Sixties City - UK Game and Quiz TV Shows

Clips are from the contributors to YouTube

Sixties City
TELEVISION
GAME SHOWS

A SELECTION OF QUIZ AND PRIZE SHOWS, PANEL GAMES AND COMPETITIONS
You may know a lot of the catchphrases even if you don't remember where they came from.......

	Take Your Pick *Associated Rediffusion 1955-1968* One of biggest quiz successes of ITV was hosted by 'Quiz Inquisitor' Michael Miles, assisted by Alec Dane (the 'gong' man) with Harold Smart on the organ and Bob Danvers-Walker (the voice of Pathé News from 1940 to 1970) as the show's announcer. In the second series, hostess Elisabeth Kingdom brought on contestants who were chosen from the audience and qualified for the 'Take Your Pick' part of the show by withstanding a barrage of questions from Michael Miles without answering using the words 'yes' or 'no', or nodding or shaking their head excessively, for a full minute. Those who survived would then have to answer further general knowledge questions correctly to win a key to a numbered prize box of their choice, at which point Miles would try to buy the key off them by offering various sums of money - up to £20 in some cases! The contestant could choose whether to 'take the money' or 'open the box', goaded on by a baying studio audience, with the added stumbling block of one of the keys to the numbered boxes also giving them the choice of opening 'Box 13', which could contain anything from the weekly star prize such as a car, a holiday or a fitted kitchen to a 'booby' prize of little or no value. Over 300 x 30-minute shows were produced by Audrey Starrett for AR between 1955 and 1968 with Thames reviving the format between 1992 and 1998, hosted by Des O'Connor.
All About You - AR - 1966	UK / Associated Rediffusion / x30m-e / 1966 black and white Producer: Elkan Allan A show in which viewers were asked questions on a different theme each week tying in with various gallup polls. Presented by Barry Westwood.
Ask Me Another - BBC - 1962	UK / BBC / x30m-e / 1962 black and white A general knowledge quiz hosted by Franklin Engelmann and featuring a regular team which included Olive Stephens, Edward Moult, Reginald Webster, these were known as The Residents and each week they took on a different group known as The Challengers. 1962 Ask Me Another - BBC - Quiz show presented by Franklin Engelmann
Ask The Family - BBC - 1967	UK / BBC1 / x30m-e / 1967-82 1999 and 2005 Family quiz show hosted by Robert Robinson. Two teams (Families of Four/Mother, Father, two kids) did battle against each other in a series of brain teasing rounds. Revived 1999 with Alan Titchmarsh hosting (initially on satellite channel UK Gold then BBC). A 2005 revival saw the show being hosted by anarchic kids presenters Dick and Dom, seen on BBC2 the show premiered 4 April 2005 and the producer was Mirella Breda . Ask The Family - BBC - 1967-82 - Early evening family quiz competition chaired by Robert Robinson
Abracadabra	Produced by Associated-Rediffusion for ITV. Aired from 20th July 1961 to 6th September 1962. A quiz show created and hosted by Roy Ward Dixon, his wife Shirley and Gaynor Jones, where contestants answered questions to win letters with which they could make up words to win prizes of up to £125. A feature of the show was a goldfish bowl filled with coins from which contestants tried to get as many as they could in one handful, but were doomed to failure by their own greed as a full fistful of coins was too big to get through the neck of the bowl.
Ask No Questions	UK / Yorkshire / x30m-e / 1987 Game show with a celebrity panel trying to guess the job of a member of the public in a What's My Line kind of way. Hosted by John Junkin.
Brain of Britain	UK / BBC / x30m-e / 1969-70 Producer: Bill Wright Intellectual short lived quiz based on a popular radio version. A kind of precursor to Mastermind.
The Brains Trust	UK / BBC / 1955-61 black and white A popular radio show transferred to TV in which a panel of supposedly clever celebrities answered questions off the cuff.
