Cheggers films in town in 1999
IT’S a Knockout came to Hinckley in September 1999. It was held at Hinckley RFC’s Leicester Road ground. It was a new version of an old classic series which ran on Channel 5 and was presented by Keith Chegwin and Frank Bruno.
Also at the show that day was model Nell McAndrew.
The event featured teams from Hinckley, Burton on Trent and Tamworth.
The original series was broadcast on BBC1 from August 7 1966 to July 30 1982, thereafter a number of specials were broadcast until December 1988. The series returned on Channel 5 from September 3 1999 to January 6 2001.
It featured teams representing a town or city competing tasks in absurd games, generally dressed in large foam rubber suits. Games were played in the home town’s park, with weather often turning grassland into mud.
The team scoring most points would advance to the next stage. Teams could double points in one round by choosing to “play their Joker”.
The games were described as school sports day for adults. For example, teams would carry buckets of water over greasy poles or rolling logs. Other teams would interfere, squirting water cannon or throwing custard pies. Limited budgets meant games were often a variation on what could be done with a long piece of elastic, a lot of water, a portable swimming pool and a roundabout.
In its earliest form, the show emphasised skill or organisation applied in a bizarre way, for instance picking up eggs with an industrial excavator, as well as traditional village sports such as climbing a greasy pole. Games of strength were included, for example, carrying a Mini Moke without wheels. From the beginning, a “mini-marathon” would run the length of the programme, with updates on progress between shorter contests.
The shift to spectacular displays, with or without costumes, came later, to improve audience appeal and to follow continental traditions.
The teams scored points for how well they did in each event with the winner gaining three, and the second placed team scoring two with the loser achieving one. The teams also had a joker card to play before one event, which they would receive double points.
The winner of each edition was awarded an It’s a Knockout trophy and a chance to represent the UK in Jeux Sans Frontières.