When did the BBC first broadcast the UK business-investment show Dragons' Den?

The BBC first broadcast the UK business-investment show Dragons' Den on 4 January 2005.

The programme was commissioned for BBC Two and adapted the core idea of entrepreneurs presenting businesses to wealthy investors. Contestants seek investment in exchange for a stake in their company, while the investors question their sales, finances, competition and growth plans.

The UK series became one of the BBC's best-known factual-entertainment formats. Its title refers to the intimidating atmosphere created by the investors, who are called Dragons in the British version. The programme is not the original television format: it was adapted from the Japanese format Money Tigers, a distinction often confused with the UK show's launch date.

The first broadcast date is also different from the dates on which individual Dragons joined or left. The panel has changed repeatedly over the years, but the programme itself began in January 2005 and continued as a long-running BBC series.