Call My Bluff	UK / BBC / x30m-e / 1965-continuing Creators: Mark Goodson, Bill Todson Panel show. Two teams of three celebrities try to bluff each other over the meaning of bizarre words from the dictionary. One of UK TV's longest running quiz shows the original host was Robin Ray and then Robert Robinson. Original captains were Frank Muir and Robert Morley. After a spell off air the show currently airs weekday lunchtimes and is hosted by Bob Holness with captains being Sandi Toksvig and Alan Coren. The show was based on an American original that ran on NBC in 1965. BBC2 1965-88 Very witty and enjoyable panel game in which two teams tried to guess the correct definition of an obscure word from the Oxford English dictionary from three options provided by the opposing side - 2 bogus and one real. The unscripted witty banter of this programme was incredibly funny at times. Chairmen of the series have been Robin Ray, Peter Wheeler and Robert Robinson. The original two team captains, each accompanied by two guests each week, were Robert Morley and Frank Muir
The Celebrity Game	UK / Associated Rediffusion / x30m-e / 1964 black and white Director: Marc Miller Celebrity panel game in which the questions used were sent in by members of the viewing public. Hosted by Clive Goodwin. The Celebrity Game - A-R - 1964 Game show guessing celebrities' views on current topics
Concentration	Twice done UK quiz show (1960's Granada and again on the ITV network in the 1980's). Based on a long running US original, the show took the form of having to rember where two identical cards were positioned on a large board.
Criss Cross Quiz	UK / Granada / 342x30m-e / 1957-67 black and white Thrice weekly quiz show based on the naughts and crosses game. Hosted by Jeremy Hawk. A junior version ran concurrently called aptly enough Junior Criss Cross Quiz (Granada 1957-67) with this gathering 391 episodes during its run.
Don't Say A Word	UK / Associated Rediffusion / x30m-e / 1963-64 Creator: Mike Stokey / Director: Robert Fleming, Daphne Shadwell Quiz. An early version of Give Us A Clue, with two regular teams (Kenneth Connor, Una Stubbs and Glen Mason against Harry Fowler, Jill Browne and Libby Morris) miming away. Host was Ronan O'Casey.
Double Your Money	UK / Associated Rediffusion-Arlington / 260x30m-e / 1955-68 Creator: John Beard Quiz hosted by Hughie Green in which contestants doubled their money up to a top prize of a thousand pounds by answering general knowledge questions. Hostesses during the shows run were Nancy Roberts, Monica Rose and Julie de Marco.
The Golden Shot	UK / ATV / 240x30m-e / 1967-75 Quiz show. For the time, a hi-tech interactive show in which a contestant on the telephone guided a blind folded cameraman to fire a crossbow at targets to win prizes. Hosted by Jackie Raine, then Bob Monkhouse and also Norman Vaughan and Charlie Williams. 1967The Golden Shot. Bernie, the Bolt! A phrase remembered long after the demise of this long-running TV competition programme based on crossbow archery and which included a phone-in for some lucky viewer guiding a blindfolded 'Bernie's' aim ( left a bit...right a bit...fire! ) to win the prize on offer. Surprised no-one was tempted to take a pot-shot at the audience. Presenters of the show included Jackie Rae, Bob Monkhouse, Alton Douglas and Norman Vaughn. The 'Bernies' were Derek Young, Alan Bailey and Johnny Baker, and who could forget the 'Golden Girls' who included at various times Anita Richardson, Andrea Lloyd, Carol Dilworth, Lee Patrick and the ultimate 'dumb blonde', Anne Aston. Never mind Anne, we didn't watch you for your intellectual prowess!<
It's A Knockout	UK / BBC1 / 1966-82 Creator: Guy Lux / Theme Music: Bean Bag by Herb Alpert Over the top 'sports' challenge game show involving amateur teams taking part in various large scale field games to try and win through to the international version Jeaux Sans Frontiers (Games Without Frontiers). A perpetually laughing Stuart Hall and Eddie Waring hosted. See below for the Channel Five revival. Best described as 'Silly Olympics' this cult series started as a knockout style competition between various British towns, competing in events that contained a lot of water, foam, grease, inflatable platforms and silly costumes. The best of the entrants were invited into Jeux Sans Frontieres the following year, competing with other towns in an international competition, hosted in various countries on an unbelievably lavish scale. The real stars of the series were presenters Eddie Waring, David Vine and the irrepressible Stuart Hall, whose commentary on the various games frequently subsided into uncontrollable hysterical laughter at the on-field antics, a mood which ( from personal experience ) was nearly always transferred to the viewing audience. Although completely inane and pointless, I have very fond memories of this show, produced by Barney Colehan - it really was compulsive viewing, love it or hate it. Katie Boyle also co-hosted the international series with her multilingual talents . Jeux Sans Frontieres- BBC1 - 1967-82 - The 'Eurovision' version of 'It's A Knockout' hosted by Stuart Hall
Jokers Wild	UK / Yorkshire / 150x30m-e / 1969-74 Creators: Ray Cameron, Mike King / Producer: David Mallet A comedy quiz hosted by Barry Cryer in which two teams of three comedians competed in trying to top each others jokes. Regular players were Arthur Askey, Ted Ray, Alfred Marks, Les Dawson and Ray Martine.
