Password

Contents

Host

Brian Redhead (BBC 2)

Eleanor Summerfield (BBC 1, series 1)

Esther Rantzen (BBC 1, series 2)

Tom O'Connor (Channel 4)

Gordon Burns (ITV)

Broadcast

BBC 2, 1972?

BBC 1, 1975?-76?

Thames for Channel 4, 1982-5

Thames for ITV, 1985-7

Synopsis

Afternoon word game with the added bonus (if we remember correctly) of sometimes not having any adverts midway through the show, a bit like This Is Your Life (when it was on ITV, that's not something to be too impressed by on the BBC, is it?).

Based on the American show that's a bit like The Pyramid Game (indeed, the French show Pyramide probably has more to do with Password than it has to do with The Pyramid Game), two teams consisting of celebrity and real-life person compete in guessing passwords.

One person gives a one word clue and their partner has to try and guess from that what the password is. If they don't then their opponents get a go but for less points. Keep going back and forth until someone gets it; keep going to a certain amount of points are reached then something good is bound to happen.

Lasted a couple of years but eventually made way for the behemoth that was Chain Letters and the underrated excellence of Talkabout.

Inventor

Based on a classic US Mark Goodson-Bill Todman game show.

Theme music

Channel 4 version composed by Mr Lovejoy himself, Denis King. A clip can be found on the relevant page of TV Ark.

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