The Price Is Right is a British television game show based on the American version of the same name. It originally aired on ITV from 24 March 1984 to 8 April 1988 and was hosted by Leslie Crowther. The show later briefly moved to Sky One for one series as The New Price Is Right from 4 September 1989 to 31 August 1990 with Bob Warman as the host.
The show returned to ITV, as Bruce's Price Is Right, from 4 September 1995 to 16 December 2001, with Bruce Forsyth hosting for seven series consisting of 116 episodes. Another series aired from 8 May 2006 until 12 January 2007, this time hosted by Joe Pasquale. Two one-off specials aired as part of ITV's Gameshow Marathon in September 2005 and April 2007. On 30 December 2017, it was revived for a one-off pilot hosted by Alan Carr on Channel 4.
In June 2019, it was announced that The Price Is Right had been chosen as one of the country's five all-time favourite game shows to be "supersized and rebooted" in new series Alan Carr's Epic Gameshow commissioned by ITV. A seven-episode series was filmed at dock10 studios and broadcast in May 2020.
Crowther era (The Price Is Right)
Leslie Crowther hosted the original UK version, having beaten Joe Brown to the role of host after both recorded pilot episodes. It was also notable for being produced by William G. Stewart (of later Fifteen to One fame), who made the occasional cameo appearance. The Crowther version is popular with fans of the show for its near-campiness, frenetic pace, glamour, and the endearing presentation skills of its host, not for its cheaper prizes (which were forced on it by the Independent Broadcasting Authority's prize limits). Its format was nearly identical to that of CBS's daytime show in the United States. It initially used the Big Wheel to decide who would go through to the Range Finder (Scoring 100 won £500 and a bonus spin which awarded an additional £1,000 for spinning 100 or £250 for landing on an adjacent section), but the IBA forced Central to abandon this because of the lack of pricing skill involved. While the show had to go off air for a while during its first season due to an electricians' strike, the format was adapted to fit into a much more tightly regulated UK broadcasting environment.
After this ruling was made, the show replaced the Big Wheel rounds with a game called "Supermarket", a game loosely based on the American version's "Grocery Game" pricing game. The three contestants were shown an assortment of small retail items, such as groceries or hardware, and had 15 seconds to select up to four apiece. Duplicates of each item were provided to allow multiple contestants to select the same one if desired; however, contestants could take no more than one of any item. The prices of the chosen items were revealed and added up, and the contestant who came the closest to £20 (high or low) advanced to the Showcase.
Series two saw the Big Wheel return for a spin-off to see who would have the option of bidding or passing on the first showcase; each contestant had to take two spins. If a person scored 100, £400 would be donated to charity on their behalf, and Leslie would ask the person a consumer-related question to win £100 for him/herself. The winner was the contestant who came closer to 100 in either direction.
The Crowther version later replaced Supermarket and the Big Wheel called with the "Showcase Showdown", where all six on-stage contestants played a series of estimated-guess questions and the person farthest away from the actual prize was eliminated. This was done until the last two contestants were left, and they then advanced to the Range Finder (by now simply called the "Showcase Final".)
The final round, the Range Finder, was played largely the same way as on the Showcase finale on the American version. In the first season, the winner would not win the largest prize in their showcase if their winning guess was not within 10% of the showcase total. In subsequent seasons, the game was played with 1972–74 United States rules (no Double Showcase rule), while it did use the rule for a double overbid.
Pricing Games
Any Number (used numbers 1–9 with all values having three digits each) Bargain Bar ("Barker's Bargain Bar" in the U.S.) Blank Cheque (Now known as "Check Game" in the U.S.) Bonus Game (The) Card Game Check-Out Cliffhanger ("Cliff Hangers" in the U.S.) (The) Clock Game Danger Price (only the non-Danger Price items can be won) Dice Game Escalator ("Walk of Fame" in the U.S., except only one prize could be won; the player had to choose whether to keep the last item won or try for the next one) Five Price Tags Give or Keep Hi Lo (played with small prizes instead of grocery items.) Hole in One Lucky 7 (played with seven £1 coins for a prize with a three-digit price.) Master Key Matchmaker (not based on any U.S. game; a pricing game in name only, as it actually involved memory, with six prizes available.) Money Game (played for a vehicle with a three-digit price. Also, there is no consolation prize like the US version, making the game name an artifact) Most Expensive (an original game later introduced in the US as "Easy as 1, 2, 3"; not the U.S.'s "Most Expensive"; contestants only won the most expensive prize.) One Away Partners (loosely based on The Phone Home Game.) The Penny Drops ("Penny Ante" in the U.S.) Permutation (not based on any U.S. game; played much like Balance Game II.) Pick-a-Pair (played with small prizes instead of grocery items.) Punch a Bunch (contestant won the chance to win cash prizes from a collection of hidden IOU's behind a screen, if they chose an IOU of zero value, the game ended) Race Game (contestant had to match the prices of four prizes to cards given by Crowther against the clock in 45 seconds) Range Game Safecracker ("Safe Crackers" in the U.S.) Secret X (contestant has three chances to win up to two X's in addition to the one given at the outset.) Side by Side (not based on any US game; not related to the U.S.'s Side by Side in any way.) Squeeze Play (played for a three-digit prize; players remove two numbers instead of one from a set of five digits or one number from a set of four.) Switcheroo (played for four two-digit prizes and one three-digit prize.) Take Two Temptation Ten Chances (played for two two-digit prizes and one three-digit prize.) 3 in a Row (not based on any U.S. game; played for a three-digit prize, using a grid of nine two-digit prizes.) 3 Strikes Tic~Tac~Toe (functionally a variation on Joker with the pricing portion of On the Nose.) Time-Play (a variation on Clock Game; played for three three-digit prizes in ascending order of price.) Trade Up ("Trader Bob" in the U.S.)
