Chain Letters was a British television game show

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...

 produced by Tyne Tees Television

Tyne Tees Television

Tyne Tees Television is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. As of 2009, it forms part of a non-franchise ITV Tyne Tees & Border region, shared with the ITV Border region...

. The show was filmed at their City Road studios in Newcastle Upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

 and broadcast on ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 between 7 September 1987 and 25 April 1997. Three contestants competed to win money by changing letters in words to form new words. Its original host was Jeremy Beadle

Jeremy Beadle

Jeremy James Anthony Gibson-Beadle MBE was an English television presenter, writer and producer. During the 1980s, he was a regular face on British television and in two years appeared 50 weeks of the year. His shows regularly topped the charts beating Coronation Street and EastEnders on one...

, followed by Andrew O'Connor, Allan Stewart, Ted Robbins

Ted Robbins

Ted Robbins is an English comedian, actor, broadcaster, radio DJ, radio personality, voice-over artist and television personalityRobbins currently presents a morning show on BBC Radio Lancashire from 9am - 11am on weekdays....

, Vince Henderson

Vince Henderson

Vincent P. "Vince" Henderson in Liverpool is an English television presenter, actor, and street performer. He is best known for hosting the Sky Sports Saturday morning show Soccer AM, and ITV's game show Chain Letters...

 and Dave Spikey

Dave Spikey

Dave Spikey is an English comedian, actor, writer and film producer, currently residing in Chorley, Lancashire....

.

Round 1 - Chain Letters

The first round was entitled Chain Letters (Make a Chain in later series). Each contestant was given a hidden four-letter word (from a choice of four) and 45 seconds to make as many changes as possible, with prize money of £5 offered for every new word made. All words in the Chambers English Dictionary were permitted, though proper nouns and plurals were not. A contestant was not allowed to make two consecutive changes in the same letter position. For example, a contestant, having changed BALL to HALL, would then not be permitted to change HALL to CALL, FALL, et cetera.

Round 2 - Booby Trap

Round two was entitled the Booby Trap round. Each contestant was invited to choose one of four four-letter words, followed by a letter in the word that they would like to change. The opposing contestants would then secretly predict on an electronic pad the word that they think the contestant is going to change to. If the contestant in play changes into a word which none of their opponents have predicted, they win £10. The contestant then makes another change to another word, and so on - winning double the amount of the previous win (only £10 additional in latter series) with each subsequent change (Players may only make a maximum of 3 changes for a total of £40 (£30 in the last 2 series)). However, if a contestant is caught out with a word one of their opponents picked (the booby trap), that opponent wins the at-stakes money instead. The contestant in play could also choose to stop if they thought the word could not be changed any further or the next word would be the booby trap.

Round 3 (1995–1997)

A third round was added in the revival of Chain Letters in 1995 and would eventually involve two different formats.

Chaingang (1995)

One contestant was given a four-letter word and must change that word into a new word, which is then given to the next contestant in line who must change that word into another new word, and so on for one minute total time. £5 offered for every new word made and £5 lost if the new word was unacceptable. However, if the new word could not be changed by both opponents, the contestant who created the word won a £10 bonus and was given a new word.

Add a Letter (1996–1997)

Each contestant was given a three-letter word by Wordsworth, the computer. Each contestant must change that word into a new word using all the letters in the current word plus one new letter, in any position, at a time. £10 was offered for every new word made. (Players may make up to a maximum seven-letter word for a total of £40). If the new word was unacceptable, the contestant's turn ends. The contestant in play could also choose to stop if they thought the word could not be changed any further.

Final Round - Tie the Leader

The final round involved (in the initial set-up) a five-letter word with a plus sign (+) to the left side of the word and a minus sign (-) to the right side. The host then asked cryptic crossword-type clues to which the answer was a new word, with only one letter difference from the previous answer. Each letter needing to be changed was highlighted by Wordsworth. However, the answer would be a longer word (up to 5 letters) when the plus sign was highlighted, or a shorter word (down to 3 letters) when the minus sign was highlighted. Contestants competed on the buzzers to win £10, £20, £40 (£30 in the last 2 series), or tie the leader and match the leading player's score, depending on when the buzzer was pressed. If the answer was incorrect, the question was then offered to the opposing contestants.

Only the contestant with the highest amount of money at the end of the final round was declared the winner and went on to compete in the bonus round. The other contestants going home with the money they had accumulated up to that point.

Bonus Round - Superchain

In the Superchain, the show-winner was given a four-letter word and one minute of time. Wordsworth would highlight one of the letters within the word, inviting the show-winner to change the letter and make a new word. If the show-winner could not change the letter, they can say “pass” and the computer would highlight a different letter. Each acceptable change was worth £50, and ten changes within one minute won £1,000.

Transmissions

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes	Host
1	7 September 1987	9 October 1987	25	Jeremy Beadle Jeremy Beadle Jeremy James Anthony Gibson-Beadle MBE was an English television presenter, writer and producer. During the 1980s, he was a regular face on British television and in two years appeared 50 weeks of the year. His shows regularly topped the charts beating Coronation Street and EastEnders on one...
2	13 October 1988	30 March 1989	25	Andrew O'Connor
3	16 November 1989	16 January 1990	10	Allan Stewart
4	28 May 1990	6 July 1990	30
5	2 January 1995	28 April 1995	85	Ted Robbins Ted Robbins Ted Robbins is an English comedian, actor, broadcaster, radio DJ, radio personality, voice-over artist and television personalityRobbins currently presents a morning show on BBC Radio Lancashire from 9am - 11am on weekdays....
6	1 January 1996	26 April 1996	85	Vince Henderson Vince Henderson Vincent P. "Vince" Henderson in Liverpool is an English television presenter, actor, and street performer. He is best known for hosting the Sky Sports Saturday morning show Soccer AM, and ITV's game show Chain Letters...
7	3 March 1997	25 April 1997	40	Dave Spikey Dave Spikey Dave Spikey is an English comedian, actor, writer and film producer, currently residing in Chorley, Lancashire....

External links

• Chain Letters at BFI