The Krypton Factor
Encyclopedia
The Krypton Factor was a British
game show
produced by Granada Television
for broadcast on ITV
. The show originally ran from 7 September 1977 to 20 November 1995, and was hosted by Gordon Burns and usually broadcast on the ITV
network on Mondays at 19:00.
Contestants from across the United Kingdom
and Ireland
competed in a series of rounds that tested their physical stamina and mental attributes. The title of the show is a reference to Superman
's home planet Krypton
, the title perceiving that the contestants had strong superhuman
"powers" for taking part in the challenges they were set. The contestants all had their own corresponding colour, either red
, green
, yellow
or blue
. They wore their own clothes, apart from the Physical Ability round where the contestants wore track suits which were red, green, yellow or blue until 1989. The track suits changed to black with a coloured stripe. For their own clothes, the contestants either wore a shirt/blouse, tie or a neckscarf of their corresponding colour. The points contestants earned through the game were not referred to as their score, but as their "Krypton Factor", e.g. "The winner, with a Krypton Factor of 46, is the legal secretary from Kent
, Mike Berry". The 1987 series won the prestigious Premio Ondas - Spanish Television Award for Entertainment.
The show was revived in 2009, presented by Ben Shephard
. A second series aired in 2010, however, there are no plans for a third series in 2011.
In the 1991 series, two weeks in a row, two contestants, Tony Hetherington and Paul Evans won all of the first five rounds in their heats, scoring 50 points, in addition, Hetherington set an all time record of 62 points, they both later met in the same Group Final, in which Evans won and Hetherington qualified as the Highest Scoring Runner Up, and went on to win the Grand Final.
In 1995, the show was heavily revamped, including the introduction of co-host Penny Smith
. In that series, the intelligence round was dropped, first round being physical ability with the rules in each round changed dramatically, with the exception of General Knowledge. The second half of the show was a "super round" which included a 3D maze, code cracking and a race up Mount Krypton, with points accumulated being exchanged for equipment to assist the contestants with the challenge. While some liked this change, others felt that getting rid of the intelligence round was a sign of dumbing down and that changing the format so dramatically was a mistake.
. In April 2005, it was widely reported that the BBC would be going ahead with a revival. However, the source of this story turned out to be a misinterpretation of comments by Wayne Garvie
, head of BBC's Entertainment Group (and previously the last producer on The Krypton Factor) naming it as the next "TV gem" that "should" (rather than would) be revived.
On 24 September 2008, Broadcast reported that ITV was expected to commission a new series within weeks. On 26 September 2008, the comeback of The Krypton Factor was confirmed. This was facilitated by business software provider Sage UK Ltd. As part of their wider Business Brains campaign, The Sage Group
funded the return of the show to ITV1 primetime making it the biggest advertiser funded programme of its kind. In November it was confirmed that it would be hosted by Ben Shephard
. The first episode of the new series was shown on Thursday 1 January 2009 at 19:30 and ran for 10 consecutive weeks. The new series is based on the original five-round format of the show (rather than the revamp brought in for the 18th season in 1995), with every round being "brought bang up-to-date" and features "state-of-the-art" technology. The series was recorded at Granada Studios in Manchester
from 7–10 December 2008. It was filmed in London for the 2010 series. No series was made for 2011 due to Ben Shephard working at Sky. ITV confirmed to its fans via e-mail that no more new episodes will be made until Ben Shephard is once again available for filming. A recent report has accidentally leaked on the Internet, with confirmation that the London 2012 Olympics had plagiarised their logo from The Krypton Factor .
In all rounds except the final round, 10 points were awarded to the winner, then 6 (8 in early series), 4 and 2 to the remaining contestants. In the event of a tie, all tied players would receive the score for the higher place — in an extreme case, if three contestants tied with the highest score, they would all receive 10 points, with just 2 points for the unlucky fourth contestant. In the Mental Agility and Observation rounds, the contestant who answered faster would sometimes be awarded the higher place; in other cases, a tiebreaker question was used. On rare occasions, an Observation round would have the players answer a five-part question, such as "Name the five continuity errors in the film clip," and players would receive 2 points for each correct answer.
From 1986 to 1991, each round was introduced by the distinctive K logo, which would morph
into a symbol for the round. A similar version of this was used in the 2009 revival.
This round was originally conducted with all contestants wearing headphones
to prevent the other participants from hearing their competitors' answers. However, from the 1991 series, each contestant came on individually to perform their test in front of the audience before sitting down in their respective places behind them, no headphones were worn. In the 2009 revival, the Mental Agility round followed the 1988 format, only using the tiebreaker rules when there is a tie for first place. Contestants individually complete this round in an isolation booth referred to as The Kube and their heart rates are also measured while they take this test. The time each contestant has to answer as many questions correctly as possible was increased from 40 to 45 seconds for the 2010 version, and the tiebreak rule from 1991 returned.
s, and a video wall
which would display random numbers of coloured blocks; the contestants were required to press one of four coloured buttons corresponding to the highest number of blocks of any one colour being displayed. This alternated with a test in which the contestants had to walk a balance beam to the first challenge - placing coloured wooden blocks into frames either side of them, swinging from side to side in doing so (this was known as the Fleischmann
Flexibility Tests). They then had to run across a balance beam linked to the Minnesota
Manual Dexterity Test, where they had to take a shape and place it into a corresponding space. After a final balance beam, they jump onto their respective mat to finish the race. The 1986 series consisted of the contestants competing in twos to perform first the Minnesota Manual Dexterity test (moving differently-coloured cylinders from one side to the other), then running over to perform the Fleischmann Flexibility Test and then the final test, which involved hitting the relevant button whenever a colour flashed up on the screen (only one colour at a time in this case).
