Jeux Sans Frontières 1981

European International Series

Entrants 1981: Belgium (B) • Switzerland (CH) • France (F)
Great Britain (GB) • Italy (I) • Portugal (P) • Yugoslavia (YU)

Presenters / Commentators of International Competitions:
Paule Herreman and Mike Verdrengh (B)
Mascia Cantoni, Ezio Guidi, Jacques Deschenaux, Jan Hiermeyer and Georges Kleinmann (CH)
Simone Garnier, Guy Lux and Claude Savarit (F)
Stuart Hall and Eddie Waring (GB)
Michele Gammino (I)
Eládio Clímaco and Alice Cruz (P)
 Osman Gazi, Borut Mensinger and Milan Sabota (YU)

International Referees:
Gennaro Olivieri
Guido Pancaldi

Production Credits:
National Games Designers: Stuart Furber (GB); National Producers: Geoff Wilson (GB); National Directors: Bill Taylor (GB)

Produced by the European Broadcasting Union and
RTBF-BRT (B), SSR (CH), A2F (F), 
BBC Manchester (GB), RAI (I), RTP (P), JRT (YU)

Key: International Heats ● = Qualified for International Final / ● = Heat Winner (Silver Trophy) International Final ● = Gold Trophy / ● = Silver Trophy / ● = Bronze Trophy Trophy   ▲ = Promoted to Position / ▼ = Demoted to Position DST = Daylight Saving Time (ONLY Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy, Portugal and Switzerland observed DST)

I

Jeux Sans Frontières 1981

Heat 1

Event Staged: Tuesday 26th May 1981
Venue: Arena Alpe Adria, Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
RTP 1 (P): Tuesday 26th May 1981, 8.05-9.30pm (Live - DST)
JRT (YU): Tuesday 26th May 1981, 8.05-9.30pm (Live)
SSR (CH): Tuesday 26th May 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
TSI (CH): Tuesday 26th May 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
SRG (CH): Wednesday 27th May 1981, 8.50-10.15pm
RAI Due (I): Wednesday 27th May 1981

BRT (B): Wednesday 3rd June 1981, 9.05-10.25pm
RTBF (B): Wednesday 3rd June 1981, 9.05-10.25pm
Antenne 2 (F): Sunday 2nd August 1981
BBC1 (GB exc. Wales): Friday 25th September 1981, 7.00-8.15pm (2nd)
BBC1 Wales (CYM): Sunday 11th October 1981, 1.55-3.10pm (2nd)

Theme: Water

Teams: Torhout (B) v. Regensdorf (CH) v. Bitche-en-Moselle (F) v. Sherborne (GB) v.
Lignano Sabbiadoro (I) v. São Miguel (Açores) (P) v. Šibenik (YU)

Team Members included:
Sherborne (GB) - Tim Barclay, Sally Bunwell, David Butt, Philip Coulson, Penny Fowler, Colin Hayward, David Mason, Peter Mason, Jeff Palmer, Ian Rowe, Sue Rowe, Chris Thomas-Peters, Rosemary Wanther;

Lignano Sabbiadoro (I) - Pier Augusto Aere, Mauro Atura, Donatella Bulfoni, Marina Braida, Lorenzo Bozzato, Rosanna Chiopris, Gimmy delle Vedove, Ennio Fabris, Flavio Fabris, Giuseppe Formenton, Alessandro Gasparetti, Marino Gregoni, Aldo Piatti, Sabrina Rieppi, Beniamino Ros, Paola Zanotelli.

Games: Collecting Sweets, Collecting Starfish, Champagne Bottles, Chasing Fish, Cycling and Miss Lignano, Couple on the Island, Bombarding the Ships and Setting Sail;
Fil Rouge: Collecting Cakes;
Jokers: Dolphins.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd
3rd
5th
6th
7th

 I • Lignano Sabbiadoro ● ●
 CH • Regensdorf
 GB • Sherborne
 YU • Šibenik
 B • Torhout
 P • São Miguel (Açores)
 F • Bitche-en-Moselle

46
41
31
31
27
26
22

The Games in Detail

Game 8 - Setting Sail

The final game in this heat involved a girl sitting on the back of an animal-shaped raft (cat, cow, dog, hippopotamus, mouse or pig) which had a large sail in the middle. These were pushed across the arena pool by another member of the team underneath each animal. On reaching the other side, two more girls climbed aboard and they were then all pushed back across the pool. The rules clearly stated that on the return trip, one of the girls had to stand up on the raft. The girls of Italian team Lignano Sabbiadoro were clearly seen sitting down throughout the return trip until about 10ft from the end of course when one of them stood up. However, the Italians were still declared the winners despite protests from the Swiss and Yugoslavian teams. Had the decision been overturned, it would have meant that Swiss team Regensdorf, would have qualified for the International Final because it would have won with 42 points - ousting Ittigen (Heat 5) from the qualifying Final place - and Lignano Sabbiadoro would have been placed second, and Italian team Finale Ligure (Heat 4), would have inherited the place in the final set aside for an Italian team! This proves how much one disputed decision can affect the fortunes of many.

