Beat the Teacher
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Beat the Teacher was a 1980s British game show devised by Clive Doig, made by BBC Television and shown as part of Children's BBC on weekdays at teatimes. It ran four days a week from 1983 until 1990, taking over from Screen Test as the BBC's premiere quiz show for children after Screen Test was axed in 1984.
Each edition featured two contestants, one a school pupil, the other a teacher, who were tested on general knowledge and logic puzzles. Correct answers won the contestant moves on a giant Tic-Tac-Toe board made from rotating cubes.
One, two, or three moves of the board could be earned by answering correspondingly difficult questions. The contestant could then ask for the square of their choice to be rotated according to the number of moves they had been awarded.
For example, if a square displayed a "nought", one rotation would see the square turn blank; two would see it replaced with a "cross", three with another blank and on the fourth turn it would revert back to a "nought". Tactical play would lead to the contestant building up lines of noughts or crosses, for which points were awarded (10 points per horizontal, vertical or diagonal line).
A joker card could be played once in each game by either contestant, reversing each square on the board so that all crosses became noughts and vice versa. A bonus was awarded for a full board of noughts or crosses, after which each square on the board would be randomised.
The questions were either of the puzzle and trick variety of corresponding difficulty for fewer or more moves on the board, or else simple "true or false?" or picture identity questions played for bonus moves. Later series also featured the introduction of a special "wrong answer round" in which the contestants gained moves by giving as many incorrect answers as they could within 60 seconds. This round was usually the turning point in the later series because the children were better at giving wrong answers to questions, and the round gave younger contestants who were a long way behind a chance to get back in the game without having to use their 'joker'. The round produced some memorable answers, including a young girl answering the question "Who is Neil Kinnock married to?" with "Me!", which provoked laughter in the audience, and a look of consternation from then-host Bruno Brookes!
In the final round, the board was cleared, and the winning contestant had to try to fill all nine squares up by answering nine questions correctly within 60 seconds. If they accomplished this, they would win a prize. Whether they won or not they were invited to come back again the next episode.
Two 'Champion of Champions' were staged, in 1986 and in 1990, featuring contestants and schools from previous series.
The hosts were Howard Stableford (1984-5), Paul Jones (1986-7) and the aforementioned BBC Radio 1 DJ Bruno Brookes, who took over in 1988 until the series finished in 1990. The theme tune was written by Mike Batt, although this was replaced in the 1988 series by a new theme by Martin Cook.
The surprisingly high popularity of what was, to all effects, a very simplistic series, was largely due not to the questions or the board tactics, but rather due to the fact that many children were in fact tuning in because they enjoyed watching a young contestant get the better of an adult. Overall, the kids actually did come out on top more often than not, although when a teacher won an episode, it was normally by a much wider margin.
The series was rather unexpectedly cancelled in 1990 even though the 1989 series had the highest viewing figures in the series history. The BBC never offered any explanation for this, the most likely reason was probably a shortage of potential future contestants.
