Beat the Teacher
Encyclopedia
Beat the Teacher was a British game show
devised by Clive Doig
, made by BBC Television
and shown as part of Children's BBC on weekdays at teatimes.
questions and logic puzzle
s.
Correct answers won the contestant moves on a giant Noughts and Crosses board made from rotating cubes. Questions awarded one, two or three moves of the board, based upon their difficulty. Control of the board was determined by the use of buzzers. After answering the question correctly, the contestant was given the choice of which blocks on the board to turn over.
For example, if a square displayed a "nought", one rotation would see the square turn blank; two would see it replaced with a "cross", three with another blank and on the fourth turn it would revert back to a "nought".
Tactical play would lead to the contestant building up lines of noughts or crosses, for which points were awarded (10 points per horizontal, vertical or diagonal line).
A special "joker card
" could be played once in each game by either contestant, reversing each square on the board so that all crosses became noughts and vice versa. A bonus was awarded for a full board of noughts or crosses, after which each square on the board would be randomised.
Question styles generally included puzzles, "true or false," or "identify the picture". The last round of the show before the winner was declared was a special "wrong answer round" in which aim was for the contestants to give as many incorrect answers as they could within 60 seconds. Each "wrong" answer would earn the contestant a move on the board, while if they gave answered a question correctly then they would lose one move per "correct" answer; in order to avoid deliberate tactical play, a twist was added so that if the contestant said "pass" instead of attempting to answer the question, then they would immediately lose all of their moves gained up to that point and have to start again from "zero" with any time remaining.
The player with the highest score at the end would be crowned champion and participate in the "final" round. The board was cleared, and the winning contestant had to try to fill all nine squares up by answering nine questions correctly within 60 seconds. If they accomplished this, they would win a prize. Whether they won or not they were invited to come back again the next episode. A "Beat the Teacher" Failure Mug was the consolation prize awarded to a majority of the shows unsuccessful contestants.
Once a contestant won five games in a row, they would "retire" undefeated (although this rule was waived for the final series, which saw one contestant win thirteen episodes in a row before being defeated). The best four students and the best four teachers from each series in terms of total number of wins and then total scores achieved in their episodes (excluding the final round) would return for the quarter finals at the end of the series
Two "Champion of Champions" special episodes were staged, in 1986 and in 1988, featuring contestants and schools from previous series.
(1984), Paul Jones
(1985-6) and BBC Radio 1 DJ Bruno Brookes
, who took over in 1987 until the series the following year.
The theme tune was written by Mike Batt
, although this was replaced in the 1988 series by a new theme by Martin Cook.
, which was dropped later that year, Beat the Teacher - to all effects a very simplistic series - was not quite as popular as Screen Test, but did nevertheless gain reasonably high viewing figures at its peak; it was believed by Clive Doig that this was largely due not to the questions or the board tactics, but rather because many children were in fact tuning in because they enjoyed watching a young contestant get the better of an adult. Overall, the students actually did come out on top more often than not, although when a teacher won an episode, it was normally by a much wider margin.
The series was cancelled in 1989 even though the 1988 series had the highest viewing figures in the series' history. The BBC never gave any explanation for this.
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
devised by Clive Doig
Clive Doig
Clive Doig is a retired British television producer.Early in his career he produced the series for deaf children Vision On before becoming known as the creator-producer of a large number of children's programmes. Working for the BBC, he created programmes such as Jigsaw, which ran from 1979 to...
, made by BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
and shown as part of Children's BBC on weekdays at teatimes.
Show format
Each edition featured two contestants; one a school student and the other a teacher. Both were tested on general knowledgeGeneral knowledge
General knowledge has been defined by differential psychologists as referring to 'culturally valued knowledge communicated by a range of non-specialist media' General knowledge therefore encompasses a wide range of knowledge domains...
questions and logic puzzle
Logic puzzle
A logic puzzle is a puzzle deriving from the mathematics field of deduction.-History:The logic puzzle was first produced by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who is better known under his pen name Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
s.
Correct answers won the contestant moves on a giant Noughts and Crosses board made from rotating cubes. Questions awarded one, two or three moves of the board, based upon their difficulty. Control of the board was determined by the use of buzzers. After answering the question correctly, the contestant was given the choice of which blocks on the board to turn over.
