Wicky Woo (Incredible Games)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	Incredible Games
Date:	08/11/07 (167 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Highly imaginative, bizarre and terrifying game show for children.

Disadvantages: Overly repetitive, but unfairly cancelled after only two series before this could present a problem.

A show that was forgettable only in title, ‘Incredible Games’ was one of the more inventive and exciting children’s game shows produced in the 90s, following a similar format to Channel 4’s hugely successful ‘The Crystal Maze’ but taking a far stranger, fantastical and psychedelic approach. As with most children’s game shows of the time (‘Get Your Own Back,’ ‘Funhouse,’ etc.), each episode saw young contestants facing a number of individual challenges to amass points and aid their progress to the final game, where they could collaboratively win the star prize. Also like these shows, there was a fair amount of gunge involved, requiring players to change costumes between some games.

The show was set in a ludicrously tall building consisting of 999 floors, each level of which was allegedly taken up by a different game, though due to the usual prohibitive costs and the rather outlandish games produced, there was a large amount of repetition between episodes. The players are transported between levels by the talkative and somewhat hyperactive Lift viewed on a monitor, originally played by David Walliams in a crazy plastic wig (similar to Mark Speight in CITV’s rubbish ‘Scratchy and Co.’), and later re-cast with Gary Parker as a multi-coloured bald head named Sam. The banter between the young contestants and the Lift was one of the highlights, particularly in the Walliams era, and created a great laid-back atmosphere as it was clear the kids were enjoying themselves immensely and not taking the whole thing too seriously (at least, not as seriously as it appeared on TV after all the editing and effects work tried to convince viewers they were watching reality). Like all good children’s presenters, Walliams never talked down to his passengers, and there are some nice running jokes as he appears unable to add up their scores as fast as they can, though he insists otherwise. The players were usually between the ages of eleven to fourteen, and would usually consist of three school friends of mixed genders.

The games were the usual mixture of physical and mental challenges, with extremely imaginative sets and conceits. The series was conceived by Stephen Leahy and Andrew O’Connor, and features such memorable, high-energy delights as the glow worm hunt in an eerie swamp; a jet-pack powered tidying of ‘Planet Susan’; the hasty construction of a system of pipes in a flooding room, and of course, the final hunt for magnetic letters at the bottom of a huge soup bowl in an extremely convincing oversized set reminiscent of ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.’ The more logical puzzles were a little duller for the most part, often consisting of simple, money-saving question and answer sections hosted by the Lift on their travels, but also memorably by the ghost of a Victorian headmaster (don’t ask me) who would unleash gunge upon any wrong answer. Without a doubt the most frightening part of the show was the journey across the dreaded Dark Knight’s chess board, which was brilliantly conceived and seemed a genuine challenge to complete, one I was always sure I would have failed miserably. Players could move forwards on one move, followed by a sideways move on their next turn, all in pursuit of the green exits at the far end; the catch was that the Dark Knight (Simon Shelton in a Darth Vader-like cloak and mask) could see the glowing squares they had left behind, and was able to formulate a strategy to track them down, more often than not succeeding and eliminating them (the losing players would have to be tracked down afterwards).

This was a truly fantastic game show for children, and mainly due to its rubbish, non-descript title it’s probably one that’s caused a great deal of frustration and confusion over the years as aging fans have struggled to remember exactly what it was (I hope I’ve helped). Like all the best game shows it clearly wasn’t staged and wasn’t patronising in the least, frequently sneaking a deliberately tricky question in that even older viewers wouldn’t know the answer to, and requiring genuine mental and physical skills, just like a younger and trippier version of The Crystal Maze. Some of the ideas were a little daft or clichéd – especially catch-phrases that never caught on like “press my button!” and “we’re going throoooough the roof!” in the first series – but the games really were works of genius, and among the most entertaining things I have ever seen on Children’s BBC. The alphabet soup game was particularly enjoyable, as there was usually a clear tension in the air as the dry player struggling to spell out words on the ‘fridge’ would insist that the poor swimmers had to dive for specific letters so he or she could complete the word they had in mind, though amiable players were more willing to adapt to what they were given. The ghostly headmaster and the zombie-like arms reaching from the walls in the glow worm game were unnecessarily spooky, and if that didn’t provoke nightmares then the Dark Knight, the embodiment of evil itself, clearly would. Perhaps that’s the reason the show was never revived for a third series.

Letting this show slip off the airwaves so soon was a truly disappointing decision on the BBC’s part, especially in light of the rubbish they’ve produced since, though I once saw a low-budget segment on CITV a few years ago called ‘The Eliminator’ that seemed to be essentially a less scary version of the Dark Knight game, so its influence and memory surely live on. Perhaps the BBC executives had intended to re-commission it all along, but couldn’t... quite remember... the name, what was it, “the Lift Show” or something? It must have been something quite specific, surely? Ah, no matter, it’ll come to me one day – what’s that? The Chuckle Brothers want to present a flimsy tropical-island-based game show named after one of their catch-phrases, and that’s all there is to it? Brilliant, someone give those lads a studio!

Summary: Based on an idea by Stephen Leahy and Andrew O'Connor (1994-95).