Additional Information

With the number of entrants falling back to seven, it was decided not to revert to the pre-1979 Fil Rouge format. All seven teams would now compete together in four Fil Rouge heats spread throughout each programme, with only each country’s best time/score counting towards the final points allocation.

This was the first time ever that the BBC decided to transmit the heats out of recording sequence. The first three heats were shown out of order (Heat 3 first, then Heats 1 and 2). From Heat 4, the BBC returned to the recording order.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

YU

Jeux Sans Frontières 1981

Heat 2

Event Staged: Wednesday 10th June 1981
Venue: Pula Amphitheatre, Pula, Yugoslavia

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
JRT (YU): Wednesday 10th June 1981, 8.05-9.30pm (Live)
BRT (B): Wednesday 10th June 1981, 9.05-10.25pm (Live - DST)
RTBF (B): Wednesday 10th June 1981, 9.05-10.25pm (Live - DST)
SSR (CH): Wednesday 10th June 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
TSI (CH): Wednesday 10th June 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
RAI Due (I): Wednesday 10th June 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
SRG (CH): Saturday 13th June 1981, 2.00-3.45pm
RTP 1 (P): Wednesday 17th June 1981, 9.20-10.50pm

Antenne 2 (F): Sunday 26th July 1981
BBC1 (GB exc. Wales): Friday 2nd October 1981, 7.00-8.15pm (3rd)
BBC1 Wales (CYM): Sunday 18th October 1981, 1.55-3.10pm (3rd)

Theme: The Cinema

Teams: Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (B) v. Saint-Légier (CH) v. Argentan (F) v.
Kingston-upon-Hull (GB) v. San Felice Circeo (I) v. Santarém (P) v. Pula (YU)

Team Members included:
Kingston-upon-Hull (GB) - Tony Taylor (Team Manager), Stan Heywood (Team Captain), Karen Almond, Tom Bowering, Karen Briggs, Paul Butler, William Butler, Martin Holmes, Stephen Hunt, Ian Hird, Angela Lutkin, Sue Pattison, Kevin Wardale, John Wheatley; Reserves: David Bottomley, Pam Hall, Gary Kitchen and Julie Wilkinson.

Games: Unreeling the Film, Beach Articles, Unlacing the Boots, Pirates, Horses and Bulls, Jailbreak, Tarzan, Jane and Cheeta and Chariot Race;
Fil Rouge: The Geese;
Jokers: Film Clapperboards (which included the date of recording).

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th

 YU • Pula ● ●
 CH • Saint-Légier
 F • Argentan
 I • San Felice Circeo
 GB • Kingston-upon-Hull
 B • Molenbeek-Saint-Jean
 P • Santarém

45
44
34
31
30
25
19

Additional Information

British team Kingston-upon-Hull won three out of the four Fil Rouge heats, but despite not winning the final heat, had notched up an incredible best time of 29 seconds (maximum time 90 seconds), which secured the team the 7 points.

British team member Julie Wilkinson had such small feet (size 2), that the Yugoslavian television production team could not find any shoes to fit her. So on Game 2 when all the other girls were wearing ‘boxing boots’ as part of the games costume, she wore her normal trainers. Julie proved to be the real heroine on the night, winning both her solo games (amassing 12 pts for the team), and was also one of the four girls in the Fil Rouge. The girls scored 19 pts between themselves in three games, out of Kingston-upon-Hull’s total score of 30!

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

P

Jeux Sans Frontières 1981

Heat 3

Event Staged: Wednesday 24th June 1981
Venue: Jardim de Torre de Belém, Belém, Lisboa, Portugal

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
RTP 1 (P): Wednesday 24th June 1981, 8.05-9.30pm (Live - DST)
JRT (YU): Wednesday 24th June 1981, 8.05-9.30pm (Live)
BRT (B): Wednesday 24th June 1981, 9.05-10.25pm (Live - DST)
RTBF (B): Wednesday 24th June 1981, 9.05-10.25pm (Live - DST)
SSR (CH): Wednesday 24th June 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
SRG (CH): Wednesday 24th June 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
TSI (CH): Wednesday 24th June 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
RAI Due (I): Wednesday 24th June 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
Antenne 2 (F): Sunday 9th August 1981
BBC1 (GB exc. Wales): Friday 18th September 1981, 7.00-8.15pm (1st)
BBC1 Wales (CYM): Sunday 4th October 1981, 1.55-3.10pm (1st)

Theme: The Festival of Saint Anthony

Teams: Herent (B) v. Rancate (CH) v. Digne-les-Bains (F) v.
Dartmouth (GB) v. Montorio al Vomano (I) v. Lisboa (P) v. Osijek (YU)

Team Members included:
Dartmouth (GB) (Full Squad) - Timothy Price (Team Manager), Adrian Lloyd (Team Coach), Peter Collins (Team Captain), Malcolm Shillabeer (Vice Team Captain), Lindsay Brown, Michelle Brown, David Collins, Sidney Davies, Jacqueline Davies, Katie Distin, Sheree Dove, Cameron Dunn, Heather Fisher, Richard Hilliard, Gary Lobb, Eddie Lennon, Sheena Marrs, Patrick Mills, Martin Payne, Ian Pollard, Alan Pook, Derek Rogers, Mary Wallace, Stephen Wallace, Christine Webb, Barry Williams, Barry Wilson;

Montorio al Vomano (I) - Antonio Carinelli, Daniele Cecchini, Franco Ciavatta, Antonietta Gabriele, Orietta Gorra, Camillo Ferreo, Ladislao Ferreo, Carlo Leonzi, Gian Pietro Pigliacelli, Leo Valentini, Mariella Valentini, Maria Grazia del Zoppo.

