Sudo-Q
Synopsis
Daytime game show combining sudoku and general knowledge. Three teams of three play.
Round one uses a 4x4 sudoku grid. An empty cell is highlighted and the team that gives the correct number fastest gets two general knowledge questions. Each question they get right gives them the opportunity to solve another cell for a bonus point.
In round two, the fastest team to correctly fill in the appropriate cell nominates a member of one of the other teams to be eliminated. If the first team answers a question correctly, that player is "frozen out". If they answer wrongly, the nominated team pick one of the answering team to be frozen out. Either way, the eliminated player leaves the set. They haven't come up with any smooth way of effecting the the transition, so a graphic sting plays to cover the cut. This feels a bit clunky. Anyway, the first team to have all their members frozen out is eliminated from the competition and there's a brief cutaway to a post-match interview, just like every other game show these days.
Eamonn doesn't know what goes in the X. Do you?The third round is played on a 6x6 grid and is a straight puzzle round. Each of the remaining teams nominates one of their number to play. The two players have one minute each on their own personal clocks and take turns to solve highlighted cells, running down their clocks as they go (not unlike the earlier Holmes vehicle Playing for Time, as it happens).
The top scorers go on to the end game, in which each member of the team gets one minute to answer questions. Each time they get one right, they get to solve another cell. This is played on a 6x6 grid with half of the cells already filled, so it works out at six cells each - a suitably challenging, but eminently achievable target. There's £50 available for each cell correctly filled, with a number of bonuses along the way bringing the jackpot to £1500. The best teams return for the grand final at the end of the series.
On paper, this show sounded like a recipe for disaster. When TV people sieze upon the latest trend, whatever it is, one expects the result to be an embarrassment, like the Joy Of Text theme night, or indeed the awful Sudoku Live. Fortunately this particular format has largely avoided the pitfalls. The quiz and puzzle elements are well-integrated, and the difficulty is just about right for a lunchtime show like this. Lousy title, admittedly, but you can't have everything.
Inventor
Format by "BBC FED Team".
Theme music
Kev Curtis
