Who wants to know what the top quiz is?

Published on Thursday 24 January 2008 21:00

QUESTION: Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

ANSWER: We all do, says a survey of the nation's favourite TV game shows.

The quiz show, in which participants can win 1 million by correctly answering general knowledge questions, was voted best of its kind ever by British viewers.

Old favourites Mastermind and University Challenge, in third and fifth place respectively, were pipped to the post by Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, hosted by Chris Tarrant.

Deal or No Deal came in second, while the activity challenge show Crystal Maze was fourth and Countdown was sixth.

Saturday Night Takeaway took seventh place and The Weakest Link was eighth, with Fifteen-to-One and Catchphrase ninth and tenth.

However, quiz presenters did not always fare as well as their programmes.

Quizzed on their favourite hosts, viewers were less keen on the personalities whose names were linked to the top shows.

Tarrant came fifth in the list of all-time favourite game show host, in the research by Churchill Insurance to launch ads styled on a quiz-show format.

Double act Ant and Dec were named favourite presenters – from their shows Saturday Night Takeaway and I'm a Celebrity – but the rest of the list was dominated by veterans.

Noel Edmonds, whose career has been revived by Channel 4's Deal or No Deal was second, followed by Mastermind quizmaster, the late Magnus Magnusson, and Bruce Forsyth, who has presented a string of game shows.

Tarrant may have seen his own popularity suffer after becoming as famous in recent years for his stormy marriage split as his on-screen catchphrases, such as "Is that your final answer?"

The children's favourite Blockbusters was voted to have spawned the best catchphrase of all time – "Can I have a P please, Bob?"

Other favourite phrases included "You are the weakest link. Goodbye", as Anne Robinson bids farewell to failed contestants on The Weakest Link, and "I've started so I'll finish", from the long-running Mastermind.

Appropriately, two of the best-known catchphrases are from the show Catchphrase – "Say what you see" and "It's good, but it's not right", used even when contestants are nowhere near guessing the answer.

The favourite theme tune was from darts-based Bullseye, and the top ten also includes the bouncy tune from 1970s favourite It's A Knockout and the catchy lyric from Blankety Blank.

According to the research, 35 per cent of viewers want an intellectually challenging game show and only 32 per cent care if the presenter is charismatic.

Only 1 per cent believe a show needs celebrity contestants, as featured in the most recent series of Family Fortunes and special editions of The Weakest Link and Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Churchill spokeswoman Abi Clark said: "TV game shows have always been a great source of entertainment for all the family.

"It's great to see modern shows, such as Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, topping the charts and proving the British game show is as popular as ever."

TOP GAME-SHOW MOMENTS

&#149 CAB driver Fred Housego became famous after winning Mastermind in 1980, despite having left school with only one O-level.

&#149 Major Charles Ingram was found guilty of cheating on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? in 2003 through coded coughs.

&#149 A contestant on Family Fortunes, when asked to name a bird with a long neck, famously replied: "Naomi Campbell."

&#149 In 1987, the Royal Family took part in a special It's a Knockout for charity.

&#149 A contestant on 3-2-1 was asked who composed Handel's Water Music and replied: "Chopin."