carrying handle called the bail. A pail can have an open top or can have a lid....
s containing water. The contestant has to jog on the treadmill, lift down the buckets and pour the water into a tube. This tube leads into another, so that the key is pushed upwards by the water.
Window Weights (1990–2011): Hanging at the bottom of a rope out the cell window are some weight
Weight
In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force on the object due to gravity. Its magnitude , often denoted by an italic letter W, is the product of the mass m of the object and the magnitude of the local gravitational acceleration g; thus:...
s, and the key. The contestant has to pull on the rope until the rope locks into the pulley
Pulley
A pulley, also called a sheave or a drum, is a mechanism composed of a wheel on an axle or shaft that may have a groove between two flanges around its circumference. A rope, cable, belt, or chain usually runs over the wheel and inside the groove, if present...
. Then the contestant must climb out of the window into a cage on the side of the Fort, and reach out for the key.
Unstable table (2000): One contestant lies atop a plastic "hammock" and has to balance while the other team member turns a crank to raise the hammock. Once the hammock is high enough, the person on the hammock can reach the key when a lever is pulled by the one turning the crank.
Monkey Bridge (2006): This challenge has the format of a duel. A contestant competes against a gymnast, and must move along a rope bridge, grab a sack with a key attached, and move back along the bridge. Then, using the key, the contestant must unlock a box and retrieve a code before the gymnast destroys it. The code will enable the team to retrieve the key.
Mr. Chan (2007–2009): Mr. Chan replaced the Monkey Bridge in 2007. Mr. Chan chooses someone to be a "sacrifice". Mr. Chan will then show a tangram
Tangram
The tangram is a dissection puzzle consisting of seven flat shapes, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. The objective of the puzzle is to form a specific shape using all seven pieces, which may not overlap...
puzzle which another chosen team member must replicate in a box full of creatures. About half-way through the challenge, Mr. Chan will give a hint. When the time runs out, Mr. Chan does a jump and the sacrifice becomes a prisoner. It has only had 2 wins out of 20, with no teams winning in 2008. He returned in 2009 with a new style of game, involving completing a pattern while the template rotates. 2 teams won in 2009, making the running total 4 wins out of 30.
New Games for 2011
- Interactive Cell
- Visual Enigma
Some older games have returned, such as the Fight in the Mud. Some clue games are also played as key games and vice versa.
Note: This is not a full list of games, and new games are added every year.
Phase Two
Once again in this part of the game the contestants have to complete a series of challenges, but instead of playing for keys they are playing for clue words. In addition, these games are more physically and mentally challenging to the contestants than those played in Phase One. Before these challenges, one contestant goes to the Watch Tower to try to win a clue word. Phase Two is around 10–20 minutes long in the UK version, this depends on how long the team take to win the required amount of keys needed to open the Treasure Room gate.The objective in this phase is to try to figure out the password
Password
A password is a secret word or string of characters that is used for authentication, to prove identity or gain access to a resource . The password should be kept secret from those not allowed access....
, which, if answered correctly, will release the gold. To do this, they must try to win clue words to help them in working out the password.
These clue words can be placed either before or after the password to make a common phrase. For example: if the clues words were hall and line then the password would be dance, as in dance hall and line dance.
To make it even more difficult to get the clue word, a time limit (3 minutes usually; occasionally between 2:00–3:30 minutes) is placed on each game. The clue words are usually written on pieces of paper and kept in canisters filled with gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
, and if the contestant fails to reach the canister in the allotted time the clue word explodes and the contestant loses the challenge. Unlike the First Phase, players are not locked in a cage if they fail to win the clue word.
Phase Two challenges
From 1991 to 2011, there was precisely 71 different adventures. This section details some of Fort Boyards most famous games. Examples of the clue games, also known as ‘ordeals’ or 'adventures', are listed below:The Swing (1999–2011): One person is strapped into the Fort’s giant swing, which is hung at a right angle to the inside Fort wall. The rest of the team pulls on a heavy rope, which moves the swing back and forth. The clue is hanging so that the swing must be horizontal in order for the contestant to grab it. The person in the swing seat has no control, so even if they want to stop, they can't unless their team lets them.
Balloon Breaker (2006–2011): A female contestant is harnessed to the inner walls of the fort. The rest of the team must pull the rope attached to the contestant all the way down to the ground and release it sending the woman in the harness flying upwards. Meanwhile, she has to break a balloon containing the number code using a stick given to her before the challenge. This number code must be used to unlock the box containing the clue scroll.
Bungee Bounce (1991–2011): The contestant stands at the top of the Fort, looking down into the centre. He or she must then jump off the platform, and grab the canister which contains the clue while bouncing back up again. Some failed to pluck the courage to make the jump.
