Beat the Teacher
| Beat the Teacher | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Children's Game show |
| Created by | Clive Doig |
| Presented by |
Howard Stableford (1984) Paul Jones (1985–6) Bruno Brookes (1987–8) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 164 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC1 |
| Picture format | 16:9 |
| Original release | 24 September 1984 – 27 October 1988 |
Beat the Teacher is a British children's game show that aired on BBC1 from 24 September 1984 to 27 October 1988. It was first hosted by Howard Stableford in 1984, then hosted by Paul Jones from 1985 to 1986 and finally Bruno Brookes from 1987 to 1988.
Each edition featured two contestants; one a school student and the other a teacher. Both were tested on general knowledge questions and logic puzzles.
Correct answers won the contestant moves on a giant Noughts and Crosses board made from rotating cubes. Questions awarded one, two or three moves of the board, based upon their difficulty. Control of the board was determined by the use of buzzers. After answering the question correctly, the contestant was given the choice of which blocks on the board to turn over.
For example, if a square displayed a "nought", one rotation would see the square turn blank; two would see it replaced with a "cross", three with another blank and on the fourth turn it would revert to a "nought".
Tactical play would lead to the contestant building up lines of noughts or crosses, for which points were awarded (10 points per horizontal, vertical or diagonal line).
A special "joker card" could be played once in each game by either contestant, reversing each square on the board so that all crosses became noughts and vice versa. A bonus was awarded for a full board of noughts or crosses, after which each square on the board would be randomised.
Question styles generally included puzzles, "true or false," or "identify the picture". The last round of the show before the winner was declared was a special "wrong answer round" in which aim was for the contestants to give as many incorrect answers as they could within 60 seconds. Each "wrong" answer would earn the contestant a move on the board, while if they gave answered a question correctly then they would lose one move per "correct" answer; in order to avoid deliberate tactical play, a twist was added so that if the contestant said "pass" instead of attempting to answer the question, then they would immediately lose all of their moves gained up to that point and have to start again from "zero" with any time remaining.
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