Five Minutes to a Fortune is a British game show, which aired on Channel 4 from 6 April 2013 to 5 May 2013 and was hosted by Davina McCall.
It offered pairs of contestants the chance to win a top prize of £50,000 (or £100,000 for celebrity specials).
[1] In the studio stands a 15-foot (4.6 m) hourglass filled with tokens that represent an initial prize pot of £50,000.
Frequently, the Game Player must respond in an unconventional manner, such as spelling the answer backwards or by using the numbers on a touch-tone telephone keypad.
The Game Player may guess on any question as many times as desired, but can move on to a new one only by giving the correct answer or passing.
Once time runs out, the tokens start to drain into the lower section and the prize pot begins to decrease accordingly, at a steady rate of £625 every three seconds (£12,500 per minute, and thus 4 total allotted minutes for the money to drain) The round continues until either the Game Player gives a fifth correct answer or the hourglass has completely emptied.
If the Time Keeper names any five of the hidden answers before the hourglass is empty, the draining stops and the contestants split the remaining money.
Contestant auditions took place in London, Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Edinburgh.