Announcer Simon Prebble (1984–1988)
Models Marie-Elise Grepne (1984–1985) Jacqueline Bucknell (1984–1986) Julia Roberts (1984–1986) Denise Kelly (1984–1988) Sandra Easby (1985) Cindy Day (1986–1988) Carol Greenwood (1986–1988) Gillian de Terville (1986–1988) Elsa O'Toole (1986) Judy Bailey (1986–1988) Laura Calland (1987–1988) Sarah Wynter (1988)
Warman era (The New Price Is Right)
The second version hosted by Bob Warman is considered to be a precursor to the third version hosted by Bruce Forsyth, as it was a half-hour and used the Showcase range game. Having premiered shortly after Leslie Crowther's version went off the air, it retained many elements from the set and props, but was somewhat "Americanized". The show was hence called "The New Price Is Right" and had a red, yellow and green pound sign. The Warman version also had slightly better and more expensive prizes than the Crowther version due to the program's shorter length, in-show sponsorship, and lighter government regulation of satellite television channels. The show also had a light border in the opening (mimicking the American version), used US music (including the opening theme, the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour theme and Concentration car cues, to name a few), and had more colour on the set.
The Showcase round was played considerably differently: After three games and a single Showcase Showdown at the Big Wheel (in which spinning 100 earned a bonus spin worth a bonus prize), the Showdown winner selected a range at random from £250 to £1,000; if the bid was within the selected range of the price of the presented showcase without going over, they won the Showcase.
Pricing Games Bargain Bar Cliffhanger Danger Price Five Price Tags (played with grocery items, and players are given a free pick at the start.) Hi Lo Lucky 7 (played with seven tokens.) Money Game (played for a car, as in America.) Pick-a-Pair (played with grocery items.) Plinko Race Game Side by Side (not based on any American pricing game, including "Side by Side".) Switcheroo Temptation Ten Chances
Announcers Bobby Bragg Al Sherwin
Models Suzie Marlowe Tracie Williams Katrina Maltby Julie Broster Peitra Caston
Forsyth era (Bruce's Price Is Right)
When it started in 1995, Bruce's Price Is Right was one of the first shows to fully take advantage of the Independent Television Commission's lifting of the prize limits and the general deregulation of the UK broadcasting environment. The Showcase Showdown was played on the Big Wheel (objections to lack of skill no longer being a factor), with the highest-scoring contestant on one spin or a combination of two spins going through to the Range Finder, and any contestant who scored 100 on one spin or a combination of two spins would win £1,000. The ranges for the Range Finder in this version went from £1,000 to £5,000. (Unlike the other three versions, this version did not involve any bonus spin.)
Although, it was only in a half-hour format with three pricing games per show (the Crowther show had been an hour long with six games), it still gave away more valuable prizes each week than the previous ITV version had done (for example, it was possible for a contestant to win two cars, one in a pricing game and one in the showcase, which would have been utterly unthinkable on British TV in the 1980s). Cars offered were usually superminis, from makers like Daihatsu and Daewoo, or models like a Ford Ka or Mazda Demio, but small sports cars like a Hyundai Accent or Vauxhall Tigra were offered on occasion.
On the Forsyth version, the game Plinko was played to very different rules from the US version; considerably less money could be won, and contestants could risk their cash winnings on one final Plinko chip in hopes of adding a car or other large prize to their winnings (the cash spaces on the board were replaced with alternating "WIN" and "LOSE" tags). Landing on "LOSE" would lose all the money accumulated, while landing on "WIN" won the car or other large prize plus the money. (Ant and Dec's Gameshow Marathon used these rules for their playing of Plinko, with an extra choice of a pound sign in addition to "WIN" and "LOSE", so that landing in the pound sign slot would double the winnings. Vernon Kay's extra chip, however, landed in a "WIN" slot.)
Many European versions of the show that debuted after the Forsyth version based their games and sound cues on that show. The main theme, an update of the US theme, and the "come on down" music are from the short-lived 1994 US syndicated version.
Forsyth initially opened this version with a modified version of his trademark line of "Nice to see you, to see you...NICE!" (where the audience yells the word "nice" at the end) adding "...and it's nice to meet the stars of our show, whoever you are!" In later series the original line was used, followed by "Let's meet the stars of our show, whoever you are!"
The Forsyth incarnation was a co-production between Yorkshire Television and Fremantle (UK) Productions (formerly Talbot Television), and not made by Central like its predecessor.
Pricing games Introduced in series 1 (1995) Cliffhanger ("Cliff Hangers" in the US; contestants were told that the prices increased as the game progressed.)