First Letter First

Contents

Host

Don Maclean

Broadcast

BBC, 5 January to 23 March 1993 (32 episodes)

Synopsis

Host Don MacLean

The man with the teeth is back! Or was back for a month of afternoons. This shows main 'thing' was that you didn't have a big button which was your buzzer. Oh no, you had a keyboard and the correct answer is the first letter of the correct answer if you get what we mean.

There were three contestants per show over three rounds, each one eliminating one player. Round one was a standard definition of a word, and you pressed the first letter of it on your keyboard (laid out A to Z, lest the contestants not be typists). Least points at the end of five minutes was eliminated.

Second round was like a hidden crossword grid, with the name of a person hidden in it. As you guessed first letters of words (like Round 1), a few more squares were revealed, and a clue to the famous person was given. The person also eventually appeared in the grid somewhere which gave you two chances of discovering them.

The final round was a pyramid of words with increasing numbers of letters in them, and you had to find them all in the quickest time possible. The fastest three people in this round (over the 16 or so shows in the series) were put through to the finals. Thisend game also had a 'sticky keyboard' apparently but we can't be bothered to make any dodgy Internet jokes here. Only joshing - if you made a mistake you'd be locked out for a few seconds before making another guess.

Trivia

The whole show was run using BBC Micros hidden underneath the contestants desk. The quiz technology was hosted by an Acorn RISC machine, which also generated the video. Software lashed together by the Special Projects team within the BBC.

Feedback

To correct something on this page or post an addition, please complete this form and press "Send":
If you are asking us a question, please read our contact us page and FAQ first.

Name: E-mail:   
A Labyrinth Games site.
Design by Thomas.
Printable version
Editors: Log in