3-2-1
| 3–2–1 | |
|---|---|
| Based on |
Un, dos, tres... responda otra vez by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador |
| Presented by | Ted Rogers |
| Starring |
Booby Prize Dusty Bin Comedy regulars: Debbie Arnold Felix Bowness Duggie Brown Bernie Clifton Chris Emmett David Ismay Mike Newman George Roper Hostesses: Mireille Allonville Fiona Curzon Karan David Annie St. John Jenny Layland Lynda Lee Lewis Wei Wei Wong Caroline Munro Karen Palmer Gail Playfair Libby Roberts Patsy Ann Scott Alison Temple-Savage Tula |
| Voices of | Anthony Schaeffer (1984-5) John Benson (1986-7) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 145 (inc. 8 specials) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60mins (inc. adverts) |
| Production company(s) | Yorkshire Television |
| Distributor | ITV Studios |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Original release | 29 July 1978 – 24 December 1988 |
3–2–1 was a popular (and successful) British game show that was made by Yorkshire Television for ITV. It ran for ten years, between 29 July 1978 and 24 December 1988, with former Butlins Redcoat Ted Rogers as the host.
It was based on a Spanish gameshow called Un, dos, tres... responda otra vez and was a trio of three shows in one, a quiz, a variety and game show.
The show was a huge success, consistently pulling in large ratings. The first series, though intended as a summer filler, attracted up to 16.5 million viewers and subsequent years never failed to peak below 12 million. The show occupied a Saturday early evening slot for most of its run.
The final Christmas special (broadcast on 24 December 1988) attracted 12.5 million viewers, so it is (to this day) unclear why an eleventh series wasn't commissioned. Ted Rogers claimed in an April 1996 interview that "The Oxbridge lot got control of TV and they didn't really want it. It was too downmarket for them. We were still getting 12 million viewers when they took it off after ten years. These days if a show gets nine million everyone does a lap of honour.".
The overall objective of the game was to survive elimination through to part three of the show, and try to unravel a series of cryptic clues in order to win the star prize. One of the clues, however, referred to Dusty Bin who was the show's booby prize. If the contestants ended up with Dusty at the end of the show, all they got was a brand new dustbin. Each show had a theme, such as "Seacruise" or the "Swinging Sixties". All of the variety acts, quiz questions, stage sets and clues subsequently followed this theme. In later series, Dusty would appear in a costume relating to that week's theme. The changing themes were dropped for the final series where a more generic stage set was re-used each week.
In part one of the show, three couples have the chance to win up to £1,000 in the "1,000 to 1 quiz". The first round consisted of a maximum of 10 questions (in 30 seconds), each correct answer being worth £10 (or in the first series £1, but with three rounds available). Passes were permitted but there was no opportunity to return to the question. Each member of the couple answered in turn with the lady answering first and, because an incorrect answer, or if they run out of time would end the round, the first answer was given to them to avoid a zero score. This was important as each correct answer in the second round of questions was worth the total amount scored in round one and eliminated the possibility of couples leaving the show with absolutely nothing.
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