National Knowledge Contest
Synopsis
Done by Hughie Green as an offshoot of The Sky's The Limit. Each ITV region - 19 of them in all - held a knock-out competition to select one contestant to represent them. The show lasted for six weekly episodes.
The look of the show was similar to Fifteen-to-One: there was a semicircle of desks, and the "three lives" to be lost. However, at the end of each round all those who'd lost a life in that round could compete to answer a buzzer question, and win back that life.
Trivia
Question writer David Elias appeared on the programme as a contestant. David recalled:
"In the sixth week, I was knocked out by the question, 'Where in the human body are the CAUPULS?' The word should have been 'carpals'. This led to quite a row, in which I even made front page of the News of the World for the first and only time, I trust: 'Hughie Green in Quiz Show Row'. "Winner of the contest was a vicar from Bournemouth, Rev Ivor Jeffrey-Machin (his name was so long that his name-card stuck out over the end of his desk), who got a trip round the world. The vicar's wife was mad as hell when she found out (a) it was a trip for only one person, and (b) it was tickets for the flight only, with no extra money to pay for stop-offs! There was no prize for finishing second. Torquay offered my wife and I a free fortnight's holiday as compensation if they could present it on the show, but Hughie and his people wouldn't agree to the PR stunt. The fuss rumbled on for over two weeks."
And John, who didn't give a surname, says:
My Dad was on this show, and came second. The last stages were in Disneyworld, Florida, where if you got through, you went to Motego Bay, Jamaica. There were two teams of Captain and First Mate, and you dug for treasure on the beach. My Dad was the First Mate, and was digging a hole, when the Captain said they would dig elsewhere. The other team came over and dug in the same hole. A little further down, they found the treasure ! The First Mate on the winning team won a fur coat, on camera saying it was lovely, off camera you couldn't show it even today. My Dad won a two week luxury cruise.
