Blockbusters (British game show)

Did You Know?

• Champions in the Aspel era were limited to three wins before retiring undefeated.
• A DVD game based on the show was released in 2006 by Circle Studio, with Bob Holness reprising his role as host.

Background

Blockbusters was created by Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions and began as an American series in 1980. Central Independent Television producer Graham C. Williams saw the show in 1981 and produced a pilot in 1982. Unlike the American edition, which used adult contestants, the UK version was made for sixth formers. Bob Holness was the original presenter, hosting the first ten series and a 1994 revival on Sky One. Holness noted in 1988 that his earlier work on Junior Criss Cross Quiz led to his selection for Blockbusters. A 1997 edition with adult contestants aired for one series on BBC Two with Michael Aspel presenting. Sky One revived the show under its original rules in 2000 with Liza Tarbuck as host. The Challenge series was presented by Simon Mayo, and the Comedy Central series by Dara Ó Briain. Contestants performed a hand jive during the end credits of Friday episodes, starting in 1986 after a contestant grew bored while waiting. The hand jive continued for the rest of the original run and was referenced by Half Man Half Biscuit in their 1991 song "Hedley Verityesque". The original game board used 40 slide projectors, each with its own slides for letters and Gold Run questions, occupying the full height of the studio. Slides were preloaded on carousels holding enough for three to five shows, with 15 board combinations that repeated in sequence. The letter Q appeared on only one board, and Y on two. In 1987 and 1988, TVTimes readers voted Blockbusters the most popular quiz show on television.

Main game

The game board was designed so that a tie could not occur; even if all 20 hexagons were filled, which happened at least twice, a winner was always determined. Play began with a toss-up question for control of the board, starting with a randomly chosen letter. Contestants could buzz in while the question was being read. A correct answer gave control of that hexagon and the chance to choose another; an incorrect answer allowed the opponent to answer after the host reread the question. If neither answered correctly, another question with the same initial letter was asked. Each correct answer earned £5, and both members of the two-player team received the team's total. The solo player aimed to connect a vertical path of white hexagons from top to bottom, needing at least four correct answers. The pair aimed for a horizontal path of blue hexagons (purple during the Aspel era) from left to right, requiring at least five spaces. The first side to complete their path won the game, prompting a musical theme and the host saying "That's Blockbusters!" The first player or team to win two games won the match. When a side was one correct answer from victory, their hexagons flashed; if both were one away, all lit hexagons flashed, creating a "mutual space" situation where the next correct answer won, unless a contestant deliberately chose a non-winning panel to avoid handing the opponent the win on a wrong answer.

Transmissions

Series 2 and 3 of Blockbusters were actually a single production run, with the first 71 episodes labelled as Series 2 and the final 49 as Series 3. The show was an early adopter of the 'straddling' format in British television, meaning games could run for different durations; episodes often started or finished in the middle of a match, and a single game could spill across two episodes. It usually occupied the 5:15 pm slot from Monday to Friday, bridging Children's ITV and the 5:45 ITN News, with a similar Saturday slot for a time. Although always on ITV, it was never broadcast simultaneously across all sixteen regions, so viewers in some areas could retune to a neighbouring region and catch a different episode. The first series was repeated on Channel 4 in summer 1984, taking over the Countdown slot. Recording took place in two blocks, one in summer and another in November. All regions aired Series 1, but some moved it earlier because the 5:15 pm slot was already taken by soap operas. Border, Central, Granada, HTV, TVS, UTV, and Yorkshire ran it from 29 August to 4 November 1983, weekdays at 5:15 pm. Anglia, Channel, Grampian, Scottish, Thames, and TSW started on 5 September and ended 11 November 1983, at 3:30 pm. Tyne Tees also began on 5 September at 3:30 pm, but switched to 5:15 pm from 17 October. Later scheduling varied: in 1987, Series 5 was delayed until 12 September; in early 1988, Anglia expanded to six days a week, finishing the series by March, while Grampian and STV wrapped up on 19 April 1988.

Other countries

The Blockbusters format was adapted in several countries during the 1980s and 1990s. In Australia, a version hosted by Michael Pope aired on the Seven Network from 1991 to 1993, with schools competing against each other; its intro resembled the Holness era but had a different theme song. Germany had Supergrips (originally Grips), broadcast on Bavarian TV from 1988 to 1995, hosted first by Frank Laufenberg and later by Ingo Dubinski. The French version, Parcours d'enfer, aired on TF1 with Pierre Bellemare as host. Indonesia produced Aksara Bermakna, which ran on TVRI from 1989 to 1996 with host Kepra, and later on antv from 1997 to 1999 with Anton Gemilar; it was created by Ani Sumadi. Israel's version, called Nuts, aired on Israeli Educational Television from 1985 to 1994 with teenage contestants and multiple hosts including Shosh Atari and Avri Gilad; an Arabic version, Paths (masarat), aired on the same network in 1996. Italy's Doppio Slalom aired on Canale 5 from 1985 to 1990, hosted by Corrado Tedeschi and later Paolo Bonolis. Jordan had Lo3bet Al-Hourof on Amman TV with Zaid Zghoul. In Paraguay, a version called Blockbuster aired on Telefuturo in 1999 with hosts Clari Arias and Leti Medina. Saudi Arabia's ABC Program/Competitions Letters aired on First Channel Saudi Arabia from 1987 to 1994, was revived from 1997 to 1998, and again in 2017 with Salman Al-Otaibi.