Chain Letters
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| Chain Letters | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Game Show |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Creator(s) | Mark Maxwell-Smith |
| Starring | Jeremy Beadle Allan Stewart Andrew O'Connor Ted Robbins Vince Henderson Dave Spikey |
| Country of origin | UK |
| Original channel | ITV1 |
| Original run | 7 September 1987–22 May 1997 |
| No. of episodes | 80 |
Chain Letters was a game show produced by Tyne Tees Television and broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom from 7 September 1987 to 22 May 1997. Three contestants competed to win money by changing letters in words to form new words. Its original host was Jeremy Beadle, but later on it was hosted by Allan Stewart, Andrew O'Connor, Ted Robbins, Vince Henderson and Dave Spikey.
Contents |
[edit] Game show structure
[edit] Round 1 - Chain Letters
The first round was Chain Letters. Each contestant was given a four-letter word and 45 seconds to make as many changes as possible, with £5 for each chain made. Any change was permissible if it gave a proper word (not a proper noun), except that contestants were not permitted to make two consecutive changes to the same position of the word (for example, BALL -> HALL -> HALF -> CALF was allowed, but BALL -> HALL -> CALL was not).
[edit] Round 2 - Booby Trap round
The next round is the Booby Trap round. Each contestant can choose one of 4 four-letter words and are invited to pick one of the letters in that word which will give them as much freedom as possible to make new words. Before changing the word however, their opponents secretly predict what the new word will be. If the contestant successfully changes the letter to form a new word, they win money - this amount is doubled for each subsequent change. However, if the contestant chooses one of the words written down by one of their opponents, said opponent wins the money instead.
[edit] Round 3 - Add a Letter
In Add a letter what happened was Wordsworth would give each contestant a three lettered word and all they had to do was add a letter to the three lettered word that Wordsworth gave them they could either add a letter at the start or at the end of the word with £5 added to everyword that they make successfully.
[edit] Round 4 - Tie the Leader
The final round was the Tie the Leader round. An (initially) four-letter word was displayed, and general knowledge questions were asked whose answer could be obtained by changing a letter (highlighted by the game show computer "Wordsworth"), or by adding or subtracting a letter (with a "+" or "-" sign highlighted by Wordsworth). Contestants competed on the buzzer to answer these questions - depending on when the button was pressed, a correct answer could win £10, £20 or £40, or could "Tie the Leader" (the contestant's score would be increased to equal that of the highest-scoring contestant).
[edit] Superchain
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 a CD player in later series. In the Superchain, the winning contestant was given a 4 letter word and Wordsworth would highlight a letter to be changed to form a new word. Contestants had to make 10 changes within one minute to win the £1,000 jackpot. Otherwise, they would win £50 per successful change, plus the money accumulated in the previous three rounds.
[edit] Theme Music
The theme music was composed by Mike Moran in which the lyrics were:
Take a word
Change a letter
Do it again and you've got a chain!
That's how you pla-a-a-a-y Chain Letters, Chain Letters!
[edit] Notes
The Andrew O'Connor & Allan Stewart versions of the show were in a peak time slot.
Most of Dave Spikey's on screen jokes were written by Peter Kay who was an unknown back then.
Dave Spikey got trapped behind the Chain Letters revolving sign.
The Show normally aired at 9:25 am every weekday morning on ITV apart from 1996 when it was moved to a lunchtime slot of 12:55 later moving to a slighty later time of 1:25 pm.
[edit] External links
- Chain Letters - UK Game Shows
