GB

It's A Knockout 1999

Heat 1

Event Staged: Saturday 21st August 1999 (2nd)
Venue: The People's Park, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England

Transmission:
Channel 5 (1st Showing): Friday 3rd September 1999, 8.00-9.00pm
Channel 5 (2nd Showing): Sunday 5th September 1999, 1.05-2.00pm

Teams: Chippenham v. Trowbridge v. Warminster

Team Members included:
Chippenham - Sarah Fuller (Team Captain), Paul Barker, Helen Dowman, Alan Jones, Steve Regan, Tim Smithers, Gary Squires, Alison Sullivan and Alison Trigg;
Trowbridge - Jo Baptiste (Team Captain), Damian Bent, Tony Birch, Martin Dobson, Wendy Hankin, Paul Keenan, Alex Kemp, Michelle Leigh, Mary Moore, Tanya Nash, John Salisbury, Phil Vittery, Abby Walton and Helen Watson;
Warminster - Dave Broomlow, Paul Deano, Jessica Dewlough, Owen Lambert, Dennis Mapp, David Mills, Louise Mills, Tanya Nash, Richard Old, Hayley Parker and Neil Webb.

Games: The Ice is Right, A Right Barrel of Laughs, The Globetrotting Hamsters, Clowning Around and That’s Hen-tertainment;
Marathon: The Wild West.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd

 T • Trowbridge ● ●
 C • Chippenham
 W • Warminster

18
15
14

Presenters, Officials and Production Team

This opening edition (as transmitted) featured a tongue-in-cheek introduction featuring former BBC It's A Knockout host, Stuart Hall (captioned in error as hosting the series from 1970-1987 - he actually hosted from 1972-1988). The introduction opened with Hall in close-up, welcoming viewers to a new era of "the greatest show on Earth", which he looked forward to watching from the comfort of his own armchair. The camera then pulled back to a wider shot in which Hall was seen to be tied with rope to a chair in a darkened room. The sequence ended with Hall making a plea to the series' new host, Keith Chegwin: "Alright, Cheggers! Come on! I've said it! Untie me now!"

The new It's A Knockout presenter Keith Chegwin had an association with the series dating back to 1977 when he competed in that year's edition of It's A Celebrity Knockout. He had gone on to present the winners' trophy a year later in It's A Miners Knockout, was a guest presenter (with Maggie Philbin) of Heat 2 of It's A Knockout 1982 at Cockermouth, Cumbria, and had also hosted two series of the Knockout spin-off Anything Goes in 1984-85.

Course Referee Tony Smith was a former It's A Knockout and Jeux Sans Frontières competitor who ran and captained the St. Albans side in 1977 and 1979 and had been a member of the 1978 Stevenage team. Tony also also ran the BBC Demo Team for the 1977 Jeux Sans Frontières event at Windsor and assisted the Hertsmere and Welwyn Garden teams in, respectively, the 1980 and 1981 seasons.

Additional Information

Each team in this year’s series comprised of 15 members (10 male and 5 female), including a team captain. However, unlike the original It’s A Knockout, wherein all members of the local community were invited to train and participate before selection, the teams in this series were all selected from leisure service centres and departments and from members of local sports clubs. This had the effect of team members being a lot older than the ‘average’ age of It’s A Knockout contestants, with many of them being in their late 30s and early to mid 40s!

All the members of the Chippenham team were either from the town’s rugby club or the ladies’ hockey team.

The team captain of the Trowbridge team was former British athlete Joan Baptiste. Joan, 40-years old and now known as Jo, was born in 1959 on the island of St. Vincent in the West Indies. She was mainly a competitor in the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay. Her best result was a silver medal in the very first Athletics World Championship held in Helsinki, Finland in 1983. She ran the first leg of the four with Kathy Cook, Beverley Callendar and Shirley Thomas.

