Wheel of Fortune (British game show)

Wheel of Fortune
File:WheelOfFortune logo.jpg
Created by	Merv Griffin
Presented by	Nicky Campbell (1988 - 1996) Bradley Walsh (1997) John Leslie (1998 - 2001) Paul Hendy (2001)
Starring	Angela Ekaette (1988) Carol Smillie (1989 - 1994) Jenny Powell (1995 - 2000) Terri Seymour (2001)
Narrated by	Steve Hamilton
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	13
Production
Running time	30mins (inc. adverts)
Production companies	STV Productions (Scottish Television)
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	19 July 1988 (1988-07-19) – 21 December 2001 (2001-12-21)
Related
Wheel of Fortune (US version)

Wheel of Fortune is a British television game show created by Merv Griffin. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that contestants spin throughout the course of the game to determine their cash and/or prizes.

The programme ran between 19 July 1988 and 21 December 2001 and was produced by Scottish Television for the ITV network and mostly follows the same general format from the original version of the programme from the United States.

Gameplay

Unlike the American version, where the numbers on the wheel correspond to the amount of money won by each contestant, the British version instead referred to these amounts as 'points' – they had no cash value, their only purpose was to determine the grand finalist, or to choose a winner for a particular round. Points earned from all players carried on to proceeding rounds, and were susceptible to Bankrupts, meaning a winner could be crowned that never solved a puzzle, but acquired a large amount of points. This rule would actually encourage sacrificing a player's turn if he or she didn't know the puzzle rather than risking his or her points by spinning again.

Since the puzzleboard was always manually-operated, the host asked a general knowledge question at the start of each round. Whoever buzzed in and answered it first gained control of the wheel. From 1988 until 1993 at the latest, however, play started with each turn started with a 50/50 trivia question. The contestant needed to answer the question correctly in order to spin. Otherwise play passed to the next player.

Starting by 1993, from Round 3 to the end, the points on the wheel were worth double.

The center player's arrow determined the point value for each consonant in the speed-up round (and during the final spin both Walsh and Leslie employed the catchphrase "No more spinning, just winning!" whilst explaining how the speed-up round worked). Vowels were worth nothing, and consonants were worth whatever the value spun. The values were doubled starting by 1993.

In the Grand Finale, the winning contestant chose from one of three bonus prizes to play for. In 1989-2001, the contestant could pick from envelopes to choose which prize they could win, but there were only three ("A", "B", or "C"), which were later reduced to two ("A" or "B"). The contestant had 15 seconds to solve the puzzle to win the prize. Unlike other versions, the player could solve any one word individually, and then work on any other word in the puzzle. For example, if the puzzle was "A CUP OF TEA," the player could solve "OF," then "A," then "TEA, and finally "CUP" to complete the puzzle.

The cash prize was £20,000 on the nighttime show and reduced to £2,000 when ITV moved it to daytime.

Prizes

Unlike the original American version, instead of cash prizes, successful spinners from each round were rewarded with a choice of 3 prizes which might contain household appliances, a holiday, etc. From 1988 - 1993, the prizes for the final were a trip, a new car, or a cash jackpot that presumably started at £1,000 and increased by that amount every day it was played for yet not won.

Just after the prize limit was dropped, the prizes became the car and £10,000, which was later incrased to £20,000 during 1995, with the winning contestant randomly selecting his/her prize by choosing one of two sealed envelopes. In 1999, Bill Smithson became the first person in the UK to guess no letters on the final prize board.

During the daytime series, winners of each round were able to chosen from an array prizes laid out in the studio, such as a CD player, dishwasher etc. The cash prize for the final was dropped to £2000. As with most international versions of Wheel (and the American version until 1988), rather than being given "R, S, T, L, N, and E," the contestant picked five consonants and a vowel.

Special prizes

• During the Nicky Campbell and John Leslie runs, there was a special prize for landing on a certain space. (prime time series).
• During Bradley Walsh's run, if a contestant landed on a certain space and also got a letter on the board, they could win the contents of "Brad's Box". This bonus carried over into the John Leslie era and was renamed "Leslie's Luxury" but during Leslie's series there were two boxes one would be for the guys and the other one would be for the girls (prime time series).
• One puzzle would contain a "red letter" that would net players £100 if they solved the puzzle immediately after finding the letter (both formats).
• The winning contestant had a chance to win another £100 by guessing a special "puzzler" (daytime series).
• A Mystery prize would be awarded to the contestant if he/she picked up the token and solved the puzzle (daytime series).
• A star prize introduced by the hostess was earned if the player picked up the token and solved the puzzle (prime time series).

Hosts and hostesses

The series was originally hosted by Nicky Campbell, who left the show after the 1996 series and was replaced by Bradley Walsh. Walsh only lasted one series and was succeeded in 1998 by John Leslie, who stayed with the show through the 2001 series before being replaced by Paul Hendy for the show's final series later that year when it ended.

Co-hosts (or "Board ladies" as they were frequently referred to on the show) were Angela Ekaette, Carol Smillie, Jenny Powell and Terri Seymour.

The programme was announced by Steve Hamilton.

Broadcast history

For the first 10 series, the show was broadcast during peak time. Around 1999, ITV decided to move Wheel of Fortune to Daytime.

Transmissions

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	19 July 1988	27 September 1988	11
2	5 September 1989	26 December 1989	17
3	4 June 1991	27 August 1991	12
4	18 May 1992	24 August 1992	15
5	7 June 1993	30 August 1993	13
6	11 July 1994	12 December 1994	23
7	30 August 1995	27 December 1995	18
8	24 July 1996	13 November 1996	17
9	1997	1997	??
10	15 June 1998	30 November 1998	26
11	1999	1999	??
12	2000	2000	100
13	2001	21 December 2001	??

Wheel configurations

The top point space was 1000 points, with one such space in round 1. One more space was added in round 2, along with a second Bankrupt, and a third 1,000-point space was added in round 3. Also, starting by 1993, values were doubled beginning from round 3 onward, making the top point spaces worth 2,000 points.

Unlike the board used on the American version since 1997, the United Kingdom version's puzzle board was never electronic, so the regular puzzle would be placed at the top portion of the board while the puzzler would fill any unused lines below. The puzzle board's shape from 1995 to 2000 was the same as the current American puzzle board. From 1988 to 1993, its border was styled like the one on the American puzzle board used from 1981-1993. The background color for unused trilons on the UK's puzzle board was green from 1988 to 1994, after which it was changed to blue.

The round one wheel used in 1988. The following year, this layout was reversed and was used until about 1992.

The round one wheel used from about 1992 to early 1993.

The round one wheel used from late 1993 to 2000

The round one wheel used in 2001. Note the 500 Gamble and Miss A Turn spaces.

External links

• Wheel of Fortune (UK) at IMDb
• Wheel of Fortune (UK) at BFI
• Wheel of Fortune (UK) at UKGameshows.com