Recently, I had the very good fortune to view the International German Heat from the 1979 Jeux Sans Frontières television series. In all its glorious colour, with Stuart Hall commentary, I was able to relive the programme that had aired for the one and only time on BBC television on Tuesday 16th October 1979.

Watching Jeux Sans Frontières after all these years was an incredible feeling. I remembered so many things so clearly, and long forgotten games entertained me once again. The theme of the programme was the open air festival and the Bonn audience were incredibly enthusiastic and really got behind the German Team. They were, however, also very friendly towards the other nations. This brought back to me the concept that Jeux Sans Frontières really were the “friendly” games. International rivalry in a friendly competition. What a delicious combination.

The games took on that familiar pattern of yesteryear – the 1st game had 1 heat, the 2nd game 4 heats, the 3rd game 2 heats, and so on. The costumes and props for each game were wonderful - I had long forgotten the waiters on the swinging chandeliers and the revolving couples turning on lights. Two games I had remembered perfectly – knocking the music sheets off the music stands in the Fil Rouge and the last game of musical chairs, won by Douglas, in which Stuart Hall uttered the immortal words “musical chairs must be the national sport in the Isle of Man!” He had said this as Douglas had won the game in both rehearsals and on the night. This game made me understand a very important rule of thumb about Jeux Sans Frontières, that some of the best games were the simplest ones. In this version of musical chairs each country fielded 4 competitors, resulting in 32 competitors in the arena: when the music stopped, 32 competitors had to sit on 31 chairs; the losing competitor resulted in their country obtaining only 1 point and leaving the game. The next round had 28 competitors competing for 27 chairs, and so on, until only 2 teams (Douglas and Bonn) competed for 7 chairs. The thrill of watching the game was exhilarating for me, both the first time round and this time.

This programme also reminded me that the most important Jeux Sans Frontières maxim was that the best games were those that were simple and yet combined both skill and chance. In this programme, this maxim was represented by the game of dragging clocks in 2 heats; 2 competitors from each country had to choose a card that determined which clock they would have to drag down the course. At the other end of the course, 4 clocks waited, with 1 competitor from each country inside. Obviously if a country was lucky enough to draw its own clock, the drag down the course would be simple. However, most countries did not draw their own clock, resulting in the opposition team member in the clock kicking and screaming and causing a fuss, making the game very difficult. The clocks were “opened” at the end of the game, to reveal which opposition country contestant was in each clock.

The 1 hour and 15 minutes it took me to watch this programme passed like lightning. I was reminded what a fantastic experience it was to watch Jeux Sans Frontières at its peak, but also that you had to play the joker correctly to win. Bonn won the programme with 47 points, whereas Douglas came 4th with 40 points; the Germans came 2nd in their joker game, whereas Douglas missed out on joker points completely. Douglas won games 1 and 3, and had they played their joker on one of those games, they could have been in the running to win the competition.

Having watched the programme again, I can say it was generally as I remembered it at that time, although the arena seemed slightly smaller than I had remembered. The programme reinforced my view that Jeux Sans Frontières was, and remains, the greatest game show on earth, with its potent cocktail of international rivalry, friendly fun, incredible games and the tension of winning or losing, failing or succeeding, but most of all the joy of entertaining the masses. Having viewed a few Jeux Sans Frontières programmes made since 1988, I can also say this wonderful programme from 1979 reinforces my opinion that the glory years of JSF sadly ended in 1982 when the old style programmes ended. Jeux Sans Frontières - how I miss you, but I will always be grateful for the memories you have given me, that can never be taken away. Thank you!

by Richard Farnham