Telly Quiz

Current revision as of 20:47, 4 January 2024

Host

Aiden J. Harvey (non-broadcast pilot)

Jerry Stevens

Co-hosts

Announcer: David Stevens

Broadcast

BBC Pebble Mill for BBC2, 24 December 1984 to 2 January 1985 (8 episodes in 1 series)

Synopsis

This television quiz featured two teams of three at a time. Each team started with 28 points and had to get to zero, by answering questions about television past and present. The number of points "scored" depended on whether they chose and correctly answered an easy, medium or hard question (worth 4, 6, or 12 points).

The "Vox Pop Jury" (three bleary-eyed people dragged out of the audience) could be used on hard questions, for half points. The trouble was the panel was often more useless than the contestants! Incorrect answers would kill the question, it wouldn't be offered for bonuses - unless the Vox Pop Jury was used and got the question wrong, then six points automatically went to the other side.

Every time a question was answered correctly, a guitar jangle would play as the scoreboard changed; this repetition got quite irritating.

Games usually lasted a bit more than half an episode, so often strattled from one episode to the next. Champion teams retired after two wins, so an episode could have between three and five teams taking part.

A light mixture of television history, interspersed with clips, photos, and themes. The scoring gimmick was far too complex, but the basic idea of a quiz about television was sound - the Pebble Mill producers would turn it into Telly Addicts, which ran for absolutely years.

Trivia

Recorded at BBC Pebble Mill studios in Birmingham.

Winners received a television and a sweatshirt saying "I beat the Telly Quiz".

Jerry Stevens was the other half of The Lennie and Jerry Show with Lennie Bennett; he died in October 2022. The unrelated David Stevens was a BBC Midlands presenter, and he died in 1999.

Web links

A sample episode

The BBC Motion Graphics Archive has these opening titles - but they don't match the very simple titles in the sample episode.

Feedback

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 == Synopsis ==
-This bizarre quiz featured three teams, each of which started with 28 points and had to get to zero. The number of points "scored" depended on whether they chose and correctly answered an easy, medium or hard question.
+This television quiz featured two teams of three at a time. Each team started with 28 points and had to get to zero, by answering questions about television past and present. The number of points "scored" depended on whether they chose and correctly answered an easy, medium or hard question (worth 4, 6, or 12 points).
-They could refer to the "Vox Pop Jury" (three bleary-eyed people dragged out of the audience) for half points. The trouble was the panel was often more useless than the contestants! Every time a question was answered correctly, a very annoying jingle would play as the scoreboard changed.
+The "Vox Pop Jury" (three bleary-eyed people dragged out of the audience) could be used on hard questions, for half points. The trouble was the panel was often more useless than the contestants! Incorrect answers would kill the question, it wouldn't be offered for bonuses - unless the Vox Pop Jury was used and got the question wrong, then six points automatically went to the other side.
+Every time a question was answered correctly, a guitar jangle would play as the scoreboard changed; this repetition got quite irritating.
+Games usually lasted a bit more than half an episode, so often strattled from one episode to the next. Champion teams retired after two wins, so an episode could have between three and five teams taking part.
+A light mixture of television history, interspersed with clips, photos, and themes. The scoring gimmick was far too complex, but the basic idea of a quiz about television was sound - the Pebble Mill producers would turn it into [[Telly Addicts]], which ran for absolutely ''years''.
 == Trivia ==
@@ Line 30: / Line 36: @@
 Winners received a television and a sweatshirt saying "I beat the Telly Quiz".
-''Radio Times'', and therefore BBC Genome, listed a couple of episodes as having more than three teams (one with four, one with five), but we believe this to be a transcription error by an RT staffer up against a deadline to type up Christmas listings back in 1984 since the "excess" teams are all already listed in other episodes.
+Jerry Stevens was the other half of ''The Lennie and Jerry Show'' with [[Lennie Bennett]]; he died in October 2022. The unrelated David Stevens was a BBC Midlands presenter, and he died in 1999.
-The opening titles for the show were reused for the first two series of BBC Pebble Mill's other show called [[Telly Addicts]].
-Jerry Stevens was the other half of ''The Lennie and Jerry Show'' with [[Lennie Bennett]]; he died in October 2022. David Stevens was a BBC Midlands presenter, and he died in 1999.
 == Web links ==
-[http://www.ravensbourne.ac.uk/bbc-motion-graphics-archive/telly-quiz-1984 Opening titles] from the BBC Motion Graphics Archive
+[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KLiaXug9J0 A sample episode]
+The BBC Motion Graphics Archive has these [http://www.ravensbourne.ac.uk/bbc-motion-graphics-archive/telly-quiz-1984 opening titles] - but they don't match the very simple titles in the sample episode.
 [[Category:Themed Quiz]]
 [[Category:Television]]
 [[Category:BBC Birmingham Productions]]