Juke Box Jury	UK / BBC / x30m-e / 1959-67 Creator: Peter Potter Host David Jacobs played a record and invited a celebrity panel of four to vote on whether the disc would be a hot or a miss. On one occasion all four Beatles appeared as the panel. The show has been revived twice, briefly in 1979 with Noel Edmonds as host and again during 1989-90 with Jools Holland playing videos instead of spinning records.
Needle Match	UK / Associated Rediffusion / x30m-e / 1962 black and white Producer: John P. Hamilton A Britain against America game style show hosted by Keith Fordyce and in which the latest records were 'put in the ring' against each other, so to speak. Seemingly a copy of the BBC's Juke Box Jury, but with the addition of a proto-Pan's People dance troupe to prance around confusingly (and quite possibly confusedly) to the records under review. All a bit pointless as Thank Your Lucky Stars was already doing something similar anyway
Pop The Question	UK / Southern / 1965 black and white UK TV's first pop quiz, hosted by Muriel Young, Young also hosted a brief sequel called Countdown . Southern, 1965 Countdown: Southern for some ITV regions, 1966 (13 programmes) . Possibly the earliest pop music quiz show on TV. Members of the public joined teams of pop stars to answer questions on pop music. It was recorded at the Winter Gardens, Margate. Just to confuse matters further, there was a sequel called Countdown - no, not that one - which was co-hosted with DJ Don Wardell
Quizball	UK / BBC1 / x30m-e / 1966-71 Creator: George Woolley / Producer: Bill Wright Ingenious general knowledge quiz in the form of a football match with two teams of three plus celebrity guest answering questions to advance towards the goal, the show utilised a large 'electronic' pitch, questions ranged in toughness from 1(easy) to 4(hard). Presented by David Vine.
Sixth Form Challenge	UK / Granada / x30m-e / 1966-67 black and white Producer: Douglas Terry / Director: Peter Mullings Quiz show spun off from University Challenge with as the title makes plain sixth form students rather than college students. Hosted by Chris Kelly.
Spot The Tune	UK / Granada / 209x30m-e / 1956-62 Quiz in which the contestants had to guess the title of a song after hearing only a small sample of it, usually sung by Marion Ryan accompanied by the Peter Knight Orchestra. Ken Platt, Ted Ray, Jackie Rae and Desmond O'Connor were all hosts during the shows run.
Take A Letter	UK / Granada / 130x30m-e / 1962-64 black and white Producer: John Hamp Quiz show in which contestants were given a clue that in turn led to a letter that in turn led to a word being spelled out. Whoever got the word or sentence the quickest, won the prize. Top prize was £34 and the host was Bob Holness. Take A Letter, GRANADA,1962 - 64,A crossword-based game show produced by John Hamp and hosted during its 130 editions by Bob Holness and Jenny Hull. The original maximum prize was about £34, obtained by turning up letters to try and get the word before the opposition with the help of verbal clues supplied by Bob
Tell The Truth	UK / ATV / x30m-e / 1961 Black and White Producer: Rita Gillespie Game show with a celebrity panel trying to guess which of three people were who they claimed to be. Hosted by Shaw Taylor.
