Connections (game show)

Connections is a British television game show. It was produced by Granada Television and aired on the ITV network from 1985 to 1990.

Hosts

The show was originally presented by Sue Robbie, with young adults as contestants, in a similar vein to another ITV quiz, Blockbusters, with which the show was alternated. The programme ran for several series, and another version with adult contestants was unveiled with Richard Madeley at the helm as part of ITV's new look daytime schedule in 1988. Simon Potter presented the final two series in 1989 and 1990. During the Richard Madeley period, a year after becoming the first female Krypton Factor champion, Marian Chanter co-hosted in a segment in which she would appear somewhere in the UK and viewers had to phone in and guess the person connected with that particular area based on clues given.

Gameplay

The game involved two contestants (three in the final series in 1990) trying to make connections by virtue of clues given by the host.

Connect the Clues

Contestants were asked questions, which they could answer by buzzing-in. Correct answers earned points, and revealed picture clues on a 3x3 gameboard (made up of 10 screens rather than 9 during Madeley and Potter's stewardships). Bonus points and the game could be won by spotting connections between the picture clues.

Find the Figure

The "Find the Figure" round was where a correct answer revealed either a number or a mathematical symbol. The sum went in a clockwise direction around the board, ending with an equals (=) sign. The sum was hidden behind the centre square. The contestants job was to buzz-in to give the answer to that sum to score.

The Bonus Game

The series had two bonus games.

Link the Letters

The winner played the "Link the Letters" end game. He/she got 50 seconds to answer eight questions. Each correct answer revealed a letter behind one of the screens (the first letter of the answer). After the eight questions, the winning player used whatever time he/she had left to identify the 8-letter word, arranged clockwise. It became hard to win if some of the letters were missing and without knowing where the word started. This changed in a later version of the show by having the eight letters arranged in circular form, but still without revealing where it actually started. Solving the 8-letter word won a grand prize.

Note: When Richard Madeley & Simon Potter took over, this bonus became the final round of the main game.

The Final Connection

Later in the series, "Link the Letters" was dumped in favor of "The Final Connection" game. Now the winning player was given the first & last pictures on the board. The object was to connect the first picture to the last (with the help of three clues on each).

Consolation Prizes

During the Sue Robbie era the losing contestants went away with a Connections camera and the points that they scored was turned into cash and donated to charity, when Richard Madeley became the host the losers left with a 'goody bag' and in the last 2 series with Simon Potter the losers left with a pocket TV.

Transmission Guide

The show was broadcast by all the ITV Companies, but was shown at different times:

Series	Production dates	Time Slot	Episodes
1	1985	Day time	50
2	1986	Day time	35
3	1987	Day time	50
4	1988	Day time	50
5	1988	Peak time	14
6	1989	Peak time	13
7	1989	Day time	70

Transmissions

Border, Central Television, Granada Television, HTV ,Tyne Tees Television, Yorkshire Television and UTV:

• 1985: and 1986: April - May Broadcast: Monday - Friday at 17.15pm:
• 1987: and 1988: February - April: Broadcast: Monday - Saturday at 17.15pm:
• 1989: July - August: Weekdays at 15.00pm

Anglia Television, Grampian Television, Scottish Television, TVS,and Thames Television: Broadcast: Monday/ Tuesday SOAP Then

• 1985 and 1986: April - June Wednesday - Saturdays at 17.15pm.
• 1987: late April - ealry August Wednesday - Friday at 17.15pm.
• 1988: ?
• 1989: July - August: Weekdays at 15.00pm

TSW: No idea:

Presenters

• Series 1, 2, 3, 4 presented by Sue Robbie
• Series 5 Presented by Richard Madeley
• Series 6 and 7 Presented by Simon Potter

External links

• Connections at UKGameshows.com