Catchword (game show)

Catchword
Genre Game show
Created by Bryan Mitchell
Presented by Gyles Brandreth (BBC1 Scotland)
Paul Coia (BBC2)
Opening theme Orient Express
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 2 (BBC1 Scotland)
8 (BBC2)
No. of episodes 13 (BBC1 Scotland)
457 (BBC2)
Production
Running time 30 minutes
Release
Original network BBC1 Scotland (17 May 1985 – 2 April 1986)
BBC2 (5 January 1988 – 23 May 1995)
Picture format 4:3
Original release 17 May 1985 (1985-05-17) – 23 May 1995 (1995-05-23)

Catchword is a daytime word game show first shown on BBC1 Scotland from 17 May 1985 until 2 April 1986, hosted by Gyles Brandreth, and then network on its sister channel BBC2 from 5 January 1988 until 23 May 1995, hosted by Paul Coia

Format

Round 1 - Four Second Word Game

Each contestant (one at a time) had ten different sets of three consonants every four seconds and he or she had to think of a word starting with the first consonant and include the other two in the right order e.g. P C T could be preconstruction. One point for each valid word and the contestant with the longest word in the round out of the three contestants also scored a bonus of 3 points. Any word that appears in the Chambers Dictionary is allowed. Proper nouns and hypenated words are not allowed. This round was notable for regular appearances of very long words such as Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis and Floccinaucinihilipilification.

Round 2 - Hall Of Fame

This round was on the buzzers. The computer generated 10 anagrams (one at a time). The first contestant to buzz in attempted to solve the anagram. If the contestant was correct, one point was scored. The anagrams could be a list of politicians e.g. EIDSN LEHEYA would be DENIS HEALEY.

Round 3 - Flying Solo

Each contestant (one at a time) was given a set of three letters and 30 seconds to think of as many words as he or she can, starting with the first letter and including the other two in order, similarly to Round 1. The contestant would score one point for each valid word; however, if the contestant gave two or more deemed to be from the same root (e.g. profit and profiteer), only one would count. Similarly to Round 1, a bonus of 3 points is awarded to whoever gives the longest valid word in this round. From series 5 onwards, this round was slightly different because the contestants were given two consonants and a joker and they could choose the third consonant themselves by junking the joker then normal game was played.

Round 4 - They Said It

This round was on the buzzers. The computer generated 8 poems, one at a time. One word was incomplete. The contestant had to work out what the incomplete word was. If a contestant buzzes in and get it right they score a point. From series 5 onwards this round was replaced with Hidden Word In a Sentence.

Round 5 - Through The Vowel

This round was played on a framework of nine letters (with a vowel in the centre) and each contestant had to choose one set of three letters (reading horizontally, vertically or diagonally, including the vowel) and make a word that includes those letters e.g. Y A T could be yactswomen. Each valid word scored one point and the contestant with the longest word scored a bonus of 3 points. Three grids were played in this round.

Round 6 - Synonym Game

This round was on the buzzers. The computer generated about 13, 14 or 15 words (one at a time) each with its synonym word scrambled. The first contestant to buzz in attempted to unscramble the word. If the contestant was correct, one point was scored. An example of a synonym could be MANAGE AOCMSPCHLI, the scrambled word is ACCOMPLISH.

Final Round

The final round was the 'Four Second Word Game' again in the same way as the first round.

At the end of the show the contestant with the highest score is the champion and invited to come back on the next show to play against two new contestants. Contestants who are champions can only win up to five matches.

Prizes

Contestants who won a match got to pick a reference book from the Catchword library (dictionary, thesaurus, etc.), and any champ who retired undefeated won a bigger prizes such as an Amiga computer and a software package to go with it. In the last series, it was a Phillips CDI machine.

The studio format in all series featured the contestants and Coia sitting behind desks except for the last series where the studio was completely refurbished and the contestants and Coia were stood up behind desks and the contestants had to join Coia at the pulpit for the four second word and flying solo rounds.

Transmissions

BBC1 Scotland

Series Start date End date Episodes
1 17 May 1985 28 June 1985 7
2 24 February 1986 2 April 1986 6

BBC2

Series Start date End date Episodes
1 5 January 1988[1] 11 March 1988[2] 40
2 14 November 1988[3] 17 February 1989[4] 50
3 6 November 1989[5] 2 February 1990[6] 50
4 19 November 1990[7] 25 March 1991[8] 68
5 11 November 1991[9] 18 March 1992[10] 62
6 26 October 1992[11] 18 February 1993[12] 61
7 1 November 1993[13] 10 March 1994[14] 62
8 24 October 1994[15] 23 May 1995[16] 64

References

  1. ↑ "Catchword - BBC Two England - 5 January 1988". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Catchword - BBC Two England - 11 March 1988". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Catchword - BBC Two England - 14 November 1988". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Catchword - BBC Two England - 17 February 1989". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Catchword - BBC Two England - 6 November 1989". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Catchword - BBC Two England - 2 February 1990". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "Catchword - BBC Two England - 19 November 1990". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Catchword - BBC Two England - 25 March 1991". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "Catchword - BBC Two England - 11 November 1991". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "Catchword - BBC Two England - 18 March 1992". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "Catchword - BBC Two England - 26 October 1992". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  12. ↑ "Catchword - BBC Two England - 18 March 1992". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  13. ↑ "Catchword - BBC Two England - 1 November 1993". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  14. ↑ "Catchword - BBC Two England - 10 March 1994". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  15. ↑ "Catchword - BBC Two England - 24 October 1994". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  16. ↑ "Catchword - BBC Two England - 23 May 1995". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 7 November 2014.

External links

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