Bungee Jump (1996–2011): The contestant has to do a bungee jump off the side of the Fort. After jumping, while hanging upside down, the player has to climb partway up the rope and undo the canister which contains the clue word.
The Catapult (1995–2004): In the centre of the Fort sits the contestant, attached to bungee cords. Another member of the team stands with an axe, while the rest of the team turns a wheel which takes the strain of the bungee. The person with the axe then has to cut the rope, which catapults the contestant up into the air. The contestant has to look out for the clue word, which is written on a large blackboard somewhere on the top of the Fort.
Everest (1998–99, 2002–03, 2006): The chosen contestant climbs up two parallel ropes to reach the clue.
Flooded Cellars (1991–2011): The contestant climbs down a hole into a series of flooded cellar
Basement
__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...
s. He or she exits the first two chambers underwater, and then climbs a ladder and crawls along a low corridor, on the floor of which is a word written in sand. This word is washed away by a torrent of water after a few seconds. The contestant climbs down another ladder into another chamber, where underwater are a series of boxes. One box has the sand word on it, and in here is the clue. The player then has to swim out via an underwater corridor. From the fourth series, the contestant instead has to guide a spanner tied to a chain through obstacles in the flooded cellars to a bolted cylinder, which the player must open to reach the clue.
The Hammock (2004): The chosen contestant attempts to climb down a hammock to reach the clue, but climbing down the hammock destabilizes it and causes it to twist and swing even further. This challenge appeared only once.
Lobster Pot (1991–2011): Two contestants, one male and one female, zip-line
Zip-line
A zip-line consists of a pulley suspended on a cable mounted on an incline...
down from the top of the Fort's bastion
Bastion
A bastion, or a bulwark, is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defence against assaulting troops...
s into the sea. One of them, usually the female, then swims to the pontoon
Pontoon (boat)
A pontoon is a flotation device with buoyancy sufficient to float itself as well as a heavy load. A pontoon boat is a flattish boat that relies on pontoons to float. Pontoons may be used on boats, rafts, barges, docks, floatplanes or seaplanes. Pontoons may support a platform, creating a raft. A...
, whilst the other has to swim over to a buoy
Buoy
A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...
, where he dives down deep to reach the lobster pot
Lobster trap
Not to be confused with Lobster-tailed potA lobster trap or lobster pot is a portable trap that traps lobsters or crayfish and is used in lobster fishing. A lobster trap can hold several lobsters. Lobster traps are constructed of wire and wood. An opening permits the lobster to enter a tunnel of...
. Once he has it, he swims over to the pontoon where the second contestant opens the lobster pot, takes out a key and opens a box which contains the clue word. Once they have it they shout it out to their team using a megaphone
Megaphone
A megaphone, speaking-trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loud hailer is a portable, usually hand-held, cone-shaped horn used to amplify a person’s voice or other sounds towards a targeted direction. This is accomplished by channelling the sound through the megaphone, which also serves to match the...
. There have been a few variations to this, where the second player swims to a boat as opposed to the lobster pot. Once there, one of the pair needs to climb a ladder to reach the numbers for the other person to shout back to their team for the clue.
The Searching Head (1996–2011): The contestant moves along through a series of small chambers, with only the head exposed. In each chamber is a word which the player has to shout out to the team, who cross it off a list of similar words. The one left is the clue word. Each chamber is filled with a number of creatures to scare the player, which are in order: frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
s, stick-insects, rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s, cockroach
Cockroach
Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria or Blattodea, of which about 30 species out of 4,500 total are associated with human habitations...
es, and flies
Fly
True flies are insects of the order Diptera . They possess a pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax...
.
Snake Pit (1991–2011): A contestant is lowered into the snake pit, via a ladder. The clue word is split in two, each half being written on a snake. The contestant must find the two halves to make a whole, and to do so they have to pick up each snake and check its belly to see if one of the two halves of the clue is on it. There are hundreds of them, but the clue is always written on the big ones, one half usually being in a barrel
Barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container, traditionally made of vertical wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. Traditionally, the barrel was a standard size of measure referring to a set capacity or weight of a given commodity. A small barrel is called a keg.For example, a...
and the other half in one of the small cupboards at the side of the pit.
Tightrope (1997–2011): The contestant has to walk from one end of the tightrope to the other where the clue hangs in a canister.
The Cable Cycle (1998–2011): Cycling along on the upside-down bicycle, the contestant comes to three rolled up flags
FLAGS
The FLAGS pipeline is a natural gas pipeline in the North Sea which is used to transport liquids and associated gas from the following fields:* Cormorant A* North Cormorant* North West Hutton...
. When unrolled each displays a letter, which the rest of the team must key into a combination lock to open a safe and gain the clue.
