Chain Letters

Synopsis

Three contestants amassed as much money as possible by being able to change words letter by letter into new words. And that is basically it.

The first round was Chain Letters. Each contestant was given a word and 45 seconds to make as many changes as possible, with £5 for each chain made. However, the only stipulations were that you couldn't 'do' proper nouns and you couldn't change the same letter twice in a row (i.e. If you had BALL, you could change it to HALL but you couldn't then change it to CALL, you'd need to change another letter first). For some obscure reason, whoever was winning at the end of each round was invited to 'win a sofa' by the ubiquitous theme tune singing people [it was "winner so far" - Ed.].

The next round is the Booby Trap round. The contestants have a choice of words and are invited to pick one of the letters in that word which will give them loads of freedom to change many times to create many new words. However, the evil opponents secretly wrote down a word which that contestant could possibly change it to. Once they've written it down, the contestant changes the letter. If it's a word then they get the points. Whoo! However, if they so wish, they could double the points if they changed it again, and they could redouble it too. However, if they pick a word that another person has picked, immediate animosity ensues as the points go to them instead. Ha.

After the break was a round that changed depending on the year and host but all of which was basically the same thing.

The final round was the incredibly fair Tie the Leader round where it didn't matter if you were behind by virtue of not being as good as the rest - one question could make you joint first! A word would be shown as well as a clue whilst Wordsworth highlighted the letter to be changed (or the + symbol, meaning add a letter or the - symbol meaning take a letter away). When you buzzed in, Wordsworth would show you what the word's worth (geddit?): 10, 20, 40 or Tie the Leader.

Whoever had the most points at the end went through to the Superchain, the losers went home with however much money they had accumulated up into then or (strangely) a CD player in later series. So you were better off about 10 years ago then...

In the Superchain, you'd be given a 4 letter word, Wordsworth would highlight a letter and you'd have to change it to make a word. If you did it 10 times within a minute you'd win £1000, otherwise you got £50 for each chain plus the amount of money you'd won in the game.

Key moments

In an out-take, Dave Spikey once got stuck in the big 'Chain Letters' revolving sign.

In another out-take, a taxi driver from Manchester playing the Superchain round changed the R in CART to CANT, then changed the A... you can guess the rest.

Catchphrases

"Let's meet the contestants - they're over here."

"Let's play 'Chain Letters'."

"Remember - change the letter, say the word and spell it..."

"You've got 45 seconds to make the longest chain possible, starting...now!"

(Contestants, in the first round): "Change the (for example) 'M' to a 'P' to make Pole, P-O-L-E," and so on.

(In the Booby Trap Round): "Make your predictions...now."

"You've been booby-trapped!"

"He's (or she's) the Winner So Far!" (followed by the inevitable ditty).

"Wordsworth - would you please give me a five-letter word? Give me a plus, give me a minus - and now, go to work" (or "get moving", depending on the host at the time).

(To start the endgame): "Wordsworth...go!"

Dave Spikey: "If you're stuck, make it up!

Dave Spikey: "Light that final gold band, you'll win a grand."

Inventor

Based on the unsold US pilot of the same name created by Mark Maxwell-Smith.

Theme music

Mike Moran came up with one of those unusual theme tunes that described the game before the show had even started:

Take a word...
Change a letter...
Do it again...
And you've got a chain!
That's how you pla-a-a-y Chain Letters,
Chain Letters.

Trivia

Word verification was handled by the Longman Dictionary of the English Language and later, Chambers Dictionary.

Most of Dave Spikey's on screen jokes were written by Peter Kay (star of the comedy series Phoenix Nights)

The format of the Superchain thing at the end changed towards the end of the programme's run. Apparently, contestants were struggling with Wordsworth's random selection of letters to change - so they made it more predictable. Contestants were told beforehand (although it was never announced on screen) that the letters would be changed in order - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 1st etc. As a result, the Superchain contestant could be constantly thinking ahead.

Regional transmission information

This was the first show to appear in ITV's 9.25am game show slot, filling the gap left when schools' programmes moved to Channel 4.

1987–88

The first series aired on Monday to Friday with the first 25 episodes airing at 9.25am from September to October 1987, the last 35 episodes aired at 1pm from January to February 1988, with the exception of TVS and Channel who aired a few episodes at 3pm, then they dropped it in February before airing the remaining episodes over the summer.

1988–89

The second series aired on Thursday evenings at 7.30pm. Grampian and Granada aired it in a lunchtime slot at 12:30pm while Anglia and Central aired it after children's programming at 5.15pm. Scottish originally aired it on Tuesday evenings at 7.30pm, then moved to Thursday late nights at 10.35pm from November to December 1988 and then finally moved to Sunday afternoons at 3pm in February 1989.

1989–90

The third series aired on Thursday evenings at 7.30pm, the last 2 episodes aired on Friday afternoons at 1.30pm. Scottish aired it on Wednesday afternoons at 1.30pm from January to March 1990.

1990 & 95

The fourth and fifth series went back to Monday to Friday mornings at 9.25am.

1996

The sixth series aired on Monday to Friday afternoons, at different time depending which region you were in, since this series was not networked, with the Border and Granada regions airing episodes after a few weeks at 5.10pm on certain days, which took until August to complete.

1997

The seventh series was back networked in the good old Monday to Friday morning slot at 9.25am.

Web links

Wikipedia entry

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