From the later heats in the 1986 and 1987 series, this consisted of each player taking turns on a flight simulator
and being marked by an actual flight instructor. The 1987 series won the prestigious Premio Ondas - Spanish Television Award for Entertainment. (Prior to 1988, the simulator appeared in some of the episodes, but then became a permanent fixture). In 1988, the contestants had to land a BAe 146
in the heats, a Harrier Jump Jet
in the Group Finals and a Sea King
on an aircraft carrier in the Grand Final (recorded at Culdrose Navy base in Helston, Cornwall). In 1989, the heats used three different simulators. The first heat in each group required the contestants to land Concorde
, the second heat required the contestants to land a Red Arrow
, and the third heat required them to land a Boeing 737
. The group finals required the contestants to land the Sea King on an aircraft carrier. The Grand Final of the 1989 series saw the contestants use a Space Shuttle
simulator in California
. In 1990, the contestants landed Concorde in the heats, the Sea King on an aircraft carrier in the group final and in the Grand Final, the contestants were in the Sea King again, but this time they used the simulator in a rescue mission. They started from an oil rig (carrying an injured passenger), and had to take off from the oil rig and land on the aircraft carrier. From 1991 to 1993, the heats and group finals were the same; Boeing 737 in the heats and the Sea King in the group finals. The 1991 Grand Final involved the contestants using a Nimrod simulator in a refuelling mission involving a Hercules
aircraft. The 1992 and 1993 grand finals required the contestants to land a real plane. In 1995, all tests involved the Red Arrows
flight simulator and the simulator scored each player automatically. The 2009 revival of the show did not include this round.
drama series that was being broadcast at the time. In the earliest series, contestants were asked questions on the clip (first they were asked two two-point questions in turn, followed by a series of four one-point toss-up questions open to all players), this being followed by an identity parade where they each had to identify one of the actors from a lineup of nine for two points. From 1986 to 1988, contestants were shown a clip twice and asked to spot five differences between two similar clips (six differences in 1988) and in 1986 and 1987, each player earned two points for each correctly-identified difference. Many of the sequences recorded for the 1988 series were written by, and featured, Andrew O'Connor
. From the 1989 and 1990 series, contestants were invited to spot six continuity errors (five in 1990) contained in one single clip. Steve Coogan
starred in many of the sequences featured in the 1989 series. From 1991 to 1993, contestants answered six multiple-choice questions (five in 1993) relating to the clip (e.g. "What did he say when he entered the room?" or "What was on the table?"), and the time used to provide the correct answers was used to break ties.
Sometimes, serials were used; such as 1990's Sam Smith: Private Detective (starring Gwyneth Strong
), which saw the female detective investigating rather silly cases (which often featured her young chubby nephew, Wallace). Some guests in then Sam Smith stories included Derek Griffiths
, Matthew Kelly
and Keith Chegwin
, who all appeared in the final instalment of the series. The 1991 series featured the saga Where is Don Day? starring Tony Robinson
and Michelle Collins
, about a bank manager whose dull life is suddenly changed when he accidentally becomes involved in a robbery from his own bank. 1992 saw Dead Ringer starring Tony Slattery
; a thriller about a man suffering from amnesia
trying to discover who he really is, whilst being hunted down by a hitman named Preston, played by Roger Lloyd Pack
. In 1993, the round featured Roy Barraclough
and Annabel Giles
in a collection of investigative police stories, with Barraclough playing a retired police detective. In 1995, short computer-animated segments were used for the test, and only five questions were asked. As with Mental Agility round, answers were provided via touch screen monitors, placed on a rotating turntable.
In the 2009 revival, each contestant was asked one individual question, then four further questions were asked on the buzzer. If a player answers incorrectly, one more player can buzz in, but there are no penalties for a wrong answer. Contestants are ranked on how many correct answers, and if two or more players are tied they each receive the same number of points. The exception to this is when there is a tie for the most correct answers. In this case, an extra question is asked to break the tie. In the 2010 version, each player is asked two questions in turn, and the contestants are awarded two points for a correct answer; however, like General Knowledge, one point is deducted away for a wrong answer, and the next player to jump in has a chance to steal. The point totals for this round are then used to rank each player.
assault course located at Holcombe Moor in Bury
, Greater Manchester
. This round typically included 20 obstacles including vertical and flat cargo nets, rope swings, water jumps, Burma rope bridges, and a rope slide into water. Gordon Burns stated in some of the episodes that the contestants trained for the assault course in the Physical Ability round for up to five weeks in advance.
In this round, female contestants were allowed a head start
over their male competitors, and in early series, contestants were given staggered starts to the assault course; following practice sessions with army officers, the contestant of the weakest physical ability would set off first, followed by the contestant of the third strongest physical ability, followed by the contestant of the second strongest physical ability, leaving the contestant of the strongest physical ability to start last. The physical ability criteria were established from a simple formula derived from age of the contestant and the gender. Typically, in 1980, this meant two seconds per year of age difference and a 40 second advantage for female competitors. In the 1980 semi-final, the youngest competitor, Ted Stockton, (a taxi driver, aged 25) started 56 seconds after the only female semi finalist who was 33. The age-based calculation was later abolished. In 1995, the Physical Ability round was moved to the start of the show as the first round and all contestants started at the same time, and were ranked according to how far ahead each had come of an individual "par time" based on age and sex.
The 1990 series saw many of the metal obstacles on the course replaced by wooden substitutes, including a wooden S-bend frame contestants had to descend. One of the female contestants (Judith Stafford) in 1989 broke her ankle after landing badly on one of the obstacles (near the end of the course), but managed to complete the rest of the course and finish in third place. Another female contestant, (this time in 1987) Sue Dandy completed the course despite having torn ligaments in her leg while coming out of a narrow, upward-sloping tunnel (In 1982, a male contestant cut his forehead on this obstacle). A male contestant (Paul Evans) in 1991 who fell from the top of the A-frame net managed to not only complete the course but actually win the round despite suffering from shock as a result of his fall. Another male contestant, this time in 1992, broke the safety rules when he went down the aerial slide not placing his feet in the water. Another male contestant, this time in 1993, Jon Johnson fell off the Burma rope ridge towards the end of the course, but luckily, he landed in the net below and was able to finish in second place. For at least some series (around 1986-88), the fastest man and fastest woman on the assault course both received a special trophy. Winners include: Barbara Murray and Stuart Worthington (1986), Marian Chanter and Ted Daszkiewicz (1987), Elizabeth Hayward and Alan Robbie (1988).
The 2009 revival used a new assault course which only has room for two contestants at a time. The time it took each contestant to complete the course was recorded, and revealed when the main part of the show was recorded. Female contestants had 45 seconds deducted from their time. The assault course was once again changed for the 2010 version, with all four contestants competing at the same time.
's School of Mathematics
. As the contestants performed the task, presenter Gordon Burns provided a commentary to viewers at home on the contestant's progress and advice on how to solve the puzzle.
It is reputed that some of the intelligence tests featured took contestants hours to solve, with edited highlights of their performance in the round shown on the programme. At least one contestant was moved to tears by the difficulty of the puzzles. In 1990, Gordon Burns told contestants that over the years, some of the tests had taken 15 or 20 minutes to complete, but that in one programme in the 1980 series, when the competitors' tables had been placed too close together for this round, two competitors accidentally picked up pieces from each other's table, making it impossible to complete the puzzle, and nearly an hour went by as they vainly attempted to finish, before the problem was realised. This round was eliminated from the 1995 series.