Although broadcast as Heat 1 on Channel 5, this heat was in fact recorded second. Even audiences at Trowbridge were not aware that another programme had been recorded previously, because all references on-site and screen were that this was Heat 1.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in Ronin Entertainment Archives

GB

It's A Knockout 1999

Heat 2

Event Staged: Sunday 15th August 1999 (1st)
Venue: Riversmead Leisure Centre, Reading, Berkshire, England

Transmission:
Channel 5 (1st Showing): Friday 10th September 1999, 8.00-9.00pm
Channel 5 (2nd Showing): Sunday 12th September 1999, 1.05-2.00pm

Teams: Bracknell Forest v. Reading v. Woking

Team Members included:
Bracknell Forest - Marcus Brigstock, Andy Clarke, Peter Elliott, Nikki Hilton, Gary James, Theresa Moore, Trudi Nixon and Robert Welch;
Reading - Luke Barton, Lee Carter, Ally Chapman, Jeremy Cohen, Ian Davies, Barry Edmunds, John Gibbons, Lesley Marley, Spencer Trott and Simon Whiteside;
Woking - Emma Barnes, Christopher Batcheldore, Dave Coby, Donna Cox, Neil Frankland, Sam Holloway, Gary James, Enzo Jenko, Simon Meriwether, Paul Mitchell, Mark Robinson, Jesse Sanders, Candy Trowford and Daniella Weedon.

Games: Service Not Included, What a Turn-On, The Shove Boat, Their Finest Flower and Making a Beeline;
Marathon: Belly Slide.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
2nd

 W • Woking ● ●
 B • Bracknell Forest
 R • Reading

17
15
15

Returning Teams and Competitors

A team from Bracknell had previously participated in the programme in 1980, but on that occasion they were only representing their local town, whereas here the Bracknell Forest team were representing their unitary authority, created under the Local Government Act 1972, and comprising the towns and villages of Bracknell, Sandhurst, Crowthorne, Binfield, North Ascot, Warfield and Winkfield.

Additional Information

Although the team were shown on the scoreboard and their T-shirts as Bracknell Forest, the team were identified simply as Bracknell throughout the programme. It was only when presenter Lucy Alexander announced the overall scores at the end of the Marathon that the team was announced as Bracknell Forest at all!

At the end of the Channel 5 broadcast, the continuity announcer stated that if viewers wanted to see more It’s A Knockout, there were still tickets available on the gate for Heats 8 and 9 being held at Leicester Road Sports Ground in Hinckley (broadcast as Heats 6 and 10 respectively) on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th September 1999.

Although broadcast as Heat 2 on Channel 5, this heat was in fact the first to be staged. However, no reference was made to this being so, either on-screen or on-site during the recording.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in Ronin Entertainment Archives

GB

It's A Knockout 1999

Heat 5

Event Staged: Sunday 22nd August 1999 (3rd)
Venue: The People's Park, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England

Transmission:
Channel 5 (1st Showing): Friday 1st October 1999, 8.00-9.00pm
Channel 5 (2nd Showing): Sunday 3rd October 1999, 1.05-2.00pm

Teams: Cheltenham Spa v. Swindon v. Weston-super-Mare

Team Members included:
Cheltenham Spa - Nigel Bishop, Sue Clarke, Mark Falcourt, Andy Franks, Aula Gilmore, Andrew Hampton, Simone Hopkins, Steve Johnson, James Lacey, Phil Merrick, Mike Pollen and Nicole Taylor;
Swindon - John Byrne, Kirsty Buchanan, Dennis Carter, Helena Cleverly, Bob Crawford, John Divine, Sally-Anne Matten, John Goodenough, Sarah Hargreaves, Joe Rowe and Randy Smith;
Weston-Super-Mare - Katie Clark, Spencer Dimmock, Becky Evans, Amanda Kavanagh, Jason Littlewood, Sharon Rogers, Deborah Smart, Steve Smart, Dave Summers and Dave Westlake.

