Gameshow Marathon (UK Game Show) - Series 1

Series 1

Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon was a seven-episode special event aired in 2005 on Britain's ITV1, as part of a celebration of ITV's 50th Anniversary. In it, hosts Ant & Dec presided over recreations of seven classic game shows that had been seen on the network. Six celebrity contestants competed in a series-long tournament, receiving a donation to their favourite charity for their participation. In addition, home viewers were given the opportunity to win the cash and prizes each episode's winning contestant "won" via telephone.

The programme is co-produced by Granada Productions/ITV Productions and Thames Television/TalkbackTHAMES.

The shows recreated were:

Show Years aired on ITV Original producer (s) Date of Gameshow Marathon appearance
The Price is Right
1984–1988, 1995–2001
Central, Talbot Television, Fremantle, Grundy, Yorkshire
17 September 2005
Take Your Pick!
1955–1968, 1992–1998
Associated Rediffusion, Thames, Central
24 September 2005
The Golden Shot
1967–1975
ATV
1 October 2005
Sale of the Century
1972–1983
Anglia
8 October 2005
Play Your Cards Right
1980–1987, 1994–1999, 2002–2003
LWT, Talbot Television, Fremantle, Grundy, Thames
15 October 2005
Bullseye
1981–1995
ATV, Central
22 October 2005
Family Fortunes
1980–1985, 1987-2002
ATV, Central, Carlton
29 October 2005

The celebrity contestants in series 1 were:

  • Eamonn Holmes (Sky News presenter)
  • Vernon Kay (TV presenter)
  • Patsy Kensit (Actress)
  • William Roache (Coronation Street actor)
  • Carol Vorderman (TV presenter)
  • Ruby Wax (TV presenter, comedienne)

The series was run as a three-round tournament. In the first round, each show was played by every contestant who had not already won a show. The four winners from the first round then competed in single-elimination format.

Carol Vorderman was the eventual winner of the series. The Golden Shot was broadcast live like the original show, and Sale of the Century had a dedication at the end to comedian Ronnie Barker, who had died five days earlier.

Following the series, several of the shows were revived; Bullseye returned on the game show channel Challenge, followed by The Price is Right and Family Fortunes (in a celebrity format) on ITV, the latter hosted by one of the Gameshow Marathon celebrities, Vernon Kay.

Les Dennis presented the prizes each week to the winners of the home viewer competition.

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