Losers are winners in new show

It Could be you! But the chances are it won't be, writes Katy Weitz. So to right this outrageous wrong, Channel 4 have come up with a new game show which attempts to give losers the chance to become winners.

Last Chance Lottery, starting on 25 January, is described as a "celebration of losers, from lottery losers to losers on an international scale" and will fill the slot vacated by Chris Evans' Don't Forget Your Toothbrush.

However, the 10-part live series has been attacked by Winston Churchill, the Conservative MP for Davyhulme. "It is pathetic that Channel 4 and its chief executive, Michael Grade, should choose to rubbish their countrymen in this way," said Mr Churchill.

But cartoonist Giles Pilbrow, the show's producer, denied this was just another vehicle to humiliate Joe Public. "We do have a real sense of humour about losers in this country," he said, "and people on the show know what's going on. The vibe is not unpleasant, it's a celebration."

In the pilot show a taxi driver who forgot to let his passenger into the taxi and drove all the way to the destination before realising his mistake has to play a game in which he has the chance to recover this lost fare.

The show is hosted by Ulster comic Patrick Kielty, whose lightning rise up the light entertainment ladder has earned him the label of "next big thing". Kielty, who first faced an audience at the Belfast Empire pub only a couple of years ago, has already hosted his own show on BBC Northern Ireland, and is expected to attract large viewing figures on national television. But when it comes to losing, one might question this man's credentials.