The National Lottery Draws


The National Lottery Results is the television programme that broadcasts the drawing of the National Lottery in the United Kingdom. The programme launched in November 1994 on BBC One, and was initially broadcast live on Saturday nights, before expanding to Wednesday nights in 1997 and Friday nights in 2008. From January 2013 to December 2016, the program aired only on Saturday nights. Since January 2017, the live draws are no longer broadcast on television and are available to watch online at the National Lottery website and YouTube.
Since April 2018, a new show called The National Lottery Lotto Results has aired on ITV on Wednesday and Saturday nights during commercial breaks. Presented by Stephen Mulhern, the show features that night's winning Lotto numbers, and spotlights a National Lottery-funded location. The actual Lotto draw itself is not broadcast, and remains online.

Presenters

The first show was presented by Noel Edmonds. After the first show, it was co-presented by Anthea Turner and Gordon Kennedy, later replaced by Bob Monkhouse, all of them assisted by the psychic Mystic Meg and numbers expert Sam Weren. Carol Vorderman had a segment during the early years of the show whereby, she would use mathematical techniques to predict the winning numbers. When Gordon left, Anthea remained as solo host and was followed by a number of presenters over the years.
Commentary on the draws has, since 1995, been provided by Alan Dedicoat, who earned the nickname The Voice Of The Balls. During the live show era, in the event of Dedicoat being unavailable, commentary was provided by fellow BBC Radio 2 announcer Charles Nove.

Presenters

;Draw masters

Saturday night draws

The Saturday night draws were usually presented as part of a game show that is shown to be associated with the lottery branding. The game shows were previously broadcast live, with the game show host also presenting the lottery draws, though since 2002, there would also be a draw presenter that would tell the viewers about how to play the draws and what the Lotto jackpot is, etc. Since late 2006, the game shows were pre-recorded, with the live lottery draws included as a separate segment with a different presenter. The draws on Saturday night consisted of "Thunderball" followed by "Lotto" a few minutes later, though in the past "Lotto Extra" and its replacement "Dream Number" would also be shown too; both now retired draws. Since 2014, "Lotto Raffle" is no longer featured during the draws. These gameshows usually aired at about 8.00pm, meaning the draw was a lot earlier than when there is no gameshows, when the draw was around 10.00pm. A new gameshow has been released every year, except 2010, 2012, and 2016.
Gaby Roslin hosted the final live draw on 31 December 2016, with Alan Dedicoat joining her in vision to close the show. From 7 January 2017, with the move to the BBC iPlayer, the programme featured no presenter with Dedicoat continuing to announce the draws using pre-recorded commentary.

Lottery update

On BBC One on Saturday nights straight after the BBC Weekend News, a segment known as Lottery update is broadcast showing the results of the day's Lotto and Thunderball draws and also how many winners there are. The same thing is also broadcast on BBC One on Tuesday nights after the local news opt-out showing the results of the Tuesday EuroMillions draw and UK millionaire raffle.

''National Lottery Stars''

National Lottery Stars are held each year and aired on BBC One. Until 2015, the ceremony's name was The National Lottery Awards. It is currently presented by Ore Oduba.

Presenters

Wednesday night draws

A new midweek National Lottery Draw was introduced and aired on BBC1 from 5 February 1997 to 26 December 2012. From 2 January 2013, the Wednesday draws are available to watch exclusively on the National Lottery's website.
;Wednesday night presenters
The Friday night draws showed the EuroMillions results and the Thunderball draw and are usually broadcast at 23:15. The Friday night draws were the only draws not to be broadcast live. From January 2013, the Friday draws are available to watch exclusively on the National Lottery's website. There is still a results update on BBC One at 22:35.
;Friday night presenters
Between 1998 and when the televised draws were decommissioned in 2017, eighteen National Lottery game shows have aired. Who Dares Wins, hosted by Nick Knowles, continues to air to this day, but without the National Lottery branding.
ShowStart dateEnd dateSeries
Presenter
Big Ticket28 March 199811 July 19981Patrick Kielty & Anthea Turner
We've Got Your Number27 February 199922 May 19991Brian Conley
Winning Lines12 June 199916 October 20046Simon Mayo
Phillip Schofield
Red Alert13 November 19998 April 20002Lulu & Terry Alderton
On the Spot29 July 20002 September 20001Des O'Connor
Jet Set20 January 20018 August 20078Eamonn Holmes
18 May 200216 July 201618Dale Winton
Wright Around the World25 October 20038 January 20052Ian Wright
Come and Have a Go If You Think You're Smart Enough3 April 200425 June 20052Nicky Campbell
Julian Clary
Millionaire Manor3 December 20054 March 20061Mark Durden-Smith
1 vs. 10030 September 200623 May 20094Dermot O'Leary
Ben Shephard
The People's Quiz24 March 200723 June 20071Jamie Theakston
Who Dares Wins!17 November 2007present11Nick Knowles
This Time Tomorrow5 July 200823 August 20081Tess Daly
Guesstimation11 July 200929 August 20091Nick Knowles
Secret Fortune12 February 201129 December 20123Nick Knowles
Break the Safe27 July 201330 August 20142Nick Knowles
Win Your Wish List27 December 20147 May 20162Shane Richie
5-Star Family Reunion25 July 201515 October 20162Nick Knowles

Studios

The National Lottery draws were originally filmed at BBC Television Centre in London. From 2006 to 2012, it was filmed at Arqiva Chalfont Grove studios in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire in a set known as Lottery HQ. From January 2013, it has been filmed from Pinewood Studios. The EuroMillions draw takes place in a dedicated studio in Paris, France. The draw is occasionally shown at other locations for special events such as The National Lottery Awards ceremony.

Broadcasting

Until 2017, the programme was usually broadcast on BBC One, although it was occasionally shown on BBC Two if BBC One was unable to show it. The BBC were granted the rights in 1994 after defeating a rival bid from ITV. The programme was also broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and later, it was broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Incidents