The Krypton Factor
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| The Krypton Factor | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Game show |
| Starring | Gordon Burns (1977-95) Penny Smith (1995 series only, co-presenter) |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV |
| Original run | September 3, 1977 – November 20, 1995 |
The Krypton Factor was a British game show, produced by Granada Television and hosted by Gordon Burns, which ran from 1977 to 1995 on ITV. The series ran during the summer months from its inception until 1984, and from 1985 to 1995 ran from September to December. Contestants from across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland competed in a series of rounds that tested their physical and mental attributes.
The most common structure for the series was a 13 episode series. The series was divided into three groups of three heats each, Groups A, B and C. Each heat had four contestants, and the winner of each heat went through to the Group Final, along with the highest scoring runner up. The winner of each Group Final went through to the Grand Final, along with the highest scoring runner-up from the Group Finals. The overall winner of the Grand Final would receive a gold trophy and titled "Super Person of the Year".
In the 1987 series, there was also a group D, and thus the winner of each group final qualified for the grandfinal, with no place for the highest scoring runner up in the group finals. The group heats still only had 3 heats, with the runner up heading for the group final.
In the 1977 series, there were no groups and 8 heats, the winner of each advancing to a semi final. The top two of each semi final qualified for the grand final.
Contents |
[edit] The Rounds
The rounds were usually in the same order as shown below. However in the 1988 series, the intelligence test was the third round, the observation test fourth, and the assualt course was the penultimate round.
- 1. Mental Agility - This often took the form of a memory test, usually with a time limit of 40 seconds, but infrequently with a "knock-out" format, where contestants were eliminate for incorrect answers until only one remained. The contestants frequently had to memorise a sequence and then answer a series of progressively more complicated questions. For instance, if the sequence to be memorised was a series of coloured blocks, the questions might start as "What is the colour of the third block from the left?" and progress to "What is the colour of the block two to the left of the block to the right of the green block?". This round was conducted with all contestants wearing headphones to prevent the other participants from hearing their competitors' answers.
- 2. Response - From 1988, this consisted of each player taking turns on a flight simulator and being marked by an actual flight instructor. In 1988, the contestants had to land a BAe 146 in the heats, a Harrier Jump Jet in the Group Finals and a Sea King on an aircraft carrier in the Grand Final. In 1989, the heats used 3 different simulators. The first heat in each group required the contestants to land Concorde, the second heat required the contestants to land a Red Arrow and the third heat required them to land a Boeing 737. The group finals requiredn the contestants to land the Sea King on an aircraft carrier. The grand final of the 1989 series saw the contestants use a Space Shuttle simulator in California. In 1990, the contestants landed Concorde in the heats, the Sea King on an aircraft carrier in the group final and in the grand final, the contestants were in the Sea King again, but this time they used the simulator in a rescue mission. They started from an oil rig, where they were carrying an injured passenger, and had to take off from the oil rig and land on the aircraft carrier. From 1991 to 1993, the heats and group finals were the same; Boeing 737 in the heats, Sea King in the group finals. The 1991 grand final involved the contestants using an Hercules simulator, while the 1992 and 1993 grand finals required the contestants to land a real plane.
Prior to 1988, the Response round was a combination of a race between the contestants using double ogometer bicycles, and a video wall which would display random numbers of coloured blocks; the contestants were required to press one of four coloured buttons corresponding to the highest number of blocks of any one colour being displayed.
