Get Your Own Back
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009) |
| Get Your Own Back | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Children's |
| Format | Game show |
| Created by | Brian Marshall (format) The Chatterbox Partnership (games) |
| Starring | Dave Benson Phillips (1991–2003) Lisa Brockwell (2001–2003) |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 190 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC1 CBBC Channel |
| Picture format | 4:3 (1991–2000) 16:9 (2001–2003) |
| Original run | 26 September 1991 – 31 March 2003 |
Get Your Own Back is a British children's television game show produced by CBBC, which ran from 26 September 1991 to 31 March 2003. It has been presented throughout by Dave Benson Phillips with the addition of Lisa Brockwell as a co-host from 2001 to the programme's end in 2003. The programme's most recent theme tune (by Richie Webb and Matt Katz) sounded similar to We'll Bring The House Down by Slade, although the original was more in keeping with the fairground-themed set.
Get Your Own Back developed through various formats over the years, but has been based around team games - however the main principle of the show has remained throughout: revenge.
The show consisted of two teams (the first series had three) where the child contestants and a parent/relative/older sibling/teacher/celebrity who in the child's eyes had committed some sort of crime, that they wanted to seek revenge for. These 'crimes' were usually trivial, such as singing badly or asking the child to tidy their room.
Dave and the audience always showed bias against the grown-up by booing the oppressed as much as possible. The games were always designed to make things difficult or unpleasant for the grown-ups. They often had them dressed in embarrassing costumes.
Throughout every series the final round was called the "Gunk Dunk", where the losing adult was always thrown into a pool of colourful gunge.
Contents |
[edit] Formats
[edit] 1991
This is the only series with 3 teams (red, blue and green) The adults played as chumps whilst children played as challengers. In the series the adults played the "mangle" game where they scored points by answering questions. To get bonus points for each question answered, the grown up did a chore they always got the kid to do (e.g. washing up) and take the item the chore was practised on through mangle with the kid spraying them with gunge. The item must have got through in one piece or no points were awarded. The winning grown up left, with the losers facing another game (either a video game, an obstacle race with the kid, or a karaoke performance). The loser of this round (scores did not carry over from the first game) went to the gunk dunk. In the gunk dunk, it had sort of a creepy theme, but more cartoonish, and the adult and child sat over a cauldron-like tank. The grown up would get the child dunked if they answered five correct answers in under 45 seconds without using answers beginning with a particular letter (which all questions had obvious answers to). Failure (or eventually otherwise, despite Dave's assurance that winning would spare them) resulted in the grown up being dunked. If the child was dunked, the grown up took home a trophy; if not the child won it.
[edit] 1992–1994
The number of teams was reduced to two (red and yellow). The mangle game was played again first, with the second round always being an obstacle race. This time the adult's scores in the rounds were added together. In series 4, a third puzzle round (either a maze or 3-d jigsaw) was played as well, where the adult and child in opposite colours played together to win points for the grown up. This series had 2 "knock-down bonus" rounds added, where the kids played games to deduct the grown up's scores. The winning grown up got the "key to freedom" and left clean, with the loser being sent to the gunk dunk (via the ghost train). This gunk dunk was darker and had a creepier theme, and had the same game as the original, but the child got gunged in a tank rather the gunk dunk itself. In several episodes where the grown-up answered all 5 questions correctly, Dave played a trick on them by going to hand them the trophy and then suddenly stating, "BUT...we cannot let you go away while you're nice and dry" before throwing them in the gunge.
[edit] 1995
This was the last of the fairground themed series. It was also the first series where the child played to score points rather than prevent the grown up from doing so, and the teams were red and blue. The scene looked like a bright blue circular space-themed set with (From Clockwise) The Gunk Dunk, A Kart Entry, Dave Benson Philips Appearing, A Cage, The house of fun, Dodgems, & The Contestants entrance, with people sitting in the very middle (Very awkward place, believe me) Four games were played - some were always played, others varied each week. The child with the highest score got to put the grown-up into the gunk dunk. The gunk dunk also changed for this series. As well as being in front of the usual pool of gunge, the adult sat under a large gunge tank with three compartments: Snot, Custard and R.A.W (Really awful waste). The grown up would be asked three questions. If they got a question wrong then the child would pull a lever (green for snot, yellow for custard & blue for R.A.W) and one of the types of gunge would be dropped on them. After the three questions were asked, the child would pull a forth 'golden' lever, red gunge would fall on the grown up & the grown-up would be dropped into the gunk tank, regardless of how many questions they answered correctly.
[edit] 1996–2000
This series still had two teams, but the colours were now yellow and blue and the kids (and the adults) now had the option to wear shorts or trousers instead of just trousers previously. The child who scored the most points won the show and was taken through, with their adult, to the final round - the Gunk Dunk. The adult was then sat on a seat attached to a mechanism, above a 2'6" deep pool of colourful gunge that usually had fancy pictures and writing such as toadstools, cows or skulls and crossbones projected onto it. They were then asked questions, and for each question they answered incorrectly, the mechanism wound the adult's chair up further (and Dave shouted "Whatta we do?", to which the audience replied "Crank him/her up!"), increasing the force and impact when they were thrown in to the gunge pool. In later series' the child was sat over the gunk dunk in a special chair with levers to the side of the adult. In these episodes the kid had the opportunity to win prizes, pulling the right lever meant the child won the prize, pulling the wrong lever resulted in gunge being released over head - not the child falling into the gunk dunk like in previous series.
[edit] 2001–2003
Lisa Brockwell was introduced, with the series still having the yellow and blue teams. The format was changed again so that both adults sat above the gunge tank with the winning child from the games being given a 1 notch head start (or, if the winning margin was 60 points or more, a 2 notch head start). Dave would ask the children some questions on the buzzer and every question that was answered correctly allowed the child to move their adult up one notch. The first child who got their adult to the fifth and highest notch got the chance to gunge their adult by pulling a lever next to them.
[edit] Memorable episodes
- In the 1996 Christmas Special, the tables were turned as Dave Benson Phillips was chosen to be a contestant with Peter Simon presenting the show. It was fixed so that Dave went in the gunge.
- In the 1998 Christmas Special, Kirsten O'Brien, Lucy Coupe and Mr. Blobby joined forces to dunk Dave in blue gunge after both being previously gunged by him in the 1997 series. Although told he would be let free if he answered one question right, it was made impossible for Dave to win as Mr Blobby asked the questions.
- In the 2003 special, Dick and Dom were the adults to face the gunk dunk, Dick was the unlucky one and was totally covered and looked like he was having too much fun as Lisa Brockwell said on the show at that time.
[edit] Criticism
In the later series there were two complaints that were prevalent amongst fans. One was that the "gunge" was too thin and was more similar to "coloured water" as opposed to "gunge", and there was also criticism in relation to the disproportionate high number of men being gunged on the show in comparison with women.
[edit] Transmissions
Information needed'
