Good Evening and welcome to Babushka! The game in which our ten Babushka Dolls could earn our contestants a fortune. Will tonight's player have what it takes to go for our Jackpot Babushka and take home tens of thousands.. If not HUNDRED'S OF THOUSANDS!? I do hope so.

Please welcome, David Howell!

David, welcome to the game! It's lovely to have you here! Tell everybody a bit more about yourself. Where are you currently living and what are you doing for employment?

I live in Newport, South Wales, and I'm just in the process of completing a personal training qualification. I'm also dabbling in composition and am actually getting a paid commission for one piece soon, so that's awesome, but obviously looking to get a bit more stability in my life!

Well there's one thing for sure, you certainly have a lot of ambition in your life! Now, there's a huge amount of money for the taking tonight. If you were to win £50,000 tonight, how would you spend it?

I'd be able to move into a bigger house with a garage that I could use as a gym for my clients, so they had a quieter and more private option than a commercial gym. I'd also very much consider going with my husband to Norway to see the Northern Lights!

It sounds as though a decent win could set your business up for a long and happy future. We must mention your Husband, Stephen, who I know will be wishing you all possible success on your quest tonight.

David, before I explain the rules, let's meet the ten Babushka's which will hopefully become your friends this evening..

THEY ARE!

Babushka Nigel!
Babushka Hugh!
Babushka Joanna!
Babushka Cameron!
Babushka Noel!
Babushka Philip!
Babushka Holly!
Babushka Yvette!
Babushka Fern!
and..
Babushka Cilla!

So, those are the Babushka dolls which hide the money.. How much money, well let's see.
Two of the Babushka's contain £500.
A further two hide £5,000.
The 5th and 6th have inside them as much as £10,000.
Dolls 7 and 8 are hiding £25,000.
Somewhere out there is a £50,000 Babushka!
And.. We have the thenth Babushka which is our JACKPOT Babushka. Now, this is a random, whole thousand amount between £100,000 and £500,000. It's decided at random thanks to our friends at random.org, so.. Time for the BIG reveal.
How much is our JACKPOT Babushka worth tonight?

**£445,000**

WOW! That's about as big as we could hope for! We now know that your Jackpot Babushka is worth a staggering £445,000 to you..
The aim of the game is to BANK as much money as possible by playing through 8 Babushka's. Whatever money you have in your bank after the 8 will go through to the final round where you could win up-to 1000% of your accumulated total.

Yes. 1000%...
Archie
I will ask you to select a Bubushka to play with and then you'll be asked a question. The question is a poll which was asked to 100 people. All our polls are genuine and were carried out by a team of verifiers. You will have to predict whether the answer is HIGHER or LOWER than 50. So 50 is your base. If you answer HIGHER or LOWER correctly, you get to play that Babushka to try and BANK as much cash as you can. Get it WRONG and we waste whatever was inside the Babushka AND whatever accummulated cash will instantly be halved.

If when playing a Babushka in live play (After answering correctly) and you hit a blank (An empty Babushka by playing to far), you'll gain NOTHING from that babushka and whatever accummilated cash will be halved.

Something else to keep in mind are the three lifelines available to you.

These are..

-SWITCH- Meaning we'll switch the Question and ask you a new one.

-80/20- We'll change the starting number to your question to 80, hopefully making it easier to get correct

-PEEK- You can have a peek at the next level of a Babushka, hoping to see more cash inside with NO downside if it's empty.

You can use each of these only once.

If you understand, shall we play Babushka?

OK then! This should be an incredible ride. I Understand.

Alright! Let's play BABUSHKA!

So, first Babushka, make it a good one. Which of the dolls are you going to play with first?

Philip, because he can't stand up for long


Ok, Phillip is lit up and you'll be able to play him if you answer this question correctly.

David, Here's your first question of the night.

We asked 100 advertising executives...
"Do you think that you could sell Ice Cream to Eskimos?"
How many execs said YES, they could sell ice cream to Eskimos?