- 3. Observation - This round involved watching a specially made video clip or a clip from an ITV drama series that was being broadcast at the time. In the earliest series, contestants were asked questions on the clip and this was followed by an identity parade where they had to identify one of the actors. In later series until 1988, contestants were shown a clip twice and asked to spot five continuity errors between two similar clips. Many of the sequences recorded for the 1988 series were written by, and featured, Andrew O'Connor. From the 1989 and 1990 series, contestants were invited to spot six continuity errors contained in one single clip. Steve Coogan starred in many of the sequences featured in the 1989 series. From 1991 onwards, contestants answered multiple-choice questions relating to the clip (e.g. "What did he say when he entered the room?" or "What was on the table?). Sometimes serials were used; such as 1990's Sam Smith private detective starring Gwyneth Strong, which saw the female detective investigating often silly cases (which often featured her young chubby nephew, Wallace) Some guests in Sam Smith stories included Derek Griffiths, Matthew Kelly and Keith Chegwin, who all appeared in the final instalment of the series. The 1991 series featured the saga Where is Don Day? starring Tony Robinson and Michelle Collins, about a bank manager whose dull life is suddenly changed when he accidentally becomes involved in a robbery from his own bank. 1992 saw Dead Ringer starring Tony Slattery; a thriller about a man suffering from amnesia trying to discover who he really is, whilst being hunted down by a hitman named Preston, played by Roger Lloyd Pack.
- 4. Physical Ability - Probably the most memorable of the rounds, this involved the contestants racing to complete an army assault course located at Holcombe Moor in Bury, Lancashire. This round typically included 20 obstacles including vertical and flat cargo nets, rope swings, water jumps, Burma rope bridges, and a rope slide into water. In this round, female contestants were allowed a head start over their male competitors, and in early series, contestants were given staggered starts to the assault course; following practice sessions with army officers, the contestant of the weakest physical ability would set off first, followed by the contestant of the third strongest physical ability, followed by the contestant of the second strongest physical ability, leaving the contestant of the strongest physical ability to start last. The 1990 series saw many of the metal obstacles on the course replaced by wooden substitutes, including a wooden S-bend frame contestants had to descend.
- 5. Intelligence - A two- or three-dimensional puzzle where shapes had to be put together to fill a rectangular grid or make a bigger shape. Most of these were devised by Dr. Gerry Wickham of the University of Manchester's School of Mathematics. As the contestants performed the task, Gordon Burns provided a commentary to the viewers at home on the contestant's progress and advice on how to solve the puzzle. It is reputed that some of the intelligence tests featured on the programme took contestants hours to solve, with edited highlights of their performance in the round shown on the programme.
- 6. General Knowledge - A quick-fire question round with a varied time limit (which ranged from 60 seconds to 100 seconds depending on the year). One or two points were awarded for each question answered correctly, and one or two were deducted for a wrong answer. This final round was conducted using a side shot of the four contestants lit in profile. A feature of this round was that, as each question was answered, the next question contained either the answer to the last question, a word from the last answer, or a word that sounded like it.
Example:
Q: Which word can mean a gash, tally or 20?
A: Score.
Q: As a result of which score in a game of tennis does the tie-break come into operation?
A: 6 games all.
... and so on.
In the first five games, 10 points were awarded to the winner, then 6, 4 and 2 to the remaining contestants.
From 1986 to 1991, each round was introduced by the distinctive K logo, which would morph into a symbol for the round. The format of some of the games were changed during the run of the series, but the qualities they purported to test remained the same.
In the final series, the show was heavily revamped. Penny Smith was brought in as co-presenter. The intelligence round was eliminated, and the second half of the show was a super round which included a 3D maze, code cracking and a race up Mount Krypton. While some liked this change, others felt that getting rid of the intelligence round was a sign of dumbing down and that changing the format so dramatically was a mistake.
In 1988, a spin-off series was produced for children, Young Krypton, and was presented by Ross King. The series was based on a similar structure to the adult version, but with simpler intelligence tasks and a shorter obstacle course (located at the American Adventure theme park near [Nottingham]])in place of the Physical Ability round.
[edit] Theme tune
Over the 18 years of The Krypton Factor, four different theme tunes for the programme were used.
The second theme tune for The Krypton Factor used from 1983 to 1985 was written by Mike Moran, who also wrote the theme tune for Chain Letters.
Perhaps the show's best-known theme tune was used between 1986 and 1993 was performed by Art of Noise. The bass hook of the song is also known as "Beat Box". The exact version of this theme tune was variated in some episodes/series-for example, the drum beats in the music in some episodes/series were more emphasised, as was the synthesiser melody, but generally it remained the same.