Games: Catch of the Day, The Big Match, Dangerous Waters, A Stretch Too Far and Sumo-Saulters;
Marathon: All the Fun of the Fair.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd

 S • Swindon ● ●
 W • Weston-super-Mare
 C • Cheltenham Spa

17
15
14

Returning Teams and Competitors

A team from Swindon had previously participated in 1974 under the name of Thamesdown which was the town’s local authority at the time.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in Ronin Entertainment Archives

GB

It's A Knockout 1999

Heat 7

Event Staged: Saturday 18th September 1999 (10th)
Venue: Westminster Lodge Sports and Leisure Centre,
St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England

Transmission:
Channel 5 (1st Showing): Friday 15th October 1999, 8.00-9.00pm
Channel 5 (2nd Showing): Sunday 17th October 1999, 1.05-2.00pm

Teams: Dacorum v. St. Albans v. Watford

Team Members included:
Dacorum - Mike Brown (Team Captain), John Dixon, Rebecca Dukes, Nikki Hansen, Michael Hill, Trevor Radcliffe, Carl Rowlands, Cheryl Thompson, Timothy Wigmore and Ray Wilmore;
St. Albans - Anton Bulcasarnez, Lee Dunbarton, Trudy Edgar, Caroline Hargreaves, Nick Hill, Rachel Holliday, Belinda McGinley, Darren Machin, Andy O’Brien, Chris Pearce, Marcus ‘Pretty Boy’ Rose, David Smith and Susan Solough;
Watford - Sam Keats (Team Captain), Martin Foster, Ray Francis, Karen Franklin, John Hatton, Samantha Kirkland-Wood, Corinna Mead, Lee Paltingale, Craig Riley, Glen Robbins, Mohammed Shafiq, Sarah Smith and Heidi Woodward.

Games: A Hive of Activity, Flower Power, The Wedding Gifts, The Pail-Faces and Not At a Snail’s Pace;
Marathon: In An English Country Garden.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
2nd

 A • St. Albans ● ●
 D • Dacorum
 W • Watford

16
15
15

The Host Town

St Albans, Hertfordshire

Image © Alys Hayes, 2020

Presenters, Officials and Production Team

It must have felt like déjà vu for Course Referee Tony Smith as he returned to St. Albans for this heat and the Final. He had previously captained the St. Albans team in It's A Knockout and Jeux Sans Frontières competitions at the same venue in 1977 and 1979 respectively.

Returning Teams and Competitors

Watford obviously used the old adage of 'Try, Try and Try Again', as this was the third time the town had participated in the programme. Unfortunately, it would prove to be the town’s third consecutive defeat!

Additional Information

Again, as in Heats 1 and 2, some on-site banter made this heat appear as if it had been recorded as Heat 7. Keith Chegwin actually says on-screen that the St. Albans team would be back in their home town for the British Championship (The Final) in three weeks' time. This comment was met with some very wry smiles from many of the St. Albans team, as they knew it would really be taking place the next day.

Dacorum was created under the Local Government Act 1972, and includes the towns of Berkhamsted, Hemel Hempstead, King’s Langley and Tring.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in Ronin Entertainment Archives

GB

It's A Knockout 1999

Heat 8

Event Staged: Monday 30th August 1999 (Bank Holiday) (5th)
Venue: The Links, Whitley Bay, Tyne & Wear, England

Transmission:
Channel 5 (1st Showing): Friday 22nd October 1999, 8.00-9.00pm
Channel 5 (2nd Showing): Sunday 24th October 1999, 1.05-2.00pm

Teams: Leeds v. Liverpool v. Manchester

Team Members included:
Leeds - Ruth Hartley (Team Captain), Stuart Clark, Debbie Clay, Wayne Elsberry, Matthew Gillard, Mairi Glynn, Christina Nugent, Peter Pheley, Les Reid, Carl Senior, Everton Whateley;
Liverpool - John Marsden (Team Captain), Karen Dalby, Natalie Dalzale, Robbie Jones, Carl Jures, Janice MacDonald, John O’Brien, Joe Rock, Chris Smith and Terry Wilson;
Manchester - Paul Schofield (Team Captain), Fiona Barley, Dave Boothroyd, Peter Caveney, Brian Deek, Anita Eagland, Louis Hampton, Dave Quartermaine, Jimmy Quigley, Yvonne Quigley, Andrew Robertson and Iamba Yumbo.

