Bringing You Bet! Back to Life with Steeldeck Rentals
The iconic 1990s game show You Bet! returned to our TV screens with two 75-minute specials produced by Rollercoaster Television (part of ITV Studios). Hosted by Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern, the show features a panel of celebrity guests and a live studio audience betting on challengers completing extraordinary tasks.
Production Designer, Joshua Grace needed tiered seating for the set filmed at the newly opened Shinfield Studios, that would make the large audience a visible part of the production. Having partnered with Steeldeck Rentals on shows such as Get Britain Singing, Comic Relief, Moneybags, and Buy It Now, Joshua knew we could deliver a bespoke solution tailored to his ambitious design.
The Challenge
The brief was to create steep, tiered seating with mirroring the style of a stadium to enhance the scale of the production. We proposed two options:
- A 1ft 6-inch rise that could be built with standard kit for simplicity.
- A 21-inch rise, requiring custom treads, handrails, and more complex engineering to achieve the tallest, most dynamic look.
Opting for the 21-inch rise solution – we designed the structure accordingly.
The Solution
The seating design evolved during the project, reducing from three banks to two to meet budget constraints while minimising bespoke fabrication. Each seating bank included rear-access staircases for safe egress, and one incorporated a raised control platform for the sound team. To further maximise audience capacity, we provided matching flat floor seating and dry hire decks for additional studio platforms.
The Results
Our solution perfectly aligned with the production’s needs, delivering a visually stunning, functional audience setup that enhanced the scale and drama for the return of You Bet!.
Steeldeck Rentals have a wealth of experience in stage hire and seating hire and design for television productions. With depots in London and Manchester, we regularly work at studios including Dock 10, Space Studios, Versa Studios, Riverside Studios, Elstree, ITV Bovingdon, Pinewood Studios and Bad Wolf Studios – provided tailored solutions for productions of all scales.
