Whodunnit?

GB

Family
English     7.3     1973     GB

Overview

Whodunnit? is a British television game show, broadcast between 1972 and 1978 for ITV by Thames Television. It was written by Lance Percival and Jeremy Lloyd, and hosted first by Edward Woodward. One of the panelists in the first series was Jon Pertwee, who took over as the show's presenter from season two. Each week it featured a short murder-mystery drama enacted in front of a panel of celebrity guests who then had to interview the remaining characters to establish who the murderer was. Patrick Mower and Anouska Hempel became the permanent panelists from season three onwards, with two guest celebrities each episode. The only clue was that only the murderer could lie. Whodunnit? originally adopted a conventional panel-game studio layout, but from series three onwards utilised the murder scene itself as the set. It was similar in format, although not officially connected to, the popular board game Cluedo. The theme to the show was written by Tony Hatch

Similar

Strike it Lucky was a popular British television game show from 29 October 1986 to 23 August 1999, originally produced by Thames Television for ITV, and presented by the British comedian Michael Barrymore. It was based on the American show of the same name that aired in 1986. In its formative years, it became well known for the outlandish and often highly eccentric contestants it featured - Barrymore would often spend over 5 minutes talking to them. The introductory footage of the prizes on offer were also noteworthy, often filmed in black-and-white with a slapstick style. In 1987, it was the fifth most watched programme on UK television. The Thames Television version of the show was recorded at Teddington Studios, and later Pinewood Studios. From 1996, the new version aired under the title Strike it Rich!; this being the title of the short-lived American game show Strike it Rich! on which it was based, and it moved to The London Studios. The reason for the name change was that the show was now being co-produced by LWT with Fremantle, so despite now being owned by the same company as Fremantle, Thames were unwilling to allow LWT use of the original title. There is also the factor that when the show was first exported to the UK, the Independent Broadcasting Authority's prize limits were still in place, and "Rich" was probably dropped from the title because of the relatively low value of prizes on offer; by the time it returned as Strike it Rich! the limits had been lifted and it was giving away a substantially higher value of prizes.

More info
Strike It Lucky
1986