UK Game Show FAQ

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This Good Game Guide lists common questions we receive about UK game shows. If you have a question that you think should be included, please Contact us.

Q. What was the first game show to be broadcast six days a week?

Blockbusters.

Q. Has anyone ever presented a game show they've devised themselves?

Indeed they have!

Geoffrey Wheeler was both the devisor and voiceover for the original version of Winner Takes All, and hosted a later incarnation.
Robin Ray devised and hosted Film Buff of the Year.
Nigel Rees devised Quote... Unquote and Challenge of the South.
Jonathan Ross co-devised and hosted It's Only TV... But I Like It.
Amanda Ross created and hosted Intuition.
Maria McErlane co-devised Carnal Knowledge.
Gordon Burns has had a lot of influence in the shows he's presented.
Confessions was partly devised by Simon Mayo.
Andrew Lynford created Arty Facts.
Jason Bradbury devised Mercenaries.
Tony Slattery devised Tibs and Fibs. Oh, the shame.
Cathy Rogers co-devised Scrapheap Challenge/Junkyard Wars and also created Full Metal Challenge.
Jamie Theakston came up with The Search
Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly were responsible for both All*Star Cup and PokerFace.
Matt Edmondson was responsible for dating programme Dress to Impress.
There was also Fluke, which was basically a vehicle for the comedic talents of creator Tim Vine...
...likewise Al Murray's Fact Hunt...
...and Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer's Families at War.
But leading the pack is Roy Ward Dickson, who - as well as devising numerous other shows - both devised and hosted Abracadabra, Pix and Turnabout.

Q. Have there ever been any game show hosts that have been related to one another?

Yes:

Bradley Walsh and son Barney hosted Gladiators together. Bradley's wife, Donna, was the lead cheerleader in Gladiators' troupe G-Force.
Paul Daniels and son Martin
Richard Baker and son James (Crack It)
Ted Ray and son Robin
Richard Dimbleby and sons David (Television Top of the Form) and Jonathan
Roy Walker and son Mark (Steal)
Jim Rosenthal and son Tom (Gods of the Game)
Martin Kemp and son Roman
Jon Pertwee and son Sean, plus Jon's cousin Bill Pertwee (Spytrap). Jon's brother Michael was the devisor of Yakity Yak too.
Alan Coren, daughter Victoria and son Giles
Jimmy Tarbuck and daughter Liza
Johnny Ball and daughter Zoe
Clement Freud and daughter Emma (Worldwise)
Barry Norman and daughter Samantha (Treasure Trail)
Jimmy Hanley and daughter Jenny (Star Games)
Elinor Jones (Traed Oer) and daughter Heledd Cynwal
Brother and sister Keith Chegwin and Janice Long
Brother and sister Matt Edmondson and Kate Edmondson of Hider in the House.
Brothers Jonathan and Paul Ross, plus sister-in-law (married to third brother Simon) Amanda Ross
Brothers Richard and James McCourt
Brothers John Leslie and Grant Stott
Brothers Tim and Jeremy Vine
Brothers Geoffrey and Peter Wheeler
Brothers Ashley and Jordan Banjo
Brothers Paul and Barry Elliott a.k.a. Chuckle (To Me... To You... as a duo)
Brothers Mark and Wynne Evans (Sibling Rivalry as a duo)
Sisters Anthea Turner and Wendy Turner-Webster (Your Kids are in Charge as a duo)
Sandra Chalmers (Tichpuzzle!) and nephew Mark Durden-Smith
First cousins Jon and Peter Snow
First cousins once removed John Julius Norwich and Adam Hart-Davis
Spouses Bernard Braden and Barbara Kelly
Spouses Tess Daly and Vernon Kay
Spouses Paul Coia and Debbie Greenwood
Spouses Trey Farley and Katy Hill
Spouses Sarah Greene and Mike Smith
Spouses Coleen McLoughlin and Wayne Rooney (Street Striker)
Spouses Cat Deeley and Patrick Kielty
Spouses Jim "Vic Reeves" Moir and Nancy Sorrell (Trust Me I'm a Holiday Rep)
Spouses Charlie Brooker and Konnie Huq (Huq's main credits were before they married, though she later appeared as co-host on Pointless)
Spouses Angellica Bell and Michael Underwood (Bell's credits were before they married)
Spouses Brian and Kerry McFadden (Brian's credits were after they divorced)
Spouses Rochelle Humes and Marvin Humes
...and an honorary mention for spouses Sara Pascoe and Steen Raskopoulos (All Star Dance Off, which wasn't a real competition... but nice try!).

Q. Which game show hosts have appeared on stamps?

It would be an unusual theme for philatelists to pursue, and none of these people were actually honoured for that specific reason, but we reckon this is the list, up to the end of 2024:

Freddie Flintoff (Ashes Victory set, 2005)
Jon Pertwee, Sylvester McCoy and David Tennant (Comedy World Cup) (Doctor Who, 2013)
Richard Dimbleby (Great Britons, 2014)
Roy Plomley (Remarkable Lives, 2014)
Ronnie Corbett (Comedy Greats, 2015)
Bill Pertwee (Spytrap) (Dad's Army, 2018)
Miriam Margolyes (Harry Potter, 2018)
Stephen Fry (two stamps), Brian Blessed (Blackadder, 2023)
Emma Bunton (six stamps) (Spice Girls, 2024)
Christopher Biggins (Porridge, 2024)

All of these are designated 1st class, except for the £1.55 Bill Pertwee stamp.

Completists will also want to bag the stamps featuring Have I Got News for You guest hosts Jennifer Saunders (Comedy Greats, 2015), Benedict Cumberbatch (five stamps in the Sherlock Holmes set, 2020 - also featuring Never Mind the Buzzcocks guest host Martin Freeman, and you can just about make out Una Stubbs in the background of one as well) and, separately, Patrick Stewart and William Shatner (Star Trek, 2020). And if you're pursuing this theme, you'll also want the only stamp to date actually honouring a game show (albeit with the logo rather than a picture of the host): the 68p Who Wants to be a Millionaire stamp from the 2005 set marking 50 years of ITV.

Q. Have there been any UK game shows in languages other than English?

There certainly have been. We know of game shows in no fewer than six other languages: Welsh (numerous shows, of which probably the most famous is Sion a Sian), Gaelic (1 2 Stri), British Sign Language (See Hear on Saturday Quiz), French (Questions Sans Frontieres) and - with language learning in mind - German and Spanish (Top!).

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