The music used during the scoring at the end of the response round in 1988 was "Forgotten Town" by The Christians, and in the 1989 series, "Left To My Own Devices" by the Pet Shop Boys was used.
[edit] Repeat runs
Certain series of The Krypton Factor has been repeated on Flextech-owned digital satellite channel Challenge. So far, the channel has shown the series transmitted from 1989 to 1993 on numerous occasions since February 1999.
In January 2007, Ftn, a channel run by the same company who also operate Challenge and which broadcasts on Sky Digital and Freeview, began repeating episodes from the 1987-1990 series of The Krypton Factor on Saturday and Sunday evenings, showing two programmes as part on an hour-long slot in the schedule.
In 1988, ITV viewers were able to watch repeat showings of the series Grand Finals from 1977 to 1987.
In 1997 The Krypton Factor was repeated on Granada Plus and shown during the day.
[edit] Possible revival
Since its cancellation, The Krypton Factor has been the subject of persistent rumours of a revival on the BBC. In April 2005, it was widely reported that the BBC would be going ahead with a revival. However the source of this story turned out to be a misinterpretation of comments by Wayne Garvie, head of BBC's Entertainment Group (and previously the last producer on The Krypton Factor) naming it as the next "TV gem" that should be revived. The BBC does not at present have any plans to revive the show. [1]
[edit] The Champions
This is a complete list of all the winners of the show. Marian Chanter was the show's only female champion in 1987, and apparently, there was no series filmed in 1994.
United Kingdom Superperson of the Year:
1977 Harry Evans
1978 Ken Wilmhurst
1979 Peter Richardson
1980 Philip Bradley
1981 John McAllister
1982 John Webley
1983 Chris Topham
1984 Paul Smith
1985 Dr Andrew Gillam
1986 David Kemp
1987 Marian Chanter
1988 David Lee
1989 Mike Berry
1990 Duncan Heryatt
1991 Tony Hetherington
1992 Andrew Craig
1993 Tim Richardson
1994 no contest
1995 Andy Wilbur
[edit] Trivia
For the first couple of series the programme did not have a studio audience.
The Krypton Factor was one of the first new-style game shows to be exported to the USA.
Many of the intelligence tests went on for hours. The cameras were just left running and the whole thing was cut down to three minutes for the benefit of the show. At least one contestant was moved to tears by the difficulty of the puzzles.
For at least two of the series (certainly 1986 and 1987), the fastest man and fastest woman on the assault course both received a special trophy (Marian Chanter did so in the 1987 series in addition to winning the series). That was a nice touch that should have been kept in.
Unusually, and possibly uniquely for the time, some earlier series (until 1993) had no advert break in the middle even though it was in a primetime 7pm slot. This explains why some of the elements (most notably, the time for the quiz) were shortened in later series.
We noticed watching repeats on Challenge quite recently that the contestants wear clothes representing the colour they've been assigned. Cunning, no?
Splendidly, the points players earned through the game weren't referred to as their score, but as their "Krypton Factor", as in, "The winner, with a Krypton Factor of 46, is the legal secretary from Kent, Bob Jeffries".
The Krypton Factor had a number of clothing merchandises, including a pair of black trainers bearing the Krypton K on the sides and the tongue.
There was also a Krypton Factor Quizbook.
[edit] Overseas versions
The Krypton Factor also ran in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Germany.
[edit] US version
Two short-lived United States versions of The Krypton Factor aired. In 1981, Dick Clark hosted a 6-week summer series on ABC. In 1990, Willie Aames hosted a syndicated version for children. A version in production by Fox TV was never shown to the public.
[edit] New Zealand version
The New Zealand version of The Krypton Factor ran from 1987 to 1991 and was hosted by veteran presenter Dougal Stevenson. There was no Response test in the New Zealand version and the video clips used for the Observation test were taken from the UK version. The Physical Ability test was done at Burnham Military Camp just south of Christchurch. The winners of the 1987 series competed against the winners of the 1987 series in the UK.