The Darkness (1991–2001): The player must go through a series of chambers, which are in complete darkness, and follow a string and the other players' directions (with the use of a map) to reach the end. Along the way, the contestant goes through some water, coal, a skeleton, and such features to eventually meet a room filled with light by a flame held by a naked person of the gender opposite to the player. The clue is written somewhere on the person's body, but some players miss the word due to the multiple tattoo-like prints also on the body. Although the genitals were never in view, when Fort Boyard was aired before the watershed
Watershed (television)
In television, the term watershed denotes the time period in a television schedule during which programs with adult content can air....
, the topless woman's breasts would sometimes be blurred.
Spiders and Scorpions (1991–2011): A contestant enters a room filled with tarantulas and scorpions in a chest. Three of the arachnids hold slips of paper, but only one of them has a clue word on it. In 2011 during the French version the game is replaced by stretcher. However in the international versions. Abandoned cabin is replaced with the original Spiders and scorpions design. Both stretcher and spiders and scorpions are played.
Wall Climb (1991–2009): The contestant must climb up the side of the fort using only the rocks on the wall face. It is usually very windy and very difficult.
New Games for 2011
- Stretcher (replaces Spiders and Scorpions)
- Abandoned cabin
- Cage immersed
- Cell RecRec (previously Cell Shrinking)
- Tanks
- Sewage
- Animal Lotto
- Beam-jets
Note: Some of these games are still in place on the fort and have not been played recently. Not all of the clue games played have been mentioned here.
The Watch Tower
In the Watch Tower of the Fort lives a usually eccentricEccentricity (behavior)
In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual. This behavior would typically be perceived as unusual or unnecessary, without being demonstrably maladaptive...
character that sets riddles for certain contestants; if the contestants give the correct answer, they receive a key. In the case of the clue riddles, the answer to the riddle is the clue word, so even if the contestant doesn't solve it in the Watch Tower he or she can still think about it during the rest of the game. If the contestant gives an incorrect answer to a key riddle, the key is thrown in to the sea, and another contestant has to swim for it (the swim was removed in series 5 of the UK version).
Since 2006, the contestants can no longer swim for the key; it is just put back where it was held. The clue word is also different and is not the same as the riddle. Therefore the riddle must be solved within the time limit to obtain the clue.
In the 2011 French version, The Watch Tower isn't used, instead there are 2 trips to the Interactive Cell. The second trip is a Visual riddle, about half-way through the key games, with Father Fouras on screen. The Clue riddle is replaced by a telephone riddle where the player is in a booth inside one of the cells and is given 1 minute to solve the riddle, asked by Father Fouras over the phone, whilst cockroaches are dropped on top of them. The Watch Tower may however be used in the other versions of the show instead.
The Treasure Room
Once the Fort’s gong sounds for a second time, the game time is over. When the gong is struck (by La Boule) the tigers are taken away by Monique, the gate to The Treasure Room rises and will only stay open for 2:00 minutes for UK series 1-4 (Actually UK series 1-4 stayed, open for 2:30, this did not include the 20 seconds before the gate started to rise, but they said only 2:00 minutes;) or 3:00 minutes in UK series 5. The 3 minutes includes 20 seconds before the gate started to rise (to open canisters/organise team). The gate takes 20 seconds to open and 25 seconds to close fully for every version of Fort Boyard worldwide.
The French version have extra games which are played in order to win extra time in The Treasure Room. Four members of the team play a game each against the "Master of Darkness", if they win they will be get 15 seconds each, a total of 1 minute, of extra time in the Treasure room, making it a full 4 minutes. From 2011 The duels against the "Master of Darkness" can reduce the team's time to 2:00 and give them a max time of 4:00.
If by this time the team has still not figured out the password from the clues won, they can "sacrifice" players in exchange for extra clues to help them. The sacrificed players have to reach the clue by putting their hand into one of the tiger-shaped hand traps around the Treasure Room entrance; once their hands are inside they cannot release them and participate in collecting the gold.
The contestants now have to spell out the password on the giant alphabet on the floor of the Treasure Room by standing on the corresponding letters on the grid and using cannonball
Round shot
Round shot is a solid projectile without explosive charge, fired from a cannon. As the name implies, round shot is spherical; its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the gun it is fired from.Round shot was made in early times from dressed stone, but by the 17th century, from iron...
s if there are not enough players. The team must also ensure the word is spelled correctly, as a mistake could cost them the prize.
Once this is done, Monique rotates the tiger's head (a statue), and the word will either be declared correct or incorrect, and the gold is released if the word is correct.
Then the contestants have the remaining time to collect as much gold as they can and place it in a bucket outside of the Treasure Room. It is only what is in this bucket that they get to keep; any that lands on the floor is not counted. When the time is nearly up in the Treasure Room, a bell rings, and the gate begins to close slowly. The contestants have to leave before the gate shuts completely because when the door shuts the tigers are released back into the Treasure Room. (the release of the tigers is delayed until the contestants are out of the Treasure Room, a portcullis is pulled in some version's to block the tigers from being released). In 2006, in the Russian version of the show, a contestant was locked in the Treasure Room. The gold collected was lost as a result.