Games: Banners, Chefs and Plates, The Broken Vases, The Thieving Cats, Flowers into Chariots, Flowers from Maze, Loaves and Bicycles and Balloons and Insignias;
Fil Rouge: Ravens and Seabirds;
Jokers: Pot Plants.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th

 P • Lisboa ● ●
 GB • Dartmouth ●
 F • Digne-les-Bains
 B • Herent
 I • Montorio al Vomano
 CH • Rancate
 YU • Osijek

48
39
37
34
32
25
24

The Games in Detail

Game 4 - The Thieving Cats

In Game 4 - 'The Thieving Cats' - despite the fact that the British team had clearly hooked four flowers onto the opposing teams’ cats, referee Gennaro Olivieri announced that, “One of the flowers did not count because it was attached after the whistle”. But even after the deduction, the score for Great Britain was still given as only two flowers, and the team finished in last place scoring just 1 point. This resulted in the team being robbed of 2 points, and although this did not affect the result of this or any other heat in respect of qualifying for the final, Dartmouth’s score should have been 41 points!

Game 6 - Flowers from Maze

This heat produced a game that was unique in Jeux Sans Frontières. Game 6 - ‘Flowers from Maze' - involved a course with several horizontal and vertical elasticated maze obstacles. At the end of the course were placed two vases about 10 ft apart on a pedestal. Each vase contained twelve flowers. In the nearest vase, there were nine ‘bad’ and three ‘good’ flowers, whilst in the vase further away were nine ‘good’ and three ‘bad’ flowers. On the whistle, three opposing male team members had to negotiate the course and on reaching the final horizontal maze, had to decide whether to pick from the first vase (with a 25% chance of getting a ‘good’ flower) and return to the start of the course and get a fast time, or take a risk and go the extra 10ft for a 75% chance of picking a ‘good’ flower, but with a slower time. On the return, the flowers had to be placed in hats worn by female team members, and the times were taken. But then referee Guido Pancaldi came along with a blow-torch and one by one, lit a fuse which was protruding from the flower and waited. If the flower was a ‘good’ flower, the fuse sparkled and a 5 seconds deduction was made from the team’s time. However, if it was a ‘bad’ flower then the fuse exploded and a 5 second penalty was added to the time. All the teams in the first heat - France, Portugal and Yugoslavia - went for the nearest vase. Portugal’s flower sparkled whilst the other two exploded. In the second heat Belgium and Switzerland went for the nearest vase, whilst British team member, Alan Pook took the risk and went to the furthest vase. Although he received the slowest time, the risk was worth it and the flower sparkled whilst the other two exploded. Despite this, Dartmouth could not beat the Lisboa team’s time and came 2nd on the game.

Additional Information

For some obscure reason, the opening credits and scoreboard in this heat showed the Portuguese venue and team as Lisbonne - the French version of the name - and not Lisboa (the Portuguese name for the city).

Portuguese team Lisboa was so determined to win this heat that it was 13 points clear of its nearest rivals Dartmouth, before the last game. Despite this, the British team won the last game with the Portuguese coming in 5th.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

B

Jeux Sans Frontières 1981

Heat 4

Event Staged: Wednesday 8th July 1981
Venue: Parc Communale de Couillet, Charleroi, Belgium

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
RTP 1 (P): Wednesday 8th July 1981, 8.05-9.35pm (Live - DST)
JRT (YU): Wednesday 8th July 1981, 8.05-9.30pm (Live)
BRT (B): Wednesday 8th July 1981, 9.05-10.25pm (Live - DST)
RTBF (B): Wednesday 8th July 1981, 9.05-10.35pm (Live - DST)
SSR (CH): Wednesday 8th July 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
SRG (CH): Wednesday 8th July 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
TSI (CH): Wednesday 8th July 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
RAI Due (I): Wednesday 8th July 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
Antenne 2 (F): Sunday 16th August 1981
BBC1 (GB exc. Wales): Friday 9th October 1981, 7.00-8.15pm (4th)
BBC1 Wales (CYM): Sunday 25th October 1981, 1.55-3.10pm (4th)

Theme: Professions

Teams: Charleroi (B) v. Saas Fee (CH) v. Les Gets (F) v. Luton (GB) v.
Finale Ligure (I) v. Ilha da Madeira (P) v. Zenica (YU)

Team Members included:
Les Gets (F) - Alan Hartley (an English ski instructor at the resort of Les Gets);
Luton (GB) - John Howells (Team Manager), Chris Dunington (Co-Assistant Team Manager), Bob Whan (Co-Assistant Team Manager), Tony Russell (Team Captain), Jackie Cross, Sharon Dillette, Mark Fairhurst, Lee Holten, John Ing, Della Isaacs, Andrew Mears, Terry Nicholls, Lorna Roberts, Joe Toomey and James Warren.