Games: Tubby Tourist Tumble, Ostrich Run, A Bit of a Splash, What a Turn-On and P-P-P-Pick up a Penguin;
Marathon: The Pirates of Whitley Bay.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd

 M • Manchester ● ●
 LD • Leeds
 LP • Liverpool

19
18
10

Presenters, Officials and Production Team

This programme featured two teams representing birth towns of two of the presenters. Keith Chegwin was born in Bootle in 1957, which despite lying four miles north of Liverpool city centre, enjoys having the same ‘post town’ and ‘L’ postcode as the city. However, despite the fact that it has never been part of Liverpool, it has never deterred its residents from regarding themselves as Liverpudlians. Nell McAndrew (birth name Tracey Jane McAndrew) was born in 1973 in Belle Isle, a large suburb of Leeds lying 3 miles south of the city centre.

At the start of the programme, Keith Chegwin asked Nell that he hoped that there would be no favouritism towards the teams, and Nell hesitated before stating that she had better remove the points that were already showing on the scoreboard. The camera then panned to the scoreboard and it was showing Leeds 98pts, Liverpool 0pts and Manchester 0pts!

Returning Teams and Competitors

Liverpool team member, 42-year old John O’Brien was the only member of any of this year’s teams who had participated in the programme before. John had been a member of the Liverpool squad that had competed back in 1976 against Blackpool and Morecambe. At that time, he was only 18 years old and unfortunately on that occasion like this one, he was a member of the 3rd placed team.

Additional Information

At the end of this programme, the scores for Leeds and Manchester were tied at 18pts each. In order to decide the winner, the two girl team members who had participated in the final game had to run the same course one more time. However, despite leading the play-off, the Leeds competitor failed to stick to the rules (which she had already complied with in the final game) and instead of passing though the middle section of one of the game’s components, she simply by-passed the obstruction to save time. Keith Chegwin told viewers and the on-site crowd at the time that he was certain that the competitors should pass through the middle. He then announced that Course referee Tony Smith had raised a flag signalling this and it seemed likely that the Leeds team would be penalised. On arrival at the finishing line, seemingly unaware that she had not complied with the rules, the Leeds competitor was told by Keith Chegwin that she had been disqualified. Therefore, this meant that Manchester had won the game and the contest overall by default, rather than on their own merits.

As had been the case in Domestic Heat 6 at St. Albans in 1977 (despite various other tied contests since then where this did not happen) an extra point was added to the scoreboard for the team winning the tie-break game. The final scoreboard at the end of the reserve game showed Manchester with 19pts and Leeds with 18pts.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in Ronin Entertainment Archives

GB

It's A Knockout 1999

Heat 9

Event Staged: Sunday 5th September 1999 (7th)
Venue: Pittencrieff Park, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland

Transmission:
Channel 5 (1st Showing): Friday 29th October 1999, 8.00-9.00pm
Channel 5 (2nd Showing): Sunday 31st October 1999, 1.05-2.00pm

Teams: Dundee v. Edinburgh v. Glasgow

Team Members included:
Dundee - Gillian Anderson, Chris Boht, Ricki Boyle, Andy Camerall, Duncan Davidson, Elizabeth Ewell, Stewart Lowe, Mary-Ann McConachy, Steve Maloney, Gary Smith and Ian White;
Edinburgh - Victoria Hepworth (Team Captain), David Blithe, Louise Findley, Jennifer Goodlet, Paul McGregory, Lesley-Ann Miller, Roddy Pitt, Graham Raine, Graham Shaw, Ray Smith and Fiona Thompson;
Glasgow - Elaine Ballantyne, Derek Cook, Jennifer Devlin, Robert Doherty, Allan Jones, Andrew McCultry, Joanne McWhirter, David Martin, Craig Mulholland, Karen Peer, Tarju Sidu, Deborah Strangwainey-Wise and William Thornton.