If, however, they declare an incorrect word, the gold is not released and instead the gate to the treasure room begins to close immediately, prompting the contestants to make a quick escape, and they complete the game with no winnings.
The won gold is then weighed and converted into currency; this makes the contestants’ prize money. In most countries, the money won by the team is given to a charity.
Some countries, including Spain, Argentina, the UK, and Belgium, give the money directly to the members of the team. Some give vacations instead of money, dependent on how much the team won.
In France, between 1990 and 1992, the treasure was given to the team, but since 1993, the whole prize goes to charity. Then again in 2010, the prize money was given to the contestants.
Summary of the UK rules depending on the series
| Series | Year(s) | Number of Keys required |
Game Play | Tresure Room Time |
Missing Keys | Extra Clues | Notes |
| 1 | 1998 | 4 (1 free key after swim) |
40 minutes | 2:00 minutes | Dungeon (1 person per missing key) |
Sacrifies (Tigers head outside Tresure Room) |
arrival on boat |
| 2 | 1999–2000 | 45 minutes | arrival on boat + open gate to enter fort |
||||
| 3 | 2000–2001 | ||||||
| 4 | 2001 | 40 minutes | arrival onboard helicopter | ||||
| 5 | 2003 | 5 (no free key) | 3:00 minutes | arrival on boat |
Broadcast
Fort Boyard has aired on many networks around the world, including:- Algeria – ENTV and Canal Algérie
- Argentina – Canal 13Canal 13Canal 13 is the name of six Central and South American television stations:* Canal 13 , television network from Buenos Aires, Argentina* Canal 13 , television network from Santiago, Chile...
Artear - Armenia – USArmenia, Armenia TV
- Belgium – RTL-TVI
- Bulgaria – bTV
- Canada – TVATVA (TV network)TVA is a privately owned French language television network in Canada. The network is currently owned by Groupe TVA Inc. , a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media...
- Cyprus – Sigma TVSigma TVSigma TV is a commercial network in Cyprus that commenced broadcasting on April 3, 1995. It is a private service and is currently the second-rated channel in Cyprus. Sigma TV is geared at a younger audience, with the focus on the 18-45 age group. It broadcasts a mix of original programmes as...
(until mid 2010) - Czech Republic – TV Nova (1994–1995)
- Denmark – TV3TV3 (Denmark)TV3 Denmark is a Danish television station.TV3 is one of the channels owned by the Viasat Corporation. The sister channel is TV3+. The channels shows a lot of American and British shows, such as: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, NCIS, Las Vegas, Bones, Two And A Half Men, Prison Break, American Idol...
(1993–2000, 2009) - Finland – French version: YLE TV1YLE TV1YLE TV1 is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by Finnish public broadcaster Yleisradio. It is the first and oldest Television channel in Finland. More than 70% of channel's programs are documentaries, news or educative programmes...
(1993), SuomiTV (2010) (and Finnish version) - France – France 2France 2France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
(1992–), TV5MondeTV5MONDETV5MONDE is a global television network, broadcasting several channels of French language programming. It is an approved participant member of the European Broadcasting Union.-History:...
& GulliGulliGulli is a French television network dedicated to children's programming. It is available through digital terrestrial television "TNT" in partnership with Lagardère Active, and France Télévisions with children's programmes from France 3. Gulli is also known as Cyperbot.-Programmes:Children can...
(repeats) - Georgia – Rustavi 2Rustavi 2Rustavi 2 Broadcasting Company , better known as Rustavi 2, is the most successful private television broadcasting company in Georgia. The Rustavi, based in Tbilisi, was founded in 1994 in the town of Rustavi. It is a privately owned free to air terrestrial broadcaster that currently reaches around...
- Germany – Sat 1 (1990), Pro 7Pro 7ProSieben is a commercial television station in Germany distributed to a large extent via cable and satellite along with DVB-T in larger population centres. It began operations on January 1, 1989. Since 2003 the station, as part of the ProSiebenSat.1 Media, is owned by a group of investors led by...
(2000, 2002), Kabel 1Kabel 1kabel eins is a commercial television channel in Germany. It started business on 29 February 1992, as the Kabelkanal and belongs to the ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. The channel is largely known for showing classic American films as well as series and documentaries...
(2011) - Greece – STARStar ChannelStar Channel is a Greek television network that broadcasts a mix of foreign and Greek programming. It launched in December 1993 and is owned by Nea Tileorasi A.E.. The main news bulletin is called Star Eidiseis, which is currently hosted by Aimilios Liatsos...
