Wheel of Fortune (UK game show)
| Wheel of Fortune | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Genre | Game show |
| Created by | Merv Griffin |
| Presented by |
Nicky Campbell (1988–96) Bradley Walsh (1997) John Leslie (1998–2001) Paul Hendy (2001) |
| Starring | Angela Ekaette (1988) Carol Smillie (1989–94) Jenny Powell (1995–2000) Terri Seymour (2001) |
| Voices of | Steve Hamilton |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 14 |
| No. of episodes | 735 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes (inc. adverts) |
| Production company(s) | Scottish Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Picture format |
4:3 (1988–2000) 16:9 (2001) |
| Original release | 19 July 1988 – 21 December 2001 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Wheel of Fortune |
Wheel of Fortune is a British television game show created by Merv Griffin. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that contestants spin throughout the course of the game to determine their cash and/or prizes. The programme aired between 19 July 1988 and 21 December 2001 and was produced by Scottish Television (STV) for the ITV network - having effectively replaced Now You See It as STV's prime time game show offering for the ITV network. It mostly follows the same general format from the original version of the programme from the United States, with a few minor differences.
Unlike the American version, where the numbers on the wheel correspond to the amount of money won by each contestant, the British version instead referred to these amounts as 'points' – they had no cash value, their only purpose was to determine the grand finalist, or to choose a winner for a particular round. Points earned from all players carried on to proceeding rounds, and were susceptible to Bankrupts, meaning a winner could be crowned that never solved a puzzle, but acquired a large amount of points. This rule would actually encourage sacrificing a player's turn if he or she didn't know the puzzle rather than risking his or her points by spinning again.
For the first three series, before recording of each episode, each contestant spun the wheel and the contestant with the highest score would start the first round. The contestant would be asked a 50/50 trivia question and if the contestant answered correctly, the contestant spun the wheel and if they landed on a number, they had to pick a letter. If the letter appeared on the puzzle board once, the contestant would earn the value. If the letter appeared on the puzzle board twice, the contestant would earn double the value. If the letter appeared on the puzzle board thrice, the contestant would earn triple the value and so on. A player may purchase a vowel for 250 points, regardless of how many times that vowel appeared in the puzzle. The contestant would spin the wheel again but the contestant's turn would end if the contestant either landed on a number but picked a letter that did not appear on the puzzle board earning the contestant no points but not deducted the number the contestant landed on, landed on the 'LOSE A TURN" or landed on the "BANKRUPT" losing the contestant's total score for that round but not from previous rounds. If the contestant landed on the "FREE SPIN", the contestant would be given a "FREE SPIN" loop and would spin the wheel again and if the contestant landed on a number but picked a letter that did not appear on the puzzle board or landed on the "LOSE A TURN" or landed on the "BANKRUPT", the contestant could give their "FREE SPIN" loop to the host and spin again or hand over play to the next contestant, But if the contestant answered the 50/50 trivia question incorrectly, they would not spin the wheel and play would move on to the next contestant. In the speed round, the host would spin the wheel with the centre player's arrow determining the point value for each contestant. Vowels were worth nothing, and consonants were worth whatever the value spun. The left player would go first. From the fourth series onward, the 50/50 trivia individual questions were dropped. Instead, at the start of each round, the contestants would be asked a general knowledge question and the first contestant to buzz in and answer correctly would gain control of the wheel.
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