Filling the Blockbusters board

As a young child in the 1980s, I enjoyed watching Blockbusters, along with my parents. My 36 year old memory could be playing tricks, but I seem to once recall an episode of Blockbusters, with Bob Holness, where one game saw the board being filled up, without wither contestant actually doing Blockbusters. That is, the one player didn't get a complete link from top to bottom, the pair didn't get a complete link across.

Is my memory correct on this one? And, if it is, on that occasion, would it be fair to say that that particular game had to be replayed, or what happened? Usually it was the best of three games per match, so did they play a fourth game, or what was the solution?

I don't see how its possible to have a tie on the Blockbusters board; each square can only be blue or white, there's only twenty squares to play with, and the connection top to bottom or left to right only had to be made, it didn't defy HOW it had to be made, therefore it could (and did) snake up, down and across the board.

If there were three players (say, white, blue and red) then ties would occur so often there would have been a rule for it.

I don't think it's mathematically possible. If the board is full, and one player doesn't have a link, the other must.

I think you're right David based on the hexagonal tiles.
The only solution I could think of Robert would be if for some reason they hadn't reached the end of the series with one question to go and they ran out of time. Though would this game usually carry across to the next series?

It was during the middle of a programme I recall fanoftv, and I do recall the jingle played and board zoomed in and the hexagons changed colour, meaning the end of a game. According to Wikipedia, it was seemingly impossible for a tie to happen, emphasising David's point. I'm sure it did happen though, but then again, I was a child in the 80s!

That's an interesting point though - what actually happened at the end of a series? Did you have to step down as an undefeated champion, as there was no guarantee of another series and no guarantee that you could actually make it to defend your crown? Or was it all planned out towards the end of a series that somebody would complete their third/fifth gold run and therefore no need to return in the next series?

By 1990 the series straddling problem fixes itself, as they're all back to back and would be for the next three and a half years.

What you might have seen, is the VERY last Hex being won to make the connection?





But again most of the series were made in the summer? At the end of S1 won the half way thought the last episodes there had charity round.

I've often wondered that about Countdown too. If somebody has not become an octochamp but has say won 4 games in a row with the semi finals soon to begin, how do they time it to give the player the chance to continue, but to allow the semis to begin on time. This may have been more of an issue when Richard was at the helm and a programme was recorded for a specific day making daily references.

Could blockbusters not have been edited to make sure that a games would have finished by the end of the programme, as for crossing series, who knows how they worked it out. Standalone programmes like The Chase & Tipping Point seem to work much better and enables them to be repeated adhoc.

It is categorically not possible for Blockbusters to have a tied game. Therefore you are misremembering.

It could well have been that 623058. With regards to closing series, I think the shows were recorded so that a match and gold run were completed by the winners before the series ended. But, the idea of the crossover into another edition was good, in that it would make people tune in to see what happened next, making it a bit like a soap opera or drama series.

I definitely remember seeing this happen, and Bob remarking, "There can't be a stalemate in Blockbusters."

I think that happend a few times, Once because the blue team where just filling up the broad to win more money. It seem there were polity asked not to do that again....