Scream If You Know the Answer!

Revision as of 18:26, 16 May 2010

Synopsis

Duncan James hosts as celebrities team up with members of the public to form two-man teams, before answering questions and completing challenges while on various roller coasters and thrill rides at Thorpe Park, for the chance to win up to £5,000.

There are various rounds, however four rounds are played each week. In each round, the number of points per correct answer, or the number of points per second lasted is dictated by which number round it is. For example, a correct answer in round two will score two points, or lasting 14 seconds in round three will score 42 points. The rounds include -

Queasy as ABC – This involves each team having to ride either the Colossus or Nemesis: Inferno roller coasters, while taking turns to give answers to a given category. These categories are usually quite simple, like ‘Food’ or ‘Body Parts’ for instance, however the players must provide answers in sequence for each letter of the alphabet as they go around. Points are given for each correct answer provided by the correct player.

Easier Said…Than Spun - This round involves one player from each team riding the Slammer or Samurai spinning rides, while via an earpiece, their partner on the ground describes to them a series of everyday items being shown to them on flashcards. Points are scored for each correct answer given.

Q and Aaaaargh! (originally Question and Aaaaargh!) - This round sees the host join the celebrity from each team on the SAW: The Ride or Nemesis: Inferno roller coasters. As they go around, the host asks a series of quick-fire questions, with the first player to correctly answer scoring for their team.

Yes or No and Down You Go – This round sees the celebrity from each team being hoisted to the top of the Detonator tower ride with the non-celebrity from the other team. Once at the top of the tower, the celebrity must ask the non-celebrity a series of questions. Should the non-celebrity say ‘Yes’, ‘No’, or ‘Maybe’, the round ends, and they are dropped from the top of the tower. Points are scored based on how many seconds they remain at the top of the tower.

Pair Shaped - This round also takes place aboard the Detonator tower ride. While each team ascends the tower, they can see a 4x4 board of panels on the ground, containing 8 pairs of symbols. Once at the top of the tower, the board is turned over, with each of the 16 panels being numbered. They must then shout out two numbers of what they think are matching symbols. If they are incorrect, or take longer than ten seconds to provide an answer, they are dropped from the top of the tower. Points are scored for each correctly matched pair. If they successfully match all 8 pairs, they are dropped anyway.

Stop the Drop - Once again, this round takes place aboard the Detonator tower ride. Once at the top of the tower, taking turns, the team-mates must name items from a given category. Should they provide an incorrect answer, or take longer than five seconds to provide an answer, they are dropped from the top of the tower. Points are awarded for each correct answer.

Twisty Listy - In this round, each team rides the Nemesis: Inferno roller coaster. Before they start, they are given the beginning of a story, for example, ‘I went to London and I saw…’. As the ride gets underway, each team member take turns to add an item to the list, so for example, the first team member might say, ‘I went to London and I saw an apple’. The other contestant could then say, ‘I went to London and I saw an apple and a carrot’, before the first team member would then repeat the sentence, adding a third item to the list. Points are awarded at the end of the round, based on how many items the team successfully added to their list. It should be noted the adjudicators are fairly liberal with what answers are deemed correct in this round.

Sum Like It Not - This round involves the celebrity contingent of each team riding the Rush giant swing ride. While on the ride, the two non-celebrity team-mates on the ground below hold up a series of large signs with fairly simple mathematical sums on them. The first celebrity contestant to shout out the correct answer scores for their team.

Retch-A-Sketch - In this round, the two members of each team sit opposite each other on the swinging, spinning Vortex ride. Once the ride is underway, the celebrity contestant is told an everyday item either via an earpiece or by the host who sometimes joins them on the ride. The celebrity must draw the everyday object on a small white-board, and then show it to their team member on the other side of the circle of seats. Each item the non-celebrity team member correctly guesses scores for their team.

Duncan’s Donuts - This round sees the celebrity contestant ride the Samurai spinning ride, as their non-celebrity team-mate asks them general knowledge questions from the ground below. The celebrity scores for their team for each correct answer they give, however, should they answer incorrectly, the non-celebrity must put a doughnut in their mouth. They can continue to ask their team-mate questions, but as their mouth fills with doughnuts it obviously becomes more difficult for the celebrity on the ride to understand what they are saying, and thus it becomes more difficult to score.

After the four rounds have taken place, the team that has the most points moves on to the final round, the Cash Dash. This round takes place on the Stealth roller coaster, and sees each player in the team taking a separate ride on the attraction. As they travel the course (which only lasts around 15 seconds or so), they must name as many items from a given category as they can. After their partner has done the same, for every answer both players said, the non-celebrity contestant wins £500 up to a maximum of £5000.

Clearly, this isn't one of those game shows that has spent many hours in the development stage. Putting people on roller coasters, and asking them questions is pretty simplistic. However, it works better than you’d expect, and is actually quite fun. Duncan James is a competent and energetic host, while the voiceover from Colin Murray is good, being both informative, but also slightly-mocking, in a funny, but never cruel way. Having a pool of different rounds keeps each show fresh, while the calibre of the celebrities, while not exactly A-list, is just a peg above what you’d usually find on a celebrity reality show (in other words, you’ve actually heard of most of them). On the whole, it represents a good half-hour of solid family fun.

Participants

Kyran Brackan and Ben Shephard
Jeff Brazier and Anthea Turner
Amir Khan and Katie Price
Barry McGuigan and Caroline Flack
DJ Spoony and Susanne Shaw
Iwan Thomas and Angellica Bell
Phil Tufnell and Cleo Rocos
Tim Vine and Gina Yashere
Rav Wilding and Jennie Bond
Matt Willis and Natalie Emmanuelle

Key Moments

The frequent swearing from the contestants - and the host - while on the rides.

The abject fear on the faces of the celebrities as the rides get underway.

Trivia

Any contestant who throws up is given the Chunder Wonder award.

In the third episode, a scoring error in one round initially saw the wrong team declared the winner. However in the spirit of fairness, both teams were given the chance to win money in the Cash Dash round.

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