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Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
The logo used in 2002
Genre	Game show
Created by	David Briggs Mike Whitehill Steven Knight
Presented by	Gay Byrne
Composers	Keith Strachan Matthew Strachan
Country of origin	Ireland
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Production company	Tyrone Productions
Original release
Network	RTÉ One
Release	17 October 2000 (2000-10-17) – 29 March 2002 (2002-03-29)

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is the Irish version of the British quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? which aired on RTÉ One from 2000 to 2002. It was presented by Gay Byrne. The format was the same as on the British show, and the 15 incremental prize amounts had the same numeric values, from 100 up to 1,000,000. These values were denominated in Irish pounds in 2000 and 2001, and in euros in 2002, after the euro changeover.

Production

The Irish version was made by Tyrone Productions under license from Celador, the British originators. The stage, music, and format were identical to the original British format. The quizmaster was Gay Byrne, who was famous as the longtime host of The Late Late Show, and was making one of several returns from retirement.

The top prize fell from IR£1m (€1,269,738) to €1m after the euro changeover at the beginning of 2002. The prize money was funded by a combination of a premium-rate telephone number which candidates had to ring to be selected as contestants, and £7m from headline sponsor eircell, which was then eircom's mobile phone subsidiary company. As part of the sale to Vodafone Eircell was rebranded in 2001, as part of this re-brand the series was sponsored by Eircell Vodafone, this was the only use of the Vodafone brand on the series.

Initially the series aired on Friday and Tuesday night, with the Tuesday night episode split between an episode of the Irish soap opera Fair City. The show had several runs over consecutive Sunday evenings. After two years the initial sponsorship contract ended.

RTÉ and the Irish National Lottery company were in discussion about bring the series back as it had been put on hiatus following the loss of its main sponsor in 2002, the National Lottery said that no decision had been made but it was always a possibility, RTÉ axed the series fully in the summer of 2003 and the series would not be making a return for the 2003–04 season.

The top prize was never won; the biggest win was IR£250,000 (€317,435), won by Roger Dowds of Glasnevin in January 2001.

Specials

Two types of specials were produced, a celebrity edition and a generations edition.

Lunula controversy

In June 2001, contestant Shane O'Doherty was asked, as the 13th (£250,000) question, in what part of the body the lunula was. He used his phone-a-friend lifeline to ring a physician, who said it was in the heart, which was the answer he then gave. The desired answer was the nail (anatomy), and so O'Doherty's winnings fell from £125,000 back to the guaranteed £32,000. In fact, a lunula is any crescent or moon-shaped structure, including both the white base of the fingernail and the segments of the semilunar heart valves. O'Doherty protested that, since both answers were correct, he should not have been eliminated. He threatened to sue the producers, and the controversy generated media debate for two weeks. Eventually he was allowed to return to the show. He was asked another question, and opted to pass and keep the £125,000 he had previously accrued. The replacement question was also criticised as flawed; it described John Pius Boland as an "Olympic gold medallist" even though the medals received by winners at the 1896 Summer Olympics were actually silver.

Money trees

References

1. "(Irish) Who wants to be a Millionaire - RTE 2001 intro". YouTube. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
2. ^ "(Irish) Who wants to be a Millionaire - RTE 2002 intro". YouTube. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
3. Doherty, Christine (23 July 2000). "Millionaire show will offer Eircell a rich marketing opportunity". Sunday Business Post. TCH. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
4. "Irish 'Millionaire' TV show dropped". The independent. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
5. Murray, Niall (9 June 2003). "RTÉ forced to axe popular money spinning quiz show". Irish Examiner.
6. "Dublin man wins £250,000 in quiz". The Irish Times.
7. "lunula". The Free Dictionary.
8. "'Millionaire' contestant returns for second show". Irishtimes.com. 1 July 2001. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
9. Minihan, Mary (5 July 2001). "Question on gold medallist queried". The Irish Times. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
10. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Ирландская версия)". GameSHOWS.ru.

• 2000 Irish television series debuts
• 2002 Irish television series endings
• Irish quiz shows
• Irish television series based on British television series
• RTÉ original programming
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
• Irish English-language television shows