Do you want salt and vinegar with those CHIPS? (Catchphrase)

Member Name: B_O_M_B_A_

Product:	Catchphrase
Date:	01/08/08 (85 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Originality and Chips

Disadvantages: Small cash prizes and the new presenter was poor

Catchphrase was one of my favourite programmes as I was growing up. The concept was very simple and easy to understand, and anyone could play along, you didn't need to be super intelligent to know the answers, you simply had to 'Say what you see'. This was Roy Walkers (The presenter) favourite saying, but it actually made sense.

Two members of the general public were greeted by Roy ready to begin proceedings, after a brief introduction to themselves for the benefit of the crowd and those at home watching the game began. The show was one of the first ever to use animations as part of the game and was still considered modern even after a decade on air.

The set was very bright with red and blue neon strip lights covering the majority of the set, there were also 2 large animated screens that the players and the audience could look at to watch the new animation or catchphrase.

At the beginning of each game the players would take it in turn to hit their buzzer as a selector moved its way around the animated screen which was now split into 9 squares. In each square was a different value of money, which was in fact the amount the contestant would win for getting a correct answer.

The catchphrases would then begin, animations would appear on the screens that were aiming to describe a well known catchphrase, if the contestants thought they knew the answer they would buzz in after the bell had gone (usually 5 seconds after the catchphrase had begun), if they got it right they would win the amount of money they had selected at the beginning.

On top of this individual catchphrase prize they would also have the chance of winning the bonus catchphrase. An animation would be covered by nine squares, every time a contestant got an answer right they could remove a square with their buzzer which would reveal a ninth of the picture. They would then have a chance of guessing it. If they got it right they would win the amount in the bonus bank.

The bonus bank started out as £100 + (the round number x £50), so round one was worth £150, round two worth £200 etc. Whenever a player removed a square the bonus bank for that round would decrease by £10, thus, the sooner they guessed it the more money they won.

If no one could guess the catchphrase after all the squares were removed, another regular catchphrase was shown and the first to buzz in with the correct answer would win the bonus bank.

Two rounds normally passed before there was a break. After the break there was the Ready Money Round which meant there was no bell, contestants could buzz in as soon as they knew it. Incidentally, the reason given for the bell in the first half of the show was that they could not afford to give away too much money, shows back then were limited to their cash prizes unlike now where millions can be won.

After a few more rounds the person with the most money went through to the super catchphrase. This was always the best part because you were urging the person on, especially if you knew the answer, I often found myself yelling at the TV.

A grid of 25 lettered squares appeared on the screen labelled A to Y, behind each square was a catchphrase, if they got it right they won £50, and a bonus £500 if they got 5 correct. If however they did a straight line from one side of the screen to the other (5 right) going through the middle 'M' square which was claimed to be harder than the rest but wasn't, they won a holiday and spending money which was a minimum of £3000.

Catchphrase was brilliant because of Roy; he would often mock the contestants with a remark after a guess such as 'Its close, but a million miles away' which made me giggle a few times. The show also included a yellow robot looking man called Chips who often got involved in the animations. He was kind of the show mascot and everybody loved seeing him.

Some genius gave the show a complete re-vamp for its 2000 series. The graphics engine was made brighter and given a new cartoon style. The bonus game was covered by the usual nine shapes but they weren't necessarily squares, they were sort of paint splodges so everyone was different. (With the old show it was always key to get the middle square because it usually held the key to the answer). The Ready Money Round was replaced by the Cash Countdown, and the end game was now a Blockbusters-style game where you had to get to the end of the board using the same 5x5 letter grid.

Roy Walker was replaced by Nick Weir, who actually broke his leg during the recording of the first series. This makeover gave the idea a new lease of life but unfortunately the re launch completely bombed with the public, who missed Roy Walker. Even a last ditch attempt in 2002 to save the show by moving it to daytime with new host Mark Curry didn't help.

The original catchphrase can still be seen at 7am on challenge TV and is still very amusing, especially with their old clothes and hair-dos. If you haven't ever seen it you should have and I advise at least one viewing to see what you think.

Host (Roy Walker) - 9/10
Originality - 9/10
Addictability - 8/10
Prizes - 7/10

Summary: Half an hour with chips, what more could you want!