Brand New BBC Prime Time Quiz Show Commission

Zinc Media Group is pleased to announce the commission of a multi-million pound BBC prime time quiz show, due to air on BBC One and iPlayer later in 2025.

Production for the new quiz format called The Inner Circle is underway in Glasgow and is being produced by Tern TV. It will be hosted by TV and Radio presenter Amanda Holden. Airing on Saturday nights and weekday early evenings, the show has initially been commissioned for 25 episodes with members of the public taking part as contestants, plus a further six celebrity specials bringing star power to these prime time episodes.

Zinc owns the programme and format IP for this show, with international programme and format sales being led by BBC Studios.

This commission marks the culmination of a highly competitive tender process initially involving over 100 companies.

The series was initially anticipated for commission in FY24 and its movement into FY25’s pipeline was reflected in Zinc’s last trading update on 20 November 2024.

This new commission follows the launch of Zinc’s entertainment label, Electric Violet, announced in November 2024. The label further expands the Group outside factual television into the highly attractive entertainment genre, with the associated IP ownership which comes with it.

Post production will take place at Zinc’s recently established Bumblebee post production Glasgow facility which is co-located in Tern TV’s new production offices in the city. 

Mark Browning, Chief Executive Officer, Zinc Media Group, comments: “This is another milestone achievement for us. It is our first foray into the much loved prime time quiz format, and we’re very excited about this diversification in our product offer and the huge opportunity in the entertainment genre. The commisioning of The Inner Circle is a clear demonstration of Zinc Media’s versatility, with expansion from factual television into entertainment. It is also further evidence that Zinc’s unrivaled portfolio of substantive production bases in the UK Nations and Regions gives us a commercial advantage in this highly competitive market.”

Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment at the BBC comments: “We’re delighted to bring viewers a gripping new quiz, that for the first time, they’ll be able to play along with six days a week. Getting the answers right on this show is only half the battle – contestants also need to decide who they trust enough to keep in the game, all under the watchful eye of the brilliantly mischievous Amanda Holden.”