The Movie Game

THE MOVIE GAME
Made by: BBC
Shown on: BBC1
Years shown: mid 80s to mid 90s

Philip Schofield was hot property when he took the reigns of this film-themed children’s quiz show. The board on which the game was played was a length of film reel, and according to the squares they landed on, the teams had to answer film questions or take on one of the challenges. The challenges usually involved the kids dressing up in silly costumes, and - thanks to the ‘magic of television’ - riding a stagecoach, sailing on a magic carpet or driving a racing car, while simultaneously trying to throw as many beanbags into a chute as possible. The winning team was the one who reached the end of the reel first, and they were presented with an Oscar-like trophy to treasure, along with the usual Movie Game keyrings, pens etc. For a children’s game show, it was actually fairly original, and it bucked the trend of the time, by keeping gunge and slime to a minimum; but it lost momentum when Schofield was replaced as host by Jonathan Morris (of the sitcom, Bread), who, incidentally, followed in Pip’s footsteps again, when he took on the technicoloured mantel of Joseph in the Lloyd-Webber/Rice stage show. Spooky. The series final was always quite entertaining, mainly because about 8 different teams had to crowd themselves onto the board - much mirth to be had when they landed on the same square and someone inevitably ended up on the floor.

SQUARE EYES RATING: 7/10

(Thanks to www.ukgameshows.com for the borrowed pic)