Five investors sat on the original Dragon's Den panel when the British series launched.
The five-person panel gave the early programme its defining visual and dramatic structure. Entrepreneurs had to present to several experienced businesspeople at once, each able to question the proposal, challenge its valuation and decide whether to invest. The panel format also allowed different investors to specialise in retail, property, technology, manufacturing or finance.
The number is sometimes misremembered because the investor line-up changed across series and some episodes featured guest or replacement dragons. A later panel may therefore look different from the original one, but the launch format used five investors.
The term “dragon” refers to an investor on the programme, not to a fixed permanent cast member. Over the years, the show has introduced new dragons and guest investors while retaining the same basic pitch-room setup.