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It is true now that game shows are universally crap. Just have a look round the schedules and you’ll find such nightmares as Holding out for a Hero hosted by charisma vacuum Gethin Jones in which money is actively taken away from charities or High Stakes a game involving risk and knowledge which features Jeremy Kyle actually trying to be nice.

That got me thinking to the game shows of my youth growing up in the 1980s and 1990s I was privy to a golden era of game shows that were actually good so I thought my first top ten list here on boob.ie should be of those game shows from that era. The rules were simple the game had to feature in the Wikipedia list of British game shows and the majority of its run had to be between 1980 and 1999.

One more note is that the years given are when the original version of the show ran as many of these have been reformatted with different hosts which never works and part of the majesty of the game show is what the host brings to it, that’s enough of me prattling on here’s the list:

10. Going for Gold

Originally aired: BBC1 1987-1996
Hosted by: Henry Kelly

Why it was great: A show I remember airing sometime after the lunchtime edition of Neighbours, the programme basically saw contestants from all over Europe compete for a trip somewhere near Korea. The beauty of the programme that a lot of the foreigners didn’t have a brilliant grip on English and Henry Kelly’s thick Irish accent sometime made it hard for them to understand the questions. While this was only really limited to different interpretations of the question and answer format the fact that the contestants were shipped in added to the naffness. I also liked the fact that Kelly took his role incredibly seriously and always donned a dinner jacket for the grand final.

Was there a rubbish remake? : Yeah Channel Five revived the formula in 2008 with John Suchet which basically became a way for the Channel to promote their premium phone number quizzes.

Useless Trivia: Gladiator and Inception composer Hans Zimmer created the iconic theme music.

9. Supermarket Sweep

Originally Aired: ITV 1993-2001
Hosted by: Dale Winton

Why it was great: In the days before the ghastly Mr. Kyle the pre-This Morning slot used to be filled by this colourfully camp game show hosted by the equally camp Dale Winton. While the quiz portion of the programme was fairly dull the second half sweep more than made up to it. With their Day-Glo sweaters on three contestants would zoom round the store trying to get the priciest items possible as well as making a stop at the pick and mix and getting one of those big inflatable bananas. Although it was so silly I love how serious the rules were – you weren’t allowed more the three of each item and any droppage would cost you a £25 penalty. The main reason why I loved this though is that, although this was set in a real-life supermarket, it was other-worldly and I think everybody who watched it secretly wanted to do a dash round their local Asda.

Was there a rubbish remake?: Well it did come back but luckily with Dale and more money was on often the only problem here was it was a lot more self-aware than it was in the mid-1990s.

Useless Trivia: Keith Chegwin turned down the host’s role obviously he thought Naked Jungle was a better option.