Strike it Lucky

Synopsis

Michael Barrymore hosted in his own inimitable style. Three teams of couples attempted to beat each other and the Hot Spots by answering questions correctly.

The question answer person in the couple chose 2, 3 or 4 questions. The answer to each not-terribly-difficult question was hidden in a group of six on the big board. If they picked the right answers, one "move" per question was theirs. However, if they got one wrong, the next team got a chance to steal the moves.

When someone finally completed the "bid", the other half of the successful couples got to move along their "arch" of ten television monitors. By "striking the screen", they got to see whether there was a prize or a Hot Spot behind it.

And what is a Hot Spot not? A narrative feature which stopped the show finishing in half the time it could have been. Oh sorry, "A Good Spot!" Anyway, the couple could decide to stop at any time within the amount of moves they had, banking any prizes they'd won so far. Alternatively, they could keep going but if they hit a Hot Spot then they lost any prizes for that turn and we went back to the questions.

There would be supposedly between 5 and 8 hotspots but in later series it was almost always 6 (two for each of the three couples).

The screen before the final Question screen would always be a nice holiday, but they would either have to (a) risk it on the main Strike it Lucky Question, or (b) bank it but give the other teams a chance to finish. The first team to get across the monitors and answer the main SiL question won the game and went through to the end game.

Here, they had to get across the archway of monitors from left to right, hitting as few Hot Spots as possible. They were given three options of being allowed to hit 2, 3 or 4 Hot Spots, fewer Hot Spots meaning more cash.

On the thirty screens would be 10 Arrows (a free move), 10 Questions (True or False questions which turned into free moves or Hot Spots) and 10 Hot Spots. The computer would jumble everything up and then blank out the screens. The contestants now had to guess Top, Middle or Bottom for each of the ten columns of screens, and if it was a free move or they got a question correct they would win 5% of the money they were playing for. If they got a Hot Spot they lost one of their "lives". This would keep going until they got to the end or they ran out of chances.

It was never the best game show ever, and the British public overrated it, but it was jolly enough.

Key moments

The episode where an old Scottish gent had come to the studio without his glasses, and therefore couldn't read the possible answers from the videowall across the studio.

The episode where two different contestants were asked to complete 'The Princess and the...'. One guessed 'Porker' and the other guessed 'Turnip'.

Catchphrases

"Alwight!"

"And what is a Hot Spot not?" "Not a good spot!"

Trivia

Michael Barrymore's real name is Michael Parker.

On one show, a Scottish farmer talked and read poetry for 90 minutes.

The show changed name to Strike it Rich in 1996 because the TV company who had the rights to the name Strike it Lucky refused to give them over to their rivals when the show changed production company from Thames to LWT.

Merchandise

A Strike it Lucky board game was manufactured.

Pictures

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