Nine people are lined up in a semi-circle on a podium in the centre of an apparently infinite studio (which resembles a torture chamber). There is no studio audience or any other person in the place which adds to the eeriness. There is, however, Anne Robinson, a dragon who stands in the centre of this circle, dresses only in black and never cracks a smile.

"Welcome to The Weakest Link!" she says sternly before telling us what will happen (see above). Then we "meet the team".

After becoming best-maties with each team-member (except, of course, the one we don't like who will obviously be voted off first), Ms Robinson tells us The Rules.

After all this (actually, it only takes about 2 minutes) the game finally begins.

It's quite a simple game really - each player is asked a question, if they get it right they (the team) win money, if they get it wrong, they lose money. It's as simple as that (but see The Rules for more information)!

After an amount of time (three minutes in round one, which is reduced by ten seconds in each subsequent rounds), Anne tells the team how bad they were, and invites them to vote off The Weakest Link (ie the player who performed worst).

Each player writes on his board who he thinks has performed most badly. The player who has the most votes is then thrown off the team, but not before three or four players have serious tellings-off from The Dragon.

The departing player is despatched with the harsh "You ARE The Weakest Link, goodbye!" from Annie. The game then continues...

...for another seven rounds!

Finally, when there are just two players left, they play "Head to Head": they are asked alternate questions, best of five "whoever answers the most correctly after five wins, it's as simple as that".

The winner walks away with The Money (usually about £2,500), the loser, well they "Leave With Nothing".

And that's it.

It's a bit like Dr Pepper - you've got to watch it to love it!