The Biggest Game in Town (game show)
Live bingo-based quiz show with studio and home games.
The Biggest Game in Town was a British quiz show that aired on ITV from 10 September to 21 December 2001. Broadcast live each afternoon, it was based on the game of bingo and presented by Steve Le Fevre.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Game show
- Presenter
- Steve Le Fevre; Bobby Davro (stand-in)
- Starring
- Ted Robbins
- Voices
- Richard Easter
- Location
- Granada Studios
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Series
- 1
Facts from the source article.
Premise
The programme was broadcast live on ITV each afternoon, originally at 1pm, later moved to midday. Fridays featured an extra game at 5:30pm called the 'Friday Flyer'. Each show had two concurrent games: a studio game among three contestants with a top prize of £5,550, and a home game with a daily jackpot pool of £5,000. Friday Flyer editions increased the home jackpot to at least £7,500 plus unclaimed cash from the week, and doubled studio cash prizes except the top prize. A viewer competition with a different prize each time also aired. Bobby Davro hosted three editions, including a Friday Flyer celebrity special, when Le Fevre was ill.
Studio game
The studio game had three rounds, the goal being first to fill a board of 15 squares. Correct answers placed a ball in an empty space; incorrect answers initially froze the contestant out of the next question, later changed to removing a ball. Round one required filling the four corners, with questions on the past day's news (or week's events on Fridays). The first to fill all corners won £250 (£500 on Fridays). Round two required filling the middle line, with questions on entertainment, often about ITV1 evening programmes. The first to fill the middle line won £500 (£1,000 on Fridays). The third round aimed to fill the remaining spaces with general knowledge questions. The first to fill the board, or the contestant with the most balls when a time-up klaxon sounded, won. A full house paid £1,000 (£2,000 on Fridays); otherwise £50 (£100 on Fridays) was added per ball gained in that round. The winner then had 45 seconds to fill a cash board with three amounts: £50, £500 and £5,000. Filling the entire board won the full £5,550; otherwise the contestant kept the total of the amounts filled (e.g., filling £50 and £500 but only part of £5,000 yielded £600).
Home game
The home game used traditional bingo number crossing. To be eligible for the jackpot pool, players had to register their game card by calling a hotline before the show. Game cards were available for free only via the show's website, mailed to the recipient, and covered three weeks of boards. Each correct answer in the studio generated a number from 1 to 45 for home players to mark. After each studio round, double numbers were generated; later editions used double numbers for every correct answer in the final round. A live leaderboard tracked registered players' progress. The home winner was always determined before the studio winner. Midway through the run, voiceover artist Richard Easter became a co-presenter from the gallery, recapping numbers before ad breaks and updating jackpot winner locations at the end. On Friday Flyer editions, Ted Robbins took this role.
More in Television Shows Produced by Granada Television
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