Now You See It (UK game show)

Now You See It
Created by Frank Wayne
Starring Johnny Beattie (1981–4)
Jack McLaughlin (1985–6)
Grant Stott (Celebrity version)
Fred MacAulay (Children's version)
Narrated by Steve Hamilton
Country of origin Scotland
Original language(s) English
Production
Running time 30mins (inc. adverts)
Production company(s) Goodson-Todman Productions
Distributor FremantleMedia
Broadcast
Original channel Scottish Television
Picture format 4:3
Original run 5 January 1981 – August 1995
Chronology
Related shows Now You See It (U.S. version)

Now You See It was a Scottish television game show that aired mostly in Scotland throughout its run. It was shown to a lesser degree across some of the ITV Network. It was based upon the U.S. version of the show and used the US show's theme music.

Format

The game was centred on four contestants competing in a word search game mixed with trivia. The host asked questions and contestants buzzed in and searched for the answer on the board. Contestants would guess the line where the correct answer appeared and then the position as well as the answer. Points were awarded for correct answers, based on the line number added or multiplied by the position number. Example: Line 3 + Position 7 = 10 points or Line 3 x Position 7 = 21 points.

When time was up, the three highest-scoring players entered the "Cryptic" round. In this round, the answers appeared one letter at a time and the contestants were given a clue to each word. The first two players with four correct answers would advance to round three, which had the same format as the first round.

Unlike the U.S. and Australian versions, there was no Solo Game in this version.

Prizes

For first two series, the winner's prize was £100. The three losing contestants went away with less cash, an engraved crystal decanter and four glasses. For series 3, the prizes were increased to £500 for the winner, £100 to the runner-up and £50 to the person in third place. Prizes were awarded for the celebrity and children's versions, but no money was earned.

Transmissions

Series 1 was networked to the rest of the ITV companies and the following nine series were only broadcast on Scottish Television. The show continued to be very popular on Scottish television, which resulted in Series 11 and 12 being moved to a Sunday teatime slot for broadcast throughout the United Kingdom. Two celebrity versions were also produced in 1985 and 1986. It was replaced by Wheel of Fortune in 1988 as STV's prime time game show for the ITV network, which lasted for a much longer run at a national level.

Original series

Series Start date End date Episodes
1
5 January 1981
30 March 1981
13[1]
2
2 July 1981
24 September 1981
13[1]
3
14 January 1982
1 April 1982
12[1]
4
16 September 1982
30 December 1982
16[1]
5
17 May 1983
9 August 1983
13[1]
6
27 September 1983
20 December 1983
13[1]
7
12 January 1984
19 April 1984
14[1]
8
26 July 1984
11 October 1984
12[1]
9
2 January 1985
12 April 1985
15[1]
10
28 April 1985
21 July 1985
13[1]
11
1 January 1986
6 March 1986
10[1]
12
6 April 1986
27 July 1986
13[1]

Trivia

The original Now You See It studio set was also used for the celebrity panel show Funny You Should Say That – also hosted by McLaughlin – which aired between 1984 and 1985. The only difference being that the electronic game board was not used.

Celebrity series

Series Start date End date Episodes
1
1993
1993
??

Kids series

Series Start date End date Episodes
1
11 July 1994
August 1995
??

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 "Evening Times". Retrieved 15 October 2012.

External links