Contestant ‘dies’ on new Lee Mack game show 3by3 as BBC hit with complaints

BBC viewers were left unnerved and flooded the broadcaster with complaints after a contestant ‘died’ on the new Lee Mack programme 3by3 – but thankfully not all was as it seemed.

Comedy series Inside No 9 was seemingly replaced by the gameshow on BBC2 presented by the Southport star which ended with a woman’s gruesome death. Some viewers didn’t appear to realise it was in fact a new episode of Inside No 9 starring Blackburn’s Steve Pemberton and assumed it was a new quiz show.

The game involved three pairs of three contestants competing to win a cash prize of up to £20,000. Lee told viewers: “Hello I’m Lee Mack and welcome to 3by3, the brand new quiz show that gives three teams of three people, three chances to win a big money prize.

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“Well, I say big money, this is the BBC. In fact if the set doesn’t fall down we’ll be happy.”

The three teams – a family of three, including mum and daughter, three work colleagues and three friends, were then introduced to viewers before the first round began. Then suddenly it took a worrying twist as the mum of the family died in the final round.

Lee was then seen screaming “get the producer” as he ran off set and the camera cut out, before the credits rolled. It was all an ingenious stunt, with echoes of Inside No 9’s previous ‘live episode’, in which the writers pretended the show had been hit with technical difficulties before the BBC studio itself became the scene of a scary twist.