One of the reasons the show works so well is because of the bits inbetween games help to round the show out and provide variety. Things will be outlined clearer below.
NOTE: This section will be getting a big restructuring soon!
The show begins with 85
minutes on the clock and Patrice throws down the seventh key into
Salle de Tresor with the tigers. One member of the team is sent
to meet Pere Fouras, another is sent to get ready to swim for the
key. The gong is banged, the clock begins.
NEW FOR 1998! One of the team members is a Coach. He/she is the captain of the team and also determines wh playes the key games (but not the clue games)
After Pere Fouras, the real
games begin. These games are for keys and the team must collect
seven in total. These games are usually tests of physical agility,
skill and on occasions, mental ability.If they weren't out of the
room before the clepsidre (water timer) had finished then they
were locked in and taken to prison.
NEW FOR 98! The players play a game before one is sent to Pere Fouras. Meanwhile, the Coach talks about the charity being played for whilst the contestant is on his/her way.
After six games, there is
another chance for a key with Pere Fouras.
Given that the teams need
six keys before they mix it with the tigers in The Chariot, they
play more games to make up their shortfall. In 97, they are
allowed a maximum of 10 games altogether (including the six
beforehand) before drastic action is taken (in earlier series
where they had to win all seven, they had a maximum of 12 games).
NEW FOR 1998! In the centre of the Fort is the 'Horologue du Tigre'. It has the numbers 1-7 on it. The players must have their seventh key by the time the hand gets round to the 7 (about 50 minutes) otherwise they have to make up the shortfall in the Oubliette. If the contestants are in a game when LaBoulle rings the bell, they are allowed to finish the game.
Next comes The Chariot. Each
member stands behind a coloured tiger. A rat is let loose in the
maze which picks a colour, and whoever that refers to must use
the chariot to get the seventh key.
NEW FOR 1998! The Chariot is not played for keys anymore. It is however a clue game.
The team then
individually play games against The Gamesmasters for time ti
collect treasure in Salle de Tresor.
Members get ready for The
adventures, where they earn clues to a secret password. The first
one is given to them by Pere Fouras. They play as many games as
needed or they have time for.
The grand finale, the
contestants spell out the secret password on the floor of the
Fort. Felindra (the tiger tamer) sets the mechanism in motion. If
they are correct, Boyards tumble and they have the remaining time
to grab as many as they can. They must be out before the gate
shuts, otherwise they'll get eaten!
Patrice explains the
clues relations to the password, we see how much money they won,
ending sketch between Pere Fouras and Patrice, Bonsoir, goodnight!
Phew! I'll go through all the details here...
Pere Fouras
The old wise man of the Fort who lives in his tower at one end.
Players meet him three times during the course of the show,
although in the 1997 series, could conceivably be only twice.
First time
One player is sent up the tower, and Pere Fouras asks a 'What Am
I?' riddle. After he has read it, Passe-pas (one of the dwarves)
begins a sand timer (which lasts about 20 seconds) where Fouras
will read out the riddle again. The player can guess as many
times as he/she likes. If they get it correct, they are given a
key. If they fail, then Fouras drops the key out of the window
into the sea (attached to a float). One other player than dives
from the fort to go and get it.
Note that in Previous to 1994 and including 1994, they didn't play for a key, they played for a map but it had little relevance to the game so they dropped it from later series.
Second time
Exactly the same thing would happen again. However, if he threw
the key out first time, he won't second time - they miss out. If
they got it right first time but get it wrong this time, then he
does throw it out.
Third time Now the players are searching for clues. One of the contestants is given the chance to earn one. Fouras reads out three vague clues/definitions of the clueword and the player has to guess what it is. If they stumble upon it, he says so and the contestant leaves the tower and tells the team waiting at the first Adventure game. If he/she don't get it before Fouras calls a stop to the proceedings then they leave the tower empty. So as not to annoy the viewer, a caption on screen reveals what the clueword was.
La Sauvageonne (Wild woman)
Once or twice during the collecting of keys, La Sauvageonne drags
off one of the contestants whilst they run round the Fort and
drags them to her lair where they can win bonus Boyards which are
added to the at the end. In front of the contestant are nine
Boyards. On the other side of them, eight are gold and one is
white. They are invited to pick one of the coins. If it is gold,
then money from a machine is added to the . They can then have
another go, which if correct adds increasingly more money to the
(I believe 10 Boyards are added first time, 20 the next to make
30, 30 the next to make 60... until the final one which would be
80 making 360 Boyards). Should they find all eight they stand to
win Ff 25,000, but they can stop earlier than that. HOWEVER, if
they overturn the white one, they lose everything!
In 1996, they played for double or nothing (i.e. 1 for the first, 2 for the second, 4 for the third... 128 for the eighth), each set in a seperate bag and they could keep the highest bag they got to unless they hit the white one.
NEW FOR 1998! La Sauvageonne has now been replaced by La Bohemian, the Gypsy. She does the same job except that she plays with fire.
The Chariot
(As of 97) After six of the seven keys were collected, each
player would be taken to the Chariot cage. Each player would then
line up on a staircase with coloured heads on it. Beneath them
was a maze with several exits, each one referring to one of the
colours in front of the players. If anyone was unlucky enough to
end up in jail, an extra exit would open up for them, doubling
their chances. La Sauvageonne would release a rat into the maze
and it went out through one of the exits. Whoever had the
corresponding colour would get into the chariot.