Remember, we're looking for whether you think the answer is HIGHER or LOWER than 50.

Interesting. They're a brutally optimistic lot, but I think they're smarter than they're made out, and will have had some failures in their time. LOWER.

You're going for LOWER
Is that right?

80

No! It was HIGHER

Well, not the end of the world as you didn't have any £ in your bank to begin with so we can't halve anything

Sorry to everyone who puts up with those marketing executives, for crediting them too much!


However... The question now is.. How much cash did Philip contain?

We know he has at least £500, show it to us

**£500**

If that's all, that's great.
Did he have any more?

**£5,000**
Hopefully that's it..

**£10,000**
No!
PLEASE don't tell me you've thrown away a Babushka worth MORE than 10k..

**£25,000**

Well, well...


There are only two values higher than that. £50,000 and our Jackpot of £445,000.
Philip.. Did you contain £50,000?

**£0**
NO!
Phew.
We still have the top 2 in play


Plenty to play for and that's made things maybe a bit more interesting!

JACKPOT
£50,000
-
£25,000
£10,000
£10,000
£5,000
£5,000
£500
£500

Your second Babushka please

Noel!

Babushka Noel has been lit! To play with Noel, you need to get this question correct.

We asked 100 married men..
"Would you trust your wife to give you a shave with a cut throat razor?"
How many men said YES?

I'll go LOWER again here. I've been burned by being optimistic once, so I'll be pessimistic about human trust here as well

You're saying LOWER than 50.. The correct answer is...

52
So it wash HIGHER!

Oof!

We have to waste another Babushka, but that was a close one! I will at this stage point out these questions are chosen randomly from a pack of hundreds

Nice

We know Noel had at least £500
**£500**
Perfection would be a 0 here...
**£5,000**
Nope.
That means both £500 remain in play
Did he have 10k?
**£10,000**
He did.
Rather uncomfortable
Like Philip, did Noel hide £25,000?
**£25,000**
Possibly!
PLEASE no more...

Oh my word...

**£0**
Well well well!
That provides us with a BIG gap early on!

JACKPOT
£50,000
-
-
£10,000
£10,000
£5,000
£5,000
£500
£500

Interesting strategy emerging here if I can ever get a question right haha

Well, Q3 coming after you've selected Babushka 3...

I'll pick Fern

Fern is ready for action after this..

We asked 100 married men..
"Were you drunk when you asked your wife to marry you?"
How many men said YES?

I'm not sure how many would even admit to it, so I'll go LOWER again.

LOWER..
PLEASE be right..

9
YES!

Finally you're in active play with a Babushka. Fern, as we know, contains at least £500. Show us.

**£500**
There it is.

Now, you have the decision of banking that £500 (Stay) or Opening more of the Babushka (play) to see if there's more cash inside. the next level is £5,000. David, do you wish to STAY or PLAY?

I've got to PLAY

You've locked in play.. This would be great if it's 5k!

**£5,000**
It is!

£5,000 would be a healthy start to your BANK total if you decided to STAY... But £10,000 sounds rather tasty..
So, with that in mind David. STAY or PLAY?

PLAY

OK! An empty would see us stuck on £0...

**£10,000**
It's not empty! £10,000!

Now, because of the first two Babushka's you selected this is a fascinating decision..
There's a £40,000 jump up to £50,000, which is, if there is any more in Fern, what she is guaranteed to have
You do have a peek, but is it too early to play that?

I'll hold it and PLAY

You could BANK £10,000 here... But he hasn't!

Playing on! We need to see £25,000 so we know she'll have the 50k!

**£0**
OH NO. You've lost that £10,000 and your BANK stays on £0..

Oh well

JACKPOT
£50,000
-
-
-
£10,000
£5,000
£5,000
£500
£500

Three of the middle amounts have gone. Both of the two big babushka's in play, including the £445,000 babushka.
Please select Babushka #4

Cameron!

