In this regional word game, contestants answer questions to build words on a special board.
Devised and hosted by the Canadian quizmaster Roy Ward Dickson, this programme was structured as a game of two halves. Contestants were first challenged with a series of general knowledge questions. Each correct answer earned them a letter tile, which they then used in the second part of the game: an attempt to construct words on a large board. The game combined general knowledge with vocabulary skills, all overseen by the fast-paced delivery of its host.
This was the first version of the format devised by Dickson for British television. Produced by TWW, the contractor for Wales and the West of England, the programme was a notable regional success. The choice of Dickson, a well-known personality from Canadian broadcasting, was a deliberate move to inject a different style of presentation into the ITV schedule. The show’s premise, described at the time as “two quizzes at the same time,” was popular enough that the larger London-based contractor, Associated-Rediffusion, produced its own, more widely networked, version with Dickson in 1961.
Broadcast: ITV – TWW, Weekly, 6 July 1959 – 8 September 1960
Devised by: Roy Ward Dickson
Main Cast: Roy Ward Dickson (Host)
