How New Channel 4 Show “Rise and Fall” Works: A Breakdown

A thrilling new gameshow is set to hit our screens in just hours, and we can’t wait.

Rise and Fall, a new format from the people behind The Traitors, Studio Lambert, and Motion Content Group, will explore what it takes to get to the top, including ‘how to win power, how to keep hold of it and how to use it to influence others’.

The gameshow will start with 16 contestants divided into two groups – Rulers and Grafters – but only one will walk away with the cash prize.

And fronting it all is BBC Radio 1 star Greg James, who announced the new competition saying: ‘I’ve been waiting a long time for a show like this to come along that I can get stuck into and be the ringleader of. It’s an amazingly mad idea and the contestants are going to make some incredible TV.

‘It’s very exciting to launch something brand new on Channel 4 and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out. Let the power struggle begin…’

What is Rise and Fall about?

The synopsis for the programme reads: ‘The show involves 16 ordinary British people who begin the game as equals but soon find themselves either in a position of power as a Ruler or as part of the powerless as a Grafter.

‘While the Rulers live in an opulent penthouse, the Grafters must survive in basic conditions in the basement.

‘Anyone can rise to a position of power and anyone can fall, but only one Ruler can win the prize fund at the end of the game.’

How does Rise and Fall work?

Who will make it to the top? (Picture: Channel 4)

Rise and Fall will see 16 contestants start out in two groups: The Rulers and The Grafters.

The former will be living a lavish life in the penthouse, while the latter are forced to do brutal challenges and tasks in order to raise money in the prize pot, while they also have to live in basic conditions.

The Rulers won’t have to lift a finger… but not for long.

It’s up to the players to decide who stays a Ruler and a Grafter, and contestants can be forced to swap in and out of the groups, depending on what their castmates decide.

By the end of the game, only one Ruler will be left standing, and they’ll walk away with the prize fund of up to £100,000.

Gushing over the new programme, Greg exclusively told Metro.co.uk that he was ‘completely into it’ as soon as he heard, saying: ‘I was wanting to do a TV show like this for a long time, I love these sorts of shows, and they don’t come around very often’.

He continued, talking about the show: ‘This is sort of like if the world was reset, and we had to start again, who should have power? You know, that’s that’s the big question, I guess, and how would they distribute that power

‘How would they rule, would they rule with compassion, or would they rule with an iron fist?

Rise and Fall begins on Sunday, March 19 at 9pm on Channel 4 and All 4 and continues Monday to Friday at 10pm.