Pendroffobia
Contents |
Host
Huw Llyr
Co-hosts
Snichyn: Wynford Elis Owen
Broadcast
HTV Cymru for S4C, 9 January 1998 to 1999 (2 series)
Synopsis
If ever there was a case of style over substance on a regional game show, this was it (well, this and Tipit). A basic general knowledge quiz for schools played on a waltzer supposedly controlled by 'Snichyn' (some shouty actor in a voiceover booth with a painted black and white face).
Fourteen teams of three - seven teams from each school - would take part in two rounds to start with, after which, the shouty actor would eliminate one team from each school by speeding up the waltzer. (Cue footage of jeering kids' locked up in a dungeon set). A multiple-choice question would follow - at which point, any teams who got it wrong were eliminated.
The remaining teams went onto a true or false round. Up until then, each correct answer was worth a point. However at the end of round three, these scores were multiplied by five. The best performing teams from each school would move onto play the final - the rest of them were banished to a jeering scene by way of elimination.
The teams were joined by their teachers for the final round - another basic general knowledge quiz worth five points for each correct answer. Winners recieved a prize pack worth £300 while runners up recieved a goody bag.
Really, you can do all this without actor, waltzer or necessary scare factor. This turned out to be one of HTV's last Welsh language kids' productions.
Key moments
A few assistants were always at hand on the waltzer to man the microphones for the contestants...presumably, union & safety rules were still paramount at Culverhouse Cross back then.
Trivia
The title translates roughly as Headspin-phobia.
Nominated in 1998 for Best Entertainment at the Children's BAFTA Awards.
Catchphrases
Pendro-ffa-ffa-ffa-ffa-ffa-ffobia!
