Published by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1971, Games from It's A Knockout is the earliest British book about the series that we've been able to track down.

The book takes the form of a small novel-sized publication, folded and stapled along the spine. Games from It's A Knockout runs to 52 pages including covers and was written and compiled by Brian Clark, a member of the BBC production team, who is only credited as the book's author in series producer Barney Colehan's introduction.

Colehan's introduction to the book remarks upon the public's interest in organising their own games and the constant flow of letters he has received on the subject as producer of It's A Knockout. He goes on to advise that although the games have been tested on the series, some may contain small elements of risk and that  supervision of children in particular would be sensible.

Next up is a six-page history of It's A Knockout, which takes in Top Town, Intervilles, Jeux Sans Frontières as well as the domestic British series. This proves quite an illuminating document...

The history is divided into two sections - 'How It All Started' and 'Behind the Scenes'. The first plots the route from Top Town to It's A Knockout, while the second begins with a piece of advice that implies that IAK doesn't always run to Queensbury rules... "You've got to be crafty in It's A Knockout." It goes on to describe how "rule bending" has helped teams win games in the past, including this classic: "A game involving mini-tractors led to a protest in rehearsals from the British team. who alleged that the German mini-tractor was better than the rest because it was always going faster. Nonsense, they were told, all the tractors were identical. During the night, certain members of the British team crept into the games site and swapped the 'D' sign on the German tractor for a 'GB' sign. Sure enough, the British tractor romped home way ahead of the rest." There are lots more where that came from, too! It's worth hunting down a copy of the book for this chapter alone. Copies often appear on eBay.co.uk.

Before the main section of the book, there is one last page of information, this time giving brief biographical details about The Presenters - Arthur Ellis, David Vine and Eddie Waring. Fascinating facts: in 1971, former football referee, Arthur Ellis was working as a brewery representative and lived in Halifax; David Vine was apparently too busy commentating on sports events and presenting It's A Knockout and A Question of Sport to see much of his Berkshire village home; and Eddie Waring had by then made seven round-the-world trips and had "appeared on television in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Bermuda".

The rest of the book concerns itself with ideas for games that can be played at home or staged in the open. Each features brief instructions and rules, along with a line drawing depicting how it should be played. There are 35 games described and illustrated in all, and if Barney Colehan's introduction is accurate in its claim, all these had by 1971 been used on It's A Knockout. With names like 'Fireball', 'Your Life in their Hands' and 'Log Sawing', perhaps Colehan's friendly warning about risks in his introduction was entirely expedient!

A fascinating read and an essential part of an It's A Knockout memorabilia collection.

by Alan Hayes