Sale of The Century Wiki
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Hosts
Nicholas Parsons (1971-1983)
Steve Jones (1981 Celebrity Special)
Peter Marshall (1989-1991)
Keith Chegwin (1997-1998)
Hostesses
Linda Hooks (1977)
Angela Daniels (1977)
Sneh Gupta (1977)
Tina Robinson (1977-1978)
Sophie Batchelor (1978)
Eunice Denny (1978)
Laura Beaumont (1978)
Caro Greenwood (1978)
Christine Owen (1978)
Caroline Villiers (1978)
Carole Ashby (1983)
Karen Loughlin (1983)
Jennifer Cresswell
Announcers
Peter Marshall (1971-1972)
John Benson (1972-1983)
Martin Buchanan (1989-1990)
Robin Houston (1998-1999)
Broadcast
SaleUKOriginalLogo
Saleuk1
Saleuk2
Anglia (Weekly): 20 November 1971 - 13 November 1983
SOTC UK (1989)
Saleofthecentury 1990a
Sky One (Daily): 6 February 1989 - 1990
Sale Of The Century UK 1998
Challenge (Daily): 5 March 1998 - 1999
Packagers
Anglia (1971-1983)
Reg Grundy Productions (1989-1990, 1998-1999)

This is about the British version of Sale of the Century. It premiered two years after the US version premiered and ended the same year the US version returned.

Gameplay[]

Three contestants competed in each edition, but the rules varied depending on the version.

ITV[]

Three contestants would start off with £15 (£10 in the first four series). Questions were worth different values starting with £1, increasing to £3 after the second instant bargain, and finally £5 after the fourth; in the late 1970s, the values started at £3 but increased to £5 after the fourth instant bargain. The question was asked and players could buzz in at any time. Correct answers would add the money to their score and incorrect answers subtracted the money from their score with only one player allowed to buzz in on each question. If a contestant ran out of money at any time, they were eliminated from further play, but were allowed to remain in their seat for the remainder of the show.

Instant Bargain/Sale[]

At four points during gameplay (later five), all contestants would be offered the opportunity to purchase merchandise at a bargain price. The first player to buzz in after the prize was revealed purchased that prize. (In so doing, a "losing" contestant might not advance to go shopping at the end of the show, but could leave the show with a considerable haul for one day's play.)

In the early days, the prices of all prizes offered were expressed much as one would hear in a department store (i.e. in pounds and pence). All prize values were rounded off to the nearest pound before being subtracted from the score of the contestant who purchased the prize (later on, prizes were in full pounds and increased as the game progressed). Each instant bargain was hidden behind a curtain; the announcer would mention the price, and then the curtain would open as the prize was revealed. If a contestant buzzed in before the curtain opened, it was declared "No Sale", the contestant would have the price deducted from his/her score (but not win the prize), and the other contestants could then buzz in.

Also during the early ITV series, an "Open Sale" was offered just before the commercial break, in which a number of smaller gifts were offered for less than £5 each. In this situation, more than one player could buy a given gift, and a player could buy any or all of the prizes on offer. They could even buy two or more of some items. By 1977, Open Sale had been replaced by an instant bargain.

Sky Channel[]

Each contestant started with £20 and each question was worth a flat £5. In addition, there were only three "Instant Sales" (renamed Gift Shops), and only the contestant in the lead could buy; depending on the game situation, the host could reduce the cost in order to entice the contestant to purchase (in case of a tie for the lead, a Dutch auction was usually conducted for the prize, although sometimes the price remained the same).

Fame Game[]

The biggest change was the "Fame Game": Here, a succession of increasingly larger clues were given to the identity of a famous person, place, or event. In this round, contestants could buzz-in and answer at any time, with the player shut out for the remainder of the question if they gave an incorrect answer.

If one of the contestants buzzed-in and answered correctly, the contestant chose from a game board with nine squares. If all three contestants failed to come up with a right answer, then nobody got to pick. Once chosen, the space selected would be spun around to reveal either a relatively small prize (typically appliances or furniture valued at around a weekly wage) or a bonus money card, which added to the player's score.

There were £10, £15, and £25 bonuses added each round; in addition, in the third round was a "Wild Card", which offered the choice of £100 or a chance to pick again.

