When did the British television series Dragon's Den first air?
Answer
4 January 2005
The British television series Dragon's Den first aired on 4 January 2005.
The programme is the United Kingdom version of an international reality-business format in which entrepreneurs present ideas to wealthy investors. Contestants usually request a specific sum of money in exchange for a percentage of their company.
Dragon's Den became a long-running BBC programme and helped make televised business pitching familiar to a broad audience. Its title uses “dragons” for the investors, rather than “sharks”, the term used by the American adaptation Shark Tank.
The British series has changed its panel and presenter over time, but the central format has remained stable. A common mix-up is to confuse the UK premiere with the launches of other national versions, which began in different years.