Cross Wits

GB

English     7.5     1985     GB

Overview

Crosswits is a British television quiz show produced by Cove Productions and Action Time in association with Tyne Tees and filmed from their City Road studios in Newcastle upon Tyne. It ran from 1985 to 1998. It was originally hosted by Barry Cryer for the first 2 series, then comedian Tom O'Connor took over from series 3 until the show ended. The show consisted of two members of the public competing against each other to solve simple crossword puzzles. Each member of the public was helped out by a "celebrity" partner. The announcers for the show were generally Tyne Tees continuity announcers such as Judi Lines, Jonathan Morrell and Bill Steel.

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