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The Grand Knockout Tournament was
without doubt the most prestigious edition of It's A Knockout
transmitted in Great Britain. Staged at Alton Towers on Monday
15th June 1987 and transmitted on BBC1 on Friday of the same week, the event
was, bar one further edition a year later, the last hurrah for It's A
Knockout.
Aside from the caché of having the involvement of members of the British Royal
Family and major national and international celebrities, this special
programme was notable in that it was recorded for posterity in not one but two
books that were published in 1987 (three if you include the Souvenir
Programme, which can be
downloaded from JSFnetGB). No other IAK
event could claim likewise!
The
two books, both from Collins, were this one, The Grand Knockout Tournament,
a paperback with mainly pictorial content, and a hardcover,
Knockout - The
Grand Charity Tournament, which consisted of more in-depth
behind-the-scenes content.
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 The
book, The Grand Knockout Tournament, was published by Fontana, an
imprint of Collins, and features an
introduction by HRH The Prince Edward, but is otherwise uncredited with an
author's name. The 64 page paperback is reproduced in full colour throughout
and is lavishly illustrated with 108 photographs from the event. These
photographs are the highlight of the book, as the accompanying text is not
extensive (the hardcover book Knockout - The Grand Charity Tournament
does a better job in this department), but the event is covered in sufficient
detail for the book to be more than just a photograph album.
In all, this is an effective companion volume to the other
book, but if you only have room for one Grand Knockout book in your
collection, we'd recommend the other one, which is more detailed, contains
information about how the event came together, and is a glossier production
all round. Both books turn up from time to time on eBay and other such online
auction and marketplace sites, and are not expensive to purchase.
by Alan Hayes |
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