The Circle (British TV series)

The Circle is a British reality television series and the original version of The Circle franchise. Produced by Studio Lambert and Motion Content Group and airing on Channel 4 The Circle, the series bills itself as a game based around social media, with the concept that "anyone can be anyone in The Circle". Throughout the series, contestants live in the same apartment building but are never allowed to meet. The series is narrated by Sophie Willan, whilst the first and last episode of the first series were hosted by Maya Jama and Alice Levine, later replaced by Emma Willis for the second series. The series has been compared to Big Brother and Catfish in format,[4] as well as Black Mirror episode "Nosedive" with the concept of having to rate other people.[5]

This article is about the British series. For other editions, see The Circle (franchise).

The Circle
Genre	Reality
Creative director(s)	Tim Harcourt
Presented by	Maya Jama Alice Levine Emma Willis
Narrated by	Sophie Willan
Theme music composer	Patrizio Knight
Opening theme	"The Circle Theme"[1][2]
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	40
Production
Executive producer(s)	Tim Harcout Daisy Lilly Toni Ireland Cam de la Huerta Martin Oxley
Camera setup	Fixed rig
Running time	60-95 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production company(s)	Studio Lambert[3] Motion Content Group
Distributor	All3Media[3]
Release
Original network	Channel 4
Picture format	HDTV 1080i
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	18 September 2018 (2018-09-18) – present
Chronology
Related shows	The Circle US The Circle Brazil The Circle France
External links
Website

The first series was won by 26-year-old Internet comedian Alex Hobern, who had played the game claiming to be a 25-year-old woman called Kate, using photos of his real-life girlfriend Millie. Hobern also won the "viewers champion" for an additional £25,000, claiming £75,000 in total. The second series was won by Paddy Smyth, with Tim Wilson winning the "viewers champion" vote. In June 2020, it was announced that The Circle will return with a third series, as well as a celebrity series for Stand Up to Cancer in 2021.[6]

Format

The show's contestants, or "players", all move into a refurbished block of flats in Salford (previously London). However, the contestants will never meet face-to-face during the course of the competition, as they will each live in their own individual flat. They will communicate solely using their profiles on a specially-designed app, giving them the ability to portray themselves in any way they choose.[7][8][9]

Throughout the game the players rate one another. In season 1, the players rated each other from 1 to 5 stars. In future seasons, players had to rank their fellow players from most to least Favourite. At the end of the ratings, their average scores are revealed. Normally, the two highest rated players become "influencers", while the remaining players will be at risk of being "blocked" by the influencers. However, occasionally there may be a twist to the blocking process - varying from the lowest rating players being instantly blocked, the identy of the influencers being a secret, or multiple players being blocked at one time. Blocked players are eliminated from the game, but are given the opportunity to briefly meet one player still in the game.

During the final, the contestants rate each other one final time, where the highest rated player wins the series and receives a £50,000 cash prize (£70,000 in series 2).[9][8] The viewers also get to choose their "viewers champion" out of the finalists, with the winner of this receiving £25,000 (£30,000 in series 2).

Production

The Circle app

Each apartment that the players live in is plastered with screens in every room in order for the players be able to hold conversations with other players as they go about their everyday lives. Each player starts out the game by creating a profile. This includes sharing their age, relationship status, a short bio, and one photo to use as their profile picture. Everyday, the players are allowed to share a status update, explaining their thoughts for the day. Sometimes, either through rewards or passing a certain milestone, the players are allowed to upload another photo to their profile.[10] Throughout the competition the Circle app remains the only way players can communicate with each other.[10]

During a typical episode, the Circle prompts participation in a minigame. Tim Harcourt of Studio Lambert says that "some games were really good for bonding them, some were really good for them learning about each other, some were good for testing who's a catfish, some could have been more divisive."[10]

Most episodes also included a rating exercise. Each player would rank others in The Circle, then an average score would determine the overall placements of each player. Depending on how high or low their average placement was, the player's ranking would determine whether they became an influencer. Typically the two players with the top rankings would be Influencers, with the advantage of determining the player being eliminated, or "blocked."[10][11]

Apartment building

The first season of the show was produced in London.

From the second season of The Circle, production was moved to a new apartment building in Salford, England - this also became the location of production for other versions of the show.[12] The apartment building is always prepared with twelve furnished and ready-to-use apartments for the players to live in.[13] The building also has an exercise room and a rooftop lounge, which are also outfitted with cameras and television screens.[14] One room in the building, called "the testimonial room," is the room players go to after they are blocked to create their goodbye video to the remaining players.[15] On the outside of the building is a large, lit up circle made of a roughly 82-foot (25-meter) diameter aluminum track with LED lights strung through and around the circle.[13]

Opposite the apartment building was the control room, which was previously a college campus that became disused.[13] At any time in the control room, there were between twenty and thirty producers and camera operators working, recording, and sending all the messages from The Circle.[13]

Series overview

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes	Players	Winner		Viewers' Champion
					Player	Prize	Player	Prize
1	18 September 2018 (2018-09-18)	8 October 2018 (2018-10-08)	18	15	Alex Hobern "Kate"	£50,000	Alex Hobern "Kate"	£25,000
2	24 September 2019 (2019-09-24)	18 October 2019 (2019-10-18)	22		Paddy Smyth	£70,000	Tim Wilson	£30,000

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
2020	National Television Awards	Challenge Show	The Circle	Nominated

References

1. "About". www.patrizio-knight.com. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
2. Knight, Patrizio. "The Circle Theme (Extended)". SoundCloud. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
3. "C4 commissions The Circle from Studio Lambert and Motion Content Group". www.channel4.com. 16 May 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
4. White, Peter. "Netflix Remakes Studio Lambert's British Reality Series 'The Circle' In The U.S. & Two Other Global Markets". Deadline. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
5. Abdulbaki, Mae (26 September 2019). "Netflix's New Reality Competition The Circle Is Already Super Popular In The U.K." Cinema Blend. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
6. "'The Circle': Channel 4 Confirms Season 3 & Celebrity Edition, As Studio Lambert Tweaks Format Amid COVID-19". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
7. "WATCH: How does Channel 4's The Circle work?". www.channel4.com.
8. Donaldson, Laura (11 September 2018). "The Circle on Channel 4: What is it and when does it start? All the details". OK!.
9. Draper, James (17 September 2018). "The Circle: Start date and all you need to know about new Channel 4 show". Daily Mirror.
10. Turchiano, Danielle (1 January 2020). "'The Circle' Boss on Connecting 'People Who Otherwise Might Not Have Come into Contact with Each Other' — And Catfishing". variety.com. Variety. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
11. Fallo, Julie (3 January 2020). "The Circle: US Version Has a Shot at Succeeding From All the Right Changes". screenrant.com. Screen Rant. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
12. Anderton, Joe. "The Circle may be coming back sooner than you think". Digital Spy.
13. Haylock, Zoe (21 January 2020). "The Circle's Creator Guides Us Through the Show's Beautiful Web of Lies". vulture.com. Vulture. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
14. Netflix (14 January 2020). "Go Inside The Circle Apartment Complex with Michelle Buteau – Netflix". youtube.com. YouTube. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
15. Fuentes, Tamara (14 January 2020). "Exclusive: Go Behind the Scenes of "The Circle" and Check Out the Apartments". seventeen.com. Seventeen. Retrieved 23 January 2020.

External links

• The Circle at Channel 4
• The Circle at UKGameshows.com