The 2009 revival placed a time limit for completion, and after the time runs out, the contestants who have not finished are ranked according to the progress they have made on the puzzle. This round was removed (again) in the 2010 series.
The players started at the same time and place, and used their points from the first five rounds to buy advantages, such as directional arrows in the Rings, completed words at the computer (on one occasion, an easier path through the Laser Matrix), batons already removed from the Response Revolve, or ladder pieces already built. The value of each advantage varied with each show. The player who won the Super Round won the game, and completion time was used to determine who held the wild card spot.
The Super Round was also notable for the occurance of foul play. In Group B, two contestants (both wearing yellow) were disqualified for breaking the rules of the Super Round. Heat 1 contestant Simon Evans was disqualified as he had not completely worked out all four words at the Laser Matrix computer yet proceeding through the rest of the round regardless (he was told of his disqualification at the top of the Krypton Mountain) and in Heat 2 the following week, contestant Alison Riley was disqualified as she had forcibly pulled out batons from the Response Revolve when the corresponding lights weren't flashing and unlike Evans, she was edited out of the remainder of the round after she had begun her ascent on the ladder and a replay was shown of her illegal move. As a result of this, Simon Evans and Alison Riley were the only two contestants in the Krypton Factor's history to be disqualified.
. The series was based on a similar structure to the adult version, but with simpler intelligence tasks and a shorter obstacle course (located at The American Adventure Theme Park near Nottingham
, owned by the Granada Group at the time) in place of the Physical Ability round. The 1988 series, which had only five rounds (Mental Agility, Response, Observation, Physical Ability, and General Knowledge, with Intelligence in place of Response in the Group and Grand Finals) followed the tournament format of the regular series, while the 1989 series, which only ran 8 episodes, consisted of five heats, two semi-finals, and the Grand Final. The five heat winners plus the three highest runners-up advanced to the semis, the winners of which along with the top two runners-up from both matches qualifying for the Grand Final. At the end of both series, Gordon Burns appeared to present the trophy to the winner. Also, in the 1988 Grand Final, Ross presented a special trophy to Phillip Westwick who completed the adventure course in the fastest time.
There had also been a previous Champion of Champions edition of the show around 1985, featuring the winners from the previous four years: John McAllister (1981), John Webley (1982), Chris Topham (1983) and Paul Smith (1984). This was won by John McAllister.
There was also a Champion of Champions Show in December 1980 featuring the winners of the first four series. This was won by Philip Bradley (1980) and the trophy was presented by Ian Botham.
and J. J. Jeczalik. The exact version of this theme tune varied in some episodes/series-for example, the drum beats in the music in some episodes/series were more emphasised, as was the synthesizer
melody, but generally it remained the same. The bass hook of the song is also known as "Beat Box
". A version of the Art of Noise theme was released on the compilation album Influence in 2010. For the 1995 series, the theme tune was a reworked version of the 1986-93 theme tune but was performed by Dudley alone with the incidental music composed by Mike Woolmans.
The music used during the scoring at the end of the Response round in 1988 was "Forgotten Town" by The Christians. In the 1989 series, "Left to My Own Devices
" by the Pet Shop Boys
was used.
Generally, during the opening title sequence, the contestants were introduced by former Granada Television
continuity announcer Charles Foster, who has taken the same role for other shows down the years.
All the new music to the 2009 show has been specially composed by Paul Farrer
best known for his scores for The Weakest Link, Dancing on Ice
and Gladiators
. The theme tune was performed by a live string ensemble fused with a contemporary backing.
A computer game version of The Krypton Factor was also available which was published by TV Games and was released in 1987 for the home computer
s of the era. A Krypton Factor Quizbook was published in 1989.
ITV have recently released The Krypton Factor Interactive DVD Board Game via their website in 2010, and then again in 2011. Just like on ITV1, the DVD Game is hosted by Ben Shephard
.
was one of the first new-style game shows to be exported to the United States
. Two short-lived United States
versions of The Krypton Factor aired. In 1981, Dick Clark
hosted a 5-week summer series on ABC. In 1990, Willie Aames
hosted a syndicated version for child
ren. A version in production by Fox TV was never shown to the public. The New Zealand
version of The Krypton Factor ran from 1987 to 1991 and was hosted by veteran presenter Dougal Stevenson. There was no Response round in the New Zealand
version and the video clips used for the Observation test were taken from the UK
version. The Physical Ability test was done at Burnham Military Camp just south of Christchurch
. The first season in 1987 in New Zealand was a challenge between Australian and New Zealand contestants with all of the show hosted in New Zealand and aired on ABC
in Australia during that time. The winners of the 1987 series competed against the winners of the 1987 series in the UK
. Reruns of the Krypton Factor are currently being screened on TVNZ 6
. A German version of the show aired in 1991. 13 episodes were shown on Sat.1
before the show was cancelled.
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...
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...
produced by Granada Television
Granada 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....
for broadcast on 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...
. The show originally ran from 7 September 1977 to 20 November 1995, and was hosted by Gordon Burns and usually broadcast 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 on Mondays at 19:00.
Contestants from across the United Kingdom
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...
and Ireland
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,...
competed in a series of rounds that tested their physical stamina and mental attributes. The title of the show is a reference to Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
's home planet Krypton
Krypton (comics)
Krypton is a fictional planet in the DC Comics universe, and the native world of the super-heroes Superman and, in some tellings, Supergirl and Krypto the Superdog. Krypton has been portrayed consistently as having been destroyed just after Superman's flight from the planet, with exact details of...
, the title perceiving that the contestants had strong superhuman
Superhuman
Superhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the near or distant future...
"powers" for taking part in the challenges they were set. The contestants all had their own corresponding colour, either red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
, green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
, yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
or blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
. They wore their own clothes, apart from the Physical Ability round where the contestants wore track suits which were red, green, yellow or blue until 1989. The track suits changed to black with a coloured stripe. For their own clothes, the contestants either wore a shirt/blouse, tie or a neckscarf of their corresponding colour. The points contestants earned through the game were not referred to as their score, but as their "Krypton Factor", e.g. "The winner, with a Krypton Factor of 46, is the legal secretary from Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, Mike Berry". The 1987 series won the prestigious Premio Ondas - Spanish Television Award for Entertainment.
The show was revived in 2009, presented by Ben Shephard
Ben Shephard
Benjamin Peter "Ben" Shephard, also known as "Sheps" is an English television presenter who currently works for Sky Sports, as well as ITV.-Personal life:...