Games: The Wine-Tasters, The Cooks, The Musicians, The Firemen, The Electricians, The Mathematicians, The Actors and The Olympic Sportsmen;
Fil Rouge: Scaling the Château;
Jokers: Professional Tools.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
4th
6th
7th

 I • Finale Ligure ●
 YU • Zenica
 F • Les Gets
 B • Charleroi
 CH • Saas Fee
 P • Ilha da Madeira
 GB • Luton

43
37
36
32
32
28
21

The Venue

Charleroi, Belgium

The venue of this heat, the Parc Communale de Couillet in Charleroi, was created when the old coal and iron mines were filled in and the new park was laid out on top of them.

The Games in Detail

Game 3 - The Musicians

Game 3 - 'The Musicians' - was played out in 6 heats on a giant trumpet. Two members of each team were suspended above the valves of the trumpet, and they had to memorise a sequence of 14 notes, which played a famous Belgian tune called ‘Le Bonne Roi D’Egbert’ (‘The Good King Egbert’). As the two players were suspended above the trumpet, the notes had to be played with their feet on four valves of the trumpet. The girls had valves 1 and 2, whilst the boys had valves 3 and 4. If the teams remembered the sequence correctly, it was very easy, but once the sequence was lost, the teams struggled to remember where they were and were pressing any valves frantically. Italian team Finale Ligure amazingly completed the 14 notes in just 12 seconds, beating the French team Les Gets and Portuguese team Ilha da Madeira (both on their Jokers) into 2nd and 3rd places respectively.

Additional Information

It was bittersweet night for the Italian team of Finale Ligure as, despite winning this International Heat, they did not qualify for the final due to a refereeing error in Heat 1 (transmitted as Heat 2 - see note following heat details above).

However, if things were not perfect for the Italians, they were simply disastrous for the British team from Luton, whose performance on the night proved to be  huge disappointment for their enthusiastic travelling support. The team was full of confidence and went to Belgium in the knowledge that to qualify for the International Final, all they had to do (up to the point at which they competed) was to secure a win or a second place with a higher points score than 39. After the first game, the team was in second place and everything was looking good. However, a sequence of 6th (Game 2), 4th (Game 3), 3rd (Game 4) and 5th (Game 5) left the team lying in 6th place overall. Things were beginning to look really bad. Game 7 - ‘The Mathematicians’ - was based on the game ‘Connect 4’ and was played in three heats x 2 teams. The idea of the game (if you have never played), is simply to place a coloured disc in a column or row and building up on top of your own discs or on top of your opponents in order to get a row of 4, horizontally, vertically or diagonally. As the ‘players’ of the game were unable to see the board, they relied on their fellow player (in Luton’s case, this was Sharon Gillett) and she had to call out and tell fellow team-mates Terry Nicholls and Andrew Mears which rows to put the discs in. But for some unknown reason, she got it completely wrong and after just 1 minute and 12 seconds (time limit was three minutes), the game was over and Luton had the worst of the six times (three winning times and three losing times). Worst of all was Luton that had decided to play their Joker on this game - the team scored just 1 point (no bonus) - and the nightmare scenario had happened. Now trailing in 7th place overall with 16 points, Luton missed the next game and then came last on the Fil Rouge. Despite a 4th place on the final game, Luton had achieved one of Great Britain’s worst performances in Jeux Sans Frontières.

Due to Luton’s poor performance throughout the night, the team was trailing behind 6th place team Ilha da Madeira by 9 points before the final game, and was destined to finish in last place whatever the result on the game. At the other end of the scale, Finale Ligure was 6 pts clear of Belgian team Charleroi before the final game. Even if they finished 7th on the game, they would have won the heat, albeit as a tie (if the Belgians had won the game). However, this did not matter because Finale Ligure came 2nd on the game, and with Charleroi finishing last, it allowed Yugoslavian team Zenica and French team Les Gets to take the 2nd and 3rd places in the heat.

Belgian viewers were treated to an unexpected surprise at the end of this transmission of Jeux Sans Frontières. After the Eurovision logo, a new version of the JSF theme with lyrics sung by French chanteuse Mireille Mathieu was played over the local Belgian TV credits. Viewers in other countries did not see this sequence, but the theme song was heard across Europe at the end of the Annecy heat later in the summer. You can see a poster advertising the single release in our Collectables section for 1981.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

CH

Jeux Sans Frontières 1981

Heat 5

Event Staged: Wednesday 29th July 1981 from 8.00pm
Venue: Obersteinstraße Sporte Stadion, Meiringen-Hasliberg, Switzerland

