The UK version of Dragons' Den first premiered on television in 2005.
The British adaptation launched as a BBC programme featuring entrepreneurs pitching businesses to a panel of investors. Its first series established the now-familiar ingredients: a formal pitch, rapid questioning, negotiations over valuation and the possibility of an investment offer.
The year can be confused with later milestones, including changes to the presenting team, new investors joining the panel and the growth of businesses that appeared on the programme. Those events happened after the British format had already begun. The Japanese source format predates the UK version, so 2005 refers specifically to the first British broadcast.
The programme became a long-running part of British television and helped make phrases such as company valuation, equity and investment offer familiar to a general audience. Its success also contributed to the spread of related international versions.