Blankety Blank


Blankety Blank is a British comedy game show which ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC One, hosted first by Terry Wogan from 1979 until 1983, then by Les Dawson from 1984 until 1990. Regular members of the celebrity panel included Kenny Everett, Lorraine Chase, Gareth Hunt, Gary Davies, Paul Daniels and Cheryl Baker.
A revival hosted by Paul O'Grady was produced by the BBC from 26 December 1997 to 28 December 1999, followed by ITV from 7 January 2001 to 10 August 2002. David Walliams hosted a Christmas Special for ITV on 24 December 2016.
The show was based on the 1977–79 Australian game show Blankety Blanks.

Format

Main game

Two contestants compete. Historically, the contestants have always been a man and a woman or two women; at no point did two men compete head-to-head. The object of the game is to match the answers of as many of the six celebrity panelists as possible on fill-in-the-blank statements.
The main game is played in two rounds. The contestant is given a choice of two statements labelled either "A" or "B". The host then reads the statement. When Les Dawson became the host, the programme did away with the A or B choice, but this was reinstated when Lily Savage became the host. Frequently, the statements are written with comedic, double entendre answers in mind. A classic example: "Did you catch a glimpse of that girl on the corner? She has the world's biggest blank."
While the contestant ponders their answer, the six celebrities write their answers on index cards. After they finish, the contestant is asked for their answer. The host then asks each celebrity - one at a time, beginning with #1 in the upper left hand corner - to give their response. The contestant earns one point for each celebrity who wrote down the same answer up to a maximum of six points for matching everyone.
After play is completed on the contestant's question, the host reads the statement on the other card for the challenger and play is identical.
The challenger again begins Round 2, with two new questions, unless they matched everyone in the first round. Only celebrities that a contestant failed to match could play this round.
If the players have the same score at the end of the show, a tiebreaker is used that reverses the game play. The contestants write their answers first on a card in secret, then the celebrities are canvassed to give their answers. The first celebrity response to match a contestant's answer gives that contestant the victory; if there is still no match, the round is replayed with a new question.

Supermatch

A fill-in-the-blank phrase is given, and it is up to the contestant to choose the most common response based on a studio audience survey. After consulting with three celebrities on the panel for help the contestant has to choose an answer. The answers are revealed after that; the most popular answer in the survey is worth 150 Blanks, the second-most popular 100 Blanks, and the third most popular 50. If a contestant fails to match any of the three answers, the bonus round ended.
Another game is played with two new players, and the one who amassed the most from the Supermatch wins the game. That player chooses one of the celebrities who writes down their answer to a "word BLANK" phrase. The player then gives their answer, if they matched, they double up their blanks for a more valuable prize. Matching the 150-blank answer and winning the head-to-head final won the star prize. On Lily Savage's Blankety Blank, the player with the highest Supermatch score or winner of a tie-breaker round played the head-to-head round for an additional prize.

Supermatch "prizes"

Prizes on British game shows of the 1980s are very poor by modern standards. The Independent Broadcasting Authority restricted prize values on ITV shows, and BBC-programme prizes were worth even less because the corporation felt it inappropriate to spend licence payers' money on such things. As a result, the poor-quality prizes became a running joke throughout the show's various runs, particularly during the Dawson era. Dawson drew attention to the fact that the prizes were less-than-mediocre, not pretending that the show had "fabulous prizes" as others did, but making a joke of it, such as referring to them as "fire salvaged" prizes. On one memorable occasion, the 300 Blanks star prize was a trip on Concorde. As the audience clapped and cheered appreciatively, Dawson waved them down with "Don't get excited—it goes to the end of the runway and back."
Most famous was the consolation prize—the Blankety Blank chequebook and pen, which Dawson would often call "The Blankety Blank chequepen and book!" The "chequebook" consisted of a silver trophy in the shape of a chequebook. When one contestant had won nothing, Dawson rolled his eyes and asked her "I bet you wish you'd've stopped at home and watched Crossroads. Do you want me to lend you your bus fare home?" However, despite Dawson's constant jibing of the consolation prize, the chequebook and pen are now worth a great deal, as they were never commercially available and only a limited number were made.
The Blankety Blank Chequebook, minus the pen, was one of the items uncovered by Andy in Mackenzie Crook's BBC comedy Detectorists.
By the time of the 1990s revival, the IBA prize limits had been lifted, and the star prize was generally a holiday.

Celebrity panelists

Series 1 (1979)

Blankety Blank returned to British screens in November 2004 as a one-off edition as part of the BBC's annual Children in Need telethon, in which Terry Wogan reprises his role as the host of the show, accompanied by his wand microphone. The contestants were impressionists Jon Culshaw and Jan Ravens and the panelists were Donny Osmond, Maureen Lipman, Jamie Cullum, Barbara Windsor, Simon Cowell and David Coulthard.
In 2006, the show was brought back this time as an interactive DVD game, with Terry once again reprising his role of host and once again being accompanied by his magic wand-type microphone. However, the theme tune to the DVD game is not the original theme, but a version that was used for the ITV revival.
Another one-off edition was shown on 21 April 2007 as part of ITV's Gameshow Marathon hosted by Vernon Kay. The panelists this time were Andrew Castle, Fern Britton, Joe Pasquale, Holly Willoughby, Vic Reeves and Lorraine Chase.
Yet another one-off edition of the programme was recorded, in aid of Comic Relief's 24 Hour Panel People, on 6 March 2011. The recording was broadcast live on the Red Nose Day website and, in an edited version, on BBC Three on 14 March. The panelists were Barbara Windsor, David Tennant, Stacey Solomon, David Walliams, George Lamb and Keith Harris & Orville. The contestants were Lee Ryan and Duncan James. Paul O'Grady returned as host, this time as himself.
On 22 August 2016, it was announced that David Walliams would front a Christmas special on ITV. The episode aired on Christmas Eve from 6.30–7.30pm. The panellists for the Christmas special were Brooke Vincent, Lesley Joseph, Louis Walsh, The Chuckle Brothers, Anne Robinson and Joe Lycett.

Transmissions

Series

Christmas Specials