The Gadget Show

The Gadget Show
File:The Gadget Show.png
Starring	Suzi Perry Jason Bradbury Jon Bentley Dallas Campbell Dionne South
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	10
No. of episodes	65 (as of 2 April, 2007)
Production
Running time	45 minutes (Series 1-6), 60 minutes (Series 7-)
Production company	North One Television
Original release
Network	Five
Release	2004 – present

The Gadget Show is a British television series focusing on the world of technology, currently in its tenth series. Originally a thirty minute show, it currently airs for one hour (including advertisements) on Five, and the studio sections are filmed at The Custard Factory on Gibb Street in Birmingham, UK. Repeats have aired on Freeview channel Fiver and satellite channel Bravo as well as Five's internet on demand service Demand Five. In Australia it is aired on The Lifestyle Channel.

Format

Each week, the show previews and reviews the latest gadgets, and broadcasts the latest technology news. The show is aimed at giving the mass consumer an insight into the gadget world and in addition, it aims to give enough information for the more "geeky" audience, but still making it accessible to the more casual viewer. The show has featured Blu-ray Discs, video cameras, MP3 players and other technologies. A segment showing viewers how to get the most out of their technology is also included along with a competition to win anything from £5,000 to £20,000 worth of new gadgets. Each series usually contains a special episode focusing on a particular technology conference or expo. Past conferences include CeBIT and The Next Fest.

Series 5 saw a slight tweak in the format, with the three presenters hosting from a studio base, although a lot of the show still takes place outside of the studio. A recurring theme in the updated format is a regular challenge between Jason and Suzi (and occasionally Jon and Dallas), typically set around a particular gadget and their testing or use based around it. Another addition is that now the week's main featured gadget(s), typically reviewed by Jon, is given a 'G rating' from one to five. The seventh series, starting on 29 October 2007, saw the running increased to one hour. From series 8, the studio was been given a major makeover, consisting of a cool blue theme with a giant touchscreen PC monitor. There is now also a new "Top 5" feature which consists of the Top 5 gadgets in a certain category.

A new series of The Gadget Show (Series 10) began on the new look Five at 8pm on 6th October 2008.

Presenters

Suzi Perry

Suzi Perry, having previously worked on BBC Two's short-lived revival of Treasure Hunt, and BBC One's revival of Superstars, has also presented for sports programmes such as Grandstand and TV coverage of Wimbledon, the London Marathon and the 2004 Olympic Games for BBC Sport. A journalist, Perry is respected in the biking world for her pit-side reports on the MotoGP. She currently also presents on The Discovery Channel and BBC Two. She also co - presented with Ian Wright on Sky One's Premier League all stars.

John Bentley

Jon Bentley's television career has mostly concentrated on the world of motoring television. Between 1987 and 1998, he was producer and editor of BBC Two's Top Gear and was series producer of Fifth Gear from 2002 to 2004. In recent series, he is only appearing in his own segment in the show and one or two mini-segments whilst most of the show is fronted by Suzi and Jason. He typically begins his segments with the words "Now, I'd like to talk to you about...".

Jason Bradbury

Jason Bradbury's career in entertainment began in the stand-up comedy circuit. Television programmes he has presented include Top Gear GTi (a spin-off show from the BBC motoring show Top Gear, shown on UKTV People), The Air Show, Mercenaries and The Web Review. He also presents a show on Discovery Kids called Gross!. According to the 30 October 2007 episode of The Gadget show, Jason is also a keen robot enthusiast demonstrating his robot building abilities in the 20 November 2007 episode of the show.

Dallas Campbell

Dallas Campbell joined the team in June 2008, in the final episode of Series 8 (which ran directly on into series 9). He is an actor, appearing in shows such as Casualty, Doomwatch and A Touch of Frost and also on stage in shows such as The Warp, the longest play, running at 29 hours.

Other presenters

Tom Dunmore, the editor-in-chief of Stuff magazine, presented a weekly section called 'The Critical List' in the fourth series, talking about a group of gadgets in a specific field. From the fifth series, this section was presented by Suzi, Jon and Jason. During one of the challenges during the sixth series, Tom Dunmore was mentioned, but was not actually seen, and no nod to his previous relationship with the show.

Website & YouTube

The Gadget Show website, which now is part of Five's FiveFWD website, contains information on topics and products discussed in the show. The site is updated with information from the last showed aired. In addition, the site contains product reviews, how-tos and news. The show launched a campaign for free WiFi access across the country. Viewers were urged to register their support on the show’s website; Jason Bradbury promised to take the issue to 10 Downing Street if the need arose, which it did, but got a reply rejecting his petition after over 30,000 names were sent in. Instead, Jason is appealing to businesses to set up their own free Wi-fi. Jon Bentley has also set up A Basic Website designed by Jon for a "How To" feature in series 2.

The website also now includes a free 'web episode', containing extra material not featured on the TV programme.

The Gadget Show also has a YouTube channel which features special behind the scenes videos and Web TV episodes. The Gadget Show YouTube Channel.

External links

• The Gadget Show at five.tv
• Suzi Perry
• Suzi Perry FAN Site Watch Suzi on the Gadget Show (Video and Images)
• Jason Bradbury
• A Basic Website designed by Jon for a "How To" feature in series 2