Series synopsis
Blankety Blank is a British comedy family television series that premiered on ITV1 on January 18, 1979. It ended on August 17, 2002. It stars Terry Wogan, Les Dawson, Paul O'Grady and Richard Madeley.
Blankety Blank is a British comedy game show based on the 1977–1979 Australian game show Blankety Blanks.
The British version ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC One, hosted first by Terry Wogan and later by Les Dawson. Regular members of the celebrity panel on this version included Kenny Everett, Lorraine Chase, Gareth Hunt, Gary Davies, and Cheryl Baker.
A revival fronted by Lily Savage was produced by the BBC from 26 December 1997 to 28 December 1999, followed by ITV from 7 Jan ...
Premise
Blankety Blank is a British comedy game show based on the 1977–1979 Australian game show Blankety Blanks.
The British version ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC One, hosted first by Terry Wogan and later by Les Dawson. Regular members of the celebrity panel on this version included Kenny Everett, Lorraine Chase, Gareth Hunt, Gary Davies, and Cheryl Baker.
A revival fronted by Lily Savage was produced by the BBC from 26 December 1997 to 28 December 1999, followed by ITV from 7 January 2001 to 10 August 2002. This version was produced by Grundy, then Thames.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Terry Wogan as Self - Presenter
- Les Dawson as Self - Presenter
- Paul O'Grady as Lily Savage - Presenter
- Richard Madeley
- Kenny Everett
- June Whitfield as Self
- Sandra Dickinson
- Roy Barraclough
Supporting cast
- Malandra Burrows
- Liza Goddard as Self
- Anthea Turner
- Anna Dawson as Self
- Jane Danson
- Will Mellor
- Elizabeth Carling
- Jack Douglas as Self
- Beryl Reid as Self
- Tim Vincent
- Andi Peters
- Thora Hird
Guest cast
Episodes
This series spans 18 seasons with 299 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 13 | April 1, 1978 | December 4, 1997 |
| Season 1 | 16 | January 18, 1979 | May 10, 1979 |
| Season 2 | 17 | September 6, 1979 | December 25, 1979 |
| Season 3 | 16 | September 4, 1980 | December 26, 1980 |
| Season 4 | 17 | September 3, 1981 | December 26, 1981 |
| Season 5 | 14 | September 4, 1982 | December 27, 1982 |
| Season 6 | 15 | September 3, 1983 | December 25, 1983 |
| Season 7 | 14 | September 7, 1984 | December 25, 1984 |
| Season 8 | 11 | January 11, 1985 | March 26, 1985 |
| Season 9 | 22 | September 6, 1985 | March 21, 1986 |
| Season 10 | 22 | September 5, 1986 | April 3, 1987 |
| Season 11 | 22 | September 18, 1987 | February 29, 1988 |
| Season 12 | 12 | September 9, 1988 | December 16, 1988 |
| Season 13 | 21 | September 7, 1989 | March 12, 1990 |
| Season 14 | 14 | December 26, 1997 | September 19, 1998 |
| Season 15 | 13 | June 26, 1999 | December 28, 1999 |
| Season 16 | 20 | January 7, 2001 | June 10, 2001 |
| Season 17 | 20 | May 4, 2002 | August 17, 2002 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pilot Episode 1 | April 1, 1978 |
| 2 | Pilot Episode 2 | April 4, 1978 |
| 3 |
Wogan's Best Of Blankety Blank - Episode 1 Weekday series in which Terry Wogan recalls memorable episodes of the celebrity panel gameshow. |
November 17, 1997 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Series 1, Show 1 George Baker, Lennie Bennett, Lorraine Chase, Judy Cornwell, Wendy Craig, Bill Tidy. |
January 18, 1979 |
| 2 |
Series 1, Show 2 Wendy Craig, Shirley Anne Field, David Hamilton, Karen Kay, Ron Moody, Patrick Moore. |
January 25, 1979 |
| 3 |
Series 1, Show 3 Jack Douglas, Beryl Reid, Ian Wallace, Diane Keen, Michael Parkinson, Lorraine Chase. |
February 1, 1979 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Series 2, Show 1 | September 6, 1979 |
| 2 | Series 2, Show 2 | September 13, 1979 |
| 3 | Series 2, Show 3 | September 20, 1979 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Series 3, Show 1 | September 4, 1980 |
| 2 | Series 3, Show 2 | September 11, 1980 |
| 3 | Series 3, Show 3 | September 18, 1980 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Series 4, Show 1 | September 3, 1981 |
| 2 |
Series 4, Show 2 Kenny Everett, David Hamilton, Sally James, Derek Nimmo, Wendy Richard, June Whitfleld. |
September 10, 1981 |