- Hungary – TV2TV2 (Hungary)TV2 is a Hungarian commercial television channel operating since 1997, providing a large variety of programming. It is owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG...
- Indonesia – TV5MondeTV5MONDETV5MONDE is a global television network, broadcasting several channels of French language programming. It is an approved participant member of the European Broadcasting Union.-History:...
Asie - Israel – Channel 2Channel 2 (Israel)Channel 2 is an Israeli commercial television channel.- History :In 1990, after 13 years of deliberations, the Knesset passed a law that paved the way for the establishment of commercial television in Israel. The goal was to enhance pluralism and create competition. Channel 2 began broadcasting on...
- Italy – unknown
- Malaysia - NTV7Ntv7Natseven TV Sdn Bhd or better known as ntv7 is a terrestrial television channel in Malaysia. It was launched nationwide on 7 April 1998 and was the country's third private free-to-air TV station after TV3 and Astro. Its mission is to promote a happier and more enlightened Malaysia...
(since 2011, airs the UK version's episodes from the late 1990s) - the Netherlands - AVROAVRO (broadcaster)AVRO is a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system.-Television programmes:* Andermans veren...
- Norway – TV3TV3 (Norway)TV3 Norway is a commercial television channel targeting Norway owned by Viasat, which is a part of the Swedish media group Modern Times Group...
(1993–1997, 1999–2002, 2011) - Poland – TVP2
- Romania – ProTV
- Russia – NTVNTV RussiaNTV is a Russian television channel. As a subsidiary of Vladimir Gusinsky's company Media-Most, it was a pioneer in the post-Soviet independent television media, but was later taken over by state-owned Gazprom.- History :...
(1994–1998), Russia TV ChannelRussia TV ChannelRossiya 1 is a state-owned Russian television channel founded in 1991. It belongs to the All-Russia State Television and Radio Company ....
(2002–2004, 2006) - Serbia – Fox televizija
- Slovakia – TV Markíza
- South Korea – SBS
- Spain – TelecincoTelecincoTelecinco is a Spanish commercial television channel operated by Mediaset España. Launched in 1990 as Tele 5, it was the fifth of the national terrestrial television channels. In 1997, Tele 5 was rebranded as Telecinco, dropping the flower logo seen in other Mediaset channel...
- Sweden – TV4 (1990, 1992–1998, 2003, 2005, 2010–2011, 2011), TV3TV3 (Sweden)TV3 is a television channel targeted at a Swedish language audience owned by Viasat . It was founded on 31 December 1987 by entrepreneur Jan Stenbeck as joint Scandinavian channel, but Denmark and Norway soon got their own versions of TV3...
(2000) - Turkey – Star TV (2000), Fox TurkeyFox Turkey-History:TGRT launched on April 22, 1993 that was owned by Huzur Radyo TV A.Ş belongs to İhlas Holding.The channel was bought by News Corporation with Ahmet Ertegün on July 26, 2006 and changed to its current name Fox on February 24, 2007....
(2008, 2009) - Ukraine – Channel 1+1, TET (repeats)
- United Kingdom – Five (1998–2001), Challenge (2003), CITVCITVCITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...
(2012)
- Repeats: Challenge (2002–2006, series 5: 3–28 Oct 2011), Virgin 1Virgin 1Channel One was a television channel owned and operated by British Sky Broadcasting. The channel was launched on 1 October 2007 at 21:00 on Freeview, Virgin Media and Sky as Virgin1, replacing Ftn...
(2007–2010; repeats of series 5)- United States – Disney XDDisney XDDisney XD is a brand of children's TV channels worldwide targeting young males, owned by The Walt Disney Company. The channel was formerly known as Toon Disney and/or Jetix in most areas. According to Gary Marsh, President of Entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide, "XD" does not "stand for...
(2011)
- United States – Disney XD
From a broadcasting perspective, Fort Boyard itself was refurbished during 1988–89 to become, essentially, a large outdoor television studio. The Fort has its own doctor, catering facilities, as well as production gallery and veterinary centre.
The Fort is equipped with 10 portable television cameras, one camera crane for overhead shots, one under-water camera as well as a number of smaller cameras which specifically cover individual games and challenges around the Fort.
The majority of shows are filmed in the 4:3 aspect ratio
Aspect ratio (image)
The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of the width of the image to its height, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon. That is, for an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this...
, although some shows, for countries including Sweden and France since 2008, now use the more common 16:9
16:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...
widescreen aspect ratio. PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
is the favoured recording format for Fort Boyard, offering the highest quality pictures.
