Blockbusters (game show)
Encyclopedia
Blockbusters is a British
television
game show
based upon the American game show of the same name
in which contestants answer trivia questions to complete a path across or down a game board of hexagons.
but had a more successful run in the UK, where it lasted over eleven years (between 1983 and 1994) with host Bob Holness. As a career actor, Holness played up the role of being an 'old duffer' to the young contestants, which helped win him a cult following amongst students, with catchphrases that included "Can I have a 'P' please, Bob?". The UK version was created after Central Independent Television
producer Graham C. Williams spotted the show in 1981 and produced a pilot in which two teams of sixth form
student
s competed.
The show's first series, in 1983, was recorded at the ATV
Elstree
Centre (which was still owned by Central until 1984 when it was sold to the BBC). Subsequent series were produced at Central's Nottingham
"Television House" studios, however, at least one season (1989–90) was filmed at Central's Birmingham
studios. The series was filmed in the summer months over a 6-8 week period, with five episodes being made each day. In the final episode of each day, the contestants were allowed to do the "hand jive" during the end credits. The hand jive first appeared in 1986 after one of the contestants was bored while sitting through filming several shows a day waiting for his turn. It eventually became increasingly more popular, and has since been regarded as one of the show's most beloved gimmicks.
The original game board was a feat of engineering. It was powered using 38 slide projectors, each with its own set of slides for the different letters, colours and Gold Run questions, and took up the entire height of the studio.
The theme music was written by Ed Welch
, and soon became one of the most recognisable television themes of modern times. The original 1983–1986 title sequence featured flipping hexagons with various images on them running down an encyclopaedia page. The title sequence used from 1987–1994 is a city homage to the 1982 film Blade Runner
. The title sequence used in 2000-2001 featured people throwing and catching the letters that spell Blockbusters.
The game board consisted of 20 interlocking hexagons, arranged in five columns of four. Each hexagon contained a letter of the alphabet
. A contestant would choose one of the letters, and would be asked a general-knowledge trivia question whose correct answer began with the chosen letter. (A typical question might be, "What 'P' is a musical instrument with 88 keys?" The answer would be a piano
.) The phrasing that contestants would use to ask for a letter has entered the language, and is frequently heard to this day. It is also the source of a pun - "Can I have a 'P' please, Bob?"; a 'pee' being slang for going to the toilet.
The game board is designed in such a way that a tied game was not a possible finishing result. Even if all 20 hexagons were filled, there would always be a winner.
The game began with a toss-up question to play for control of the board, starting with a letter that was chosen at random. The teams or players could buzz-in during the middle of reading of a question. If a player or team got the correct answer, they gained control of that hexagon and were given the chance to choose another one. If the contestant answered incorrectly, the opposing team or player was given a chance to answer it after the host re-read the question. If nobody answered it correctly, the host asked another question whose answer began with that same letter. Each correct answer won £5. In the case of the two-player team, each player won whatever money the team accumulated.
The solo player attempted to complete a vertical connection of white hexagons from the top of the board to the bottom; that required at least four correct answers. The pair attempted to connect a path from left to right with blue hexagons, requiring at least five spaces. The first side to connect their path won the game. The first player or team to win two games won the match. When either party was one correct answer away from completing their path, the hexagons forming their path would flash to indicate this. If both were one correct answer away, all lit hexagons on the board would flash, indicating that the situation was effectively "Blockbusters either way", and the next player to give a correct answer would win the game.
.") When the contestant guessed correctly, the hexagon turned gold. However, if the contestant passed, it turned black, blocking the player's path; it was then up to the contestant to work around it. The object was to horizontally connect the left and right sides of the board within 60 seconds (or before blocking off all possible horizontal connections).
The winner of the match played the Gold Run, where they would have 5 chances to play. From 7th series, it was reduced to 3, in order that more contestants could take part over the course of a series. If players were successful they won a special prize. If the Gold Run wasn't won, each correct answer paid £5 (later £10). Defending champions could keep going for up to five matches undefeated, in order to win an even bigger prize. In the first Sky One series this was changed back up to five matches and reduced to three again on BBC2. In the final Sky One series, it increased to five again.
A famous short piece of music (three sharp notes played on a horn
) if a player ran out of time on a gold run, often producing amused reactions in the studio.
and the ITN News at 5:45, with a similar timeslot allocated on Saturdays for a while. The show was always transmitted on the ITV
network, although the first series was repeated on Channel 4
during the summer of 1984, in the Countdown
slot. Blockbusters was never networked across ITV
's sixteen regions, this meant that it was occasionally possible to retune the television to a neighbouring region and watch a different episode. Blockbusters did share its time slot with other game shows such as Ask No Questions
, Connections
, and Winner Takes All
.
took over the 17:10 slot and Emmerdale
was now being broadcast at 18:30, but was moved to 19:00 in January 1990.
