The British television show Dragons' Den first premiered in 2005.
The programme brought entrepreneurs into a studio to seek investment from a panel of prominent businesspeople. Contestants had to state how much money they wanted and how much of their company they were willing to offer in return.
The British version was adapted from the Japanese business reality format Money Tigers. Its launch helped establish the word “Dragon” as the programme's distinctive term for an investor. The series became a long-running BBC property and later inspired international adaptations.
The year 2005 is occasionally mixed up with the launch years of other national versions. For example, the Canadian version began later, while the Japanese format that inspired the British programme already existed before the UK adaptation. The British series therefore belongs to the mid-2000s, not the early 2000s.