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
RTP 1 (P): Wednesday 29th July 1981, 8.05-9.30pm (Live - DST)
JRT (YU): Wednesday 29th July 1981, 8.05-9.35pm (Live)
BRT (B): Wednesday 29th July 1981, 9.05-10.25pm (Live - DST)
RTBF (B): Wednesday 29th July 1981, 9.05-10.25pm (Live - DST)
SSR (CH): Wednesday 29th July 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
SRG (CH): Wednesday 29th July 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
TSI (CH): Wednesday 29th July 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
RAI Due (I): Wednesday 29th July 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
Antenne 2 (F): Sunday 23rd August 1981
BBC1 (GB exc. Wales): Friday 16th October 1981, 7.00-8.15pm (5th)
BBC1 Wales (CYM): Sunday 1st November 1981, 1.55-3.10pm (5th)

Theme: Mountain Holidays - Legends of the Swiss Alps

Teams: Bornem (B) v. Ittigen (CH) v. Le Cannet (F) v.
Dunfermline (GB) v. Merate (I) v. Braga (P) v. Pirot (YU)

Team Members included:
Dunfermline (GB) - Mike Joiner (Team Captain), Dougie Arnill, Marie Blair, Bill Bunyan, Malcolm Cameron, Steve Coates, Pauline Lucas, Marilyn McLeod, Terry O’Connor, Jim Patterson, George Ross, Joyce Suitor, Ian Watson, Pauline Young.

Games: Hillside Mushrooms, Scarecrows and Corn, Rabbits and Carrots, The Mountain Goat, Mountain Crystals, Cows and Edelweiss, Prams and Meringues and The Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer;
Fil Rouge: Giant Snowballs Ski-Slalom;
Jokers: Rabbits.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
=3rd
=3rd
5th
6th
7th

 CH • Ittigen ● ●
 F • Le Cannet
 GB • Dunfermline
 YU • Pirot
 B • Bornem
 I • Merate
 P • Braga

40
39
35
35
31
30
19

The Games in Detail

Game 3 - Rabbits and Carrots

On Game 3, six opposing team members dressed as rabbits (of an inferior design to those at the British International at Walberton the previous year) raced up the course to a giant pile of hay and had to start digging for carrots. Twenty-four carrots had been hidden but only eighteen had to be found (three for each ‘rabbit’). In the two rehearsals on the previous two nights, all the teams had no problem in completing the course within limit time of three minutes. However, on the night of recording the carrots seemed to be hidden deeper and the ‘rabbits’ were having difficulty in finding them. Approaching limit time, only Swiss team Ittigen and French team Le Cannet had successfully found three carrots each, and referee Gennaro Olivieri announced that limit time would be increased by one minute to 4 minutes.

Game 4 - The Mountain Goat

On Game 4, ten ‘tourists’ from the opposing five teams had to negotiate a small hilly course before being confronted by a ‘mountain goat’, which was tethered on an elastic cord. The idea of the game was for the ‘goat’ to prevent them from crossing the ravine, and this was done by way of butting them with its head. British team Dunfermline went first and played a tactical game. Team member Dougie Arnill went to the very end of the course before battling with the ‘tourists’. This worked well and he butted off four ‘tourists’, but the other six didn’t even get a chance to get past him (because too much time had been taken battling the first four), so a maximum score of ten ‘tourists’ (four which were knocked off and six which had not made the crossing) in 1 minute was registered for Great Britain. Surprisingly, none of the other five teams picked up on Dougie’s tactics nor matched his score. Dunfermline’s second victory on the night was now secure. An interesting point to note also was that when Portuguese team Braga participated on the game, it was given a score of only four, but then it was realised that only eight ‘tourists’ had attempted to cross because the two Yugoslavian ‘tourists’ had completely forgotten to line-up! Portugal was awarded another two ‘tourists’ knocked off and its score was increased to six.

Game 8 - The Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer

Despite the Swiss Alps theme of this heat, the last game was dedicated to the major news event of the day of recording - the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. The game involved eight members of each team running to the end of the course and picking up an item of clothing. They then rushed back to the start, where they all had to squeeze into a cable-car and a judge closed the doors. The teams then had to ‘dress’ the bride and groom within the confined space of the cable-car, and once completed all the members had to get out by the sun-roof. The bride then had to lay out the train of the dress and six members of the team had to crawl inside it, and the groom then held the end closed. The bride and groom then had to make their way up the course, by means of the six inside the train jumping forward on their knees (to produce a caterpillar motion). On reaching the end of the course the bride had to pull a ring to release the cork from a giant champagne bottle. It was a two-team battle because only Swiss team Ittigen and French team Le Cannet could win the heat. Both teams were level before the game, and the Swiss came in 4th place whilst the French came in 5th. Incidentally, British team Dunfermline won this game, as well as three others on the night, but a very disappointing last place on its Joker game (1 point) meant that it was out of the running before the last game.

Additional Information

This was by far the best International heat in 1981, which included two of the best games of the year. As the games and costumes had been designed by Italian designer, Adolfo 'Popi' Perani, the crowd and viewers were not disappointed.

