Top 10 Classic UK Game Shows

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
50/50? Phone a friend? Or ask the audience? Your only three lifelines on the way to securing an impressive £1,000,000.00. The game show, hosted by Chris Tarrant, offers players the chance to win one-million pounds by simply answering all 15 multiple choice questions correctly.

However, only five UK contestants have won the top prize since it was first broadcast in 1998. Who Wants To BeA Millionaire is now played all over the world, all offering the chance to win a large sum of money, however, the exact prize figure changes depending on the exchange rate!

Do you think this is the best game show ever?

“Is that your final answer?”

Family Fortunes

Family Fortunes comprises of two families competing for prizes, like a holiday, car, or cash. The game is played with both families being asked questions based on public commissioned surveys to find the top answer, and the other answers given by the public. The show is one of the longest and highest rated game shows ever, with the first broadcast being on the 6th January 1980 and is famous for the saying “our survey said”

Currently Family Fortunes is hosted by Vernon Kay on ITV in the UK and still follows the same formatas the original programme. The modern show is accompanied by an interactive DVD and FamilyFortunes board game. To add a bit more excitement to the game ITV have released an All Star FamilyFortunes game where celebrities and their families compete for prizes. It’s a good watch and the survey answers can be answered by anybody who is willing to have a guess.

QI, standing for Quite Interesting, is a British comedy panel quiz game show where celebrities testtheir general knowledge trying not to answer questions in an obvious but incorrect way. QI wasfirst broadcast in 2003 on the BBC and is still going strong now, with Stephen Fry as the host, with a panel of celebrities. The show often asks its guests difficult and deliberately misleading questions toprovoke a reaction and conversation between the panel.

QI is a satirical show, and no real prizes are given, but it’s well loved by the British public, and hasbeen for many years now. Many avid followers have also invested in the QI – The Book of GeneralIgnorance book to further test their general knowledge.

Blind Date

Blind Date is not a quiz game show but a game show based on relationships, with Cilla Black onthe hunt for true love for her eager contestant to get a date. Divided by a partition, the three menwould be given a number and asked a couple of questions on their life and future plans, to give theaudience a chance to get to know the lads. The lucky lady is then brought out to ask the men a setof questions to help her choose the right man for her. The contestants then answer the questionsoffered by the lucky lady often in a tongue and cheek manor. After the questions have finished a voice over offers a summery on all the contestants for the lucky lady to decide on her dream man.

The unlucky contestants then meet the lucky lady before the screen is pulled back to revel her blinddate. The show is capturing and made interesting by the contestants and their ability to “play up” on camera. Different formulas of this game show have been tried, with the most recent and successful version being Take Me Out.

Catchphrase

Catchphrase is a game show where two people attempt to solve picture puzzles which reveal a phrase, saying, or title to win money. At the beginning of each round one person must stop the flashing light, determining how much money each of the current rounds is worth. Then, a puzzle comes on screen to which the contestants answer after the bell. The contestant must be the first to the buzzer and guess the correct answer to win. If they are correct, they win the money and the game continues.

Countdown

“I’ll have a vowel, a consonant, a vowel, another vowel, a vowel, another consonant. Another consonant, a vowel, a consonant and a final consonant please.”

Countdown was based on the original French version of the show called Des Chiffres et Des Lettres meaning numbers and letters. The show consists of two comparators fighting it out to get the largest word with the letters provided and the closest to the random generated number. The show was hosted by two well know celebrities, Carol Vorderman and Richard Whiteley. A recent one off episode has seen the cast of 8 out of 10 Cats attempt the game show with funny results, and the new Rachel Riley of ‘number and letter corner’ bridges the gap between both the serious show and the comical angle on the show.

Mastermind

Mastermind is considered a test of knowledge, focus and memory as the contestant is grilled in the black chair on their chosen topic. The show offers the audience a chance to see a wide range of questions asked to self-confessed subject experts. Subjects range from the serious to chosen topics like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the banana industry. The winner is the person who answers the most questions on their chosen subject combined with the general knowledge round is the winner.

University Challenge

University Challenge is a combination of teamwork and individual genius. Two teams of four students from universities around the UK compete against each through rounds until two finalists emerge for the University Challenge final. All team members must be students of the University they are representing for the period that the show takes place in. First broadcast in 1962, University Challenge has a long history of Universities competing for the University Challenge’s Winner’s title.

Weakest Link

Anne Robinson hosts the quick-fire general knowledge quiz in which contestants must bank money as it accumulates throughout the round when a question is answered correctly. However, at the end of the round a decision must be made on who is to be eliminated either for incorrectly answering questions or who poses you at treat to becoming the strongest link. Weakest Link first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC on 14 August 2000 and ended on 31 March 2012 when its host Anne Robinson ended her contract. The programme is famous for the catch phrase Ann Robinson released every time a contestant left the show: “You are the Weakest Link… Goodbye”

Wheel of Fortune

Wheel of Fortune is a British game show where contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes. The title refers to the show’s giant carnival wheel that contestants spin throughout the course of the game to determine their cash or other prizes. The programme first broadcast on the 19 July 1988. The show is also big in the USA where the spinner refers to money values instead of points but this is the only difference.