Tenable

Storyline

The game is played by a team of five contestants who all have some kind of relationship to each other. One contestant in the team is designated as the captain. In each round, one contestant from the team has to find as many answers as possible from a factual list of 10 answers that fits a particular subject area, such as the first 10 cities in the United Kingdom after Belfast alphabetically or the 10 London Underground stations whose names include "City", "Town" or "Square". For most of the questions, the host will provide an explanation of what answers can or cannot be accepted - in the latter example, the correct answers are stations found on London Underground lines excluding Docklands Light Railway, the London Overground and main line stations unless they have an interchange with an Underground line. The first four rounds each begin with the team seeing the question pertaining to the list to be made in that round, after which the captain selects one of their teammates to provide the answers. Each teammate can be selected once and only once, so the teammate who doesn't play any of the first three rounds has to play the fourth round by default, and no conferring is allowed. The contestant chosen to play the round then has to give an answer that they think is correct, or "tenable". A highlight then moves up the pyramid-like triangle until either it reaches the place on the list where the answer is and reveals the answer, or the triangle flashes red, indicating that the contestant's answer is incorrect, or "untenable". One untenable answer will result in the contestant losing a life, and a second untenable answer will end the round at that point and result in the contestant's elimination and the forfeiting of any money earned by the contestant to that point, with the host saying to that contestant "It saddens me to say you're terrible at Tenable. Goodbye". Two forms of assistance may initially be available to each contestant - up to three times during the game, a contestant can nominate a teammate to suggest an answer, though it is up to the contestant to decide whether or not they want to use the teammate's answer. Once in each round, if the captain thinks a contestant's answer is untenable, they can press a red buzzer to overrule the contestant's answer and give an answer of their own in its place. If this happens, the contestant's answer is tested against the list first, and it is then followed by the captain's answer. If the contestant's answer is found to be untenable, then the contestant does not incur any penalty, but if it is tenable, then it will not be credited to the contestant or see them win any money. The result of the captain's answer is credited to or debited from the contestant (depending on whether it is tenable or untenable) as if the contestant had been the one who had given that answer. The initial aim of each contestant is to find at least five tenable answers. Any contestant who reaches this target will earn £1,000 for the team bank, qualify for the final, and give the contestant two options - they can either "play it safe" and bank the money they have earned to that point or continue playing to earn more money. If they choose to play on, then they cannot nominate another contestant or be overruled by the captain, but they will face the same options after each subsequent answer. If they still have a "life" because they have either reached the five-answer target without giving any untenable answers or their only untenable answer was overruled by a tenable answer from the captain, they will still have the same options if they subsequently give an untenable answer, but their place in the final is also put at risk if they continue after losing their "life". A contestant who can find a sixth tenable answer will earn £2,500, a seventh tenable answer will see the contestant earn £5,000, eight tenable answers means that the contestant earns £10,000, the contestant will earn £15,000 by finding nine tenable answers and if the contestant can find all ten tenable answers (without any of them being overruled), they will achieve a "perfect ten" and automatically advance to the final and bank £25,000 for the team. If any answers are not revealed when the round ends, whether the end is due to the contestant being eliminated or deciding to bank the money they have earned to that point, then these answers are revealed from lowest to highest. The captain has to play the fifth round, which is played similar to the first four rounds but with a few changes - the captain will not see the question until after they have stepped up to play, there is no option to overrule an answer, the captain will advance to the final round regardless of the outcome of the round, and if any of the preceding contestants were eliminated, then after any tenable answer that earns money (from the fifth answer onward), the captain can choose between earning the money for that answer or buying back a contestant who was previously eliminated in exchange for dropping back a step on the prize ladder - for example, if a captain buys back two eliminated contestants and makes a "perfect ten", they will only add £10,000 to the team bank. Any contestants who are bought back will only return to the final if the captain either makes a "perfect ten" or decides to play it safe. The captain and any contestants from the team who either advanced or were successfully bought back during the captain's round then play the final round for the chance to win the money they have earned, with the maximum possible amount being £125,000, achievable if all five contestants made "perfect tens" (if none of the remaining contestants earned any money for the team, then £500 will be on offer in the final). They are initially presented with two categories, and after they choose one of them, they will see the list related to their selected category. Again, there is no conferring allowed, and overrules and nominates are no longer in play, even if less than three nominates were used over the five preceding rounds. The captain is the first contestant who has to give a tenable answer, followed by the remaining contestants in the order they competed, so if the contestant who played the first round either advanced or was bought back, they have to give the second answer. If any contestant gives an untenable answer, they are eliminated at that point, leaving the remaining contestants to try and complete the list. If the team's remaining contestants can achieve a "perfect ten" between them, the team will win the money they have earned, but if the last contestant is eliminated, they will leave with no money. Any answers that were not given by the contestants were revealed from lowest to highest at the end of the final. Beginning with season 6 in September 2022, any team who failed to win money received a consolation prize in the form of a Tenable tea-towel for each team member.