Come On Down! The Game Show Story Episode 1
Published: 
Tue 29 Jul 2014
The information contained herein is embargoed from press use, commercial and non-commercial reproduction and sharing - in the public domain - until Tuesday 5 August 2014.
 
Come On Down! The Game Show Story
 
Bruce Forsyth reveals he asked Bob Monkhouse if he could host Family Fortunes: “The show I really liked and I wanted was ‘Family Fortunes’. That was the one I wanted.”
 
Presented by Bradley Walsh, this four-part series tells the definitive history of the TV game show. Featuring classic archive footage and interviews with some of the biggest names in entertainment, this series charts the key moments in game show history and tells the story behind some of our best-loved game and quiz shows.
 
A self-confessed game show fanatic, Bradley shares his favourite game show moments and goes on a journey to discover just how this television genre has kept Britain hooked for more than sixty years. Bradley immerses himself in game show nostalgia - from meeting TV legend Sir Bruce Forsyth, playing The Golden Shot with Anne Aston and Bernie the Bolt, and being quizzed under the Mastermind spotlight by host John Humphrys, to sending Anneka Rice back up in that Treasure Hunt helicopter (in that famous jumpsuit!). 
 
The series also features interviews with game show stars such as Ant and Dec, Sir Terry Wogan, Carol Vorderman, Richard Osman, Phillip Schofield, Vernon Kay, Les Dennis, Jim Bowen, Stephen Mulhern, Ben Shephard and Bamber Gascoigne.
 
In the first episode, Bradley meets Bruce Forsyth, who says: “What I love about game shows - or any show- is if things go wrong. I love things to go wrong. Then I have to put them right, and that’s what ‘The Generation Game’ was all about.”
 
Bruce also reveals: “The other show I really liked and I wanted was ‘Family Fortunes’. That was the one I wanted.” Bob Monkhouse had already bought the rights to the show, so Bruce asked if Bob would be prepared to make a swap, “They said no, Bob’s got to do Family Fortunes, there’s no way he’ll do anything else.”
 
Self-confessed Bruce Forsyth fan, Vernon Kay, says: “If you watch Bruce closely, and trust me I have, because he manhandles my wife on a regular basis, but what he’s good at is - he’s his own floor manager, so he bosses the stage, and when he’s with a contestant he’ll literally grab their arm and drag them to where they’re supposed to stand.” 
 
Ant & Dec reminisce about one of their favourite game shows from their childhood, ‘321’, saying: “I always remember when I was a kid, I would think, ‘If I go on ‘321’, I’d like to win Dusty Bin.’ I couldn’t understand why they were so disappointed! And then I realised, they didn’t win the actual Dusty Bin when it came on and wobbled around, they just won a bin.”