The Boss coming to daytime soon

Susan Calman is to host a daytime quiz for BBC One, Chortle can reveal.

The Boss requires contestants to cooperate with and betray each other in knockout rounds of strategy and general knowledge.

Twenty 45-minute episodes have been ordered, and auditions are beginning for recordings at the BBC's studios at MediaCity in Salford. The comic has also postponed tour dates in Keswick, Leicester, Durham and Hove next month.

In each episode, one contestant becomes The Boss and must decide which of the other five is best suited to answer a mixture of questions, identifying each’s strengths and weaknesses.

To win the cash prize, The Boss must remain in power. At the end of every round, the other contestants can choose to challenge them in a head-to-head battle that will see one eliminated.

Dan McGolpin, the BBC’s Controller of Daytime, said: ‘It’s great news that Susan Calman is joining our line-up. She will bring her natural wit and charm to new quiz The Boss where she will put aspiring leaders through their paces and pull them up on any shortcomings.’

Calman previously hosted The Lie, a quiz on STV in 2014, and currently asks the questions on kid's show Top Class, which pits teams from UK primary schools against each other. It returns for a second series on CBBC on Wednesday.

Daytime quiz shows have become ratings-winners in recent years with both The Chase, featuring Paul Sinha, and Pointless, with Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman, approaching 4million viewers each.

- by Jay Richardson

Published: 20 Jan 2017