Three Little Words	UK / ITV Network- Harlech TV / 80+x30 minute episodes / 1967-84 Creator: Roy Ward Dickson / Producers: Derek Clark, Ken Price Midday quiz show hosted mostly by Don Moss and then Alan Taylor (although Dave Allen took over towards the end of the shows run), this actually started in the late 60's but wasn't networked until 1976. The thrust of the game was the two teams of two (members of the public no celebs) had to describe a mystery word using only three key words. Hostesses included actress Linda Hayden and Sue Ann Snook.
Top Of The Form	UK / BBC / 1960's and 1970's General knowledge tournament for grammar school kids.
Twenty Questions	A UK celebrity panel game from a radio original that appeared on the BBC during the 1950's and the ITV network (Associated Rediffusion) during 1960 and 1961.
University Challenge	UK / BBC2 / 973x30m-e (1962-87) / 1962-87 and 1994-continuing Creator: Don Reid Highly cerebral quiz for university students. Two teams of four faced a starter for ten and then 3 further questions worth five points each. Although they were not, thanks to camera trickery it looked like the two teams were positioned on top of each other. Hosted by Bamber Gascoine the show finished in 1987 after 25 years but in 1994 it was revived with Jeremy Paxman hosted. The 1994 revival is a co-production between the BBC and Granada. University Challenge GRANADA 1962 - 87. A team quiz show held on a 'knockout' basis each season which featured quizmaster and host Bamber Gascoigne presiding over four-person teams from various universities. 'Your starter for ten' was on the buzzer while bonuses allowed teams to confer with the captain being responsible for giving the correct answer. You used to feel really smug if you could answer more than four or five questions per programme, but it was still immensely popular. The first ever show featured teams from Reading and Leeds Universities
Pit Your Wits- 1962 BBC	BBC-tv, 1 August 1961 to 23 September 1963 (3 series) Quiz show hosted by Kenneth Kendall and Gwynneth Tighe Described in the Radio Times: "Pit your wits against the general knowledge and I.Q. questions put to you by the hosts"
Play Your Hunch	1962 - BBC - Novelty quiz hosted by D.J. Alan Freeman
Mr & Mrs	- ATV / Border - 1964-68 - Another quiz show show originally created by Roy Ward Dixon,presented by Alan Taylor then Derek Batey
First Impressions	1965: - BBC1 - celebrity panel game where regulars tried to identify well-known personalities
The Auction Game	1968: ITV - Game show devised by Bamber Gascoine and hosted by Jimmy Edwards
Wheel of Fortune	1969: SOUTHERN 1969 - 1971 Following on from his ultra-succesful 'Take Your Pick' programme, this half hour game show was hosted by Michael Miles, again assisted by Bob Danvers-Walker, Alec Dane and organist Harold Smart. The format, as in the successful American ( 75 ) and Scottish TV ( 88 ) versions featured contestants spinning a giant wheel in pursuit of cash or prizes. Producer of the original show was Stephen Leahy . WHEEL OF FORTUNE UK / Southern/STV / x30m-e / 1969-71 / 1988-continuing Spinning wheel quiz show based on an American original, first time out was produced by Southern and hosted by Michael Miles. Scottish TV had another go at the series with Nicky Campbell hosted and assisted by Carol Smillie. Current hosts are John Leslie and Jenny Powell. The format closely followed the American with the contestants having to guess a phrase or saying, answering a general knowledge question to gain control of the wheel, the wheel had points (100-1000), the contestant then chose a letter, if the letter was there the contestant won the points on the wheel. The current show is occasionally seen prime time (with a £20,000 prize) but more often in a tea-time slot (with a £2,000 prize).
Who-Dun-It	ATV 1969 Audience participation TV where the viewers were invited to try and name the guilty party before the final credits. This 'Cluedo' type mystery game programme made in a 1930's 'Agatha Christe' style was a suspense/humour hybrid created by Lewis Greifer and produced by Jack Williams. 13 x 60 minute shows were broadcast
What's My Line?	UK / BBC-Thames / 400+x30m-e / 1951-63 / 1973-74 / 1984-90 Creators: Mark Goodson, Bill Todman Popular long running quiz show in which a panel of four celebrities had to try and guess the occupation of the contestants. Eamonn Andrews was the original host and then in the 1970's David Jacobs took over. Angela Rippon was then the host for the eighties run.