Produced by Thames Television, a Fremantle label, Blankety Blank will return for a new ten-episode series.
The revived classic BBC One game show will once again be hosted by comedian and actor Bradley Walsh, who will guide a panel of celebrities and contestants over multiple rounds, as they compete to win a range of…unique prizes!
Whilst viewers can prepare to meet some new celebrity faces, they can also look forward to once more hearing the signature theme tune, seeing the iconic Blankety cheque book and pen, and as always expect a lot of laughs for the whole family.
The series, which sees six celebrities helping contestants to fill in missing blanks, has rated reasonably well for the Beeb following a previous failed revival by ITV with David Walliams as host in 2016. This festive offering was panned as appalling.
TV Critic Vivian Summers:
“The problem with the modern series’, both the one-off on ITV and some episodes of the Beeb version, is some of the celebrity panel try to be smarter than the question losing the comedy of the question. The game has to be played straight, the viewers’ minds do the innuendo, it shouldn’t be spoken by third-rate celebs or written on the card.”
The format is based on The Match Game, a long-running stateside format. The show arrived in the UK in 1979 with Sir Terry Wogan as host. Others to oversee proceedings include Les Dawson and Paul O’Grady as Lily Savage. with the latter hosting the show initially for BBC One before a short run on ITV.
A Christmas special saw the show return to the Beeb in 2020, with a full series commissioned the following year.
A number of one off specials have aired between main series including for Children In Need, as part of ITV’s Gameshow Marathon in 2007 and Comic Relief’s 24 Hour Panel People.
The programme became notorious for its cheap production values and terrible prizes, mocked by all previous hosts from Wogan through to Walliams. Classic episodes can regularly be seen on Challenge TV.