UK transmissions
| Series | Year(s) | Episodes | Start Date | End Date | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1998 | 10 | 16 October 1998 | 25 December 1998 | Channel 5 |
| 2 | 1999–2000 | 14 | 19 November 1999 | 18 February 2000 | |
| 3 | 2000–2001 | 15 | 3 November 2000 | 10 August 2001 | |
| 4 | 2001 | 14 | 22 September 2001 | 29 December 2001 | |
| 5 | 2003 | 20 | 20 October 2003 | 3 December 2003 | Challenge |
| 6 | 2012 | 20 | January 2012 | TBA | CITV CITV CITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00... |
In total, 53 episodes were shown in the original Channel 5 series. Four celebrity editions and a The Mole
The Mole (UK TV series)
The Mole was a 2001 reality television series in the UK which was broadcast on Channel 5. Part of The Mole television series franchise it was hosted by Glenn Hugill.-Series 1:...
special were also aired.
Series 3 was shown in two parts (3 November 2000 - 5 January 2001, 15 June 2001 - 10 August 2001) and contained two celebrity editions.
Note: Episode 7 from Series 2 and Episode 14 from Series 4 were both celebrity editions. Episode 4 of Series 4, on 13 October 2001, was a special featuring contestants from The Mole. Two further celebrity editions were aired in the Challenge series in 2003.
2011 casting call
Casting calls have been made for Fort Boyard UK. UKGameshows.comUKGameshows.com
UKGameshows.com is a website dedicated to British game shows. The site currently provides information on more than 1,500 British game show formats from 1938 to the present day, over 500 mini-biographies of hosts, along with numerous other background articles....
had published a post asking for UK contestants aged either between 13-15 or 18 to audition for the series. The show will be produced by Foundation TV in the UK and broadcast on CITV
CITV
CITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...
sometime in 2012. They were also asking for US contestants to take part in the series. Filming taking place between 9–15 July 2011 consisting of 20 episodes in total.
Disney XD
Disney XD
Disney XD is a brand of children's TV channels worldwide targeting young males, owned by The Walt Disney Company. The channel was formerly known as Toon Disney and/or Jetix in most areas. According to Gary Marsh, President of Entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide, "XD" does not "stand for...
has licensed and CITV
CITV
CITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...
has commissioned two 10 x 30" series to air on Disney’s cable and satellite TV channel - Disney XD around the world (excluding France and the Nordics) and to premiere on CITV in the UK.
Variations to the format
In 1996, at the height of the French version's popularity, a mini-series entitled Fort Boyard at Night was shown in the autumn. It was filmed entirely at night, and the teams also had slightly more time in which to complete the challenges. In 1997, there were three night-time specials, at Halloween, Christmas, and New Year.In some seasons of the French (Seasons 14–16, 2003–2005) and Russian versions (2003–2004), the contestants stay overnight in the Fortress. During this time, they played endurance, mind, and psychological games both for the release of any prisoners they may have had, and for keys to, or time in, the Treasure Room at the end of the game.
In some seasons/programmes of the Swedish (during 2003–2004 and 2010–2011) , Russian & Greek (2006), Balkan (2008) and Danish (2009) versions, two teams played in the Fort at the same time, with only one of them winning at the end.
Although most seasons have seen changes (not least in hosts), recent changes to the French version of Fort Boyard included:
- In 2007–2009, the number of keys determined how much access the team had to the Treasure Room. 5 keys were the minimum needed to open the gate, but the gate would only open to a certain height, which made carrying coins through the gate difficult. A 6th key would open the gate roughly halfway, but it was still not easy to get through. To open the gate fully, 7 keys were needed. If a team member did not get out of the Treasure Room in time, a portcullis was activated which stopped the tigers, but the money collected was lost forever.
The Council
- In the council, teams no longer play to free prisoners; rather, they play for up-to 60 extra seconds of extra time in the Treasure Room, in addition to the 3 minutes guaranteed. From 1995 to 2011, there were a total of 31 different council games.
Hall of Imprints
- There was a new section in which one member doned a diving suit and dived down to the underwater control centre. There, he or she was guided by the team through an underground passage filled with traps and coded doors towards the "Hall of Imprints", freeing their prisoners along the way. Once all members (except the diver) had reached the Hall, they used their right hands to release the crystal, which they needed to enter the council.
2007
The Duels- They have extra games which are played in order to win extra time in The Treasure Room. Four members of the team play a game each against the Master of Darkness, if they won they got 15 seconds each, a total of 1 minute, of extra time in the Treasure room, making it a full 4 minutes.
The Treasure Room
- In 2007 was the only season the time in the Treasure Room started at the opening of the gate. The team had 3:00-4:00 minutes from when the host pulled the swich to open the gate. The team also had 25 seconds (If they have 6 keys) or 15 seconds (If they have 7 keys) before the start of the time; this made the time actually 3:15-4:25 minutes in total.