Games: Not At a Snail’s Pace, The Big Match, My Learned Friends, The Pail-Faces and The Flight of the Bumble-Bees;
Marathon: Belly Slide.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd

 E • Edinburgh ● ●
 G • Glasgow
 D • Dundee

19
14
13

Additional Information

Having won four out of the five games they played, the team from Edinburgh became the first and only team this year to have amassed sufficient points before the final game to have secured victory, irrespective of its outcome.

As with Heat 6, presenter Keith Chegwin pointed out to viewers and the on-site crowd that (just in case they were not sure) a member of one of the teams was not as famous as they may have at first thought. Dundee team member Gillian Anderson was not the actor who was then playing agent Dana Scully in The X-Files!

During the first round of the Marathon, Chegwin cheekily made a reference to The Guinness Book of World Records by stating that he didn’t think that Glasgow competitor Joanne McWhirter would be breaking any records on the course after her attempt. The reference related to the McWhirter brothers, Ross and Norris, who were the compilers of the book.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in Ronin Entertainment Archives

GB

It's A Knockout 1999

Heat 10

Event Staged: Sunday 12th September 1999 (9th)
Venue: Leicester Road Sports Ground, Hinckley, Leicestershire, England

Transmission:
Channel 5 (1st Showing): Friday 5th November 1999, 8.00-9.00pm
Channel 5 (2nd Showing): Sunday 6th November 1999, 10.00-11.00am

Teams: Burton Upon Trent v. Hinckley v. Tamworth

Team Members included:
Burton-upon-Trent - Alex Kruger (Team Captain), Donna Brassington, Teema Clarell, Kevin Clark, Ann Colson, Robert Colson, Emma Compson, Tim Kernopik, Rob Morgan, Linda Norris, John Oldfield, Neilson Smith, Graham Reaney and Richard Stringer;
Hinckley - Debbie Beawark, Caroline Burrows, Anita Chiltern, Jai Evans, Marie Hucknall, Dawn Jofem, Tim Lewington-Moore, Jack Linsled, Joe Morton, Jim Neave, Dwayne Pickering, Neil Porter, Claire Preston and Steven Robinson;
Tamworth - Geoff Parsons (Team Captain), Sarah Blackwell, Nick Clarke, Doug Crouch, John Culshaw, Mary Leveridge, Julie Martin, Karen Moss, John Rosenbach, Paul Tasker, Eamonn Townsend, Wesley Williamson and Andrew Wilson.

Games: Playing A-Waiting Game, The Champagne Chefs, Walking the Slippery Plank, The Fruits v. the Vegetables and Sumo Relay Race;
Marathon: Dobbin and Maid Marian.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd

 B • Burton Upon Trent ● ●
 T • Tamworth
 H • Hinckley

18
15
14

Additional Information

As this was actually the ninth heat to be recorded, some clever editing took place to make it feel like the tenth and final heat. At the end of this programme, presenter Keith Chegwin stated that they had had a super time during the whole series and told viewers to watch a short review of highlights of the series accompanied by the show’s theme music Bean Bag. Just before the end of this, he announced the ten best teams that would be competing in the Final, even though the tenth heat was yet to be held. Three versions of this announcement were recorded, with each one announcing a different winner for the then-forthcoming St. Albans heat. The version mentioning the St. Albans team as having qualified from that heat was the one edited into the programme as broadcast. Chegwin also told viewers whilst standing on the rostrum next to the winning team from Burton-upon-Trent not to forget to watch the Final the next evening!

Made in Colour • This programme exists in Ronin Entertainment Archives

Teams Qualifying for Grand Final