Winner Takes All (game show)

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Winner Takes All was a popular game show that was produced by Yorkshire Television and ran on ITV from 1976 until 1988 but returned in 1997 on the cable & satellite channel Challenge TV (now known as Challenge).

The original host of Winner Takes All was comedian Jimmy Tarbuck who hosted the show from 1976 until 1987 when Yorkshire turned the show into a 5 day a week daytime show and Geoffrey Wheeler replaced Jimmy Tarbuck as the host (Geoffrey also devised the format for Winner Takes All and was the voiceover reading the questions in the Jimmy Tarbuck era) The Challenge TV version was hosted by Bobby Davro and was produced by Yorkshire Television for Challenge TV.

[edit] The Rules

The 2 contestants started with 50 points each (30 points when it became a daytime show in 1987) and were asked multiple choice questions with 6 possible answers but each answer had some odds (Evens,2-1,3-1,4-1,5-1 & 10-1) and after each question was asked the contestants were asked how many points they would like to bet and then they selected the odds that corresponded to the answer they thought was correct, if they got the correct answer they won the points the odds were worth, if they gave a wrong answer they lost the points, the contestant with the most points won through to the final while the loser left the show with nothing (in the later series the losers took home a filofax, In the Challenge TV version the losers took home a Winner Takes All T Shirt.) Then they played again with 2 different contestants and the winner of that met the winner of the first game.

The 2 winners played for cash in the final with a maximum of £1,000 to be won but only the winner took the money home while the loser took home a consolation prize of £100, the winning contestant was given the option of returning on the next show to add to his or her winnings but if they returned and lost they would lose all but £100 of their winnings.

[edit] Trivia

From 1980 until 1987 Winner Takes All started with an alternative version of the Yorkshire Television ident where the chevron would spin toward the screen revealing the 4 contestants who appeared on that weeks edition.

The final ITV series in 1988 was a Television Techniques production for Yorkshire Television.

During his run as host Jimmy Tarbuck would at the start of some editions come out carrying a briefcase containing £1000 in £1 notes which was the top prize on Winner Takes All.

Rapist and lottery winner Iorworth Hoare was caught because of a photo he submitted as part of his application.