It's a Royal Knockout

"It's a Royal Knockout" (officially entitled, according to IMDb, "The Grand Knockout Tournament") was a one-off charity event which was shown on British television on 15 June 1987. It followed the format of "It's a Knockout" (the British version of "Jeux Sans Frontieres"), a slapstick TV gameshow which was broadcast in the UK until 1982.

The event was staged on the lakeside lawn of the Alton Towers stately home-cum-theme park. However, the event used its own specially created immersing set, meaning that the location was not very recognisable in the TV broadcast.

Although regarded as a failure, a similar show (without royal involvement) was made the following year at Walt Disney World in Florida, featuring teams of celebrities representing the UK, USA, and Australia.

Synopsis

The show featured members of the British Royal Family alongside sporting and showbiz celebrities including Jane Seymour, John Travolta, Mel Smith, Christopher Reeve, Michael Palin, Meat Loaf, George Lazenby, Kevin Kline, John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, Ben Cross, Jenny Agutter, Cliff Richard, Jennifer O'Neill, Ian Charleson, Margot Kidder, Helen Shaver, Alexander Sharkey, Michael Brandon and Anthony Andrews. It was conceived and organised by Prince Edward who had been keen to develop a career in TV and theatre after he left the Royal Marines. The show featured Prince Edward, The Princess Royal, The Duke and The Duchess of York as team captains, each of whom supported a different charity. The show was hosted by Stuart Hall, Les Dawson and Su Pollard. The contestants competed in ridiculous and somewhat humiliating games; for example in one round they dress up as giant vegetables and throw fake hams at each other. Media coverage on BBC Radio 1 was provided by Mike Smith (The Breakfast Show) and Steve Wright (The Radio 1 Roadshow).

Aftermath

Immediately after the event, Prince Edward asked the assembled journalists "well, what did you think?" [of the event] . Somewhat taken aback by such a direct question, the journalists responded with a nervous laughter. The Prince famously stormed out of the press conference, sarcastically thanking the journalists for their enthusiasm. This behaviour did little to endear the prince to the media and public alike, particularly in view of his failure to complete his training in the Royal Marines. It is reported that The Queen had not approved of the event and that her courtiers had advised against it. Neither she, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince nor The Princess of Wales agreed to take part but for whatever reason, Edward persevered and the project went to completion. The event has become the butt of some jokes, and is remembered as an embarrassment. Indeed, some commentators have gone so far as to describe it as the point at which the British public's respect for their Royal Family began a slow but steady decline. Nonetheless, the event raised over £1 million for the World Wildlife Fund (Prince Andrew), Save the Children Fund (Princess Anne), Shelter for the Homeless (Duchess of York) and the Duke of Edinburgh International Project (Prince Edward).

The comedian Sean Lock, years later on the series TV Heaven, Telly Hell, aired footage of the program, including Travolta wrestling a large onion costume off someone, and suggested the alternative title "It's a Malarial Dream."

External links

*imdb title|id=0211388|title=It's a Royal Knockout
* [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0002179938 Knockout - The Grand Charity Tournament] (the book of the event) ISBN 0-00-217993-8