When did the British business-investment TV show Dragon's Den first premiere?
Answer
4 January 2005
The British business-investment TV show Dragon's Den first premiered on 4 January 2005.
The BBC Two programme brought entrepreneurs before a panel of wealthy investors, known as Dragons, to seek funding in exchange for an equity stake. Contestants present their businesses, answer questions about sales and valuation, and may receive offers from one or more investors.
Dragon's Den was adapted for British television from the Japanese format Money Tigers. Its launch established a format that later became one of the BBC's best-known factual-entertainment programmes. The first series featured the original investor line-up of Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne, Rachel Elnaugh, Theo Paphitis and Simon Woodroffe.
The programme is sometimes confused with Shark Tank, the American adaptation of the same broad format. Dragon's Den is the British title, while Shark Tank is used in the United States and several other territories.