Format Focus: Battleship
- Published: 13 August 2008 16:38
- Author: Katherine Rushton
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- Last Updated: 13 August 2008 16:38
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Celebrities get a soaking in this watery version of the classic Battleship board game.
The format
Battleship sees two teams - made up of celebrities and, somewhat bizarrely, Deal or No Deal contestants - sailing about on gigantic pools in real ships.
As with the traditional grid-based Battleship game, each team must try and sink their opponents' ship before they get sunk themselves.
They also have to lampoon each other at the same time as navigating around a number of secret "minefields", planted around the pools at fixed co-ordinates.
The competition takes a lighter turn whenever one of the battleships does run across a minefield, as members of the team have to perform a "fun task" as punishment and invariably end up in the water.
Who's showing it?
The format was developed by Germany-based Grundy Light Entertainment and launched on 29 June with a 10-week run in the primetime Sunday evening slot on Turkey's Antalya channel.
Coming to the UK?
Seven One International, the sales arm of ProSiebenSat 1 Group, is licensing the format and is understood to be in early talks with UK broadcasters.
Could it work here?
Doing it well would be expensive, but the show could offer a fresh alternative to tried and tested physical gameshows such as Gladiators. It could be a light-hearted winner in these credit crunch times.
