Wipeout (British game show)


Wipeout was a British game show based on the original US format that aired on BBC1 from 25 May 1994 to 17 April 2003. The show was originally hosted by Paul Daniels from 1994 to 1997, then Bob Monkhouse took over from 1998 to 2003.

Format

During the game, correct answers would be replaced by a golden star on a black circle, whereas "wipeouts" would be replaced by the blue and yellow Wipeout "W".
Three boards were played in Round 1, with £10 awarded for the first answer plus an additional £10 for each subsequent correct answer. In the Monkhouse version, only two boards were played and each correct answer was worth £50.
In Round 1 on the first four series, each of the three boards featured a mystery prize hidden behind any one answer. The prize would be determined based on whether it was hidden behind a correct answer or a Wipeout. If it was hidden behind a Wipeout, the player was awarded a cheap prize, usually one to do with the answer. If it was hidden behind a correct answer, the player was awarded a much better prize. The contestant who revealed the prize kept it regardless of the game's outcome.
A tiebreaker was not played at the end of Round 1 should a tie present itself. Instead, the player to proceed was the one who had given the most correct answers up to that point. If this was also tied, the player with the fewest wipeouts was accepted into Round 2.
Round 2 was known as "Wipeout Auction". The contestants would be offered a subject, and twelve possible answers on the grid. Eight of these would be correct, and four of these would be Wipeouts. The contestant with the highest amount of money would have the opportunity to bid first on how many correct answers they think they could find in the grid, or to pass the opening bid onto their opponent. Whoever offered the highest bid was given the opportunity to choose that number of answers. The player remained in control until they had achieved the number of correct answers with which they won the bid, or until they hit a Wipeout. If they hit a Wipeout, the opposing player would only have to get one answer right to head into the next round; play switches back to the first player if the second player also discovers a Wipeout. The first player to win two boards went through.
Round 3 was known as "The bonus round" was exactly the same as in America, except that the contestant pressed a button attached to the monitor they wished to activate. Victory awarded a holiday to a specific location, which changed on occasion. This round was like one of the famous games in The Price Is Right the Race Game where the contestant had to select six answers and run and hit a button which would then show on the screen how many correct answers he or she had selected. The contestant kept doing this until either the time had run out or they found all six correct answers. Daniels did the running on the contestant's behalf on several occasions such as once when they had a wheelchair-bound winner and another when the winner was pregnant and therefore preferred not to risk running. The contestants were told in advance where the holiday would be in the Daniels era, but when Monkhouse took over they could choose where they wanted to go provided that it was within Europe.

Transmissions

Series

Specials

Celebrity specials were aired from 1998 to 2000.
DateCelebrities
21 December 1998Joe Pasquale, Cleo Rocos and Bernard Cribbins
22 December 1998Gloria Hunniford, Nick Owen and Kate Robbins
23 December 1998Barbara Dickson, John Inman and June Whitfield
29 December 1998Roy Walker, Ruth Madoc and Gary Wilmot
30 December 1998Faith Brown, Andy Kane and Bryan Murray
31 December 1998Adrian Mills, Nerys Hughes and Nickolas Grace
1 January 1999Jim Bowen, Anna Walker and Paul Ross
29 March 1999Cheryl Baker, Nicholas Parsons and Floella Benjamin
30 March 1999Sarah Greene, William Roache and Jilly Johnson
31 March 1999Jenny Powell, Les Dennis and Chris Jarvis
18 December 2000Jean Boht, Joe Pasquale and Louise Jameson
19 December 2000Bobby Davro, Toyah Willcox and Nick Weir