Glitterball
Contents |
Host
Craig Stevens
Yiolanda Koppel (February-April 2007)
Zoe Hardman
Katy Pullinger
Kelle Bryan
Alex Kramer (April-September 2007)
Charlie McArdle (stand-in)
Co-hosts
Announcer: Stuart Hall
Broadcast
Ludus for ITV Play, 19th February - 30th September 2007
Synopsis
Essentially, a replacement for The Mint, again with a daft pretence that the show came from somewhere other than a television studio - this time, the Starlight Theatre in Manchester with the added bonus of a Box Office for callers to claim their prizes.
It was notable for a few things, presenters were keen on mentioning Manchester every five minutes, it saw the return of Kelle Bryan who used to be in 90s girl band Eternal (you know, the one that used to have Louise Redknapp in the line-up) and in the early part of its run, you had the choice of either a cash prize or a holiday...which was nice.
It weathered the TV phone-in scandal (aka 0898-Gate) and a severe bout of technical problems (see Trivia below) but seven months, cutbacks in cash prizes and a platespinner later, Michael Grade swung the axe.
Trivia
Actually, there is such a thing as the Starlight Theatre in Manchester (I kid you not). The theatre was a part of the now-defunct Granada Studios Tour throughout the 90s and became the studios for Glitterball. Today, it still provides facilities for an array of dramas produced by Granada. Mind you, the Box Office still didn't make any sense.
Whilst the ITV Play channel was still up and running, Glitterball Extra aired earlier on in the evening. It lasted all of seven episodes.
Glitterball was forced off the air for two nights in succession during August 2007 owing to technical difficulties. So instead, viewers were able to enjoy the likes of ITV Sport Classics and a few films, most notably, a signed version of the Alfred Hitchcock classic Rope.
Ironically, Glitterball was the first ITV Play show to confirm that their final show was THE final show. The Mint signed-off with see you again soon whilst Debbie King insisted that the last ever Quizmania was the last show of the current series...oh hang on, Quizmania has come back now. Sorry, Debbie.
Inventor
Creator/Executive Producer: Stephen Leahy
