British game shows like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire have become huge-rated hits. In 1999, the average viewership for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was up to 19 million, and due to their popularity, some countries have created their own adaptations.
To find the UK’s biggest game show copycats, the team at Spin Genie UK has looked at the UK’s most popular shows, considering the number of episodes and series, the IMDb ratings and the number of international spin-offs. The team have also explored search data in each show’s longest-running international spin-off to gauge its fame in other countries.
The Chase is the most successful British game show across the world, with 19 international versions
1. The Chase - Game show score: 7.79/10
With a regular audience of between three and five million, The Chase is one of the UK’s most successful and longest-running game shows. The British ITV quiz show is known for its intense trivia, sharp Chasers, and host Bradley Wash. It has won multiple awards, including the National Television Award in 2016, 2017, and 2019 and the British Academy Television Award for Best Daytime in 2022.
The show has been adapted for 19 countries, including Australia, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, and the United States. The Chase held the longest-running spin-off show in the US, running for ten years between 2013 and 2023, featuring stars such as Sara Haines, James Holzhauer, and Brad Rutter. The second season, which aired in 2021, premiered to over four million American viewers.
2. Come Dine with Me - Game show score: 7.44/10
In second place is the popular cooking game show Come Dine with Me. It is well-loved in the UK due to its memorable TV moments, in whichmany fans have dubbed it a staple of British and Irish TV. The show’s appeal lies in its combination of watching ordinary people cook for strangers in their own homes, often resulting in awkward social interactions, strange food choices, and comical commentary from the narrator. Come Dine with Me is one of the most internationally adapted game shows originating from the UK, with 44 versions around the world.
Come Dine with Me has proven an especially successful show in Denmark. Its version of the culinary social experience is titled ‘Til middag hos…’ roughly translated as "To ...’s House for Dinner." The Danish version ran from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2015 to the present.
3. Taskmaster - Game show score: 7.30/10
Taskmaster is a widely recognised and well-loved comedy game show with dedicated fans across the UK. It has been praised for its absurd and often challenging tasks and the comedic interactions between the contestants and host Alex Horne. Taskmaster has gained significant fame internationally through YouTube and has received prestigious awards, including a BAFTA.
Taskmaster received an IMDb rating of 9 out of 10, making it the highest-rated game show on our list. It has proved a success on British television, spawning international versions in Australia, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Canada (Quebec), Sweden, Spain, and the United States.
The most successful adaptation was in Sweden, titled “Bäst i test” (English: Best in Test), which was broadcast from 2017 to 2024. The 2021 season saw episode views of up to 1.7 million Swedish viewers.
The game show with the most UK series’
Come Dine with Me - 55 UK series’
Since its launch in 2005, Come Dine with Me has spanned 55 series, and it continues to gain popularity with several UK spin-offs. These include Couples Come Dine with Me, Celebrity Come Dine with Me, and Come Dine with Me: The Professionals.
The game show with the highest IMDb rating
Taskmaster - 9.0 out of 10
Taskmaster received the highest rating out of 24 UK game shows, with a 9 out of 10 rating from over 23,000 users. The task-based game show was first released in 2015 and has risen in popularity ever since. This stems from the show’s YouTube channel, where reels of a specific task’s best bits or compilations of contestants who “found loopholes” regularly go viral.
The game show with the most international versions
The Million Pound Drop - 56 international versions
International versions of The Million Pound Drop have been exported to over fifty countries, including Thailand, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and the United States. The longest-running international version is in Egypt, titled ‘nta wal milyon’ roughly translated to “Net and a million”, which ran between 2012 and 2019.
The game show with the most searches in its longest-running spin-off country
Taskmaster - Sweden (Bäst i test)
476,200 searches
Sweden’s version of Taskmaster collected the most searches in its country, with 476,200 searches over the last twelve months. Bäst i Test has received a number of awards, including the Kristallen Award in the category Programme of the Year (2019) and The Children’s Cancer Gala - The Swedish Humour Prize (2020).
Methodology
Wikipedia’s List of television game show franchises and a List of British game shows were used to create a seed list of game shows originating from the UK.
The number of regular episodes and series for the UK game show were taken from each show’s Wikipedia page. IMDB was used to find the number of episodes for Come Dine with Me and Hell’s Kitchen. This data is accurate as of 03/01/2025.
IMDB was used to find each UK game show’s rating out of 10.
To find the number of international versions of each game show, each show’s Wikipedia page was used. The title of each international version was added, as well as the running dates.
Google Keyword Planner was used to find the number of searches in each of the longest-running international show’s home countries between December 2023 and November 2024. The keywords used were the UK’s game show title and the international title, using the keywords that returned the highest search volumes.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A4st_i_test
https://www.taskmaster.info/show.php?id=3
