Fave 0925 game show

American formats were usually fast paced, snappy and designed around a 20-minute timeframe plus breaks.

It was only when those shows died off that British creators got a look in, and what they produced was this drawn-out stuff that, unless the format works really well, is just tedious.

I used to like Turnabout - but watching as a child I was fascinated by the water in the middle of the studio! Can anyone explain how that was done? Was it some kind of CSO trickery? Surely it can't have been a real pool of water!

One of my favourites was Give Us A Clue - not sure how long that aired at 0925 though. Probably had *the* greatest TV intro/theme ever!

45 minutes was OK but certainly suffered considerably being expanded to an hour. Hate 15 to 1 at an hour too, though it could probably sustain 45 minutes.

At least when Countdown was expanded the format was changed to reflect it still runs at the same pace now as it did in 1982.

Chain Letters...no doubt

Wasn't there a Richard Madeley fronted quiz in that slot, Runway, which always seemed strange as part of the same daytime line up as This Morning.

It always sounds great IMO when the show makes an effort to tie the music to the guest or contestant introductions - Krypton Factor did this when it introduced its Art of Noise theme to replace the previous theme. There are probably other examples.

Give us a Clue moved to daytime in the 1980s when ITV Schools was shifted to Channel 4 and I think it stayed at 9:25 for quite some time. Previously it had apparently lived in peak time for years.

According to UK Game Shows, yes it was, and they employed someone to create ripples in it.
http://www.ukgameshows.com/ukgs/Turnabout_%281%29

Catchword was on BBC2 at four o'clock, very much the BBC2 equivalent of Countdown. That slot then became home to Today's The Day for years and years and years.

I believe only the 1988 series was moved to 09.25 with the rest going out at that 14.55 slot

That Paul Coia hosted Catchword having been the first voice to be heard on Channel 4 - albeit speaking somewhat less memorable words than the ones Richard Whiteley spoke a few minutes later - is obviously a coincidence.

Today's The Day aired at 5:30 in its later years - meaning you could watch Martyn Lewis on that and then turn over to BBC1 to watch him presenting the Six O'Clock News. It ended only when he left the Beeb - after which BBC2 tried out quite a number of things in the slot (including the short-lived Alan Titchmarsh version of Ask The Family) before the Weakest Link came along.

Inspiring this spoof (21 ½ mins in)

Yes it was called Runway.


It wasn't having that and This Morning that was strange, but the trail for This Morning which went out at 9:25. At the end of that Richard or Judy had to introduce a programme presented by Richard, often he'd say 'and now over to me' or similar

I read on, I think UK Game Shows, that the prize on Runway was dubious. It was said you’d win the trip you wanted to go on, but I’m reality you won a fixed amount which wouldn’t get you further than Spain. One of things that would be a major scandal these days.