On which date did the first episode of the BBC television show Dragon's Den air?

The first episode of the BBC television show Dragon's Den aired on 4 January 2005.

The British version brought entrepreneurs before a panel of wealthy investors, known as Dragons, who could offer money in exchange for a share of a business. It was adapted from the Japanese format Money Tigers and became one of the BBC's best-known business programmes.

The programme originally aired on BBC Two. Its launch preceded the American adaptation Shark Tank, which later helped make the broader format familiar to an international audience.

The 2005 premiere is sometimes confused with the start of later spin-offs or with the date of the show's Japanese predecessor. Those are separate milestones: Money Tigers began in Japan earlier, while Dragon's Den is the British adaptation that premiered in 2005.