This heat saw the on-screen scoreboard freeze up and stop. After the results and points had been given on Game 6, it began its update on positions, but stopped after third place was revealed. After the first of two heats on Game 7, the scoreboard was apparently working again, but by the time the results of the second heat were announced, it had broken-down again. A full-screen temporary scoreboard was placed on-screen with the updated points and positions, before referee Guido Pancaldi had even announced the points awarded!

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

F

Jeux Sans Frontières 1981

Heat 6

Event Staged: Wednesday 12th August 1981
Venue: Stade du Parc des Sports, Annecy, France

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
RTP 1 (P): Wednesday 12th August 1981, 8.05-9.35pm (Live - DST)
JRT (YU): Wednesday 12th August 1981, 8.05-9.30pm (Live)
BRT (B): Wednesday 12th August 1981, 9.05-10.25pm (Live - DST)
RTBF (B): Wednesday 12th August 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
SSR (CH): Wednesday 12th August 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
SRG (CH): Wednesday 12th August 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
TSI (CH): Wednesday 12th August 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
RAI Due (I): Wednesday 12th August, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
Antenne 2 (F): Sunday 30th August 1981
BBC1 (GB exc. Wales): Friday 23rd October 1981, 7.00-8.15pm (6th)
BBC1 Wales (CYM): Sunday 8th November 1981, 1.55-3.10pm (6th)

Theme: Games of the World

Teams: Lessines (B) v. Intragna (CH) v. Annecy (F) v. Warrington (GB) v.
Agropoli (I) v. Aveiro (P) v. Majdanpek (YU)

Team Members included:
Lessines (B) - Denis Pettiaux;
Warrington (GB) - Jim Cannon (Team Captain), Keith Barnett, Jan Blackwell, June Brimlow, Peter Dawson, Steven Gooch, Celia Johnson, Clive Jones, Alexic Jovitza, David Lyons, Colin Meechin, Glenroy Skeet, David Walker, Bernadette Woodhouse.

Games: Australian Sulky Racing, Belgian Uphill Cycling Race, Swiss Edelweiss, American Football, Italian Acrobatic Clowns, Russian Cosmonauts, English Tug-o-War and French Montgolfier Ballooning;
Fil Rouge: Scottish Trout Fishing;
Jokers: Flowers and Balloons.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th

 B • Lessines ● ●
 CH • Intragna
 F • Annecy
 P • Aveiro
 GB • Warrington
 YU • Majdanpek
 I • Agropoli

45
43
37
31
28
24
21

Presenters, Officials and Production Team

Denis Pettiaux, later to become a long-serving referee on Jeux Sans Frontières, participated in this heat for the Belgian team, Lessines. As an acrobat, Denis was chosen to play the tightrope walking game mentioned above and the Belgians played their Joker on the game. Good choices, because they won the game and got full advantage of the Joker.

British commentator Stuart Hall made a ‘blooper’ in this heat. After the last game he stated that although the Swiss team had finished in second place with 43 pts, under the rules of Jeux Sans Frontières, the team with the highest position would qualify for the International Final. He stated that Meiringen-Hasliberg had already won earlier in the series with 40 pts, whereas in fact it was Ittigen that had won the previous heat held at Meiringen-Hasliberg! He went on to repeat this mistake once more some two minutes later.

Additional Information

This heat was a battle-royale between Belgian team Lessines and Swiss team Intragna. The Swiss set off at a cracking pace by winning the first two games (one of which was with the Joker), whilst the Belgians could only muster a total of 4 points. But then the Belgians made an incredible comeback by winning the next three games (one of which was with the Joker) and then coming 2nd on Game 7. This meant that before the Fil Rouge result, Belgium was leading the Swiss by just 1 point. However, a very fast fourth round time for the Swiss team on the Fil Rouge gave it the full 7 points, whilst the Belgians collected 5 points and Switzerland went into the final game, just 1 point ahead of Belgium. The final game involved a girl team member in the basket of the ‘Montgolfier’ balloon and a male team member raced up a course over hurdles to remove weighted sand bags from the basket. He then had to traverse the same course back with the sand bags. This was repeated three times, and then he had to go back up the course for a final time to the basket to remove the girl. It was at this point the balloon, now no longer weighted down, rose into the night sky. The Belgian balloon began to rise first, and it then became a wait to see if the Swiss could finish in second place and tie the heat. However, the French balloon began rising just 5 seconds later and was followed by the Portuguese balloon. The Swiss balloon rose fourth, giving victory to the Belgians.

As per all Jeux Sans Frontières games, draws were made on the morning of the actual recording for which games team members were to play. However, three weeks prior to this heat, French TV asked for each team to pick a team member and train him tightrope walking to participate on Game 5. Fortunately, Warrington did not compete in this game.

For the first time in the history of Jeux Sans Frontières, after the final results were displayed, the name of the winning team - Lessines - was enclosed within a flashing highlighted yellow box. The same happened in the following heat with the French team, but with a white flashing box.

