Five original investors appeared as Dragons in the first series of the British show Dragon's Den.
The original panel consisted of Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne, Rachel Elnaugh, Simon Woodroffe, and Doug Richard. Together, they established the show's early investor dynamic, with each person bringing a different business background and negotiating style.
The panel later changed repeatedly. Some original Dragons left, while new investors joined for subsequent series, so the number and identity of investors familiar to modern viewers may differ from the first-season lineup. That is why counting the original cast is more precise than simply asking how many Dragons the programme has had.
The five-person lineup also helps explain the show's visual format: entrepreneurs pitch to a group rather than to one judge, creating the possibility of competing offers, shared deals, or pressure from several investors at once.