For example, if a square displayed a "nought", one rotation would see the square turn blank; two would see it replaced with a "cross", three with another blank and on the fourth turn it would revert back to a "nought".
Tactical play would lead to the contestant building up lines of noughts or crosses, for which points were awarded (10 points per horizontal, vertical or diagonal line).
A special "joker card
Joker (playing card)
Joker is a special type of playing card found in most modern decks, or else a type of tile in some Mahjong game sets.-Name:It is believed that the term "Joker" comes from a mispronunciation of Jucker, the German/Alsatian name for the game Euchre. The card was originally introduced in about 1860 for...
" could be played once in each game by either contestant, reversing each square on the board so that all crosses became noughts and vice versa. A bonus was awarded for a full board of noughts or crosses, after which each square on the board would be randomised.
Question styles generally included puzzles, "true or false," or "identify the picture". The last round of the show before the winner was declared was a special "wrong answer round" in which aim was for the contestants to give as many incorrect answers as they could within 60 seconds. Each "wrong" answer would earn the contestant a move on the board, while if they gave answered a question correctly then they would lose one move per "correct" answer; in order to avoid deliberate tactical play, a twist was added so that if the contestant said "pass" instead of attempting to answer the question, then they would immediately lose all of their moves gained up to that point and have to start again from "zero" with any time remaining.
The player with the highest score at the end would be crowned champion and participate in the "final" round. The board was cleared, and the winning contestant had to try to fill all nine squares up by answering nine questions correctly within 60 seconds. If they accomplished this, they would win a prize. Whether they won or not they were invited to come back again the next episode. A "Beat the Teacher" Failure Mug was the consolation prize awarded to a majority of the shows unsuccessful contestants.
Once a contestant won five games in a row, they would "retire" undefeated (although this rule was waived for the final series, which saw one contestant win thirteen episodes in a row before being defeated). The best four students and the best four teachers from each series in terms of total number of wins and then total scores achieved in their episodes (excluding the final round) would return for the quarter finals at the end of the series
Two "Champion of Champions" special episodes were staged, in 1986 and in 1988, featuring contestants and schools from previous series.
Production
Beat the Teacher had three different hosts over its airtime, Howard StablefordHoward Stableford
Howard Stableford is a television and radio presenter.Howard grew up in Preston, Lancashire, the son of a business skills lecturer and a shipping agent. He attended Hutton Grammar School...
(1984), Paul Jones
Paul Jones (singer)
Paul Jones is an English singer, actor, harmonica player, and radio personality and television presenter.-Career:As P. P...
(1985-6) and BBC Radio 1 DJ Bruno Brookes
Bruno Brookes
Bruno Brookes is a British radio presenter who became prominent in the 1980s.-Early life and career:...
, who took over in 1987 until the series the following year.
The theme tune was written by Mike Batt
Mike Batt
Michael Philip "Mike" Batt is a British songwriter, musician, producer and Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry...
, although this was replaced in the 1988 series by a new theme by Martin Cook.
Reception
Launched in 1984 with the intent of eventually replacing the BBC's flagship children's quiz series Screen TestScreen Test
Screen Test was a UK children's quiz show about films, broadcast from 18 November 1970 to 20 December 1984 on BBC1. It was first hosted by Michael Rodd, who was succeeded by Brian Trueman and Mark Curry.-Background:...
, which was dropped later that year, Beat the Teacher - to all effects a very simplistic series - was not quite as popular as Screen Test, but did nevertheless gain reasonably high viewing figures at its peak; it was believed by Clive Doig that this was largely due not to the questions or the board tactics, but rather because many children were in fact tuning in because they enjoyed watching a young contestant get the better of an adult. Overall, the students actually did come out on top more often than not, although when a teacher won an episode, it was normally by a much wider margin.
The series was cancelled in 1989 even though the 1988 series had the highest viewing figures in the series' history. The BBC never gave any explanation for this.
Transmissions
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 September 1984 | 9 November 1984 | 28 |
| 2 | 9 September 1985 | 8 November 1985 | 36 |
| 3 | 8 September 1986 | 7 November 1986 | 36 |
| 4 | 14 September 1987 | 12 November 1987 | 36 |
| 5 | 12 September 1988 | 27 October 1988 | 28 |