Cameron is now lit! Hopefully you'll be playing him. You will if you get the question correct.

We asked 100 teenage boys..
"If you took a girl to the cinema, would you expect to see much of the film?"
How many boys said YES?

I think this one could be close to 50, actually. So I'll use my 80/20

Ok, good decision I hope! You now have to answer HIGHER or LOWER than 80...

Lower, I think it'll be another one near 50

LOWER than 80..

40
Exactly half! So a great choice and Cameron is now in play

I have no idea what I'd have picked without that lifeline, so it was indeed a nice safe play!

I will tell you here that your PEEK cannot be used on the 8th Babushka

Right
Cameron, show us £500

**£500**
There it is. Need I have to ask?

PLAY

PLAY

**£5,000**
It's there!

Now, are you going to just BANK that so you know you'll have something to play with in the final round? STAY or PLAY?

I cannot bear to walk away from that jackpot so PLAY

Playing on..
Will we see 10k?

**£0**
Nope.

JACKPOT
£50,000
-
-
-
£10,000
-
£5,000
£500
£500

What do you make of the situation, David?

All I need to do is get to a £50k, just once, and then Peek to see if it's the jackpot. That's the entire gameplan

Hopefully you find one of the big two paired with a correct answer then! Your 5th Babushka please.

Cilla!

Cilla is Looking very majestic in her lit up glory. The question which is important now at this stage you get right..

We asked 100 people..
"When you first read a menu, which column do you look at first - The food or The Price?"
How many people said they look at the PRICE first?

Remember, you do have a switch if you don't like that question

I think it'll be the food more often. So LOWER

LOWER you've gone for...

27
And it is lower!

Cilla is now in play! We know she has £500.

**£500**

Do you think she's got £5,000? STAY or PLAY?

I sure hope so, haha! PLAY

Cilla... PLEASE keep David on the right track and have £5k...

**£5,000**
Yes!

Good. Now, you said your gameplay was to try and hit £50,000. Will you stick to that? We'll find out what David does, after the break.

Welcome back! Now, before the break, David was shown £5,000 but has a decision to make. Does he STAY and make the first BANK of the night, or play on for more..

PLAY

Cilla, for David to get to the £50,000 we need you now to show £10,000.. Please?

**£10,000**
Nice! This is where you fell short last time.

It's got to be PLAY

OK! A play. As I was saying, if she shows us £25,000 now we know she'll have at least 50.. Or have we once again fell short? Cilla?

**£25,000**
GET IN!!!

Which means she has to have £50,000!

**£50,000**

What a moment.. You've already told us what you're going to do, but I need you to confirm that for me

PEEK!

What a time to use the peek. You have found that Cilla's worth is a minimum of £50,000. When we peek inside Cilla even more, if we discover that she is hiding the JACKPOT, we can all get very excited at the thought of hundreds of thousands of pounds being taken through to the final round. Cilla.. Show us what you've got and PLEASE let it be the Jackpot..

BANK £50,000

JACKPOT
-
-
-
-
£10,000
-
£5,000
£500
£500

You've played with 5 Babushka's so far and these are who you have left
NIGEL
HUGH
JOANNA
HOLLY
YVETTE
Who is going to be your 6th babushka?

Joanna!

Joanna comes into play. If you get this question right, you'll play her. Get it wrong and we'll waste her worth and your £50,000 BANK will be halved to £25,000. David...

We asked 100 single women under the age of 25..
"If your Mother were divorced, would you go on a double date with her?"
How many women said YES?

You have the SWITCH to play if need be

I am going to have to SWITCH this.

You've SWITCHED. That was your third and final lifeline. The answer to the question was

39
So it would have been lower

Here comes your new question.

We asked 100 married women..
"When you and your husband argue in bed, does he ever escape by hiding in the covers?"
How many women said YES?

