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The Quiz/ Game Show in British TV History
The Quiz/ Game Show in British TV History
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Author: Su Holmes Category: Impact of TV on radio, cinema and other media Created: 2005-12-23 Modified: 2005-12-23 Language: 
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The Quiz/ Game Show in British TV History
The early origins of the quiz/ game show on British television are often traced back to the emergence of commercial television (1955). The genre is often invoked as a shorthand to indicate the ways in which commercial television 'ushered in a major shift in the manifestation of popular taste' (Whannel, 1992: 182), and a shift in the popularisation of television culture in general. Here, quiz shows, such as Double Your Money and Take Your Pick, are invoked as the epitome of ITV's bid to woo the audience with cheap, undemanding and 'trivial' fare. With their often large cash prizes and the incorporation of 'gambling', the genre was attacked by critics for fostering a morally unhealthy attitude toward money, rewarding trivial displays of knowledge, and engaging participants in exploitative and 'degrading' performances.
Whether in terms of its associations with the US, or its role within the early history of ITV, the quiz show is positioned as a resolutely commercial genre. One of the effects of this is to render the BBC, a public service broadcaster, invisible in British quiz show history. Where it is mentioned, it is assumed that the BBC did not give out prizes, or only pursued more educational formats. However, this is not necessarily the case, and the BBC had played a crucial role in developing the broadcast quiz or game show well before ITV came into being.
Games on Radio
The BBC claimed that the 1937 Inter-regional Spelling Competition in Children's Hour represented the birth of the 'quiz programme' on British radio. It is doubtful that this was the case, and the suggestion is more revealing in suggesting the BBC's attempt to construct an educational origin for the genre at a time when ITV's 'big money' shows were attracting criticism. But while there were clearly precursors, the majority of radio's long-running quiz formats emerged in the 1940s, and after the restructuring of the BBC's radio service (into the Home, Light and Third Programmes) they appeared primarily on the Home and Light Programmes.
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Author: Su Holmes
A full version of the article (with references) can be seen on the attached pdf.