. A second series aired in 2010, however, there are no plans for a third series in 2011.
Original series
The first series of the show was shown on Wednesdays; it was presented by Gordon Burns and didn't have a studio audience. It was then on Fridays for two years before arriving on Mondays in 1980. In the first few series, there were no groups and eight heats, the winner of each advancing to a semi-final. The top two of each semi-final qualified for the Grand Final. From 1981 to 1985, each series had twelve heats, from which each winner along with the top four runners-up progressed to the four semi-finals, the winners of which competed in the Grand Final. In 1986 and in 1987, the series was divided into four groups (A, B, C, and D). Each group consisted of three heats, with the winner of each heat and the highest scoring runner up of the heats within a group making it to the group final. The winner of each group final would qualify for the grand final. From 1988 to 1995, the series had 13 episodes, and only had three groups (A, B, and C). The highest scoring runner-up from the group finals would then go through to the Grand Final. In 2009 and 2010, each series has seven heats and the winners of which in addition to the highest runner-up of the heats would qualify for the two semi-finals, the winners of which in addition to the top two overall runners-up advancing to the Grand Final. The overall winner of the Grand Final would receive a bronze trophy and would traditionally be titled as Superperson of the Year. Unusually, and possibly uniquely for the time, until 1993 (like the BBC), the series had no advert break in the middle even though it was on ITV in a primetime 19:00 slot. This explains why some of the elements (most notably, the time for the quiz) were shortened in later series.In the 1991 series, two weeks in a row, two contestants, Tony Hetherington and Paul Evans won all of the first five rounds in their heats, scoring 50 points, in addition, Hetherington set an all time record of 62 points, they both later met in the same Group Final, in which Evans won and Hetherington qualified as the Highest Scoring Runner Up, and went on to win the Grand Final.
In 1995, the show was heavily revamped, including the introduction of co-host Penny Smith
Penny Smith
Penelope Jane Smith is an English television presenter and newsreader. She has worked on the breakfast TV show GMTV, for Sky News and for Classic FM.-Early life:...
. In that series, the intelligence round was dropped, first round being physical ability with the rules in each round changed dramatically, with the exception of General Knowledge. The second half of the show was a "super round" which included a 3D maze, code cracking and a race up Mount Krypton, with points accumulated being exchanged for equipment to assist the contestants with the challenge. While some liked this change, others felt that getting rid of the intelligence round was a sign of dumbing down and that changing the format so dramatically was a mistake.
Revival
Since its cancellation in 1995, there had been persistent rumours of a revival on the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. In April 2005, it was widely reported that the BBC would be going ahead with a revival. However, the source of this story turned out to be a misinterpretation of comments by Wayne Garvie
Wayne Garvie
Wayne Garvie is BBC Worldwide's Managing Director of Content & Production.Garvie took on the role in January 2006 as the director of content and production, leading the international production and format business for the corporation's commercial arm....
, head of BBC's Entertainment Group (and previously the last producer on The Krypton Factor) naming it as the next "TV gem" that "should" (rather than would) be revived.
On 24 September 2008, Broadcast reported that ITV was expected to commission a new series within weeks. On 26 September 2008, the comeback of The Krypton Factor was confirmed. This was facilitated by business software provider Sage UK Ltd. As part of their wider Business Brains campaign, The Sage Group
The Sage Group
The Sage Group plc , commonly known as Sage, is a global enterprise software company headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. It is the world's third-largest supplier of enterprise resource planning software , the largest supplier to small businesses, and has 6.1 million customers...
funded the return of the show to ITV1 primetime making it the biggest advertiser funded programme of its kind. In November it was confirmed that it would be hosted by Ben Shephard
Ben Shephard
Benjamin Peter "Ben" Shephard, also known as "Sheps" is an English television presenter who currently works for Sky Sports, as well as ITV.-Personal life:...
. The first episode of the new series was shown on Thursday 1 January 2009 at 19:30 and ran for 10 consecutive weeks. The new series is based on the original five-round format of the show (rather than the revamp brought in for the 18th season in 1995), with every round being "brought bang up-to-date" and features "state-of-the-art" technology. The series was recorded at Granada Studios in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
from 7–10 December 2008. It was filmed in London for the 2010 series. No series was made for 2011 due to Ben Shephard working at Sky. ITV confirmed to its fans via e-mail that no more new episodes will be made until Ben Shephard is once again available for filming. A recent report has accidentally leaked on the Internet, with confirmation that the London 2012 Olympics had plagiarised their logo from The Krypton Factor .
Rounds
During the original series, the rounds were usually in the same order as below, with exception of the 1995 series (see history). However, in the earlier series, there was only five rounds, as Response had yet to be introduced; this round was also dropped for the 2009 revival.In all rounds except the final round, 10 points were awarded to the winner, then 6 (8 in early series), 4 and 2 to the remaining contestants. In the event of a tie, all tied players would receive the score for the higher place — in an extreme case, if three contestants tied with the highest score, they would all receive 10 points, with just 2 points for the unlucky fourth contestant. In the Mental Agility and Observation rounds, the contestant who answered faster would sometimes be awarded the higher place; in other cases, a tiebreaker question was used. On rare occasions, an Observation round would have the players answer a five-part question, such as "Name the five continuity errors in the film clip," and players would receive 2 points for each correct answer.
From 1986 to 1991, each round was introduced by the distinctive K logo, which would morph
Morph
- Astronomy :* Morphs collaboration, a collaboration that studied the evolution of spiral galaxies using the Magellan and the Hubble Space Telescope- Biology :...
into a symbol for the round. A similar version of this was used in the 2009 revival.
