The Golden Shot
| The Golden Shot | |
|---|---|
| Presented by |
Jackie Rae (1967) Bob Monkhouse (1967-72, 1974-5) Norman Vaughan (1972-3) Charlie Williams (1973-4) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes (inc. adverts) |
| Production company(s) | ATV |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Original release | 1 July 1967 – 13 April 1975 |
The Golden Shot was a British television game show produced by ATV for ITV between 1 July 1967 and 13 April 1975, based on the German TV show Der goldene Schuß. It is most commonly associated with host Bob Monkhouse, though, three other presenters also hosted the show during its lifetime. Hostess Anne Aston was on hand to read out the scores achieved by the contestants, and each month a "Maid of the Month", usually a glamour model of the era, would demonstrate the prizes and announce the contestants. When Bob Monkhouse returned to present the show in 1974, he was joined by co-hostess (to Anne Aston) Wei Wei Wong, a recent "Bond Girl" and an ex-member of the Young Generation and Second Generation dance troupes. This was one of the earliest regular appearances by an Oriental woman on British TV.
The show involved the "Tele-Bow", a crossbow attached to a television camera guided by a member of the public. It shot a bolt at an exploding target embedded in an apple positioned on a topical backdrop (usually an enlargement of Bob's own cartoons). In the first round, the crossbow was operated by blindfolded cameraman Derek Chason receiving instructions from a contestant, either playing at home by phone, or in studio from an isolation booth ("Up, up, up, STOP, left a bit, STOP, down a bit, STOP, left a bit, STOP . . . FIRE!"). First round winners from previous shows would be invited to the studio to compete in pairs using crossbows fitted with rifle butts, sights, and triggers mounted on stands. In later rounds, the contestants operated the crossbow themselves, first by remote control using a joystick, and finally handling the "Tele-Bow" directly for the ultimate prize. The last and most difficult task was to fire the crossbow bolt to cut a fine thread holding a small door closed. Breaking the thread opened the door producing a shower of gold coins.
Contestants who successfully negotiated seven (later four) rounds of targets won a reasonable prize; those who missed got a negligible prize. Most who reached the final stage operated the Tele-Bow like a rifle, with mixed results. One winner simply stood next to it and used a light touch on the rifle butt, sighting using the TV screen.
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