Wonka’s The Golden Ticket premiered on Netflix on September 23. The reality competition starts with 12 golden-ticket winners. Each winner brought a partner, giving the show 24 contestants to test inside a new version of Willy Wonka’s famous factory.
The prize is no longer a secret. Netflix says the winner receives $3 million, paid as a six-figure annuity over 30 years. The money is real, even if the rooms around the players are full of tricks. A two-part finale is scheduled for September 30. Netflix lists nine episodes for the season.
What do the contestants do?
The players move through factory games built around temptation, physical challenges and decisions about whom to trust. The show borrows familiar ideas from Roald Dahl’s book and the 1971 film, then turns them into a competition. The contestants were selected through a casting process; the 12 ticket-holders were given chocolate bars without knowing whether they contained a winning ticket.
Netflix says the team built an 88,000-square-foot factory set across three studios in Gold Coast, Australia. It took 12 weeks to build. The production used practical magic tricks so some surprises worked in front of the contestants, not only after editing.
Can they really eat the Chocolate Room?
Many of its decorations were made to be eaten. The set included candy flowers, apples and grass with a sour-candy flavor. The chocolate river is the exception. It looks convincing on screen, but the 27,000 gallons of liquid were a specially made mixture, not something the players could drink.
“Without a chocolate river, you don’t have a chocolate factory.”
Showrunner Alison Holloway said the team worried about the river until it reached Australia. The mixture was prepared in Los Angeles and shipped in large containers. Netflix also says the great glass elevator does not travel between floors; lights and effects create that impression for the show.
Where to watch
The series is on Netflix. The first episodes arrived September 23, and the two-part finale is due September 30. Availability can vary by region, so the Netflix title page is the best place to check the episodes offered in your country. The series page has the cast, date and more images from the set.
The new show also brings back faces from the 1971 film. Rusty Goffe returns as an Oompa-Loompa with his son Ben, while the original Charlie Bucket has a brief cameo. We cover Peter Ostrum’s appearance separately because it is easy to miss in the first episode.
