Through the Keyhole

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Through the Keyhole
Genre Comedy
Format Panel game
Presented by Sir David Frost
Starring Loyd Grossman (1983-2003)
Catherine Gee (2004-06)
Lisa Snowdon (2007-08)
Stefanie Powers (2007-08)
Leigh Francis as Keith Lemon (2013-)
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 20
No. of episodes 493
Production
Producer(s) Yorkshire Television (ITV; 1987–1995)
Paradine Productions
(Sky1/BBC One/BBC Two)
FremantleMedia (ITV; 2013–)
Running time 60 minutes (inc. adverts) (ITV/Sky1)
30 minutes (BBC One/BBC Two)
Broadcast
Original channel ITV (1987–1995; 2013–)
Sky1 (1996)
BBC One (1997–2007)
BBC Two (2008)
Picture format 4:3 (1987–2000)
16:9 (2001–8; 2013–)
Original run Original series
3 April 1987 (1987-04-03) – 4 June 2008 (2008-06-04)
Revived series
April 2013 (2013-04) – present

Through the Keyhole is a British panel game, hosted by Sir David Frost where panellists are given a video tour of a mystery famous guest's property and attempt to identify them.

Contents

History [edit]

Through the Keyhole originally started as a segment on TV-am, first being broadcast on its launch day on 1 February 1983.[1] The idea was created by Kevin Sim as a chance to look around some of the most influential homes with Loyd Grossman at the helm as the tour presenter. Grossman was mistakenly given the job after some got him confused with a journalist.[2] Throughout 1983 it became a regular feature of TV-am.[3]

In 1987 Frost transferred the concept to Yorkshire Television and produced a full half-hour programme for ITV where a celebrity panel tries to guess who's house it being looked at. It ran in primetime on Friday nights for 8 years on ITV and was rarely out of the top ten entertainment programmes on TV. From 1996 it was produced by Frost's own production company, Paradine Productions, at The Leeds Studios when it moved to Sky1 for two years. It was then moved to BBC One Daytime in 1997 until 2008 when it was axed.

The rights to the series were bought in 2011 by FremantleMedia, with plans for Vernon Kay or Paul O'Grady to present the series, but was not given the go ahead.[4][5] However in 2013 ITV agreed with FremantleMedia about producing an updated series, which is set to return in 2013, on its original broadcast channel, ITV, with Leigh Francis as Keith Lemon taking up the role of presenter and house detective.[6][7]

Format [edit]

At the start of each episode, Frost introduces a panel of three celebrities, with the catchphrase "And what a panel they are...." and some gently humorous or mocking descriptions. He then hands over to the location presenter who gives the panellists a guided tour of the property, noting particular items, though, there is typically a large amount of misdirection involved as the items pointed out by the presenter are not necessarily the most pertinent clues to the person's identity. Items not specifically mentioned may provide much more useful clues. Once completed, Frost reveals the identity of the guest to the audience, and the panel are given turns at guessing their identity. The audience participate with varying degrees of clapping according to the accuracy of the panellists' guesswork.

The panellists are either successful at identifying the guest, or Frost has to reveal their identity, after which they are interviewed and given a key-shaped trophy as a memento. Starting during Catherine Gee's reign as location presenter, the geographic spread of the properties was extended with one of the properties on each show being located in the US and one in Europe. When Stefanie Powers took over her role in 2007, she was based in the US and conducted the US property tours, whilst UK based Lisa Snowdon conducted the European property tours.

Transmissions [edit]

Series Start date End date Episodes
1
3 April 1987
26 June 1987
13
2
15 April 1988
15 July 1988
14
3
17 February 1989
12 May 1989
13
4
9 March 1990
8 June 1990
14
5
5 April 1991
12 July 1991
15
6
8 May 1992
31 July 1992
13
7
14 May 1993
13 August 1993
14
8
10 April 1994
19 June 1994
11
9
22 February 1996
23 May 1996
14
10
7 April 1997
24 October 1997
60
11
5 May 1998
5 October 1998
42
12
29 March 1999
10 December 1999
54
13
3 April 2000
7 December 2000
52
14
14 May 2001
15 June 2001
20
15
7 January 2002
9 August 2002
41
16
3 March 2003
14 March 2003
10
17
1 March 2004
2 August 2004
30
18
27 February 2006
31 March 2006
25
19
26 March 2007
9 May 2007
18
20
6 May 2008
4 June 2008
20
21 (Revived series)
2013
2013
6

Special [edit]

Date Entitle
1 May 1995
Through the Keyhole Special
5 March 2011
24 Hour Panel People for Comic Relief 2011

References [edit]

  1. ^ Hassell, Katherine (2013-01-15). "Rise and shine: The joys of breakfast television". Daily Express. Retrieved 2013-02-17. 
  2. ^ Thompson, Ben (1994-06-12). "Long Runners: No 35: Through the Keyhole". The Independent. Retrieved 2013-02-17. 
  3. ^ Bedell, Sally (1983-12-01). "Morning TV is the Talk of Britain". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-02-17. 
  4. ^ "Vernon Kay and Paul O’Grady heading Through The Keyhole". Metro. 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2013-02-17. 
  5. ^ Bryant, Tom (2011-07-15). "Through the Keyhole to return with Vernon Kay as host". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 2013-02-17. 
  6. ^ "Keith Lemon confirms Through the Keyhole revamp". Virgin Media. 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2013-02-17. 
  7. ^ "Keith Lemon to present Through The Keyhole revival". The British Comedy Guide. 2013-01-13. Retrieved 2013-02-17. 

External links [edit]
1980s debuts
1990s debuts
2000s debuts
2010s debuts
Current
Television
The Nixon Interviews
Related articles
TV and film
Characters
Episodes
Music
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