This is now released into Salle de Tresor. The player has to pedal it round to where the key is and pedal it back again. Unfortunately, the tigers are still on the loose, making it scary for the player.
The Prison
(96, Pre 96) If any players were locked in they would be taken to
prison (where the chariot is now). After the keys were collected,
each imprisoned player was given one chance at liberation. A rat
(the player would decide whether it would be white or black) was
released into a maze after the player predicted which colour exit
it would go through (Black or red). If they were correct, they
were let out. If they were wrong, they are out for the rest of
the game and can't help collect money.
NEW FOR 1998 When a player gets locked in, he/she is taken to one of several cages on the side of the Fort. They are also given a large bunch of keys. If they can find the right key, hey are released!
The Oubliette
Oubliette: A dungeon normally entered from above where people are
left to be forgotten.
If they don't collect their keys sufficiently quickly, they have
to make up their shortfall by sacrificing the relevant number of
players to the Fort's Oubliette. There are keys down there but
they remain there for the rest of the game, with no reprieve.
Once down there, the stone plug is replaced, leaving them alone
in the dark... In '97, it was moved to outside Salle de Tresor
and was just a grate. They could chat to other players whilst
they were there but that's it. The contestants were let out at
the end of the show.
Maitre d' Jeux, prepare-vous sur le Chasser de Temp
Gamesmasters, prepare yourselves for the Time Chasers.
Each team member is led individually into a darkened room (Salle de Council - Council room) where Patrice is standing at the head of a semi circle behind a sort-of alter. He empties some balls into a big tube. This is time for Salle de Tresor, and the team are given 1:30 for free. Each member plays a game against a masked guardian (the aforementioned Maitre d' s), each game won is worth an extra 25 seconds in Salle de Tresor. There are nine games in total of which six are played each episode... (Note: Names are unofficial)
Memory: Patrice uncovers a line of different coloured balls. Players are given 10 seconds to look at them then they are covered up. Contestant and Maitre then try to reproduce the same combination with balls in their area. When players have finished, Each ball is uncovered one by one and the first person to have made a mistake loses. In a case of a draw, the contestant wins the time.
Dominoes(1998) On the table were several stands. The idea was to place dominoes on the stands without knocking the whole thing down.
Endurance: The Maitre erects a wire frame. There are two weights - one for the contestant and the other one for the Maitre. They must hang the weight from their index fingers over the wire frame. The first person to lower their weight so it collapses the wire frame is the loser.
Fire: A fire is lit and contestants light one of the corners of a piece of paper. The players hold on the the paper as long as possible but he first one to drop it loses! The paper is folded in such a way that it is possible to control and slow down the slowly spreading flame. If the paper burns out, you also lose.
Sticks: Simply, some sticks are laid out on a table. Players take it in turns to take one, two or three away but the person left with the last one is the loser.
Reflex: A Contestant outstretches his arm through a ring. He must tense his arm. The Maitre pushes down on it and then lets go. If the player's arm then hits the ring, he loses. If not then he wins.
Nails: Players take it in turns to hammer a nail into some wood, the winner being the person to leave the nail completely done. The first person to win two is the winner.
Added to the 1997 season...(after successful outings in the 1996 night episodes)
Water BowlA water bowl had a container floating in it with coloured power weighing one side down slightly. Players took it in turns to drop Boyards in, the person making the Bowl sink being the loser.
Stacks: Players took it in turns to add a brick to a tower, the person making it collapse losing.
Cards: On the table were four decks of seven cards, each with the letters B, O, Y, A, R, D and a Joker These are shuffled beforehand. The players took it in turns to select the top card from one of the four decks. The winner is the person who spells the name BOYARD with their cards first (with Jokers counting for anything).
Salle de Tresor - The Treasure Room Players have been playing clue games to try and win clues. No they must sort them out. They inevitably have about 45 seconds before the gong. Using the clues, they must work out the Keyword that they are eluding to. If they don't know, they can sacrifice players for clues. Beside the door are four tigers heads. A player puts their hand inside one and gets a clue, but they are shackled to the head until the end of the show.
When the 85 minutes have completely run out, LaBouille the jailer bangs the gong. Now the time they earnt in Chassers de Temps starts ticking. Felindra (the tiger tamer) puts the tigers away into the cage and the gate begins to rise. Players weigh down, using themselves or cannonballs if there aren't enough players availiable, the letters making up the keyword on the floor of the fort (there is a giant letterboard for this purpose). Once everyone is ready, Patrice instructs Felindra to start the mechanism.
If the players are correct, Gold starts tumbling in the cage, players have the remaining time (normally about 1:30) to reach through and load themselves up with gold. They may deposit this outside Salle de Tresor into the big and may go in and out as many times as they like. However, at 30 seconds to go the gate starts to close (with it shut at 0:00). The players MUST get out because once the door is shut, the tigers are released....
After that, Patrice explains the clues, there is a short chat with the players the money is emptied out into a big weighing machine and then the amount in Francs is displayed.
Occasionally, some teams get it wrong. In these cases, the gold doesn't tumble and the players come out immediately. They are given a bag containg Ffr2000 worth of Boyards (about £200), told how each clue led to the correct answer then go home. Meanwhile, Felindra in Salle de Tresor uses cannonballs to spell out the word and starts the mechanism to show the contestants what would have happened.
Sors, sors!
Key
Games
Clue
Games
Fort Boyard -
The review
The
Gameshow Courtroom
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