Speed Round[]

The game ended with the Speed Round where the host would ask as many questions as possible within 60 seconds. The player with the most money when time ran out won the game.

If there was a tie for the lead after the Speed Round, another question was asked of the tied contestants. Answering this question awarded £5 and the win; missing the question deducted £5 and lost the game.

Challenge[]

This version was a combination of the previous two. All scores were in "Sale of the Century Pounds" (SotC£). Contestants were given SotC£15 to start. There were five rounds with eight questions worth SotC£1 in Round 1, eight questions worth SotC£3 in both Rounds 2 and 3, eight questions worth SotC£5 in Round 4, and eight to twelve questions worth SotC£5 in Round 5. In the fourth and fifth rounds, the questions were a bit more difficult.

Instant Bargain/Sale[]

There were five "Instant Bargains/Instant Sales", each occurring at the end of each round. Like on ITV, all three contestants could buy the prize, and like on the Sky Channel, the host could reduce the cost in order to entice the contestants to purchase.

Speed Round[]

Played in the exact same way as on the Sky Channel.


On the first two versions, losing contestants kept their money and any prizes won during the game. On Challenge, however, the Sale of the Century Pounds were not real money, meaning contestants who didn't win any Instant Bargains/Sales would go home with unmentioned consolation prizes.

Shopping (All Versions)[]

The winning contestant would be given the opportunity to spend their cash total on at least one of four grand prizes at the "Sale of the Century"; the grand prize being a new car.

On the original version, champions could buy more than one prize, but no more than £1,000 (incresed to £2,000 in 1977, and £3,500 in 1981); however, they could never buy every prize at less than the total of all of the sale prices. Originally, the new champion could purchase a prize and leave or return the next week, but must purchase a prize and retire upon winning twice. In Late 1977, the car was eliminated as a buyable prize, for now the champion, provided they won the game with £140 or more, could choose to shop or answer a possible four of five questions, with no risk, to win the car.

On the 1989–1991 and 1997 versions, there were a series of six prizes (five in 1997) and as the contestant's score built up, it applied to the next highest prize, with a car again being the top prize, which was available for £585 (£500 in 1997). Unlike the ITV version, they could only buy a single prize and leave or risk it and come back.

Notable Contestants[]

  • Elizabeth Page (January 1972)
    • One of the earliest surviving episodes featured Elizabeth as a winning contestant, who finished with a low winning score of £29, barely enough to afford either a radiogram (combination radio and record turntable) for £26 (normal price £215) or a mink coat for £28.75 (normal price £290).
    • At that time - as with the original American version - winning contestants had the option of risking their winning score and play for a larger prize the following week; this was discontinued in 1977.
  • David St. John (1982)
    • On his appearance, David wasn't able to play for the car but won a pair of mopeds
    • He also appeared in the first British heat of the Australian Ashes tournament in 1986, but lost to Daphne Folwer (then Daphne Hudson)
    • In 2014, Guinness World Records recognised David as having made the most TV quiz appearances as a contestant (34 appearances between 1982 and 2013).
  • Daphne Fowler (then Daphne Hudson, 1983)
    • On her appearance, Daphne finished her episode with a score of £148, enabling her to play for (and eventually win) the jackpot prize of a Mini Mark IV
    • Daphne also appeared on three tournaments on the Australian version of Sale (The Ashes in 1986, the 1987 World Championship and the 1988 World Championship)
    • From 2003 to 2014, Daphne regularly appeared as one of the Eggheads on the British TV show of the same name.
  • Yvonne Thomas (18 September 1983)
    • On her appearance, Yvonne finished her episode with a score of £205, acknowledged at the time as "almost (the) highest" score in the show's history; she eventually won the jackpot prize of a Talbot Samba.
    • It should be noted that Yvonne's final score was mostly possible due to contestant Brian Taylor being eliminated halfway through the episode as his score went below £0.

Pics[]

See Also[]

Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon

Links[]

Sale of the Century @ UKGameshows.com

YouTube Videos[]

Eggheads' Daphne Fowler
Mike the Champ I
Mike the Champ III
Gordon Beattie

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