Personality
This round only took place in the first series, to be replaced with Mental Agility. In it, the players were tested on their creativity by having to perform a task such as re-writing a nursery rhyme as a news story. A focus group would then vote on the best effort.Mental Agility
First played in the second series, this often took the form of a memory test (though other versions would require mental computation of time and date differences, or to add up a sequence of numbers and return the number which, when added to that sum, gave a pre-determined answer). The contestants frequently had to memorise a sequence and then answer a series of progressively more complicated questions. For instance, if the sequence to be memorised was a series of coloured blocks, the questions might start as "What is the colour of the third block from the left?" and progress to "What is the colour of the block two to the left of the block to the right of the green block?". Other forms of memory test might require contestants to remember a phrase or proverb and answer a series of questions about it (e.g. "What was the fifth letter of the fourth word?" or "Spell the last word backwards"). In the early series, the contestants were shown 9 images along with a statement read to them by Charles Foster and the contestants had to pick which 4 images were correct and they scored 2 points for each correctly-identified image, with a maximum ten points for all four. In the semi-finals, this would change to showing two sequences in turn and asking each player a 3-point question about each sequence. A third sequence was then shown to all players at once and one toss-up question, worth four points, was open to all players on the buzzer. If a player jumped in with the incorrect answer, that player was not penalized and any other player could jump in. Then, until 1987, the Mental Agility round consisted of a "knock-out" format, where contestants were asked increasingly difficult questions in turn and eliminated for wrong answers. Occasionally, this alternated with a 50-second "speed test" where each player had to come up with as many correct answers as possible in 50 seconds, and could pass on any of them. Only if they answered incorrectly would they be informed of it, possibly as to discourage guesswork. From 1988 onward, the Mental Agility round consisted entirely of 40-second speed tests, and from 1991 to 1993, ties were broken by the amount of time it took each player to achieve their score. In the 1995 series, a set of four images (such as numbers, letters, or dates) were shown to the players, who were all read a statement pertaining to one or two of the images, and the contestants had to touch the correct image(s) on their screen. The monitors were placed on a rotating turntable, in order to increase the difficulty of being the first to answer. This round lasted for two minutes, with the set of images changing every eight questions. Only the first player to provide a correct answer would score for that answer, with answering time used to break ties.This round was originally conducted with all contestants wearing headphones
Headphones
Headphones are a pair of small loudspeakers, or less commonly a single speaker, held close to a user's ears and connected to a signal source such as an audio amplifier, radio, CD player or portable Media Player. They are also known as stereophones, headsets or, colloquially, cans. The in-ear...
to prevent the other participants from hearing their competitors' answers. However, from the 1991 series, each contestant came on individually to perform their test in front of the audience before sitting down in their respective places behind them, no headphones were worn. In the 2009 revival, the Mental Agility round followed the 1988 format, only using the tiebreaker rules when there is a tie for first place. Contestants individually complete this round in an isolation booth referred to as The Kube and their heart rates are also measured while they take this test. The time each contestant has to answer as many questions correctly as possible was increased from 40 to 45 seconds for the 2010 version, and the tiebreak rule from 1991 returned.
Response
The Response round was introduced by new producer Geoff Moore for the 1986 and 1987 series. In 1987, the Response round in the initial heats was a combination of a race between the contestants using double-odometer bicycleBicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
s, and a video wall
Video wall
A video wall consists of multiple computer monitors, video projectors, or television sets tiled together contiguously or overlapped in order to form one large screen...
which would display random numbers of coloured blocks; the contestants were required to press one of four coloured buttons corresponding to the highest number of blocks of any one colour being displayed. This alternated with a test in which the contestants had to walk a balance beam to the first challenge - placing coloured wooden blocks into frames either side of them, swinging from side to side in doing so (this was known as the Fleischmann
Fleischmann
Fleischman and Fleischmann are common family names which mean "butcher" in German. Other names which have the same meaning include Fleischer, Boucher, Metzger and Resnick...
Flexibility Tests). They then had to run across a balance beam linked to the Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
Manual Dexterity Test, where they had to take a shape and place it into a corresponding space. After a final balance beam, they jump onto their respective mat to finish the race. The 1986 series consisted of the contestants competing in twos to perform first the Minnesota Manual Dexterity test (moving differently-coloured cylinders from one side to the other), then running over to perform the Fleischmann Flexibility Test and then the final test, which involved hitting the relevant button whenever a colour flashed up on the screen (only one colour at a time in this case).
From the later heats in the 1986 and 1987 series, this consisted of each player taking turns on a flight simulator
Flight simulator
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and various aspects of the flight environment. This includes the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they react to applications of their controls and other aircraft systems, and how they react to the external...
and being marked by an actual flight instructor. The 1987 series won the prestigious Premio Ondas - Spanish Television Award for Entertainment. (Prior to 1988, the simulator appeared in some of the episodes, but then became a permanent fixture). In 1988, the contestants had to land a BAe 146
BAe 146
The British Aerospace 146 is a medium-sized commercial airliner formerly manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2002. Manufacture of an improved version known as the Avro RJ began in 1992...
in the heats, a Harrier Jump Jet
Harrier Jump Jet
The Harrier, informally referred to as the Jump Jet, is a family of British-designed military jet aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations...
in the Group Finals and a Sea King
Westland Sea King
The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engines , British made anti-submarine warfare systems and a...
on an aircraft carrier in the Grand Final (recorded at Culdrose Navy base in Helston, Cornwall). In 1989, the heats used three different simulators. The first heat in each group required the contestants to land Concorde
Concorde
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
, the second heat required the contestants to land a Red Arrow
BAE Hawk
The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, advanced jet trainer aircraft. It first flew in 1974 as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk. The Hawk is used by the Royal Air Force, and other air forces, as either a trainer or a low-cost combat aircraft...
, and the third heat required them to land a Boeing 737
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
. The group finals required the contestants to land the Sea King on an aircraft carrier. The Grand Final of the 1989 series saw the contestants use a Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
simulator in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. In 1990, the contestants landed Concorde in the heats, the Sea King on an aircraft carrier in the group final and in the Grand Final, the contestants were in the Sea King again, but this time they used the simulator in a rescue mission. They started from an oil rig (carrying an injured passenger), and had to take off from the oil rig and land on the aircraft carrier. From 1991 to 1993, the heats and group finals were the same; Boeing 737 in the heats and the Sea King in the group finals. The 1991 Grand Final involved the contestants using a Nimrod simulator in a refuelling mission involving a Hercules
C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport...
aircraft. The 1992 and 1993 grand finals required the contestants to land a real plane. In 1995, all tests involved the Red Arrows
Red Arrows
The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Scampton, but due to move to RAF Waddington in 2011...
flight simulator and the simulator scored each player automatically. The 2009 revival of the show did not include this round.
Observation
This round involved watching a specially made video clip or a clip from an 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...
drama series that was being broadcast at the time. In the earliest series, contestants were asked questions on the clip (first they were asked two two-point questions in turn, followed by a series of four one-point toss-up questions open to all players), this being followed by an identity parade where they each had to identify one of the actors from a lineup of nine for two points. From 1986 to 1988, contestants were shown a clip twice and asked to spot five differences between two similar clips (six differences in 1988) and in 1986 and 1987, each player earned two points for each correctly-identified difference. Many of the sequences recorded for the 1988 series were written by, and featured, Andrew O'Connor
Andrew O'Connor
Andrew O'Connor is a British actor, comedian, magician, television presenter and executive producer.-Television career:...