moved the times slot around, In 1991 it was moved to 17:10, in 1992 the series moved again to 18:00, Wednesdays-Fridays. UTV reduced it to one episode at week from January - October 1992 then from 26 October 1992 broadcast it at 15:20, Mondays-Fridays. TVS
Reduced it to 2 episodes for most of 1990, During 1991/1992 went back to 3 plus addition episode around lunchtime Saturday mornings. TSW
also dropped the series to 2 per week every so often, In a bid to catch back up the series was moved to 17:10 (Mondays to Fridays) in September 1992. For around 18 months around 1991/92 Tyne Tees Television
, started broadcasting more local output during the 18:30 slot, which resulted in fewer episodes per week. When Tyne Tees and Yorkshire decided to merge their scheduling from January 1993, Tyne Tees increased its output to catch up (in November 1992 it was showing the series four times a week - Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays), but had to drop over 50 episodes.
Anglia Television
, Central Television and TSW
were showing repeats episodes during August - December 1989.
companies come in to being, which resulted in regional news being extending to a full hour from 18:00 in some areas, meaning a number of stations moved the series back before CITV
.
. But it continued for one more series on the satellite channel Sky One.
", but in a momentary lapse he instead replied "Orgasm
". After the ensuing laughter, Bob replied, "There are reasons, which I won't go into, that I can't accept that particular answer". Another notorious and often-repeated clip features a contestant apparently mistakenly saying "Kama Sutra
" instead of "kowtow
", with Holness replying in an amused manner, "No — oh no, that's something quite different". In fact, contrary to popular belief, the contestant's actual response, 'Kuma Satra' is a spoonerism of "Kama Sutra
" and therefore not quite so amusing. Another famous gaffe involved a contestant responding to the question "What 'L' do you make in the dark when you are not sure of the consequences of your actions?" with the answer "love" instead of "leap".
used adult contestants, instead of sixth formers. This version was broadcast in 1997 and presented by Michael Aspel
, with the show stayed with the same format. Famous contestants included Stephen Merchant
. The BBC version was the only version to use adults as contestants.
brought the series back again in 2000 (presented by Liza Tarbuck
). These versions failed to capture the same degree of popularity as the Holness incarnation.
hosted a networked edition of Gameshow Marathon
on ITV1
in which celebrity contestants revived the classic 1980s Bob Holness version of the show. It also featured an edited version of the show's opening titles.
A host for the revised series has yet to be announced.
showed clips from a 1992 episode with a contestant who was in the audience didn't get very far on the show and only won £10. After Saturday Night Takeaway showed clips of a 1992 episode of Blockbusters, there were a tons of requests on the (now "defunct") Challenge forums to air Blockbusters again. Challenge managed to acquire Blockbusters again from 2004-2006 but they only showed the first 25 episodes from 1992, which generated low ratings. People on the forums tried to get Challenge to show Blockbusters again but they kept rejecting it because of a tight budget.
Things went quiet with Blockbusters for a while until as of 11 June 2011, when Challenge re-acquired Blockbusters but this time, they acquired all of the 72 episodes from the 1992 series. Carlton Select
also showed old shows while that channel was still operational.
In 1986, Waddingtons
created a board game version of the show, which was named Game of the Year in 1986 by The British Association of Toy Retailers. This led to a successful spin off of Super Blockbusters, Junior Blockbusters board game and Gold Run A computer game version of the show was also created for the Amstrad CPC
, BBC Micro
and Spectrum.
In 2006, a DVD Interactive Game version was released with Bob Holness reprising his position at the helm. The DVD is based on the same format as the TV show, with virtual set design and game graphics matching the original Central version of the programme.
Since 2007, an on-line interactive version of Blockbusters has been available to play for free at Wedig TV.
, where players from two schools competed over the course of a week (five episodes), in a rolling format — where games could be started in the middle of an episode, and stopped and continued on the next episode. The school team earning the most points (based on questions answered from the main game, except tie-breaks) won a major prize for their school, such as an encyclopedia
. The show was hosted by Michael Pope
. It ran in Australia from 1990 to 1993. Two students from each school played in each match, like the 1987 NBC edition, the shorter path alternated between the teams in the first two games, and a 4x4 tie-break gameboard was used in the event of the first two games in a match being split between the two teams. Five points were earned towards the school team's weekly total for each question correctly answered, with no points scored during tie-breaks (nor for Gold Runs). The Gold Run questions had two-word answers, as opposed to varying numbers of words, with a successful run resulting in a small prize for that player and his team-mate. As there was no consolation prize for each question in a failed Gold Run, the game would be terminated early if the board became completely blocked from black spaces.
a German version called SuperGrips. It aired from 1988 to 1995, first on the BR
network, then on the Dritten Network for the rest of the run. Frank Laufenberg was the show's original host; he was later replaced by Ingo Dubinski.
Italian version was broadcast called Doppio Slalom on TV5 from 1985 to 1990, hosted by Corrado Tedeschi then Paolo Bonolis in 1990 only.
Hebrew
and Arabic language
versions have been made for Israel
.
SVT
in Sweden had their own version very similar to the UK one. 2 mot 1 was a weekly afternoon programme forming part of SVT's youth output. The programme was produced in Malmö
and hosted by Stellan Sundahl until he died from a heart attack in 1999.
BlockBusters (the UK edition) was such a sensation with the entire English speaking expatriate community in Dubai
, U.A.E, that the city nearly came to a shut-down during its evenings broadcast on Channel 33. Although, there was no separate local TV version, the local paper, Gulf News
, began to ran a yearly Blockbuster quiz competition often hosted by Bob Holness himself, between 1988 and 1994. The Gulf News Blockbusters show was telecast on Dubai TV too and was broadcast as a month long event, with the heats during Ramadan and the finals after Eid. After a 14-year long hiatus, the contest was revived in 2008 as part of the newspaper's 30th anniversary celebrations. It was also held in 2009 where the team "Anonymoys +3" whose members included Rahul Menon and Aayush Rajasekaran of The Indian High School stood first place. This marked the second year that a team from the Indian High School defeated one from long-time rivals Modern High School to claim the first place.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
based upon the American game show of the same name
Blockbusters (US game show)
Blockbusters is an American game show which had two separate runs in the 1980s. Created by Steve Ryan for Mark Goodson Productions, the first series debuted on NBC on October 27, 1980 and aired until April 23, 1982. In the first series, a team of two family members competed against a solo contestant...
in which contestants answer trivia questions to complete a path across or down a game board of hexagons.
Background
Blockbusters was created by Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions and originated as an American seriesBlockbusters (US game show)
Blockbusters is an American game show which had two separate runs in the 1980s. Created by Steve Ryan for Mark Goodson Productions, the first series debuted on NBC on October 27, 1980 and aired until April 23, 1982. In the first series, a team of two family members competed against a solo contestant...
but had a more successful run in the UK, where it lasted over eleven years (between 1983 and 1994) with host Bob Holness. As a career actor, Holness played up the role of being an 'old duffer' to the young contestants, which helped win him a cult following amongst students, with catchphrases that included "Can I have a 'P' please, Bob?". The UK version was created after Central Independent Television
Central Independent Television
Central Independent Television, more commonly known as Central is the Independent Television contractor for the Midlands, created following the restructuring of ATV and commencing broadcast on 1 January 1982. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting...
producer Graham C. Williams spotted the show in 1981 and produced a pilot in which two teams of sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
s competed.
The show's first series, in 1983, was recorded at the ATV
Associated TeleVision
Associated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
Elstree
Elstree
Elstree is a village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire on the A5 road, about 10 miles north of London. In 2001, its population was 4,765, and forms part of the civil parish of Elstree and Borehamwood, originally known simply as Elstree....
Centre (which was still owned by Central until 1984 when it was sold to the BBC). Subsequent series were produced at Central's Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
"Television House" studios, however, at least one season (1989–90) was filmed at Central's Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
studios. The series was filmed in the summer months over a 6-8 week period, with five episodes being made each day. In the final episode of each day, the contestants were allowed to do the "hand jive" during the end credits. The hand jive first appeared in 1986 after one of the contestants was bored while sitting through filming several shows a day waiting for his turn. It eventually became increasingly more popular, and has since been regarded as one of the show's most beloved gimmicks.
The original game board was a feat of engineering. It was powered using 38 slide projectors, each with its own set of slides for the different letters, colours and Gold Run questions, and took up the entire height of the studio.
The theme music was written by Ed Welch
Ed Welch
Edward William "Ed" Welch is an English television composer.-Career:In 1971, he recorded an album, Clowns, including songs he had co-written with Tom Paxton, and session musicians including Mike de Albuquerque and Cozy Powell. In 1972, acted as producer on a version of “I Don't Know How to Love...
, and soon became one of the most recognisable television themes of modern times. The original 1983–1986 title sequence featured flipping hexagons with various images on them running down an encyclopaedia page. The title sequence used from 1987–1994 is a city homage to the 1982 film Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
. The title sequence used in 2000-2001 featured people throwing and catching the letters that spell Blockbusters.
Main game
A solo player competed against a pair of contestants, thus setting out to prove or disprove the old adage that two heads really were better than one.The game board consisted of 20 interlocking hexagons, arranged in five columns of four. Each hexagon contained a letter of the alphabet
Alphabet
An alphabet is a standard set of letters—basic written symbols or graphemes—each of which represents a phoneme in a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it was in the past. There are other systems, such as logographies, in which each character represents a word, morpheme, or semantic...
. A contestant would choose one of the letters, and would be asked a general-knowledge trivia question whose correct answer began with the chosen letter. (A typical question might be, "What 'P' is a musical instrument with 88 keys?" The answer would be a piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
.) The phrasing that contestants would use to ask for a letter has entered the language, and is frequently heard to this day. It is also the source of a pun - "Can I have a 'P' please, Bob?"; a 'pee' being slang for going to the toilet.
The game board is designed in such a way that a tied game was not a possible finishing result. Even if all 20 hexagons were filled, there would always be a winner.
The game began with a toss-up question to play for control of the board, starting with a letter that was chosen at random. The teams or players could buzz-in during the middle of reading of a question. If a player or team got the correct answer, they gained control of that hexagon and were given the chance to choose another one. If the contestant answered incorrectly, the opposing team or player was given a chance to answer it after the host re-read the question. If nobody answered it correctly, the host asked another question whose answer began with that same letter. Each correct answer won £5. In the case of the two-player team, each player won whatever money the team accumulated.
The solo player attempted to complete a vertical connection of white hexagons from the top of the board to the bottom; that required at least four correct answers. The pair attempted to connect a path from left to right with blue hexagons, requiring at least five spaces. The first side to connect their path won the game. The first player or team to win two games won the match. When either party was one correct answer away from completing their path, the hexagons forming their path would flash to indicate this. If both were one correct answer away, all lit hexagons on the board would flash, indicating that the situation was effectively "Blockbusters either way", and the next player to give a correct answer would win the game.
Gold Run
The winner of the match went on to play the Gold Run bonus round; if the pair won, only one player on the team could play, with the turns alternating at each Gold Run. The board consisted of a pattern of hexagons similar to that of the main game, but the hexagons had 2 to 5 letters inside them; those letters were the initials of the correct answer. (For instance, if a contestant chose "BS" and the host said "Where people kiss in Ireland", the correct answer would be "Blarney StoneBlarney Stone
The Blarney Stone is a block of bluestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, Blarney, about from Cork, Ireland. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of the gab . The stone was set into a tower of the castle in 1446...
.") When the contestant guessed correctly, the hexagon turned gold. However, if the contestant passed, it turned black, blocking the player's path; it was then up to the contestant to work around it. The object was to horizontally connect the left and right sides of the board within 60 seconds (or before blocking off all possible horizontal connections).
The winner of the match played the Gold Run, where they would have 5 chances to play. From 7th series, it was reduced to 3, in order that more contestants could take part over the course of a series. If players were successful they won a special prize. If the Gold Run wasn't won, each correct answer paid £5 (later £10). Defending champions could keep going for up to five matches undefeated, in order to win an even bigger prize. In the first Sky One series this was changed back up to five matches and reduced to three again on BBC2. In the final Sky One series, it increased to five again.
A famous short piece of music (three sharp notes played on a horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
) if a player ran out of time on a gold run, often producing amused reactions in the studio.
Champion Blockbusters
4 series of Champion Blockbusters were made from 1987–1990, in which winners of the fifth gold-run returned to battle against other five gold-run winners.Original Series
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Regional transmissions information
Blockbusters was one of the first UK game shows to run in a 'straddling' format, which allowed for games to last a different length of time, meaning that episodes would often begin and end mid-game, and matches often crossed over into two episodes. The show was generally screened at 17:15 Monday to Friday, filling the half-hour timeslot between Children's ITVCITV
CITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...
and the ITN News at 5:45, with a similar timeslot allocated on Saturdays for a while. The show was always transmitted on the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
network, although the first series was repeated on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
during the summer of 1984, in the Countdown
Countdown (game show)
Countdown is a British game show involving word and number puzzles. It is produced by ITV Studios and broadcast on Channel 4. It is presented by Jeff Stelling, assisted by Rachel Riley, with regular lexicographer Susie Dent. It was the first programme to be aired on Channel 4, and over sixty-five...
slot. Blockbusters was never networked across ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's sixteen regions, this meant that it was occasionally possible to retune the television to a neighbouring region and watch a different episode. Blockbusters did share its time slot with other game shows such as Ask No Questions
Ask No Questions
Ask No Questions was a celebrity panel game that was produced by Yorkshire Television and aired on ITV in 1986 and 1987. The programme was co-hosted by John Junkin and Carol Vorderman...
, Connections
Connections (game show)
Connections is a British television game show. It was produced by Granada Television and aired on the ITV network from 1985 to 1990.-Hosts:...
, and Winner Takes All
Winner Takes All (game show)
Winner Takes All was a popular game show that was produced by Yorkshire Television and ran for 13 years on the ITV network from 1975 until 1988 but returned in 1997 on the cable and satellite channel Challenge....
.
1983
In 1983, all regions started broadcasting the series, some stations moved Blockbusters to an earlier slot because there was no space available at 17:15, as these stations were broadcasting soap operas.- 29 August 1983 at 17:15 broadcast by BorderBorder TelevisionBorder Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria...
, Central Television, Granada TelevisionGranada TelevisionGranada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
, HTVHTVHTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...
, Yorkshire TelevisionYorkshire TelevisionYorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
and UTV: Finished on 4 November 1983. - 5 September 1983 at 15:30 broadcast by Anglia TelevisionAnglia TelevisionAnglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional...
, Grampian TelevisionGrampian TelevisionGrampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife...
, Scottish TelevisionScottish TelevisionScottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
, TVSTelevision SouthTelevision South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
, TSWTelevision South WestTelevision South West was the ITV franchise holder for the South West England region from 1 January 1982 until 31 December 1992, broadcasting from the former Westward Television studios in Plymouth, Devon.-Origins and Launch:...
, Thames TelevisionThames TelevisionThames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
, Tyne Tees TelevisionTyne Tees TelevisionTyne Tees Television is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. As of 2009, it forms part of a non-franchise ITV Tyne Tees & Border region, shared with the ITV Border region...
and Channel TelevisionChannel TelevisionChannel Television is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey...
: Finished on 11 November 1983.
1984 - 1988
- BorderBorder TelevisionBorder Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria...
, Central Television, Granada TelevisionGranada TelevisionGranada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
, HTVHTVHTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...
, Tyne Tees TelevisionTyne Tees TelevisionTyne Tees Television is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. As of 2009, it forms part of a non-franchise ITV Tyne Tees & Border region, shared with the ITV Border region...
, Yorkshire TelevisionYorkshire TelevisionYorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
and UTV: Broadcast: Monday — Friday at 17:15, Saturday at 17:05: September — February. - Anglia TelevisionAnglia TelevisionAnglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional...
, Grampian TelevisionGrampian TelevisionGrampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife...
, Scottish TelevisionScottish TelevisionScottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
, TVSTelevision SouthTelevision South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
and Thames TelevisionThames TelevisionThames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
/LWT: Broadcast: Wednesday — Friday at 17:15, Saturday at 17:05: September — April. Monday and Tuesday slot was filled with Emmerdale FarmEmmerdaleEmmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
or Sons and DaughtersSons and Daughters (Australian TV series)Sons and Daughters was a Logie Award winning Australian soap opera created by Reg Watson and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation between 1981 and 1987. The first episode aired in December 1981, during the Christmas/New Year non-ratings period, and the official broadcast date of the final...
on TVS. - Thames TelevisionThames TelevisionThames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
/LWT From September 1985: Monday — Saturday; (except Thursdays): 17:15. - TSWTelevision South WestTelevision South West was the ITV franchise holder for the South West England region from 1 January 1982 until 31 December 1992, broadcasting from the former Westward Television studios in Plymouth, Devon.-Origins and Launch:...
Series 2 (1984) was not fully transmit at all, because the 5.15 slot was taken up on all dates with CrossroadsCrossroads (TV series)Crossroads is a British television soap opera set in a fictional motel near Birmingham, England. Created by Hazel Adair and Peter Ling, the commercial ITV network originally broadcast the series between 1964 and 1988. Produced by ATV and later by Central it became a byword for cheap production...
or Emmerdale FarmEmmerdaleEmmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
, which latter was moved into early peaktime in 1985 (as it was on Thames). Around 50 editions of the 1984/5 series were shown on TSW during summer holiday mornings: 1 July - 24 August 1985. Series 3 From September 1985: 17:15 Monday, Friday and Saturday. Series 4 and 5: 17:15 Thursday, Friday and Saturday. - Channel TelevisionChannel TelevisionChannel Television is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey...
followed TSW's schedules until January 1986, then switched to follow TVS. This meant that approx 16-20 episodes were skipped as TVS were further ahead.
1988 - 1989
All regions broadcast the show from 2 September 1988 to 10 February 1989 at 17:15 Monday to Friday and 17:05 Saturday. However, some editions were shown on Sundays on Anglia and Scottish, instead of Saturdays.1989 - 1992
The show was delayed by nearly all the ITV companies until January 1990, as no slots were available to broadcast the show. This was because Home and AwayHome and Away
Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...
took over the 17:10 slot and Emmerdale
Emmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
was now being broadcast at 18:30, but was moved to 19:00 in January 1990.
- Anglia TelevisionAnglia TelevisionAnglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional...
, Central Television, Thames TelevisionThames TelevisionThames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
broadcast it January onwards 3 times a week Monday — Thursday at 17:10 and broadcast Home and Away at 18:00. Days of the week changed and addition episodes added as-well to make it 4 per week on occasion. - LWT no longer broadcast any episodes from this point onwards.
- Scottish TelevisionScottish TelevisionScottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
: January — April 1990 Tuesday and Thursday at 18:30, then, from May moved to daytime broadcast around 13:30, 2-4 times a week. In 1992 it was at 13:45, Mondays-Thursdays. - Grampian TelevisionGrampian TelevisionGrampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife...
January 1990 - December 1992: broadcast at 18:30, Wednesdays and Thursdays. - BorderBorder TelevisionBorder Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria...
, Granada TelevisionGranada TelevisionGranada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
*, HTVHTVHTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...
, TVSTelevision SouthTelevision South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
*, TSWTelevision South WestTelevision South West was the ITV franchise holder for the South West England region from 1 January 1982 until 31 December 1992, broadcasting from the former Westward Television studios in Plymouth, Devon.-Origins and Launch:...
, Tyne Tees TelevisionTyne Tees TelevisionTyne Tees Television is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. As of 2009, it forms part of a non-franchise ITV Tyne Tees & Border region, shared with the ITV Border region...
*, UTV* and Yorkshire TelevisionYorkshire TelevisionYorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
Broadcast from 2 January 1990 onwards on Tuesday — Thursday 18:30 all year round.
Note
GranadaGranada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
moved the times slot around, In 1991 it was moved to 17:10, in 1992 the series moved again to 18:00, Wednesdays-Fridays. UTV reduced it to one episode at week from January - October 1992 then from 26 October 1992 broadcast it at 15:20, Mondays-Fridays. TVS
Television South
Television South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
Reduced it to 2 episodes for most of 1990, During 1991/1992 went back to 3 plus addition episode around lunchtime Saturday mornings. TSW
Television South West
Television South West was the ITV franchise holder for the South West England region from 1 January 1982 until 31 December 1992, broadcasting from the former Westward Television studios in Plymouth, Devon.-Origins and Launch:...
also dropped the series to 2 per week every so often, In a bid to catch back up the series was moved to 17:10 (Mondays to Fridays) in September 1992. For around 18 months around 1991/92 Tyne Tees Television
Tyne Tees Television
Tyne Tees Television is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. As of 2009, it forms part of a non-franchise ITV Tyne Tees & Border region, shared with the ITV Border region...
, started broadcasting more local output during the 18:30 slot, which resulted in fewer episodes per week. When Tyne Tees and Yorkshire decided to merge their scheduling from January 1993, Tyne Tees increased its output to catch up (in November 1992 it was showing the series four times a week - Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays), but had to drop over 50 episodes.
Anglia Television
Anglia Television
Anglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional...
, Central Television and TSW
Television South West
Television South West was the ITV franchise holder for the South West England region from 1 January 1982 until 31 December 1992, broadcasting from the former Westward Television studios in Plymouth, Devon.-Origins and Launch:...
were showing repeats episodes during August - December 1989.
1993
A number of new ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
companies come in to being, which resulted in regional news being extending to a full hour from 18:00 in some areas, meaning a number of stations moved the series back before CITV
CITV
CITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...
.
- Anglia TelevisionAnglia TelevisionAnglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional...
and Central Television Monday — Wednesdays; 17:10, then switching Wednesday — Friday: 17:10. - Carlton TelevisionCarlton TelevisionCarlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...
Monday — Friday at 15:20, Completed on 4 June 1993 - UTV Monday — Friday at 15:20, Completed July 1993
- HTVHTVHTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...
, Monday — Thursday 13:45: Completed 2 August 1993. - Scottish TelevisionScottish TelevisionScottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
continued to broadcast the series 4 times a week, Completed on 2 September 1993. - WestcountryWestcountry TelevisionWestcountry Television, is the ITV franchise holder in the South West of England, replacing its predecessor, TSW , from the 1 January 1993...
, 13:45: Monday — Friday completed by 3 September 1993. - BorderBorder TelevisionBorder Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria...
, Meridian Television, Tyne Tees TelevisionTyne Tees TelevisionTyne Tees Television is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. As of 2009, it forms part of a non-franchise ITV Tyne Tees & Border region, shared with the ITV Border region...
, Yorkshire TelevisionYorkshire TelevisionYorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
continued with Tuesday — Thursday 18:30: Completed on 30 September 1993. - Grampian TelevisionGrampian TelevisionGrampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife...
, 13:45: Monday — Friday Completed by December 1993. - Granada TelevisionGranada TelevisionGranada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
: still broadcasting 3 episodes most weeks at 17:10: Completed in January 1994.
1994
After the eleventh series, Blockbusters was no longer networked on ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. But it continued for one more series on the satellite channel Sky One.
- Sky OneSky OneSky1 is the flagship BSkyB entertainment channel available in the United Kingdom and Ireland.The channel first launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, and is the fourth-oldest TV channel in the United Kingdom, behind BBC One , ITV and BBC Two...
: Weekdays 7pm before moving to 18:30. - Anglia TelevisionAnglia TelevisionAnglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional...
and Central Television: Monday — Wednesdays 2:50: From 18 April 1994 to 24 May 1995 Broadcast the Sky One version. - Tyne Tees TelevisionTyne Tees TelevisionTyne Tees Television is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. As of 2009, it forms part of a non-franchise ITV Tyne Tees & Border region, shared with the ITV Border region...
and Yorkshire TelevisionYorkshire TelevisionYorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
also broadcast the Sky One version from July to December 1995, at 18:30 slot Tuesday - Thursday.
Famous incidents
In one clip a contestant was asked "What 'O' is the generic word for any living animal or plant, including bacteria and viruses?" The contestant realised that the answer was "OrganismOrganism
In biology, an organism is any contiguous living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homoeostasis as a stable whole.An organism may either be unicellular or, as in the case of humans, comprise...
", but in a momentary lapse he instead replied "Orgasm
Orgasm
Orgasm is the peak of the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle, characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure...
". After the ensuing laughter, Bob replied, "There are reasons, which I won't go into, that I can't accept that particular answer". Another notorious and often-repeated clip features a contestant apparently mistakenly saying "Kama Sutra
Kama Sutra
The Kama Sutra is an ancient Indian Hindu text widely considered to be the standard work on human sexual behavior in Sanskrit literature written by Vātsyāyana. A portion of the work consists of practical advice on sexual intercourse. It is largely in prose, with many inserted anustubh poetry verses...
" instead of "kowtow
Kowtow
Kowtow is the act of deep respect shown by kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground. An alternative Chinese term is ketou, however the meaning is somewhat altered: kòu originally meant "knock with reverence", whereas kē has the general meaning of "touch upon ".In Han...
", with Holness replying in an amused manner, "No — oh no, that's something quite different". In fact, contrary to popular belief, the contestant's actual response, 'Kuma Satra' is a spoonerism of "Kama Sutra
Kama Sutra
The Kama Sutra is an ancient Indian Hindu text widely considered to be the standard work on human sexual behavior in Sanskrit literature written by Vātsyāyana. A portion of the work consists of practical advice on sexual intercourse. It is largely in prose, with many inserted anustubh poetry verses...
" and therefore not quite so amusing. Another famous gaffe involved a contestant responding to the question "What 'L' do you make in the dark when you are not sure of the consequences of your actions?" with the answer "love" instead of "leap".
BBC Two
BBC TwoBBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
used adult contestants, instead of sixth formers. This version was broadcast in 1997 and presented by Michael Aspel
Michael Aspel
Michael Terence Aspel, OBE is an English television presenter, known for his reserved demeanour and rich speaking voice. He has been a high-profile TV personality in the United Kingdom since the 1960s, presenting programmes such as Crackerjack, Aspel and Company, This is Your Life, Strange But...
, with the show stayed with the same format. Famous contestants included Stephen Merchant
Stephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchant is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office, as the co-writer, co-director and a co-star of Extras, and as the...
. The BBC version was the only version to use adults as contestants.
Sky One
Sky OneSky One
Sky1 is the flagship BSkyB entertainment channel available in the United Kingdom and Ireland.The channel first launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, and is the fourth-oldest TV channel in the United Kingdom, behind BBC One , ITV and BBC Two...
brought the series back again in 2000 (presented by Liza Tarbuck
Liza Tarbuck
Liza Tarbuck is an English actress and television and radio presenter, and daughter of comedian Jimmy Tarbuck.She trained at the National Youth Theatre and RADA graduating in 1986 alongside Clive Owen, Rebecca Pidgeon and Serena Harragin.-Acting:...
). These versions failed to capture the same degree of popularity as the Holness incarnation.
Gameshow Marathon
On Saturday 14 April 2007 at 20:40, Vernon KayVernon Kay
Vernon Charles Kay is a British television presenter, radio DJ, american footballer and former model. He began television presenting on the BBC children's programme FBi, a spin-off of Fully Booked. Since he has presented various programmes, most notably T4, Beat the Star and All Star Family...
hosted a networked edition of Gameshow Marathon
Gameshow Marathon (UK game show)
Gameshow Marathon is a British game show, broadcast from 17 September 2005 to 26 May 2007 on ITV .After a quick retrospective look at the history of the particular show, the show itself is recreated. This involved recreating the original set and using original opening programme titles, including...
on ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
in which celebrity contestants revived the classic 1980s Bob Holness version of the show. It also featured an edited version of the show's opening titles.
Challenge
It was announced on 10 November 2011 that game show channel Challenge is to revive the show in 2012. Applications forms are available to request by email (eMail details are on the official Challenge website). The new series will have adult contestants playing the game. .A host for the revised series has yet to be announced.
Reruns
Challenge TV aired Blockbusters from 1997-1998 showing reruns from 1991. In 2004, Saturday Night TakeawaySaturday Night Takeaway
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, is a variety show created by LWT and shown in the UK on Saturday evenings on ITV, presented and executively produced by Ant & Dec. It is broadcast live from The London Studios on the South Bank...
showed clips from a 1992 episode with a contestant who was in the audience didn't get very far on the show and only won £10. After Saturday Night Takeaway showed clips of a 1992 episode of Blockbusters, there were a tons of requests on the (now "defunct") Challenge forums to air Blockbusters again. Challenge managed to acquire Blockbusters again from 2004-2006 but they only showed the first 25 episodes from 1992, which generated low ratings. People on the forums tried to get Challenge to show Blockbusters again but they kept rejecting it because of a tight budget.
Things went quiet with Blockbusters for a while until as of 11 June 2011, when Challenge re-acquired Blockbusters but this time, they acquired all of the 72 episodes from the 1992 series. Carlton Select
Carlton Select
Carlton Select was a British digital television channel, owned by Carlton Television. It was launched in February 1997, and closed down in March 2000. Its sister channels were Carlton Cinema, Carlton Food Network, Carlton Kids and Carlton World....
also showed old shows while that channel was still operational.
Merchandise
Blockbusters spawned a number of items of merchandise. 12 quiz books were released from the show which also led to a spin-off: "Blockbusters Gold Run Volumes 1-5" being produced.In 1986, Waddingtons
Waddingtons
Waddingtons was a publisher of card and board games in the United Kingdom. The company was founded by John Waddington of Leeds, England and Wilson Barratt, under the name Waddingtons Limited...
created a board game version of the show, which was named Game of the Year in 1986 by The British Association of Toy Retailers. This led to a successful spin off of Super Blockbusters, Junior Blockbusters board game and Gold Run A computer game version of the show was also created for the Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, BBC Micro
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
and Spectrum.
In 2006, a DVD Interactive Game version was released with Bob Holness reprising his position at the helm. The DVD is based on the same format as the TV show, with virtual set design and game graphics matching the original Central version of the programme.
Since 2007, an on-line interactive version of Blockbusters has been available to play for free at Wedig TV.
Other countries
The Australian version of Blockbusters was broadcast on the Seven NetworkSeven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
, where players from two schools competed over the course of a week (five episodes), in a rolling format — where games could be started in the middle of an episode, and stopped and continued on the next episode. The school team earning the most points (based on questions answered from the main game, except tie-breaks) won a major prize for their school, such as an encyclopedia
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
. The show was hosted by Michael Pope
Michael Pope (Australian)
Michael Pope is an Australian voice-over announcer, "warm up" person and producer, best known as a producer of Nine Network's Bert's Family Feud, as well as The Price Is Right on the same network...
. It ran in Australia from 1990 to 1993. Two students from each school played in each match, like the 1987 NBC edition, the shorter path alternated between the teams in the first two games, and a 4x4 tie-break gameboard was used in the event of the first two games in a match being split between the two teams. Five points were earned towards the school team's weekly total for each question correctly answered, with no points scored during tie-breaks (nor for Gold Runs). The Gold Run questions had two-word answers, as opposed to varying numbers of words, with a successful run resulting in a small prize for that player and his team-mate. As there was no consolation prize for each question in a failed Gold Run, the game would be terminated early if the board became completely blocked from black spaces.
a German version called SuperGrips. It aired from 1988 to 1995, first on the BR
Bayerischer Rundfunk
Bayerischer Rundfunk [Bavarian Broadcasting] is the public broadcasting authority for the German Freistaat of Bavaria, with its main offices located in Munich. BR is a member of ARD.- Legal foundation :...
network, then on the Dritten Network for the rest of the run. Frank Laufenberg was the show's original host; he was later replaced by Ingo Dubinski.
Italian version was broadcast called Doppio Slalom on TV5 from 1985 to 1990, hosted by Corrado Tedeschi then Paolo Bonolis in 1990 only.
Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
and Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
versions have been made for Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
SVT
Sveriges Television
Sveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners...
in Sweden had their own version very similar to the UK one. 2 mot 1 was a weekly afternoon programme forming part of SVT's youth output. The programme was produced in Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
and hosted by Stellan Sundahl until he died from a heart attack in 1999.
BlockBusters (the UK edition) was such a sensation with the entire English speaking expatriate community in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, U.A.E, that the city nearly came to a shut-down during its evenings broadcast on Channel 33. Although, there was no separate local TV version, the local paper, Gulf News
Gulf News
Gulf News is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates with a December 2009 BPA audited circulation of over 117,036 qualified copies...
, began to ran a yearly Blockbuster quiz competition often hosted by Bob Holness himself, between 1988 and 1994. The Gulf News Blockbusters show was telecast on Dubai TV too and was broadcast as a month long event, with the heats during Ramadan and the finals after Eid. After a 14-year long hiatus, the contest was revived in 2008 as part of the newspaper's 30th anniversary celebrations. It was also held in 2009 where the team "Anonymoys +3" whose members included Rahul Menon and Aayush Rajasekaran of The Indian High School stood first place. This marked the second year that a team from the Indian High School defeated one from long-time rivals Modern High School to claim the first place.
External links
..- Blockbusters (UK) at BFI.
- Champion Blockbusters at BFI..