Rosemarie Ford on the beloved show’s return
Former ‘Generation Game’ hostess Rosemarie Ford tells Nick Harding why the game show’s return is good for teenagers
Generation Game
It is one of the most enduring television shows of the modern age – a ratings juggernaut that ran, in various guises, for 30 years, attracting peak audiences of 25million. And tomorrow night, The Generation Game returns for a modern reboot fronted by, as 2018 all but necessitates, Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins.
Though the planned four-week run has already been cut to two, if successful, a new version of the prime-time Seventies hit could be the Beeb’s weekend saviour. With the exceptions of Strictly Come Dancing and ITV’S Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, weekend ratings winners are proving increasingly hard to find.
Great British Bake Off duo Mel and Sue face added pressure to deliver as not only do they carry the weight of expectation, they also have big shoes to fill, given that the show is synonymous with Bruce Forsyth, who launched and hosted the original version in 1971 and returned again in the Nineties. But one person confident of the reboot’s success is former Generation Game hostess Rosemarie Ford, Brucie’s sidekick and dancing partner during his second stint on the show between 1990 and 1994.
“It’s been almost 20 years since The Generation
Game was last on screens, so there is a generation that is unfamiliar with it,” Ford, 56, says. She is optimistic that its line in wholesome fun will appeal to modern audiences: “More than ever, I think people need to be entertained. There is still a place for shows that the whole family sit and watch together, and still a place for gentle humour.
“I have two teenage boys who like their Xboxes, but they will sit and watch family shows with us… programmes like The Generation Game provide opportunities for families to sit down together, to be together and laugh together.”
The choice of a female presenting duo will also help dampen any comparisons with Brucie. “It would have been a huge ask for a male presenter to follow Bruce,” she says. “Having a duo works because it changes the dynamic, and Mel and Sue are experienced and very warm.”
The Generation Game was based on a Dutch show called Één van de acht (One of the Eight) and launched in Britain as Bruce Forsyth and the Generation Game. Broadcasters, who had previously relied on variety formats for their prime-time slots, realised that studio-based game shows were cheaper to produce and just as popular. The Generation Game’s muchloved format pitted four teams of two players against each other in a series of challenges, each team consisting of family members of different genders and generations.
In one of the regular segments, contestants attempted to copy a professional at a specific task, such as pottery or bell-ringing; there was always a set-piece performance of some description, and the victors won the chance to watch prizes pass on a conveyor belt – before recalling as many as they could in 45 seconds to win them. One of the rewards was always a cuddly toy, while other regulars up for grabs included such luxuries as fondue sets and dinner services.
During Bruce’s reign, the show averaged around 20million viewers a week – in comparison, the current series of Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway has averaged around 7.5million. Bruce hosted the show from 1971 to 1977, until presenting duties were taken over by Larry Grayson between 1978 to 1981. Bruce then picked the mantle back up from 1990 to 1994, and Jim Davidson hosted from 1995 to 2001: when his contract expired, the show was axed after losing the ratings war against ITV’S new talent show, Pop Idol.
Today, the tables have turned once more; the music talent show bubble is deflating, and shows like The X Factor are losing their primetime prowess. Executives will be hoping, then, that
The Generation Game can reinvigorate weekend schedules and inject a little old-school charm back into Sunday night viewing.
Ford, who is married to actor Robert Lindsay, agrees. “TV companies find it hard to find the right formula, so they probably think, with enough time passed, it is time to try it again. The Generation Game is tried-and-tested, and it is a great show,” she says, fondly.
When the BBC announced the new shows were being made in July last year, BBC Studios said audiences had identified The Generation Game as “the TV show that viewers most wanted to see back on their screens”. It follows the return of a number of hugely popular series from decades past, including Porridge and Are You Being Served?
According to Ford, the key to The Generation Game’s success lay in the eccentric behaviour of the contestants. “You never knew what would happen until you got them in,” she recalls. “They were nervous and were not used to being on camera, so the results were unpredictable. That’s where Bruce was so good because he could adapt to the unpredictability and use it to get laughs.”
The show was filmed as live in front of a studio audience and mistakes were kept in, forming a crucial part of the end programme; that rawness was part of the appeal. “There was very little editing, it went out as it happened,” Ford says. “Whatever went wrong went out and, although it could be nerveracking, I had a beautiful safety valve called Bruce whose job was to make sure it all ran to time. He was the consummate professional entertainer. He gave 100per cent, he warmed up the audience, he was full-on and he was out there driving the whole thing.”
Ford took up the role from Anthea Redfern, who Bruce was married to for six years, and Isla St Clair, who worked with Larry Grayson. The job changed Ford’s life. “It was terrifying because it was such a big show. Suddenly, I couldn’t do all the regular chorus-line jobs I did before, and in the first year I was probably out of pocket. But it led to such great opportunities. I was incredibly lucky to have that time and I am privileged to have worked with Bruce on that show,” she says. After her Generation Game turn, she went on to host Come Dancing for seven years.
She admits that watching the new hosts will be strange, and hopes that classic Generation Game staples such as the cuddly toy and the potter’s wheel will be included in the new incarnation. One element she does think is outdated, however, is the attractive female hostess role that she played – a job that she believes should now be retired.
“The new version has two female presenters, so I assume there won’t be a hostess, but I think that was very much of a time anyway. I never had a problem being the glamorous assistant and people still like glamour if its done in the right way, but we live in a different era now and, in light of what is happening in the entertainment industry and the rest of the world, we have to be careful.”
The Generation Game is on BBC One tomorrow at 8pm
‘I never had a problem being the glam assistant, but we live in a different era now’