. From the 1989 and 1990 series, contestants were invited to spot six continuity errors (five in 1990) contained in one single clip. Steve Coogan
Steve Coogan
Stephen John "Steve" Coogan is a British comedian, actor, writer and producer. Born in Manchester, he began his career as a standup comedian and impressionist, working as a voice artist throughout the 1980s on satirical puppet show Spitting Image. In the early nineties, Coogan began creating...
starred in many of the sequences featured in the 1989 series. From 1991 to 1993, contestants answered six multiple-choice questions (five in 1993) relating to the clip (e.g. "What did he say when he entered the room?" or "What was on the table?"), and the time used to provide the correct answers was used to break ties.
Sometimes, serials were used; such as 1990's Sam Smith: Private Detective (starring Gwyneth Strong
Gwyneth Strong
Gwyneth Strong is an English actress. She is probably best known for her role in the popular BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses as Cassandra, who was married to Del Boy's brother Rodney.-Career:...
), which saw the female detective investigating rather silly cases (which often featured her young chubby nephew, Wallace). Some guests in then Sam Smith stories included Derek Griffiths
Derek Griffiths
Derek Griffiths is a British actor who appeared in numerous British children's television series in the 1960s to 1980s and more recently has played parts in TV drama.- Career :...
, Matthew Kelly
Matthew Kelly
Matthew Kelly is an English television presenter and Olivier-award winning actor. Having been trained as a theatre actor, he first came to public prominence as a television presenter of ITV light entertainment shows such as You Bet! and Stars in Their Eyes...
and Keith Chegwin
Keith Chegwin
Keith Chegwin is an English television presenter, former child actor and singer.-Early career:Chegwin's early roles were in works of the Children's Film Foundation, appearing as Egghead Wentworth in The Troublesome Double Egghead's Robot . He also appeared as a stowaway in Doomwatch episode...
, who all appeared in the final instalment of the series. The 1991 series featured the saga Where is Don Day? starring Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson is an English actor, comedian, author, broadcaster and political campaigner. He is best known for playing Baldrick in the BBC television series Blackadder, and for hosting Channel 4 programmes such as Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History. Robinson is a member of the Labour Party...
and Michelle Collins
Michelle Collins
Michelle Danielle Collins is a British actress best known for her roles on television in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, as Cindy Beale, Coronation Street as Stella Price, and BBC dramas Sunburn and Two Thousand Acres of Sky...
, about a bank manager whose dull life is suddenly changed when he accidentally becomes involved in a robbery from his own bank. 1992 saw Dead Ringer starring Tony Slattery
Tony Slattery
Anthony Declan James "Tony" Slattery is an English actor and comedian who has appeared on British television regularly since the mid 1980s, most notably as a regular on the Channel 4 improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway? As a film actor, both comedic and serious, his credits include The...
; a thriller about a man suffering from amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
trying to discover who he really is, whilst being hunted down by a hitman named Preston, played by Roger Lloyd Pack
Roger Lloyd Pack
Roger Lloyd-Pack is an English actor known for his roles in the TV shows The Vicar of Dibley, Only Fools and Horses and The Old Guys.-Career:...
. In 1993, the round featured Roy Barraclough
Roy Barraclough
Roy Barraclough MBE is a comic actor. He is best known for his role as the shifty, lugubrious landlord of the Rovers Return, Alec Gilroy in the long-running British TV soap Coronation Street where he formed an on-screen partnership with Bet Lynch .- Career :Roy Barraclough...
and Annabel Giles
Annabel Giles
Annabel Giles has been a model, a television and radio presenter, an actress, a comedienne and a novellist during her career .-Career:...
in a collection of investigative police stories, with Barraclough playing a retired police detective. In 1995, short computer-animated segments were used for the test, and only five questions were asked. As with Mental Agility round, answers were provided via touch screen monitors, placed on a rotating turntable.
In the 2009 revival, each contestant was asked one individual question, then four further questions were asked on the buzzer. If a player answers incorrectly, one more player can buzz in, but there are no penalties for a wrong answer. Contestants are ranked on how many correct answers, and if two or more players are tied they each receive the same number of points. The exception to this is when there is a tie for the most correct answers. In this case, an extra question is asked to break the tie. In the 2010 version, each player is asked two questions in turn, and the contestants are awarded two points for a correct answer; however, like General Knowledge, one point is deducted away for a wrong answer, and the next player to jump in has a chance to steal. The point totals for this round are then used to rank each player.
Physical Ability
Probably, the most memorable of the rounds, in the original series, this pre-recorded segment involved the contestants racing to complete an armyArmy
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
assault course located at Holcombe Moor in Bury
Bury
Bury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester...
, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
. This round typically included 20 obstacles including vertical and flat cargo nets, rope swings, water jumps, Burma rope bridges, and a rope slide into water. Gordon Burns stated in some of the episodes that the contestants trained for the assault course in the Physical Ability round for up to five weeks in advance.
In this round, female contestants were allowed a head start
Head start (positioning)
In positioning, a head start is a start in advance of the starting position of others in competition, or simply toward the finish line or desired outcome...
over their male competitors, and in early series, contestants were given staggered starts to the assault course; following practice sessions with army officers, the contestant of the weakest physical ability would set off first, followed by the contestant of the third strongest physical ability, followed by the contestant of the second strongest physical ability, leaving the contestant of the strongest physical ability to start last. The physical ability criteria were established from a simple formula derived from age of the contestant and the gender. Typically, in 1980, this meant two seconds per year of age difference and a 40 second advantage for female competitors. In the 1980 semi-final, the youngest competitor, Ted Stockton, (a taxi driver, aged 25) started 56 seconds after the only female semi finalist who was 33. The age-based calculation was later abolished. In 1995, the Physical Ability round was moved to the start of the show as the first round and all contestants started at the same time, and were ranked according to how far ahead each had come of an individual "par time" based on age and sex.
The 1990 series saw many of the metal obstacles on the course replaced by wooden substitutes, including a wooden S-bend frame contestants had to descend. One of the female contestants (Judith Stafford) in 1989 broke her ankle after landing badly on one of the obstacles (near the end of the course), but managed to complete the rest of the course and finish in third place. Another female contestant, (this time in 1987) Sue Dandy completed the course despite having torn ligaments in her leg while coming out of a narrow, upward-sloping tunnel (In 1982, a male contestant cut his forehead on this obstacle). A male contestant (Paul Evans) in 1991 who fell from the top of the A-frame net managed to not only complete the course but actually win the round despite suffering from shock as a result of his fall. Another male contestant, this time in 1992, broke the safety rules when he went down the aerial slide not placing his feet in the water. Another male contestant, this time in 1993, Jon Johnson fell off the Burma rope ridge towards the end of the course, but luckily, he landed in the net below and was able to finish in second place. For at least some series (around 1986-88), the fastest man and fastest woman on the assault course both received a special trophy. Winners include: Barbara Murray and Stuart Worthington (1986), Marian Chanter and Ted Daszkiewicz (1987), Elizabeth Hayward and Alan Robbie (1988).