I'll go HIGHER than 50

HIGHER than 50.. Did more than 50 women say that their husband hides under the covers?

19
NO!!! A lot less than 50, actually..

Ouch

First of all, we have to halve your Bank..

BANK: £50,000
BANK; £25,000

There we go. Next, we have to see what Joanna was hiding. As always, we know she had £500

**£500**
There's still two of them out there so hopefully that was all she had..
**£5,000**
Nope. She had more.
Any more than that?
**£10,000**
Which means, David...

If we open Joanna again and find £25,000.. there's nothing in the way of 10k and the Jackpot, so did she in fact contain the £445,000 Jackpot tonight? Please say you haven't wasted it with a wrong answer..

Oh my goodness...

BANK: £25,000

JACKPOT
-
-
-
-
-
-
£5,000
£500
£500

And even if I found it first time it could have been halved twice... Oh my word

If you decide to play for the Jackpot amount, then you now have a 50/50 chance of selecting the right Babushka
(That's if you get both Q's right). We're now onto our 7th babushka. Who is it to be?

Hugh!

Who?
OH Hugh!

Right...
If you get this question wrong, once again you'll be halved. This time to £12,500.

We asked 100 Japanese women..
"Have you ever kissed your Husband in public?"..
How many women said YES?

I'll guess LOWER purely based on how many of their husbands work such long hours that being out in public is hardly a thing... And I'm half expecting to be wrong.

LOWER than 50 you say.. PLEASE let David be correct..

0
YES, that's right! ZERO was the answer, so you're 100% correct! Phew..

Oh wow

Now this really is going to be an interesting play. Hugh has at least £500.

**£500**
And there it is.

Now, do you take that, not wishing to do damage the the £25,000, knowing that could become over £250,000 in the final round? OR Is it just too much to bare missing out on the Jackpot Babushka?

Seeing as even £6,250 could go a whole lot bigger I have to PLAY

PLAY it is. The tension is quite something, David.

Hugh.. Please, PLEASE don't let us down.

**£5,000**
WOAH!

Here's the details you probably already know.. BANK that, and your total would rise to £30,000. Play on, and if Hugh shows us £10,000, we know he's hiding the JACKPOT. Talk me through your though process.

I'm thinking I'm very happy with a worst-case scenario of taking £6,250 to the endgame. It's a sensible, solid stake.
That makes the risk very easy to tolerate. And the reward? Well, it's absurd isn't it?
PLAY!

David is once again playing on for that JACKPOT! Join us after the break for the third part of this game, where, David is one reveal away from hundreds of thousands of pounds being added to his BANK.

Welcome back to the third part of tonight's Babushka, where we're about to see if David has found the JACKPOT Babushka in LIVE play.

You've decided to PLAY. Babushka Hugh.. for hundreds of thousands of reasons, everybody would love to see you show us £10,000. Hopefully David will be playing for MILLIONS in the final round!

BANK: £12,500

JACKPOT
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
£500
£500

What a scenario. Nigel, Holly and Yvette remain. One of them hold the Jackpot and amazing possibilities, two of them hold the lowest value of £500. Get the question right, and all three of them will give us some of the most intense scenes we've ever seen. Please, select your 8th and final Babushka before the final round.

Holly is the choice

Holly you've chosen. Will we be playing babushka Holly? Let's see your Question.

We asked 100 policemen..
"Who stays calmer in an emergency - Men or Women?"
How many police officers said MEN stay calmer?

This question could lead you to £445,000 so think carefully.

Ugh. I'm going to assume the worst about men's thoughts about women, and go HIGHER than 50 here.

You've opted for HIGHER. If you're right and the answer is HIGHER.. Prepare for one heck of a Babushka opening
If it's LOWER, £6,250 will be taken through to the final round.

Is the answer HIGHER?

80
It is!

It's on... It's on..

It really is on! Holly.. show us £500

**£500**

With the way you've played and talked.. I'm 99.9% sure I know what you're going to do here. Confirm that please..

