William G Stewart

‪Seeing unconfirmed reports circulating that former Fifteen To One presenter William G Stewart has passed away.‬

He was more than just a presenter he was a producers, of The price is right, Family fortunes and some other Thames Comedy

This is true unfortunately. Wonderful person, not just a great host of 15-to-1 but a shrewd producer of classic television entertainment.

It's thanks to William that The Price is Right came to the UK. He single handedly hyped up the audience to lose their typically British stiff upper lip and to go crazy for the prizes.

He was also the second ever presenter of Countdown, after Richard Whiteley and Carol Vorderman battled it out as contestants on the 1997 Christmas Special.

Former Fifteen to One host William G Stewart has died after a brief illness, a representative said.

— LBC London News (@LBCLondonNews) September 21, 2017

I heard he could be quite ruthless. Sacking a runner or someone of that ilk for making a simple mistake on the spot in Fifteen to One.

But then I guess most successful people have to be ruthless to some extent.

I was surprised he was very bitter about DOND and that he seemed to miss why the format worked, considering his past as a producer.

His last involmemt on screen of a game show was of course ill fated Saturday night Lottery show The People’s Quiz which in the finals was very similar to Fifteen to One, and saw a strong performance from one Mark Lebett.

I guess it’s tribute to him that Fifteen to One is back on our screens as he made the original such a staple.

Interesting that the BBC reports that he always wanted Jonathan Ross to host Fifteen to One. And when he declined he took up the role himself as he couldn't find anyone else suitable. I didn't know this before.

I'm not sure how Jonathan Ross would have coped with such a straight rapid quiz format. I doubt the show would have lasted so long if he did host it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-41353273

I would recommend reading this Twitter chain regarding his time on Family Fortunes.

Oh, and the story of how William G Stewart came to be paid a TON OF MONEY to produce Family Fortunes is a belter.

— Louis Barfe (@AlanKelloggs) September 21, 2017

Jonathan Ross seems an odd choice knowing how the show ended up being like,but I can see that working. Remember what Jonathan Ross was like in 1988 - a young slick host who was soon to be trying to break into the mainstream. A fast moving quiz show with lots of contestants to talk to - I can kinda see what Williams had in mind.


One of his other producer roles was rescuing Chris Evans' game show Don't Forget Your Toothbrush. It went through several pilots and IIRC was postponed a few times as it just wasn't working. Then they brought in William G Stewart and it was a massive hit

Though the man himself recounted it differently - he said that the idea that British audiences wouldn't behave like the US audiences was rubbish, in part because of what he saw during his time as a Redcoat, and in part because of how people behaved during The Last Night at the Proms. He said that the warm-ups including airline style safety warnings about fire didn't help the situation.

There's a story about him hearing Land of Hope and Glory being sung for someone's birthday while he was out for dinner, and deciding to use that for his warm-up, which worked brilliantly.

He also said that having large groups (another thing he learnt from Butlins) helped break the ice, so he made sure audience was mostly coach parties.

EDIT: All this information and more can be found in the earlier-mentioned Louis Barfe's book Turned Out Nice Again: The Story of British Light Entertainment . It's 189 pence on Amazon for the digital version.

Other online retailers are available.

Brucie and WGS in the space of just five weeks. Gutted.

Having been a big fan of Fifteen-to-One and Countdown ever since my first days at school, it's going to be kind of strange knowing that both William and Richard are no longer with us. But I'll always enjoy watching them and Carol together on that Christmas Countdown episode above, as well of course as this celeb edition of FTO from seven years before:



As regards Family Fortunes, WGS apparently had a role in the Turkey Incident. According to David N Mason in his Gameshow Handbook, one of the female members of the understandably embarrassed Johnson family asked Max after the recording how much money would be taken for the show not to be broadcast. Max consulted William, who then had to explain to Mrs Johnson that each episode cost £38,000 to make...