Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway (often referred to simply as Saturday Night Takeaway) is a British television variety show presented and executively produced by Ant & Dec. The show was first broadcast on 8 June 2002 on ITV. It is broadcast live from The London Studios on the South Bank. The format was heavily influenced by previous Saturday night light entertainment shows, most notably Noel's House Party and Don't Forget Your Toothbrush, while individual items often pay homage to Saturday night TV of the past,such as Opportunity Knocks. On 10 September 2005, ITV had a programme listing the best 50 shows in ITV's 50 years being on air. Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway came second, beaten only by Coronation Street.
From its launch in 2002, the show was unbeaten for four series in its timeslot until scheduled against Doctor Who on BBC One in March 2005. The show entered hiatus in 2010 after its ninth series to allow Ant & Dec to launch family game shows Ant & Dec's Push the Button and Red or Black?. However, in November 2011, it was announced that Saturday Night Takeaway would return in early 2013. After winning the Award for Best Presenters at the 18th National Television Awards on 23 January 2013, Ant & Dec announced that the show would return on 23 February 2013. An official Saturday Night Takeaway iOS app for iPod, iPhone and iPad was released on 15 February 2013. After the fifth episode of series 10, ITV announced that the show would return for an eleventh series in 2014, owing to the popularity of the current run.
Read more about Saturday Night Takeaway: Transmissions, Starting Games, Series 1, Series 2, Series 3, Series 4, Series 5, Series 6, Series 7, Series 8, Series 9, Series 10
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—Nicholas Pileggi, U.S. screenwriter, and Martin Scorsese. Henry Hill (Ray Liotta)
“The return of the asymmetrical Saturday was one of those small events that were interior, local, almost civic and which, in tranquil lives and closed societies, create a sort of national bond and become the favorite theme of conversation, of jokes and of stories exaggerated with pleasure: it would have been a ready- made seed for a legendary cycle, had any of us leanings toward the epic.”
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—John Gay (1685–1732)