| 3 | Series 4, Show 3 | September 17, 1981 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Series 5, Show 1 | September 4, 1982 |
| 2 | Series 5, Show 2 | September 11, 1982 |
| 3 | Series 5, Show 3 | September 18, 1982 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Series 6, Show 1 | September 3, 1983 |
| 2 | Series 6, Show 2 | September 10, 1983 |
| 3 | Series 6, Show 3 | September 17, 1983 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Series 7, Show 1 | September 7, 1984 |
| 2 |
Series 7, Show 2 Janet Ellis, Roy Hudd, Karen Kay, Matthew Kelly, Ted Rogers, Lizzie Webb. |
September 14, 1984 |
| 3 | Series 7, Show 3 | September 21, 1984 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Show 1 Les is thrown when two contestants are identical twins, yet soldiers on with what he calls a "garbage" show. Meanwhile, will Des Lynam ever forgive Les for getting his name wrong? |
January 11, 1985 |
| 2 |
Show 2 "Don't compound the felony!" Les tells contestant Brian Black after he tries to explain one particularly bad answer. With Les complaining that he's an "idiot" who has brought "boredom" to the show, will the other contestants fare better? |
January 18, 1985 |
| 3 |
Show 3 A high-scoring game, but with prizes that no one wants to win, and a panel of celebrities that Les calls "a theatrical knacker's yard". |
January 25, 1985 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Show 1 | September 6, 1985 |
| 2 | Show 2 | September 13, 1985 |
| 3 | Show 3 | September 20, 1985 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Show 1 | September 5, 1986 |
| 2 | Show 2 | September 12, 1986 |
| 3 | Show 3 | September 19, 1986 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Show 1 | September 18, 1987 |
| 2 | Show 2 | September 25, 1987 |
| 3 | Show 3 | October 2, 1987 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Show 1 | September 9, 1988 |
| 2 | Show 2 | September 16, 1988 |
| 3 | Show 3 | October 7, 1988 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Show 1 | September 7, 1989 |
| 2 | Show 2 | September 14, 1989 |
| 3 | Show 3 | September 21, 1989 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Christmas Special Blankety Blank returns to the BBC for a Christmas Special, hosted by the fictional creation of sharp-tongued Lily Savage (Paul O'Grady). Joining Lily are six celebrities new to the series, including Liz Dawn, Gareth Hale and Gwen Taylor. |
December 26, 1997 |
| 2 | Series 13, Show 1 | May 8, 1998 |
| 3 | Series 13, Show 2 | May 15, 1998 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Series 14, Show 1 | June 26, 1999 |
| 2 | Series 14, Show 2 | July 3, 1999 |
| 3 | Series 14, Show 3 | July 10, 1999 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode 1 Lily Savage returns with Blankety Blank after a 17-month absence from the screen - yet this time, it's with ITV. Lily welcomes five celebrities new to the quiz to usher in the change, with only Keith Duffy having appeared before. |
January 7, 2001 |
| 2 |
Episode 2 Lily welcomes four celebrities brand new to the panel: Jayne Middlemiss, Billy Murray, Steve Penk and Stuart Miles. Among the contestants is Tom Roberts, a man who took part in the D-Day landings. |
January 14, 2001 |
| 3 |
Episode 3 It seems as if Lily's finally starting to get the show's "gentle innuendo" format, noting that questions give the temptation to say "something rude". However, it's not long before she's telling the teatime audience of her inauspicious past |
January 21, 2001 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode 1 Lily wears a football-themed outfit to start off the new series and welcome another Savage to the show - Leicester City midfielder Robbie. |
May 4, 2002 |
| 2 |
Episode 2 Melanie Kilburn makes her debut on the panel, while Tina Hobley and Oz Clarke make their sole appearances. |
May 11, 2002 |
| 3 |
Episode 3 "I can't bear that kind of thing" says Lily, after being told one of the contestants used to work with drag queens. Neil Fox and Coleen Nolan make their only appearance, but are joined by some of Lily's regulars, including John Leslie. |
May 18, 2002 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | ITV1 |
|---|---|
| First aired | January 18, 1979 |
| Last aired | August 17, 2002 |
| Runtime | 30 minutes |
| Status | ended |