PLAY!

If the next level is £5,000, you're going straight to the JACKPOT. If that happens, you're taking £457,500 through to the final round and you could be on for taking home the highest cash prize EVER in British Gameshow History. David... I wish you all possible good luck here. Babushka Holly... Show us what you've got!

The BABUSHKA FINAL will be played right after this ad break. See you for the final part in a few minutes.

Welcome back. It's now time to play the BABUSHKA FINAL

The 10 Babushka's you played with earlier have been cleared of cash and now contain only one thing inside them. Either a GOLD Babushka or a BLACK Babushka.

NINE of our Babushka's contain GOLD, while only ONE of the Babushka's hold BLACK.

For each GOLD Babushka you find, your total winnings will go up. Let's see the percentage ladder, remembering we're working with the money you have brought through from the main game..

1000%
500%
400%
300%
200%
100%
50%
30%
10%
Archie
Each GOLD Babushka you find will see you step up that ladder. After each Babushka you open, you'll be asked whether you'd like to STAY and take home the money accumulated or PLAY hoping to find another GOLD Babushka.

Here's the only snag.

If at any point you find the BLACK Babushka, you will lose EVERYTHING and leave the game empty handed...

Are those rules clear?

Yup!

So, for 10% of your total... Please select a Babushka which you think contains GOLD

Noel!

For £625, Babushka Noel, open up and show us gold..

**GOLD**
£625 will be yours if you decide to STAY

But nope, I'm going to PLAY with Cameron.

However, PLAY and find your second GOLD and you'll sit with £1,875.

It's a PLAY! Cameron.. Do you have gold?

**GOLD**
He does!

So, you can STAY and take home £1,875. OR you could play for £3,125..

I'll PLAY and go for Yvette!

Yvette had the JACKPOT in earlier.. What does she have now?

**GOLD**
Your third gold!

You're now only one gold away from reaching the £6,250 you banked in the main game. Would you like to play for it?

Certainly would! And it'll be Nigel.

Here we go then. Is this a fourth GOLD taking us back up to £6,250? I do hope so..

**GOLD**
Your next GOLD will double that, taking you up to £12,500. Would you like to STAY or PLAY?

PLAY, Holly

Just one slip up will cost you everything.. Babushka Holly, PLEASE keep David in play..

**GOLD**
She has!

5 down.. £18,750 is your next cash amount at 300% if you want to play..

£12,500 is a good result, and a 20% chance of a loss scares me. I'm out of here!

Can you confirm a STAY please?

STAY!

David, you have decided to STAY at 200% which equals £12,500! Congratulations!

Just for fun... Which doll would you have chose next?

Joanna

Joanna would have been....

**GOLD**
Taking you to 300%.. Would that have risen to 400%?

Hugh first

**GOLD**
Would have taken you to £25,000!

Cilla!

Cilla?

**BLACK**
What a coincidence!

So apparently the way to win big was thinking Cilla Black!!

Cilla had black and would have ruined your game!
What a gripping game you gave us, David! Your gameplay was ferocious and on another day you would have left here with hundreds of thousands of pounds. However, £12,500 is yours to take away!

I thoroughly enjoyed that game and I hope you did too. Join us next time on Babushka to see if our player can discover the home of the Jackpot Babushka and have as much a successful final round as David did!

Just remember, With our Babushka's, it's what's inside that counts. Goodnight!

Great play, KP, but unfortunately the Babushkas didn't fall in your favor.

I'd come in with the same strategy: play the front game aggressively until I hit the jackpot, but even if I only take a small amount to the endgame I only play for 200% at most

At some point fairly early on I figured that the jackpot was providing such a massive distortion that I had to have that one-dimensional strategy. The double £25k opening probably made it a lot clearer, especially in terms of the Peek.

I don't know how far I'd have gone if I did take the jackpot through. Quite possibly only to 30%, as I'd still have six figures in that scenario...