Horrible Histories: Gory Games
| Horrible Histories: Gory Games | |
|---|---|
|
Title logo | |
| Genre | Game show |
| Directed by | Dominic Brigstocke |
| Presented by |
Dave Lamb With John Eccleston Scott Brooker |
| Starring |
Simon Farnaby Jim Howick Terry Deary Laurence Rickard Martha Howe-Douglas Ben Willbond |
| Theme music composer | Richie Webb |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Candida Julian-Jones |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Citrus Television/Lion Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBBC |
| Original airing | 30 May 2011 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Horrible Histories: Gory Games is a children's game show, co-produced by Citrus Television and Lion Television for CBBC, that debuted in 2011. It is a spin-off of hit children's sketch comedy Horrible Histories and is a product of the same creative team.
Game play
Gory Games is co-hosted by comedian Dave Lamb and Rattus Rattus, the rat puppet who also "hosts" the parent series. The show revolves around "horrible facts".[1] Gameplay involves three child contestants (called "Horrible Historians") trying to obtain "Year Spheres" by completing either an historically-themed physical challenge or a quiz. Each Year Sphere contains a year which is either A.D. or B.C.. If it is A.D., the year is added to the player's score at the end of the show; if B.C., it is subtracted from it. The player with the highest overall score after three rounds is the winner.
The games are divided into six categories: "Brainy", "Messy", "Scary", "Silly", "Death" (hosted by Death himself) and "Gory". Quiz questions may be asked either by Lamb, Rattus, a live-action or animated character from that period, or—in Series 3 and Series 4--Death.
Similarly to its parent series, the games are grouped under randomly selected historical eras or civilisations based on Terry Deary's original books. To date the eras used in Gory Games are:
- Awful Egyptians
- Rotten Romans
- Vicious Vikings
- Measly Middle Ages
- Terrible Tudors
- Vile Victorians
- Slimy Stuarts
- Nasty Knights
- Putrid Pirates (Series 1-2)
- Gorgeous Georgians (Series 1-2)
- Frightful First World War (Series 2 onward)
Cast members from the parent show make frequent cameo appearances as the historical questioners, as does Horrible Histories author Terry Deary.[2]
Episodes
To date four series have been aired across 2011-2014, each consisting of thirteen episodes and debuting in spring of their respective year.[3][4]
Series 4 aired in 2014 under a play-along format with an accompanying downloadable app.
Reception
Julia Raeside of The Guardian commented that the show has "no bleepy, flashy nonsense", and added that it "would have enthralled 20 years ago and is all the better for it."[5]
Awards and nominations
In 2013, the show was nominated for a Children's BAFTA award in the category of Entertainment.
See also
References
- ↑ Preston, John (5 June 2011). "Terry Deary interview". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
- ↑ "Horrible Histories writer Terry Deary to be torchbearer". BBC News. 9 January 2012.
- ↑ "Episodes from Horrible Histories: Gory Games: Series 1 broadcast in 2011". Retrieved 4 May 2012.
- ↑ "Episodes from Horrible Histories: Gory Games: Series 1 broadcast in 2012". Retrieved 4 May 2012.
- ↑ Raeside, Julia (30 May 2011). "Tonight's TV highlights". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 4 May 2012.