The 2009 revival used a new assault course which only has room for two contestants at a time. The time it took each contestant to complete the course was recorded, and revealed when the main part of the show was recorded. Female contestants had 45 seconds deducted from their time. The assault course was once again changed for the 2010 version, with all four contestants competing at the same time.
Intelligence
A two or three-dimensional puzzle where shapes had to be put together to fill a rectangular grid or make a bigger shape was the basis for this round. Most of these were devised by Dr. Gerry Wickham of the University of ManchesterUniversity of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
's School of Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
. As the contestants performed the task, presenter Gordon Burns provided a commentary to viewers at home on the contestant's progress and advice on how to solve the puzzle.
It is reputed that some of the intelligence tests featured took contestants hours to solve, with edited highlights of their performance in the round shown on the programme. At least one contestant was moved to tears by the difficulty of the puzzles. In 1990, Gordon Burns told contestants that over the years, some of the tests had taken 15 or 20 minutes to complete, but that in one programme in the 1980 series, when the competitors' tables had been placed too close together for this round, two competitors accidentally picked up pieces from each other's table, making it impossible to complete the puzzle, and nearly an hour went by as they vainly attempted to finish, before the problem was realised. This round was eliminated from the 1995 series.
The 2009 revival placed a time limit for completion, and after the time runs out, the contestants who have not finished are ranked according to the progress they have made on the puzzle. This round was removed (again) in the 2010 series.
General Knowledge
A quick-fire question round with a varied time limit (which depended on the year). This final round was conducted using a side shot of the four contestants lit in profile. A feature of this round was that, as each question was answered, the next question contained either the answer to the last question, a word from the last answer, or a word that sounded like it. Until 1986, the General Knowledge round was in two stages: the first stage had the contestants answering three general knowledge questions each from the same set of categories with 2 points for each correct answer, then it was on to stage 2 which was the quick-fire stage, which lasted 90 seconds, with one point added for a correct answer and one point deducted for an incorrect response or none at all, and only one player could answer each question. In 1986 and 1987, the round lasted 100 seconds and each correct answer was worth one point, while each answer cost a point. In 1988 the values changed to +/- 2 points, and the time was reduced to 90 seconds (100 in 1989, and 75 in 1993 and 1995). A minor change was made in 1995 in which the answer of the preceding question would be said within the next question. In 2009, the round lasted 70 seconds, and a correct answer was worth two points while an incorrect answer cost one point. The player with the highest Krypton Factor won the game, and in the event of a tie, the tied players were asked further questions until the tie was broken. In the 2010 series, time was increased from 70 seconds to 90 seconds.Super Round
In 1995, the game was decided by a "Super Round," a race that encompassed all abilities from the previous rounds. At the start of the round, players were shown five colored circles, each with a letter or number (and each colour representing which order the contestant of that corresponding colour must follow it in), and the players had to memorize the sequence before making a parachute jump down 50 feet to the floor. They then entered the Kryptic Rings, a three-dimensional maze of interlocking rings with numbered and lettered junctions where following and correctly interpreting the sequence would lead each player to their correct exit. Each exit was marked with a letter, which they would memorize on their way to the next part of the race, the Laser Matrix, preceded by a computer where each player had to log in by hitting the letter key matching their exit. Each player then had to type in four words with a common thread, however each key corresponded to a different letter according to a code (such as each key giving the preceding letter). After cracking the code and typing in the four words, each player had to cross a corridor of shifting laser beams, where breaking each beam resulted in a seven-second penalty. Once out, the players entered the Response Revolve, a rotating cylinder where each player had to collect six batons of their color from their holds, however, each baton could only be removed when a light by the baton flashed, and all lights flashed according to a sequence. Once all six batons were out and placed in the player's pedestal, each player had to run to the Krypton Mountain, where they first had to build a four-piece ladder, which they ascended before making a vertical climb up the Krypton Mountain, completing the race by grabbing a letter K of their color at the top of the Krypton Mountain.The players started at the same time and place, and used their points from the first five rounds to buy advantages, such as directional arrows in the Rings, completed words at the computer (on one occasion, an easier path through the Laser Matrix), batons already removed from the Response Revolve, or ladder pieces already built. The value of each advantage varied with each show. The player who won the Super Round won the game, and completion time was used to determine who held the wild card spot.
The Super Round was also notable for the occurance of foul play. In Group B, two contestants (both wearing yellow) were disqualified for breaking the rules of the Super Round. Heat 1 contestant Simon Evans was disqualified as he had not completely worked out all four words at the Laser Matrix computer yet proceeding through the rest of the round regardless (he was told of his disqualification at the top of the Krypton Mountain) and in Heat 2 the following week, contestant Alison Riley was disqualified as she had forcibly pulled out batons from the Response Revolve when the corresponding lights weren't flashing and unlike Evans, she was edited out of the remainder of the round after she had begun her ascent on the ladder and a replay was shown of her illegal move. As a result of this, Simon Evans and Alison Riley were the only two contestants in the Krypton Factor's history to be disqualified.
Young Krypton
In 1988 and 1989, a spin-off series was produced for children, Young Krypton, and was presented by Ross KingRoss King (presenter)
Ross King, real name Derek Ross King , is a Scottish television presenter, actor and writer. He formerly presented shows on Radio Clyde from America and various local LA shows...
. The series was based on a similar structure to the adult version, but with simpler intelligence tasks and a shorter obstacle course (located at The American Adventure Theme Park near 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...
, owned by the Granada Group at the time) in place of the Physical Ability round. The 1988 series, which had only five rounds (Mental Agility, Response, Observation, Physical Ability, and General Knowledge, with Intelligence in place of Response in the Group and Grand Finals) followed the tournament format of the regular series, while the 1989 series, which only ran 8 episodes, consisted of five heats, two semi-finals, and the Grand Final. The five heat winners plus the three highest runners-up advanced to the semis, the winners of which along with the top two runners-up from both matches qualifying for the Grand Final. At the end of both series, Gordon Burns appeared to present the trophy to the winner. Also, in the 1988 Grand Final, Ross presented a special trophy to Phillip Westwick who completed the adventure course in the fastest time.