2008
- In 2008, the diving section changed. All members except the diver entered the control centre. They had to put 9 colored cubes in the correct order, using clues provided by the host. Once the 9 cubes are in place, the trap door for the diver opened. The diver entered a flooded room, with a treasure box, a drawing, and a maze with various colored keys in it. He or she has had to describe the small drawing to the other team members. The drawing corresponds to a drawing on one of the 9 colored cubes. The color of the matching cube determined the key to retrieve from the maze. The team members had to guide the diver through the maze, as the diver only see it from behind. After the key had been freed, it was used to unchain the treasure box. The box is was then lifted from the water, but couldn't be opened yet. The key to open it was inside the Treasure Room and would fall down together with the gold.
2009
- 2009 saw many more changes. Main changes included new opening titles, graphics and a wall of progress which Demi (Passe Muraille) was in control of which lined the wall of the Fort (the wall above the Treasure Room). There were 6 new key games and 2 new clue games in 2009. One of the first major changes on the Fort was the Before game Challenge called The Tube which was only used this season. There was a large tube full of coloured water. The team had to find 2 black scratching posts, situated around the Fort, to find the numbers which was the combination to unlock the box containing the cup which was connected to the tube . If they could fill the cup with water before the tube ran out they got an extra key after the 45:00 minutes of key games had finished. This game was played in the central circle before the gong.
- Another change was that teams no longer stopped collecting keys at 7 keys but could continue on to collect up-to 10 keys. These extra 3 keys were exchanged for clue words at the Treasure Room.
Extra Games
- The middle bit was also different. There were now 3 boxes which contained money. The problem was that 2 of them were sealed with glass. During this the prisoners would play Fear FactorFear FactorFear Factor is an American stunt/dare reality game show. The original Dutch version was called Now or Neverland. When Endemol USA and NBC adapted it to the American market in 2001, they changed the name to Fear Factor. The show pits contestants against each other in a variety of stunts for a...
style games in an attempt to win "pieces" to eliminate colours. The prisoners were released but if they did not win their Fear Factor games they were not allowed inside the Treasure Room.
The Duels
- Duels were different in 2009. The team could see what was happening through a window. The starting time was 3:00, but the team needed to bet on the duels with time. These times were 30 seconds, 20 seconds, 10 seconds, and −15 seconds. If they win on −15 Seconds they did not lose any time. This made the minimum time in the Treasure Room 2:45, with the maximum being a full 4:00 minutes.
The Treasure Room
- The Treasure Room had changed in 2009. Firstly, the 6 key sign was raised to shoulder height. Secondly, teams couldn't trade clues for extra keys; they had to play with the keys they had. (If they got under 5 keys someone was sacrificed to Mr.Chan to gain a key.) In the Treasure Room they collected keys for boxes containing extra gold. They were allowed to pick only 1 box, at the end, and were allowed as many keys as there were people in the Treasure Room. Picking the correct box earned the team the extra gold.
2010 French Duel format
In 2010, a duel format was introduced to the show following the low ratings for the previous season in 2009. The duel format is used by other countries from 2010 who prefer this version. Although, this was not successful in the French version so was later dropped the same year. The duel format was already being used by Sweden in 2003 and 2005 who still continue to use it. The changes made to the French version in 2010 were:Main Overview
- Passe-Temps and Mr. Chan left the show.
- Olivier MinneOlivier MinneOlivier Minne is a French television presenter, actor and producer.Minne was born on 18 March 1967 in the Belgian capital, Brussels. The son of a Belgian father and a French mother, Minne studied in Brussels for his baccalauréat before moving to Paris in 1989.In Paris, Minne studied the dramatic...
became the only host. - Two teams competed to try to win the most keys in the first section.
Game Play
- Key games not only included the ones inside cells but also the clue games, which were played against a clepsydre. If the team lost a clue game they were made prisoner.
- There were 3 rounds of key games. Before each round there was a duel. Winning the duel not only won them a key, but also meant the other team had to win their game or their player was automatically made a prisoner.
- If there is no clear winner after the 3 rounds a new section of the show, Crossbow Relay, was introduced. Before this, the prisoners were released. All members had to complete a relay course for keys.
- The team with the lowest amount of keys was sent off the Fort and a new team (champion team from last week) was sent to the fort to compete against the champion team.
- The champion team from the last episode then faced the round 1 winners in clue games. These clue games can be key games with clue canisters, or clue games which were against the clepsydre.
- There were 3 rounds of clue games, with each round starting with a duel. Again the losing team was made prisoner if they didn't win their clue game, but the winning team also got to choose which team got to play which game.
- After the clue rounds, any prisoners were released by the duels in the council room. 2/3 was required to win.
The Treasure Room
- At the Treasure Room, both teams used their clues and wrote down the codeword on a slate. Once this was put in place they had the remaining time of 3:30 (which included working out the code word). After 1 minute the gate started to open and began closes after 3:00 minutes (took 30 seconds to close fully). At around 0:15 seconds the slots were closed so the team couldn't insert any more money.
