Mondays, 9pm
ITV2
Well here we are then, perhaps unexpectedly, perhaps not, Release the Hounds has made it to a full series after a pilot last Halloween. Which I thought was disappointing. And then international one-offs for it haven’t done very well either. Still someone thinks it’s worth bothering with and we really hope the series lives up to the promise we think the show can have.
Three friends enter an estate and partake in horror-based challenges to earn keys which unlock chests full of money. However to keep the money they must outrun a pack of hounds over a straight line course. Meanwhile Reggie Yates laughs at them from the safety of his commentary box.
One of the criticisms we had of the original were that the tasks were basically unfailable which didn’t help tension, and that it all didn’t feel quite scary and creepy enough, although the final challenge which was in effect loads of jump scares in a forest at night showed off some of the potential of the format. It looks very much like they’re going for more traditional fear based tropes in their challenges this time round – a locked phone box that fills with water, tarantulas, the dark, locked phone boxes that fill with water and tarantulas in the dark, that sort of thing. I really hope it works out, because it’s Very Much The Sort Of Thing We Ought To Like.
Let us know what you think.
From the advert on youtube, we know that the cash values are changed to 3k, 6k and 9k being a maximum of £18,000 meaning 6 grand each.. which i think should of been better to be more for 30,000 (£10,000) per player in the different cases like 5k, 10k and 15k.
Also i like that they found a real estate with actual walls rather than the fencing. Still i wonder though they should have the idea of having 5 games to play under a strict time limit in order to win at least 3 keys for the full prize. Also i’d like the idea that they can hold onto the key and go get another one but those who run get closer to the dogs like normal.
One part in and it feels like a better thought out show already. I love the faxt that the challenges actually mean something this time, and that first challenge was a fairly easy but appreciably Boyardesque one.
A lot better than the pilot (which I liked) but I’m still not sold of Reggie Yates.
Is he supposed to be helping or hindering the contestants? Shows like this seem to work better when the person hosting the show is either a character, or playing a character. I know Yates is to appeal to ‘the yoofs’ but he just seems out of place in a show like this.
I am shocked but i am enjoying this. I agree with Brig in the respect that they have fixed some of the core problems of the first show which really does help the show. The games being better, the set being a big improvement and of course more tension.
However when we get down to the final person we have a bit of a problem, nobody for the player to talk to or bounce ideas off. They needed to have 2 people left at the end and run for the money or more input from the host.
As for bigger prizes well this is ITV2 i think an 18k jackpot is very good.
Well they’ve taken on board everything I said from the pilot, so I’ll take my consultancy fee thanks.
Reggie is still the weak point I think, but it feels like a much better thought out show with much better challenges (although the rat cage wasn’t as funny as ‘read me a story’, the contestants making their way around the dark house made up for it rather.) Good casting, and well edited to show the relationships off – love that I tweeted that James was quite clearly trying to get out of the final challenge only for Reggie to make the same point afterwards.
Love that the challenges actually mean something regarding the hounds now, really intrigued to find out how they work out the timings – felt rather harsh for the first two then rather easy for the denouement. Really like the moving gate as a piece of set, but in moving the headstart back there’s an unfortunate element of double jeopardy (farther to run and less of a headstart to run it), think I’d prefer a hybrid of this and the German one with a standard distance to run and a variable dog start.
Amused by the ending, and I guess we’ll never find out what happened in the van.
All in all a massive improvement as a show and I hope that reflects in the numbers, will certainly be tuning in next week.
Ha ha, just reading the comments in Facebook, several people enquiring what happens to the losers. DO NOT TELL THEM!
Many people also commenting it wasn’t as scary as the pilot. I think they were basically on a level, but it felt much funnier this time round.
The same thing happened on Whodunnit? in the US last summer- so much so they had to add the post-episode interviews with the eliminated person in their makeup…
Yes I know, and it was a cop out then.
I thought the new series had a good start, however What should be done is this in my opinion.
