3 Divided By 3

Divided is a British game show, first broadcast on 18 May 2009. The programme is produced by Endemol for ITV1, and is hosted by Andrew Castle with Charlotte Hudson as the Question Master for Series 1, and Rachel Pierman as the Question Master for Series 2.

Format

A team of 3 complete strangers are tasked to answer up to 15 general knowledge questions to amass as much money for a communal pot as possible. The round structure is as follows:

• Round 1 has 5 questions, each worth up to £3,000, making a potential maximum of £15,000.
• Round 2 has 4 questions, each worth up to £7,500, making a potential maximum of a further £30,000 (running total: £45,000).
• Round 3 has 3 questions, each worth up to £15,000, making a potential maximum of a further £45,000 (running total: £90,000).
• Round 4 has 2 questions, each worth up to £30,000, making a potential maximum of a further £60,000 (running total: £150,000).
• Round 5 has 1 question, worth up to a further £75,000, making a potential grand total of £225,000.

Each question is either in the format of a multiple choice question, with one of three answers being correct, or the question is to put 3 answers in a particular order (for example, to put the first names of 3 Harry Potter characters into alphabetical order). If a team makes it to the fifth round and decided to play, the question has 3 possible answers and the team must select all of the correct answers, of which there may be more than one. The value of each question falls by 1% for every second taken before an answer is submitted. For example, in Round 1, each second of hesitation costs £30, in Round 2: £75, in Round 3: £150, in Round 4: £300 and in Round 5: £750. Each question has a time limit of 100 seconds to come to a unanimous decision about the right answer/order and press an illuminated red triangle on the desk to lock in their answer. If the answer is correct and the studio goes green, then the amount of money remaining is added to the pot. If the answer is wrong and the studio goes red, then whatever money that is in the pot at the time is halved, and one mistake is earned. If a team earns 3 mistakes, then they are relegated from the show with nothing.

When each round is completed, the team is given 15 seconds to come to a unanimous decision about whether to play on, or stop and get promoted to dividing whatever money has been earned. If the team does not come to a unanimous decision after 15 seconds or the team elects to play, then the next round will start automatically.

If the team elects to stop and get promoted to cash dividing round at any time, then they are made aware of how much has been won, and that is what will be divided between them. However, the shares are unequal: the players are shown 3 shares marked A, B and C. Share A ...