Crosswits

Crosswits
Genre	Game show
Created by	Jerry Payne
Presented by	Barry Cryer (1985–86); Tom O'Connor (1987–98)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	12
No. of episodes	435
Production
Running time	30 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production company	Tyne Tees in association with Cove Productions and Action Time
Distributor	ITV Studios
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	4:3
Original release	3 September 1985 –; 23 December 1998
Chronology
Related shows	The Cross-Wits (US version)

Crosswits is a British game show produced by Tyne Tees in association with Cove Productions and Action Time and filmed from their City Road studios in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was first shown on 3 September 1985 originally hosted by Barry Cryer for the first 2 series, then comedian Tom O'Connor took over from series 3 until the show ended on 23 December 1998. The show consisted of two members of the public competing against each other to solve simple crossword puzzles. Each member of the public was helped out by a "celebrity" partner. The announcers for the show were generally Tyne Tees continuity announcers such as Judi Lines, Jonathan Morrell and Bill Steel.

Gameplay

Basically, the game was the same as its American counterpart, except that there were two players (one celebrity and one contestant) on each team instead of three. As in the American version, teams took turns solving words in a crossword puzzle (by virtue of clues), all of which are clues to a master puzzle. Each correct answer keeps control and earns one point per letter in the answer plus a chance to solve the master puzzle for 10 bonus points. On the first two series, which had been transmitted weekly, the teams played for pounds. Later in the run, teams always took turns whether they were right or wrong.

There were also special rounds in the game:

Anagram round - the first letter of every clue word make a key word.
Mystery round - finding a keyword after one clue without assistance from a clue word wins the contestant a small prize such as a cordless phone or a pocket TV.
Song round - all clues were lyrics to a well-known song.

The team with the most points when time runs out, wins the game and plays the same Crossfire round as the American version. The other player received a dictionary and thesaurus.

Crossfire round

The winning team was shown one last crossword puzzle, with 10 words none of which are clues to a master puzzle. The host reads rapid-fire clues to each of the 10 words. Each correct words brings the winning team extra closer to a holiday for the contestant, and if they can solve all ten in 60 seconds or less, they'll win the holiday, otherwise the winning player wins a gold pen and pencil set.

Transmissions

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes	Recorded
1	3 September 1985	3 December 1985	13	1985
2	5 January 1987	30 March 1987	13	1986
3	27 October 1987	17 December 1987	24	1987
4	25 April 1988	17 June 1988	40	1988
5	15 May 1989	14 July 1989	45	1989
6	9 April 1990	25 May 1990	35	1990
7	29 April 1991	21 June 1991	40	1991
8	13 April 1992	26 June 1992	55	1992
9	17 May 1993	18 June 1993	25	1993
10	4 April 1994	8 July 1994	70	1994
11	21 October 1996	13 December 1996	40	1996
12	6 January 1998	23 December 1998	35	1997

1985

The first series aired on Tuesday afternoons at 3 pm, with the exception of TVS who aired the series on Thursday afternoons at the same time.

Early 1987

The second series aired on Monday evenings at 6:30 pm in the Tyne Tees region. The rest of the regions aired the series on Tuesday afternoons at 3 pm.

Late 1987

The third series aired on Tuesday to Thursday afternoons at 2 pm, with the exception of TVS who aired the series on Monday afternoons at 3 pm, but did not air all the episodes, and Channel who aired the series on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons at 3 pm.

1988–94

From the fourth series up until the tenth series, the show aired on Monday to Friday mornings at 9:25 am, just after TV-am/GMTV had finished.

1996

The eleventh series aired on Monday to Friday afternoons, but was not networked. Depending on the region, it aired at random times in certain areas.

Carlton, Central, Tyne Tees, Westcountry and Yorkshire had shown the series at 1:25 pm.
Ulster aired the episodes at 1:55 pm.
Grampian put the shows out at 2:50 pm.
Scottish aired the episodes at 2:20 pm, but only four times a week.
Border and Granada aired the episodes at 5:10 pm most days.
Anglia and Meridian aired the episodes on most days at 12:55 pm. Anglia continued to broadcast more episodes, finishing on 24 January 1997.
HTV aired over half the episodes at 2:25 pm, but did not complete the run.

1998

The twelfth series aired on Tuesday to Thursday afternoons at 1:50 pm for the first 32 episodes from 6 January to 19 March. The last 3 episodes aired from 21 to 23 December 1998.

External links

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