First off, the cash values should be booted up from 3,6,9k to 5,10 and 15k giving the team a chance at a 30k cash pot.
Also, a graphic should be placed on the bottom right on how far the gate is rather than jumping back and forth from the footage of the challenge to the gate and back. It would really show how long the players take.
After finishing a challenge, rather than having the players run after winning the key, the challengers can have the option on moving on rather than having one go to the run, meaning more cash to play for but more to risk, for example if they complete the first challenge but decide to move on and then get the second challenge, 2 players will run the gauntlet together for 15k on the one run. If they choose to run, both players run together at the same spot.
It would make the hound chase even better.
Also, rather than just having the contestants after being caught by the dogs be left there, the contestants should be allowed to climb over the wall freely but without the backpack.. also Reggie should be allowed to have a few words with the losing runner before he allows them to leave but they can only leave by walking the way back home instead.
whilst I like the gameplay element you suggest, the art of this show pretty much lies in the(relative) simplicity of the game play beside the horror. Having reggie explain the “carry on or run the dogs” would rather detract from the fear i think.
I love the lack of a losers interview, they bore me on shows anyway. let them rot!
Controversial opinion here, I quite liked reggie. just hear me out. Obviously, when watching, my first thought was to Estate of Panic as the most recent vaguely similar effort. And i thought about a richard valentine style host here, and it didn’t sit right. Why would a maniacal host be chatting to them? I think the ham would push it the wrong side of horror into humour. I think reggie does a pretty good job of cutting through the horror just enough, being the team’s pal and their enemy. I seriously thought he did a great job on it.
I certainly don’t hate Reggie, and I note they’ve kept him more to functional level this time round. I also understand from a demographic point of view why he was picked, because it’s easier to humanize an outre concept (sod off Brig) when it’s fronted by someone the ITV2 demographic sees as sound, whereas as soon as someone uses the word “verily” the ITV2 audience goes *poof*, unless they played it highly ironically which would be a massive shame, I quite like the idea that they’ve played it basically straight. Amusingly if it was on ITV1 you probably could get away with more of a character as the broader audience are likely to buy into it a bit easier.
I’m quite pleased that we’ve basically got The 7th Guest on telly, in tone if not in content.
BBC One
Bargain Hunt 1.75 (33.8%)
Perfection 0.68 (13.3%)
Antiques Road Trip 1.56 (17.9%)
Pointless 2.76 (22.5%)
BBC Two
Pressure Pad 0.25 (2.9%)
Flog It! (R) 0.66 (5.4%)
Two Tribes 0.99 (6.6%)
Eggheads 1.06 (6.6%)
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip 1.52 (7.9%)
University Challenge 2.81 (13.1%)
Only Connect 1.96 (9.1%)
ITV
Dickinson’s Real Deal 0.63 (11.9%)
Who’s Doing the Dishes 0.80 (10.6%)
The Chase 2.35 (20.2%)
Channel 4
Countdown 0.41 (7.4%)
Deal or No Deal 0.59. (7.8%)
Come Dine With Me 0.76 (6.6%)
ITV 2
The X Factor (R) 0.43 (2.0%)
Release the Hounds 0.51 (2.3%)
Sky 1
Duck Quacks Don’t Echo 0.31 (1.4%)
All include HD and +1 where appropriate.
Release the Hounds’ share is 116% of the 13 week slot average. It is the 16th highest rating for the network in that slot (Monday, 21:00) over the past 52 weeks.
Thanks Paul, pleased with that I think.
seems like pressure pad is due to be pulled based on those figures…
I doubt it’ll get pulled, although I’m not sure why it was a third down on last years figures when it was shown on BBC1, it’s still an OK show.
It’s been badly treated. BBC2 afternoons are now the archive zone so it’s not somewhere where viewers look for new entertainment. I don’t understand the scheduling at all. At the very least, if it’s coming back for a new series, start it on BBC2 – don’t switch channels after two weeks.