- The gold was then weighed and the codes were revealed. The team with the highest gold and correct codeword won.
- If both teams had the correct code, the team with the highest weight of gold won €10,000 and returned the following week.
- If both teams had the incorrect code the champion teams will be returned the following week, but didn't get €10,000.
2011 German changes
- Most of the show's characters are gone.
- The Watch Tower and the riddles have been removed.
2011 French changes
Main Overview- Olivier Minne continues as the only host.
- Return to a more classical one team and seven key mandatory. (45 mins of key games, 25 mins for the adventures)
- Return of celebrities playing for charity.
- 3 new characters including the return of the mud wrestler.
- Fouras Father now chairs the Council.
The Duels
- The team can see what is happening in the Council through a window. The starting time is 3:00, but the team must bet on the duels with this time. The times are 20 seconds, 15 seconds, 15 seconds, and 10 seconds. If they win on their choosing time it will be added to the 3:00 minutes, but if they lose it will be deducted. This makes the minimum time in the Treasure Room 2:00, with the maximum being a full 4:00.
The Hall Of Judgement
This takes place after the key games. The Hall of Judgement provides opportunities for candidates to obtain the missing keys against the sacrifice of one of them but also to free the team members taken prisoner in the first part. The challenges are set by new character, White Judge. (The challenges used are similar to those on The Cube
The Cube
The Cube is an hour-long teleplay that aired on NBC's weekly anthology television show NBC Experiment in Television on February 23, 1969. The production was produced and directed by puppeteer Jim Henson, and was one of several experiments with the live-action film medium which he conducted in the...
and Minute to Win It
Minute to Win It
Minute to Win It is an American prime time game show on NBC hosted by Guy Fieri. Contestants take part in a series of 60-second challenges that use objects that are commonly available around the house....
)
- Each team member is free to be sacrificed to receive an extra key. White Judge, sets a challenge the sacrifice/prisoner must complete in order to be released. If failed, they go directly into the terrible jails of La Boule until the end of the adventures.
The Treasure Room
- For the first time since 1990, when the host pulls the switch the Treasure Room gate will start to open immediately.
2011 UK changes
- Main article: Fort Boyard: Ultimate ChallengeFort Boyard: Ultimate ChallengeFort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge, is a Disney XD/CITV game show that premiered on October 17, 2011 and completed it's first season on November 7, 2011. The show is a challenge game where six teams battle to the finish to win the Ultimate Challenge and become Conquerors of The Fort. The show is an...
Main Overview
- The show is now called Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge.
- Laura HamiltonLaura HamiltonLaura Hamilton is a British television presenter who participated in Dancing on Ice 2011 finishing in second place.-Early career:...
and Geno SegersGeno SegersGeno Segers is a voice, stage and television actor best known for his role as Mason Makoola in the Disney XD television series Pair of Kings. Segers also guest starred in Zeke and Luther.- Early life :...
will present the new series. - Teams were made-up of teenagers aged between 13–19 years old.
- The show's characters are gone and the tigers were not used.
Music
The music for the original French version of Fort Boyard was composed by Paul Koulak, a French music composer. He composed the main themes for the show as well as the incidental and game music that is used throughout the show. His music has been used for every version of Fort Boyard around the world, except the German version, where they composed their own music for the show and games.Some of the original music for Fort Boyard was released on CD in France, both on CD single and CD album form. Tracks that featured on these CDs include:
- Fort Boyard Main Title Theme
- Fort Boyard Main Theme, Dance Version
- March of the Tigers
- The Cable Cycle
- From One Point in the Course to Another
Fort Boyard: La Legende
Fort Boyard: La Legende is a live action adventure game, based in and around La Rochelle and on Fort Boyard. It was only released in the original French version (as a sort of tie-in to the game show Fort Boyard) and the later Dutch dubbed versions. The lack of an English version made this game highly obscure: it doesn't have a MobyGamesMobyGames
-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...
entry. The hero of this game has no name; he is going to look for a treasure that was hidden by Napoleon at Fort Boyard. For this he needs to look around for clues, and get people to help, in and around La Rochelle.
The game is quite short: one can finish it in two hours. One attempt to stretch it is by putting in a lot of points where the player has lost the game. For instance, if the player is rude to Liliane Denis in the bar, she will not help, so the player cannot finish the game.
Original French cast
Hero: Franck Perrogon
Liliane Denis: Laetitia Marx
Jacqueline Duroselle: Emmanuelle Vauquet
Librarian: Helene Coulon
Fort Boyard: La Legende was released in 1996 by Expand Images, Microids, France Television, and R&P ElectronicMedia.
External links
The French version has two popular fan sites:International sites: