Going for Gold
Encyclopedia
Going for Gold is a British television
game show
that originally aired on BBC1
between 12 October 1987 and 9 July 1996.
It has since been revived for Channel 5 from 13 October 2008 to 20 March 2009. The revival was produced by Talkback Thames and presented by John Suchet
.
from 12 October 1987 to 9 July 1996, usually after the lunchtime broadcast of Australia
n soap opera
Neighbours
, which coincidentally is also produced by Reg Grundy Productions
. It was presented by Irish
broadcaster Henry Kelly
, and its defining concept was that it featured contestants from different Europe
an countries who competed against each other to answer questions (all in English) to win a prize. The show was shown on BBC1 in the UK and on Super Channel (later NBC Super Channel) in Continental Europe
.
The 1987-96 run of the quiz show each week had seven contestants that spoke English (each representing a different European country) would compete against each other for a place in the finals. The show followed a repechage
format (now common, but then unusual), whereby unsuccessful contestants from Monday's show would return on Tuesday, and so on throughout the week. Each episode lasted for twenty-five minutes, including four rounds.
There were ten series in total (two in 1992). The first five series were broadcast during the winter, and there was a lot split in half by the Christmas break. The (second) 1992 and 1993 series went out in the autumn, the last three were broadcast during the summer. The 1996 series featured competitors from the UK
only.
Going For Gold is also a English book, for students to improve their English. But mostly its known because it's the television show.
. Former ITV Play
host Alex Kramer, did the newly introduced viewers' phone-in question section, repeating the questions several times and talking to the selected phone-in contestant. The set questions involve many clues to an item or person, and the phone-ins were notorious for taking up significant amounts of time during the show.
The show continued its run between 5 January and 20 March 2009. Vicky Letch temporarily replaced Alex Kramer as the viewer's phone-in host whilst Alex was on holiday. When John Suchet was unavailable, the programme was hosted by Dean Wilson. At the end of the series, the sixteen winners with the most daily wins contested four semi-finals, the winners of which competed in the series final on 20 March 2009, won by Iwan Thomas.
"Fame Game"), with progressively more details being revealed by Kelly until someone was able to identify it. By the Thursday show, there would be only four contestants left to play the "first round proper."
), played with hands on plungers. Questions were worth one, two or three points. A contestant who gave a correct answer would be told the subject of the next question, and got to choose the value of that question. If nobody answered a question correctly, a general knowledge question worth a single point was used next. The first three players to reach six points went on to play the next round.
Players scored based on the number of consecutive questions they got right - if an incorrect answer was given, their score returned to zero, the score taken from this round was the highest point reached over 40 seconds. After this round the two highest scoring players went through to the final round. A "first to two" general knowledge playoff was held if there was a tie, using the same style of questions from round 1.
and produced for ABC
in 1987, at ABC Television Center. The pilot did not sell in the States; however, Grundy took it to Europe where it became what is now Going for Gold. Run for the Money would have been played with four contestants (one a returning champion) starting with the Beat the Buzzer round, and daily winners receiving $5,000 for their efforts, with $50,000 going to a champion that retired undefeated.
The programme has been adapted in France, where it became a very famous game: Questions pour un champion, which still airs today.
Turkey
has a version of Bilir Bilmez on TRT 1
in 1996. Hüseyin Köroğlu hosted.
The Channel 5 quiz One To Win was a half-hour show whose format was effectively based on the latter three rounds of Going for Gold, repackaged and with a different host (initially Paul Roseby, then later Robin Houston, better known as the 'voice of the computer' on another Channel 5 quiz show, 100%). Unlike Going for Gold but like 100%, One To Win featured low cash prizes for the winner - just £200 per episode but with a bonus for five consecutive wins - and offered its champions the option to return on the next edition of the show.
ATV
in Austria
has just launched a version of the show this year, called Quiz Champion.
, a German
composer who has since carved a successful career in Hollywood
, and Sandy McLelland. During the opening sequence, the theme tune would be sung (by McLelland), whilst the contestants would appear one by one on the screen and would wave, smile or gesture in various ways to introduce themselves to the audience.
The theme tune was a europop
soft rock tune. The lyrics are as follows and were sung by Sandy McLelland.
Only the first verse was ever used at the end of the show, but there were further verses to the song. The only time these lyrics were used was during a clips compilation during the semi finals of series one.
Director: Tim Verrinder
Producers: Ian Cross and Luke Kelly
Associate Producer: Terri Marzoli
Questions: Fliss Williams and Julia Hobbs
Programme Associate: Nic Ayling
Researchers: Aaron Morgan, Jason Betts, Lisa Fisher and Holly MacArthur
Programme Manager: Allison Dore
The prizes were always related in some way to gold. The prize in the first season were tickets for the 1988 Summer Olympics
in Seoul
(i.e. Gold Medals). A prize in a later year was a gold-mining trip to Australia
.
On Five, the winner of each programme received £1000; the series winner won £5000.
British television
Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...
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...
that originally aired on BBC1
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
between 12 October 1987 and 9 July 1996.
It has since been revived for Channel 5 from 13 October 2008 to 20 March 2009. The revival was produced by Talkback Thames and presented by John Suchet
John Suchet
John Suchet is a British news reader and television presenter.Suchet has two brothers, one of whom is David Suchet, a British actor. His father was Jack Suchet, who emigrated to England from South Africa in 1932, and trained to be a doctor at St Mary's Hospital, London...
.
The original series
Going for Gold was originally broadcast on BBC1BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
from 12 October 1987 to 9 July 1996, usually after the lunchtime broadcast of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Neighbours
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...
, which coincidentally is also produced by Reg Grundy Productions
Reg Grundy Productions
Reg Grundy Productions was the American wing of the worldwide television production company Grundy Worldwide, which was founded by Australian television producer Reg Grundy. Reg Grundy Productions was responsible for the production of two highly-successful daytime game shows on NBC during the...
. It was presented by Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
broadcaster Henry Kelly
Henry Kelly
Patrick Henry Kelly is an Irish television presenter and radio DJ.Henry Kelly was born in Athlone, Co Westmeath, Ireland. He was educated at Belvedere College SJ, and at University College Dublin where he was Auditor of the Literary and Historical Society...
, and its defining concept was that it featured contestants from different Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an countries who competed against each other to answer questions (all in English) to win a prize. The show was shown on BBC1 in the UK and on Super Channel (later NBC Super Channel) in Continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
.
The 1987-96 run of the quiz show each week had seven contestants that spoke English (each representing a different European country) would compete against each other for a place in the finals. The show followed a repechage
Repechage
Repechage is a practice amongst ladder competitions that allows participants that failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round.- Types of repechage :...
format (now common, but then unusual), whereby unsuccessful contestants from Monday's show would return on Tuesday, and so on throughout the week. Each episode lasted for twenty-five minutes, including four rounds.
There were ten series in total (two in 1992). The first five series were broadcast during the winter, and there was a lot split in half by the Christmas break. The (second) 1992 and 1993 series went out in the autumn, the last three were broadcast during the summer. The 1996 series featured competitors from the UK
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...
only.
Going For Gold is also a English book, for students to improve their English. But mostly its known because it's the television show.
2008 revival
The show was revived and produced by Talkback Thames (effectively Grundy's UK successor), and aired on Channel 5, premiering from 13 October to 19 December 2008. The new version featured only contestants from the UK and Ireland, was broadcast live and hosted by newsreader John SuchetJohn Suchet
John Suchet is a British news reader and television presenter.Suchet has two brothers, one of whom is David Suchet, a British actor. His father was Jack Suchet, who emigrated to England from South Africa in 1932, and trained to be a doctor at St Mary's Hospital, London...
. Former ITV Play
ITV Play
ITV Play was a 24/7 participation television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. The ITV Play name continued on the ITV Network until December 2007....
host Alex Kramer, did the newly introduced viewers' phone-in question section, repeating the questions several times and talking to the selected phone-in contestant. The set questions involve many clues to an item or person, and the phone-ins were notorious for taking up significant amounts of time during the show.
The show continued its run between 5 January and 20 March 2009. Vicky Letch temporarily replaced Alex Kramer as the viewer's phone-in host whilst Alex was on holiday. When John Suchet was unavailable, the programme was hosted by Dean Wilson. At the end of the series, the sixteen winners with the most daily wins contested four semi-finals, the winners of which competed in the series final on 20 March 2009, won by Iwan Thomas.
Opening round (Round 1)
Each edition began with a short general knowledge round to all seven contestants. Out of the contestants who started the show, four would go through to the next round (always referred to as the 'first round proper' by Kelly). These four would be the first who managed to answer each of the four general knowledge questions correctly. These questions would usually take the form of a twenty to thirty second description of an object, person, animal or place (usually beginning "who am I?", "what am I?", etc; similar to Sale of the Century'sSale of the Century
Sale of the Century is a television game show format that has been screened in several countries in various incarnations since 1969. The show found its biggest success in Australia, where it aired weeknights from 1980 to 2001...
"Fame Game"), with progressively more details being revealed by Kelly until someone was able to identify it. By the Thursday show, there would be only four contestants left to play the "first round proper."
Beat the Buzzer (Round 2)
The Beat the Buzzer round was a general knowledge round (similar to that of the U.S. game show The Big ShowdownThe Big Showdown
The Big Showdown is a game show that aired on the ABC television network from December 23, 1974 to July 4, 1975. Jim Peck, making his national television debut, was host with Dan Daniel, then a disc jockey on New York City's WHN radio, as announcer....
), played with hands on plungers. Questions were worth one, two or three points. A contestant who gave a correct answer would be told the subject of the next question, and got to choose the value of that question. If nobody answered a question correctly, a general knowledge question worth a single point was used next. The first three players to reach six points went on to play the next round.
Four in a Row (Round 3)
In this round, each of the remaining contestants were asked to pick a category (out of a choice of four). The order in which they picked the categories was based on the order in which they progressed from the previous round. Each would then have to answer questions on their chosen category for 40 seconds.Players scored based on the number of consecutive questions they got right - if an incorrect answer was given, their score returned to zero, the score taken from this round was the highest point reached over 40 seconds. After this round the two highest scoring players went through to the final round. A "first to two" general knowledge playoff was held if there was a tie, using the same style of questions from round 1.