Champion of Champions
In May 1989, there was a one-off episode on the Krypton Factor called Champion of Champions featuring four star contestants: Marian Chanter and Alison Heath (1987), David Lee (1988) and Andrew Gillam (1985). This was won by Marian Chanter.There had also been a previous Champion of Champions edition of the show around 1985, featuring the winners from the previous four years: John McAllister (1981), John Webley (1982), Chris Topham (1983) and Paul Smith (1984). This was won by John McAllister.
There was also a Champion of Champions Show in December 1980 featuring the winners of the first four series. This was won by Philip Bradley (1980) and the trophy was presented by Ian Botham.
Theme tune
During the original series of The Krypton Factor four different theme tunes for the programme were used. The first two theme tunes were written by Mike Moran. The theme tune used between 1986 and 1993 was performed by Art of Noise, and is perhaps the programme's best-known theme. It was written by band members Anne DudleyAnne Dudley
Anne Dudley is an English composer and pop musician, and was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in both the classical and pop genres. She is perhaps best known, however, as one of the core members of the synthpop band Art of Noise and also as a film...
and J. J. Jeczalik. The exact version of this theme tune varied in some episodes/series-for example, the drum beats in the music in some episodes/series were more emphasised, as was the synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
melody, but generally it remained the same. The bass hook of the song is also known as "Beat Box
Beat Box (song)
"Beat Box" is the debut single released by the British group Art of Noise in 1983. The track, one of the world's very first and most influential Hip-Hop hits intended as an instrumental, originally appeared on the 12" EP Into Battle with the Art of Noise, recorded during the same sessions as...
". A version of the Art of Noise theme was released on the compilation album Influence in 2010. For the 1995 series, the theme tune was a reworked version of the 1986-93 theme tune but was performed by Dudley alone with the incidental music composed by Mike Woolmans.
The music used during the scoring at the end of the Response round in 1988 was "Forgotten Town" by The Christians. In the 1989 series, "Left to My Own Devices
Left to My Own Devices
"Left to My Own Devices" is a song recorded by Pet Shop Boys, released as the second single from their third studio album, Introspective. It was also the first track of the album. It is their 9th best selling-hit....
" by the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
was used.
Generally, during the opening title sequence, the contestants were introduced by former Granada Television
Granada 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....
continuity announcer Charles Foster, who has taken the same role for other shows down the years.
All the new music to the 2009 show has been specially composed by Paul Farrer
Paul Farrer
Paul Farrer is a British film and television music composer. He is best known for composing the music for the programmes The Weakest Link, Dancing on Ice, Gladiators, The Krypton Factor and the United Kingdom general election debates in 2010.-Early life:Farrer was born in Worcester, England in 1973...
best known for his scores for The Weakest Link, Dancing on Ice
Dancing on Ice (UK)
Dancing on Ice is a British television show co-hosted by Christine Bleakley and Philip Schofield, in which celebrities and their professional partners figure skate in front of a panel of judges. The format, devised by LWT and Granada Television, has been a prime-time hit in eight different...
and Gladiators
Gladiators (2008 UK TV series)
Gladiators was a British television series which aired on Sky1 from 11 May 2008 to 25 October 2009. It was filmed in Shepperton Studios and was produced by Shine Limited. It was a revival of the earlier series of the same name and based on the American version of the show. The US, UK and...
. The theme tune was performed by a live string ensemble fused with a contemporary backing.
Merchandise
The Krypton Factor had a number of clothing merchandises, including a pair of black trainers bearing the Krypton K on the sides and the tongue. A Krypton Factor sports bag, mug and teatowel was also produced. Although, not mentioned on the air, all the contestants were given a Sports bag and some clothing with the Krypton Factor logo on them as gifts for appearing on the programme.A computer game version of The Krypton Factor was also available which was published by TV Games and was released in 1987 for the home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
s of the era. A Krypton Factor Quizbook was published in 1989.
ITV have recently released The Krypton Factor Interactive DVD Board Game via their website in 2010, and then again in 2011. Just like on ITV1, the DVD Game is hosted by Ben Shephard
Ben Shephard
Benjamin Peter "Ben" Shephard, also known as "Sheps" is an English television presenter who currently works for Sky Sports, as well as ITV.-Personal life:...
.
Other versions
The Krypton FactorThe Krypton Factor (US game show)
The Krypton Factor was a United States game show based on the UK series of the same name. The series originally ran on ABC from August 7 to September 4, 1981 and NBC from 15th December 1982 to present...
was one of the first new-style game shows to be exported to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Two short-lived United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
versions of The Krypton Factor aired. In 1981, Dick Clark
Dick Clark (entertainer)
Richard Wagstaff "Dick" Clark is an American businessman; game-show host; and radio and television personality. He served as chairman and chief executive officer of Dick Clark Productions, which he has sold part of in recent years...
hosted a 5-week summer series on ABC. In 1990, Willie Aames
Willie Aames
Willie Aames is an American actor, film and television director, television producer, and screenwriter. He played Tommy Bradford on the 1970s’ Eight Is Enough and Buddy Lembeck on the 1980s’ Charles in Charge.-Early life:...
hosted a syndicated version for child
Child
Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
ren. A version in production by Fox TV was never shown to the public. The New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
version of The Krypton Factor ran from 1987 to 1991 and was hosted by veteran presenter Dougal Stevenson. There was no Response round in the New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
version and the video clips used for the Observation test were taken 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...
version. The Physical Ability test was done at Burnham Military Camp just south of Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
. The first season in 1987 in New Zealand was a challenge between Australian and New Zealand contestants with all of the show hosted in New Zealand and aired on ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
in Australia during that time. The winners of the 1987 series competed against the winners of the 1987 series in 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...
. Reruns of the Krypton Factor are currently being screened on TVNZ 6
TVNZ 6
TVNZ 6 was a digital-only, commercial-free television channel operated by Television New Zealand. It was available in 60.3% of New Zealand homes on the Freeview and SKY Television Digital platforms...
. A German version of the show aired in 1991. 13 episodes were shown on Sat.1
Sat.1
Sat.1 is a privately owned German television broadcasting station. Sat.1 was the first privately owned television broadcasting station in Germany, having started one day before RTL Television....
before the show was cancelled.
Original series
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Young Krypton series
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United Kingdom Superperson of the Year
This is a complete list of all the winners of the show. There was no series made in 1994, or from 1996-2008, or in 2011-present.| Series | Year | Name |
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External links
...- The Krypton Factor (1977–1995) at BFI.
- The Krypton Factor (2009–2010) at BFI..