The theme song heard at the end of this heat had been heard earlier in the summer by Belgian viewers (see Did You Know for 1981 Heat 4). After this occasion, the song appears not have been used again.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

GB

Jeux Sans Frontières 1981

Heat 7

Event Staged: Tuesday 25th August 1981
Venue: The Bowl, Princess Anne Park, Washington, Sunderland, Great Britain

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
BRT (B): Tuesday 25th August 1981, 9.05-10.25pm (Live - DST)
RTBF (B): Tuesday 25th August 1981, 9.05-10.25pm (Live - DST)
RAI Due (I): Tuesday 25th August, 9.05-10.25pm (Live - DST)
RTP 1 (P): Wednesday 26th August 1981, 8.05-9.35pm
JRT (YU): Wednesday 26th August 1981, 8.05-9.30pm
SSR (CH): Wednesday 26th August 1981, 9.05-10.30pm
TSI (CH): Wednesday 26th August 1981, 9.05-10.30pm
SRG (CH): Wednesday 26th August 1981, 9.15-10.40pm

Antenne 2 (F): Sunday 6th September 1981
BBC1 (GB exc. Wales): Friday 30th October 1981, 7.00-8.15pm (7th)
BBC1 Wales (CYM): Sunday 15th November 1981, 1.55-3.10pm (7th)

Winners’ Trophies presented by: Alan Hart, Controller of BBC TV

Theme: A Country-House Weekend in the 1920s

Teams: Evergem (B) v. Les Bois (CH) v. Issy-les-Moulineaux (F) v.
Sunderland (GB) v. Senigallia (I) v. Algarve (P) v. Bitolj (YU)

Team Members included:
Evergem (B) - André Donine;
Les Bois (CH) - Raymond Bilat (Team Coach), Laurent Donzé (Team Captain), Gilbert Méroz, Jacky Epitaux, Christophe Willemin, Robert Claude, Enrico Perucchini, Vidal Amez-Droz, Charles-André Boichat, Fabienne Clémence, Laurence-Isabelle Boillat, Nicole Jobin; Other Squad Members: Pierre Donzé, Yvan Jobin, Roland Furer, Simone Amez-Droz and Erika Hugi.
Issy-les-Moulineaux (F) - Jean-Marc Plessinou (French 400m / 800m Champion);
Sunderland (GB) - Gary Hutchinson (Team Captain), Jean Applegar, Charlie Bentley, Tony Carlisle, Brian Davidson, Roy Davison, John Debraskey, Ross Edwards, Vivian Holmes, Norman Judson, Adrian Kelth, Elaine Mennison, Richard Wood, Kevin Youdan;
Senigallia (I) - Maria Stefania;
Algarve (P) - Luis Seripa.

Games: Bottles of Champagne, Roast Chickens, Trout Fishing, Walking the Dogs, Pheasant Shooting, Driving a Rolls-Royce, The Drunken Guest and The Last Waltz;
Fil Rouge: Foxhunting;
Jokers: Invitation Cards.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
1st
3rd
4th
5th
6th
6th

 CH • Les Bois ●
 F • Issy-les-Moulineaux ● ●
 B • Evergem
 YU • Bitolj
 I • Senigallia
 GB • Sunderland
 P • Algarve

38
38
36
33
30
28
28

The Games in Detail

Game 4 - Walking the Dogs

On Game 4 - 'Walking the Dogs' - the Portuguese team Algarve tried to bend the rules to their advantage. The idea of the game was that two team members of each team - a boy and a girl - were attached together by a cranked boot, which in turn was attached to a pole which had a ‘wheeled’ dog on the front of it. The teams had to walk the dog using the normal ‘three-legged’ race action - step-by-step. However, despite two rehearsals where the rules were clearly explained, the Portuguese team members decided that they would lift their cranked feet and hop down the course using just their unfettered legs. Gennaro Olivieri quickly called foul-play and sent the team back to the start of the course. Ironically, the team had decided to play its Joker on the game and came in 5th place achieving no bonus points!

Fil Rouge - Foxhunting

On the first of the four heats of the Fil Rouge, the French team player was leading the whole race, but inadvertently he did an extra circuit of the course which caused him to take longer than the maximum time of 2 minutes, and all those that were behind him finished ahead of him!

Presenters, Officials and Production Team

This was the only International heat that British commentator Eddie Waring participated in this year, and it was to be his final ‘live’ commentary for BBC TV and of his career.

Additional Information

Although the Portuguese team was representing the Algarve, the team comprised mainly of members from the towns of Albufeira, Carvoeiro, Portimão and last year’s Jeux Sans Frontières champions, Vilamoura.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

YU

Jeux Sans Frontières 1981

International Final

Event Staged: Tuesday 8th September 1981
Venue: Swimming Pool Complex, Tašmajdan Recreation Sports Centre,
Palilula, Beograd, Yugoslavia

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
RTP 1 (P): Tuesday 8th September 1981, 8.00-9.35pm (Live - DST)
JRT (YU): Tuesday 8th September 1981, 8.00-9.30pm (Live)
BRT (B): Tuesday 8th September 1981, 9.05-10.35pm (Live - DST)
RTBF (B): Tuesday 8th September 1981, 9.05-10.35pm (Live - DST)
TSI (CH): Tuesday 8th September 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
RAI Due (I): Tuesday 8th September 1981, 9.05-10.30pm (Live - DST)
SSR (CH): Wednesday 9th September 1981, 9.00-10.25pm
SRG (CH): Wednesday 9th September 1981, 9.05-10.30pm

Antenne 2 (F): Sunday 13th September 1981
BBC1 (GB exc. Wales): Friday 6th November 1981, 7.10-8.30pm (8th)
BBC1 Wales (CYM): Sunday 22nd November 1981, 1.55-3.10pm (8th)

Theme: The Music, la Musique, die Musik... Long live the Music!