“Chavs meet Scooby Doo”. Broadcast magazine’s Talking TV podcast is a game show special, discussing the fall of “Rising Star”, talking with BBC commissioner Emma Willis of “Bake Off”, and a preview of “Release the Hounds”. That’s https://soundcloud.com/broadcastnow/talking-tv-30
For me, “Release the Hounds” was too much of a leap straight after UC and OC. I’m enthused enough to find it on catchup later in the week.
Didn’t see the pilot but thought this was entertaining enough to watch again next week. Definately feels like it should be better though.
Reggie is OK but I think it’s the sort of show which would be better hosted by a character rather than a presenter. Not 100% sure on the actual format either – the dog run feels very separate from the challenges.
Think it would be better if after each round if they win money they get the option to run with it and lose a member for the next challenge or carry it forward.
Didn’t think ep two as good as ep one, tasks were good, didn’t feel particularly funny or scary. Pity, but I guess some will be better than others.
Another funny episode with good tasks although for me I can’t get scared by it. But as long as it’s either/or, that’s fine I think.
I like that the final challenge was a bit like two Boyard games sandwiched together.
If nothing else the casting of this show has been top notch, really fun team to watch tonight.
Tonight’s was the first one filmed I reckon.
That definitely had a slightly different feel to the others, Reggie seemed much more formal, less of an emphasis on laughs. Still enjoyed it, mind.
It’s the last one of these tonight, and I’ve very much enjoyed the series – rarely less than good, occasionally very good and regularly providing proper laugh out loud moments (which for me is actually quite rare). Very well cast as well in the main, I thought. The changes from the pilot have been smart.
I think the tasks are probably a bit too simple in the main, I’d have loved to see a few things a bit more Crystal Maze-esque devious (in terms of challenge design I would certainly try and head more towards Crystal-Maze-with-scary-stuff than The Door here-is-a-horrible-thing-deal-with-it which I’ve seen the show compared to), and the gamesmaster bit of me still suspects the dog run would be better as a standard course with a variable headstart (although I do love the gate as a piece of set) to abolish double jeopardy.
I’m very much hoping it’s done well enough for an even better second series at any rate.
Regardless as to whether he was the correct choice or not, Reggie Yates has been consistantly entertaining with his offhand arch comments.
Does anyone know how long the runs are? I can never guess as the camera angles are weird. Thanks
160m minus the headstart, if the opening graphic is anything to go by.
OMG Celeb Release the Hounds at Christmas. Awesome.
How do they find the contestants for this
There is a link for it. it’s itv.com/beontv
To illustrate my point a bit, the mannequin game I thought was really quite good, great set up, decent test of observation, good use of progression, good laughs.
The snake blood game is a bit less successful – difficult to sustain repetitive action like that for too long without some other element but what a brilliant bit of set design which saves it rather.
The jack in the box game was a dud – needle in haystack games are very difficult to make look interesting and this was no exception rats or no rats although I did enjoy the build up, and also rather wished a man jumped out of the giant box at the end there.
The Dutch version airs tonight on Fox.
I’m thinking of applying for the next series next year…
Should I go for it???
Why not? Just be warned that if it’s anything like the last series, they won’t tell you that’s what you’re applying for, so look out for ‘unnamed adventure show’.
They’re releasing the celebs for celeb Release the Hounds, it sounds like The Cheeky Girls are involved. Amazing. And Wagner!
Edit: Ashley and Jordan Banjo and Perri Kelly from Diversity are the contestants.
When is this aired in the UK for release the hounds with diversity?
18th December.
Well Christmas Special was hugely fun, well done everyone.
I quite liked the on-screen gate time but also thought it was a bit distracting and took you out of the scene a little bit, would probably try it without solid red background next time, and Atmosfear-esque 150m sign a bit unnecessary.
Still though.
573k last night, which strikes me as rather good.