The $64,000 Question (UK game show)

The $64,000 Question is a UK game show based on the US format of the same name that originally ran from 19 May 1956 to 18 January 1958 produced by ATV (always keen to pick up successful US formats) and was originally hosted by Jerry Desmonde, and called simply The 64,000 Question with the top prize initially being 64,000 sixpences (£1,600), later doubling to 64,000 shillings (£3,200).

Spin-off (1957)

Robin Bailey hosted the spin-off The 64,000 Challenge from 15 June 1957 to 31 August 1957. £3,200 was actually substantially higher, in real terms (i.e. accounting for inflation), than anything on offer on British TV for most of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, after the Independent Television Authority (later the Independent Broadcasting Authority) imposed prize limits on game shows after the general discrediting of the genre following the quiz show scandals in the US and rumors that the British version of Twenty One was also corrupt.

Revival (1990-3)

Much later, it was revived from 1 June 1990 to 4 September 1993, entitled The $64,000 Question, and it was hosted by Bob Monkhouse, although the top prize was only £6,400. This was however, a significant amount of money for a British game show at the time (1990–1993) though still probably worth less than £3,200 had been in the 1950s. Shortly after this, prize limits were lifted by the Independent Television Commission, paving the way for the eventual arrival of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? which itself featured a question worth £64,000 until the format of the show changed in August 2007.

One surprise contestant on this version of the programme in 1991 was rock drummer Paul Nicholls, who had been a member of Lindisfarne from 1973 to 1975 and appeared on two of their albums.

Transmissions

The 64,000 Question (1956-1958)

The 64,000 Challenge (1957)

The $64,000 Question (1990-1993)

External links

• The 64,000 Question & The 64,000 Challenge at UKGameshows.com.
• The $64,000 Question at UKGameshows.com.