Filming is set to get underway for a new reality gameshow set in an arcade bar in Westhoughton.

Billed as a cross between The Chase  and First Dates, the show is the brainchild of Ian Brown, who is hoping the pilot will be picked up by a production company that will run with the idea.

Entitled, Like Minds is a pub quiz style show, built around the Speed Quizzing app, with teams of four players competing to win a small cash prize.

Ian, from Bromley Cross,  said: “People need to see if it works as a concept.

The Bolton News: Read some of our top stories below:

“The idea is really simple, and it’s a bit like The Chase meets First Dates.

“It’s a way for people to get to know each other and I have the skills and contacts to make the pilot.”

Ian comes with a huge amount of experience as a TV editor and colourist, for the likes of Granada TV, Dragons Den, Peter Kays Phoenix Nights, Cold Feet, and more.

If the show becomes a regular series, Ian says that just like in a traditional TV quiz show, there will be plenty of chances for the audience to play along and see strangers come together, engage, and interact.

The Bolton News:

Using small rig cameras and hidden microphones, Ian and his team will capture people’s interactions and learn about their lives as they come together as a team and get to know each other.

Ian added: “There are also a lot of lonely people, and people who are carers and other commitments.

“It’s also been hard to go out in the past few years, and so it’s a chance for friendship and competition.

“I want to use my time to create something that will hopefully grow, but at least we will have made one episode if not.

“If it is commissioned, I would like to go to some traditional community, family pubs.”

Ian also plays speed quizzing every Monday in The Sportsmans in Bromley Cross with his team.

Alan Leach - the former drummer of Shed Seven, and the brains behind the Speed Quizzing app - will provide both the theme music and the incidental music for the show if it is commissioned.

Award winning writer and actor Pegeen Murphy will hold the show together with her beautifully scripted observations delivered in her unique northern style of voiceover.

The pilot will be filmed at the retro arcade bar, Bytes on Thursday, March 28 between 6pm and 11pm.


If you have a story and something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at jasmine.jackson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @JournoJasmine.