Teams: Lessines (B) v. Ittigen (CH) v. Issy-les-Moulineaux (F) v.
Dartmouth (GB) v. Lignano Sabbiadoro (I) v. Lisboa (P) v. Pula (YU)

Team members included:
Issy-les-Moulineaux (F) - Jean-Marc Plessinou (French 400m / 800m Champion);
Dartmouth (GB) (Full Squad) - Timothy Price (Team Manager), Adrian Lloyd (Team Coach), Peter Collins (Team Captain), Malcolm Shillabeer (Vice Team Captain), Lindsay Brown, Michelle Brown, David Collins, Sidney Davies, Jacqueline Davies, Katie Distin, Sheree Dove, Cameron Dunn, Heather Fisher, Richard Hilliard, Gary Lobb, Eddie Lennon, Sheena Marrs, Patrick Mills, Martin Payne, Ian Pollard, Alan Pook, Derek Rogers, Mary Wallace, Stephen Wallace, Christine Webb, Barry Williams, Barry Wilson;

Lignano Sabbiadoro (I) - Pier Augusto Aere, Mauro Atura, Donatella Bulfoni, Marina Braida, Lorenzo Bozzato, Rosanna Chiopris, Gimmy delle Vedove, Ennio Fabris, Flavio Fabris, Giuseppe Formenton, Alessandro Gasparetti, Marino Gregoni, Aldo Piatti, Sabrina Rieppi, Beniamino Ros, Paola Zanotelli.

Games: Accordions and Maze, Lovers and Flowers, The Metronome, Swan Lake, Banging the Cymbals, Octopus, Shaving the Barber and Flight of the Bumble Bee;
Fil Rouge: Coins and Piano Keys;
Jokers: Bumble Bees on Flowers.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
1st
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th

 GB • Dartmouth ●
 P • Lisboa ●
 YU • Pula ●
 I • Lignano Sabbiadoro ●
 CH • Ittigen
 F • Issy-les-Moulineaux
 B • Lessines

38
38
36
33
26
24
19

The Games in Detail

Game 5 - Banging the Cymbals

Game 5 was played to the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Little Swans.

Fil Rouge - Bumble Bees on Flowers

The Fil Rouge - 'Bumble Bees on Flowers' - was played to the music of ABBA’s No.1 hit Money, Money, Money, Game 2 with Guiseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore. After the second Fil Rouge round, referee Gennaro Olivieri announced that British team Dartmouth’s first Fil Rouge time of 1m 22secs was incorrect, and amended it to 1m 21secs before announcing the second round’s times!

Game 8 - Flight of the Bumble Bee

British team Dartmouth were lying in 3rd place before the final game, just 2 points behind Portuguese team Lisboa and Yugoslavian team Pula. Dartmouth managed to win the final game - ‘Flight of the Bumble Bee’ - and watched with baited breath as the other teams finished. French team Issy-les-Moulineaux finished in 2nd place, followed by the Swiss, the Yugoslavians, the Portuguese and the Italians, with the Belgians bringing up the rear.This meant that Dartmouth had won the Final by a single point over the Yugoslavian team of Pula, but this quickly changed. As the finishing positions for the game were announced, referee Gennaro Olivieri stated that the French team had broken the rules and were demoted to last place on the game. This promoted the Pula team into 3rd place on the game and a joint 1st place on the night with Dartmouth. However, Pula's celebrations were short-lived as Olivieri went on to announce that the Yugoslavian team had also flouted the rules. He penalised them by dropping them to 5th place on the game. This resulted in the Portuguese team from Lisboa being promoted to 3rd place on the final game, which left them with the same points score as Dartmouth. These two teams shared the spoils in a controversial end to the International Final. Home team Pula had squandered the chance to be the first Yugoslavian Jeux Sans Frontières champions in front of their own supporters!

Additional Information

Dartmouth team captain Sid Davies sustained a slight injury during the build-up to this Final. So that the team could be at full strength, it was felt that team-mate Peter Collins should be promoted to the role of team captain.

The top two countries from the 1980 International Final - Portugal and Great Britain - occupied the top two slots this year too, but this time they couldn't be separated, and they shared the spoils.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

JSFnetGB Series Guide pages researched by
Neil Storer and Alan Hayes
with Ischa Bijl, Julien Dessy, Sébastien Dias, David Hamilton, Denis Kirsanov, Paul Leaver, Philippe Minet,
Christos Moustakas, David Laich Ruiz, Marko Voštan and JSFnet Websites