Final round (Round 4)
In the final, every question was worth between four and one points depending on how quickly they were answered. Again, the questions were "Fame Game" style questions, pertaining to a famous person, place, thing, fictional character or event. However only one player at a time was allowed to hit his/her plunger, as indicated by a timer graphic running down the centre of the screen. if a player gave an incorrect answer, their section of the time was passed over to their opponent and the time (and the question) continued.Progression to the finals
The first player to reach nine points in this round won the daily game, and went through to the end of week final, from where the winner progressed to the later stages of the series. The losing players all came back the next day, starting with the same pool of players each weekday, minus the winner of the week's earlier shows.Other versions
Going for Gold began its life as an American pilot, Run for the Money, hosted by Bill RaffertyBill Rafferty
William "Bill" Rafferty is a comedian and impressionist who hosted the game shows Every Second Counts , Card Sharks , and Blockbusters .Rafferty was born in Queens, New York...
and produced for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in 1987, at ABC Television Center. The pilot did not sell in the States; however, Grundy took it to Europe where it became what is now Going for Gold. Run for the Money would have been played with four contestants (one a returning champion) starting with the Beat the Buzzer round, and daily winners receiving $5,000 for their efforts, with $50,000 going to a champion that retired undefeated.
The programme has been adapted in France, where it became a very famous game: Questions pour un champion, which still airs today.
Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
has a version of Bilir Bilmez on TRT 1
TRT 1
TRT 1 is the first Turkish national television station. It launched on January 31 , 1968.-Introduction:TRT 1, the first television channel in Turkey, started their test transmissions on January 31, 1968, and commenced full national broadcasts in December 1971. It was the only channel in Turkey...
in 1996. Hüseyin Köroğlu hosted.
The Channel 5 quiz One To Win was a half-hour show whose format was effectively based on the latter three rounds of Going for Gold, repackaged and with a different host (initially Paul Roseby, then later Robin Houston, better known as the 'voice of the computer' on another Channel 5 quiz show, 100%). Unlike Going for Gold but like 100%, One To Win featured low cash prizes for the winner - just £200 per episode but with a bonus for five consecutive wins - and offered its champions the option to return on the next edition of the show.
ATV
ATV (Austria)
ATV is currently the largest commercial television station in Austria and was originally the first commercial station to be aired via transmitters after a long time when commercial broadcasts in Austria were only possible via satellite or cable and the national public broadcaster ORF held a...
in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
has just launched a version of the show this year, called Quiz Champion.
Theme tune and opening sequence
Going for Gold had a memorable theme tune, which was composed by Hans ZimmerHans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
, a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
composer who has since carved a successful career in Hollywood
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
, and Sandy McLelland. During the opening sequence, the theme tune would be sung (by McLelland), whilst the contestants would appear one by one on the screen and would wave, smile or gesture in various ways to introduce themselves to the audience.
The theme tune was a europop
Europop
Europop refers to a style of pop music that first developed in today's form in Europe, throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and ’90s...
soft rock tune. The lyrics are as follows and were sung by Sandy McLelland.
- The heat is on, the time is right,
- It's time for you, for you to play the game.
- 'Cause people are coming, everyone's trying,
- Trying to be the best that they can,
- When they're going for... going for... Gold.
Only the first verse was ever used at the end of the show, but there were further verses to the song. The only time these lyrics were used was during a clips compilation during the semi finals of series one.
Production team
Series Producer: Mark NoadesDirector: Tim Verrinder
Producers: Ian Cross and Luke Kelly
Associate Producer: Terri Marzoli
Questions: Fliss Williams and Julia Hobbs
Programme Associate: Nic Ayling
Researchers: Aaron Morgan, Jason Betts, Lisa Fisher and Holly MacArthur
Programme Manager: Allison Dore
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Champions
- Series 1 -
: Daphne FowlerDaphne FowlerDaphne Fowler born January 1939 in Warwick, Warwickshire, England, is a British retired bank secretary and game show champion who currently resides in Weston-super-Mare. Since taking early retirement, she has taken part in many televised game shows... - Series 2 -
: Erik Matteson - Series 3 - : Howard Atkinson
- Series 4 -
: Luc Sucholtz - Series 5 -
: Soren Bergman - Series 6 -
: Christine Coslett - Series 7 - : James DeLoss
- Series 8 -
: Mieke Poelman - Series 9 - : Sven Goll
- Series 10 - : Mike Ramsden (representing Kent)
The prizes were always related in some way to gold. The prize in the first season were tickets for the 1988 Summer Olympics
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...
in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
(i.e. Gold Medals). A prize in a later year was a gold-mining trip to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
On Five, the winner of each programme received £1000; the series winner won £5000.
- Series 1 - : Iwan Thomas
External links
- Going for Gold (1987-1996) at BFI
- Going for Gold (2008-2009) at BFI