3–2–1 was a british game show that was made by Yorkshire Television for ITV. It ran for ten years, between 29 July 1978 and 24 December 1988, with Ted Rogers as the host. It was based on a spanish gameshow called Un, dos, tres… responda otra vez and was a three of three shows in one : a quiz, kind and a game show. The usher was a huge achiever, systematically pulling in large ratings. The first gear series, though intended as a summer filler, attracted up to 16.5 million viewers and subsequent years never peaked below 12 million. The display occupied a Saturday early even time slot for most of its carry.

The final Christmas extra, broadcast on 24 December 1988, attracted 12.5 million viewers, but an eleventh series was not commissioned. Ted Rogers claimed in an April 1996 consultation that “ The Oxbridge fortune got control condition of television receiver and they did n’t in truth want it. It was besides downmarket for them. We were hush getting 12 million viewers when they took it off after ten years. These days if a show gets nine million everyone does a lap of honor. ”

The format [edit ]

The overall aim of the game was to survive elimination through to part three of the display, and try to unravel a serial of cryptic clues in order to win the star respect. One of the clues, however, referred to Dusty Bin who was the express ‘s booby trophy. If the contestants ended up with Dusty at the end of the show, all they got was a stigmatize new ashcan. Each appearance had a theme, such as “ Seacruise ” or the “ swing Sixties ”. All of the variety acts, quiz questions, phase sets and clues subsequently followed this theme. In subsequently series, Dusty would appear at the start of the show dressed in a costume relating to that week ‘s theme. The changing themes were dropped for the final series where a more generic degree set was re-used each workweek .

part 1 : The 1,000-to-1 quiz [edit ]

In depart one of the read, three couples have the prospect to win up to £ 1,000 in the “ 1,000 to 1 quiz ”. The first round consisted of a maximal of 10 questions ( in 30 seconds ), each compensate answer being worth £10 ( or in the first series £1, but with three rounds available ). Passes were permitted but there was no opportunity to return to the interview. Each member of the copulate answered in turn with the lady answering first and the first answer was given to her to avoid the hypothesis of a zero score, An incorrect answer, or the time limit, would immediately end the round. Each decline answer in the second round was worth the total come scored in the first, hence the need to avoid a zero score which would have meant a pair were playing for nothing. The questions were normally of the lapp ‘word association ‘ format. Ted Rogers would say, for case, an island and the contestants would have to name the nation to which it belonged ( e.g. ted : “ Gozo “, Contestant : “ Malta “ ). Another example would be people and their titles ( e.g. ted : “ Elizabeth II “, Contestant : “ Queen ” ). In the first series, the winners of the quiz would return the following week to compete again, while the other two couples would progress to part two, but from the second gear series, this changed to the worst-performing couple being eliminated, taking home the money they won in the quiz and a ceramic model of Dusty Bin. Dusty Bin was conceived as the dumbbell pry by the testify ‘s producer Derek Burrell-Davis and created as a cartoon quality by the interior designer and animator John Sunderland, who besides designed the possibility and end titles and the theme ‘costumes ‘ for Dusty Bin. Sunderland went on to design some of the most successful ‘new-wave ‘ democrat museums in Britain, starting notably with the Jorvik Viking Centre in York, which like his ashcan became an nightlong strike with the british public. In the final examination series ( 1987–1988 ), the 1,000-to-1 quiz was replaced by a general-knowledge, fingers-on-buzzers quiz. As ahead, three couples participated, in just two rounds of questions. Each couple began with £10 and could earn another £10 for each discipline answer in the first base attack. The beginning round required ten right answers ( in other words, the polish would not end if ten questions had been read out and not all answered correctly ). a soon as Ted started to ask the question, the match who hit the buzzer first base, after Ted had said their name, had three seconds to answer the question, and if they failed to answer the question in three seconds, or answered the question wrong, Ted would say “ On offer ” and the other two couples would have a chance to answer the motion. Again, the couple who hit the doorbell first, after Ted had said their name, had three seconds to answer, and if they failed to answer the motion in three seconds, or answer the question wrong, that question would go into the bin. Following the beginning round, Ted would give the couples a break, while, he introduced a “ newcomer ” to 3–2–1 ( another accession to the final series ). This was a luck for an act to perform, much like the late rounds as normal, though, the “ newcomer ” had never appeared on 3–2–1 before. Following the newcomer act, round two of the quiz would be played, with alone fifteen questions been asked. As with previous series, whatever money the couples had after the first round would be the value of the question to them in the irregular round of golf, and it was the same format for answering the questions. The utmost a match could win in this attack was £1,650 ( as in the start £10, ten first-round questions answered correctly plus all fifteen in the second round ), however, this was never achieved. At the end of the two rounds of questions, the couple with the least money would leave with the money they ‘d won and their ceramic Dusty Bin, then they would go to the commercial crack. On the 1987 Christmas extra, the quiz only consisted of 20 £100 questions .

separate 2 : The elimination [edit ]

The elimination mechanism for reducing the remaining couples depressed to one changed over the course of the appearance. In the first base two series, it was a forcible game to fit in with the show ‘s subject. This changed in 1981 to the contestants competing heading to lead in a computer game ( such as Breakout ), and was finally amended in 1982 to an elimination question which the last two couples would answer after seeing the first three assortment acts in part two of the express. The commercial break followed the question, and in 1986 and 1987, a viewers ‘ question was posed to win a color television, with three runners up getting a ceramic Dusty Bin. The entrance shape for that was in that week ‘s edition of TV Times .

part 3 : The acts and prize clues [edit ]

In the early years, the third round was referred to as Take it or Leave it ?. The concluding version of the show ‘s format was amended in 1982 so that from the begin of part two of the picture, the two remaining couples from the quiz watched the first three variety acts together. At the end of each act, one of the performers would come over to the table and give Ted a clue object ( or MacGuffin as Ted sometimes called them ) and read a corresponding rhyme to provide clues for that particular prize. After three acts, the couples would decide on which object they would like to reject in the promise that it was Dusty Bin and then take part in the final elimination motion. The losers would leave with the money they had won in part one, their ceramic Dusty Bin and a consolation pry ( such as a twelve-piece dinner serve ) and the winners would go through to part three of the display. At the begin of function three, Ted would decode the hint and reveal the respect which the final copulate rejected before the end of part two. Another act would then perform and leave another clue, leaving three on the mesa. Ted would then re-read one of the earlier two clues, before the couple chose their second base detail to reject before that loot was then revealed to them. The final assortment act would perform and leave a death clue. Ted would then re-read one of the previous clues and the couple would reject their one-third item, and another loot was then revealed. Ted would then re-read the remaining two clues and the couple would be faced with their concluding decisiveness leaving them with the prize they have chosen and ultimately won, after seeing what the other prize they had rejected was, and besides with the prize they had won, they had the money they won in part one of the express. Unlike the eliminate couples, the winning couple did not receive a ceramic Dusty Bin, unless they had Dusty at the end of the appearance, all they got was a mark new ashcan, the money they won in depart one and a ceramic Dusty Bin. vitamin a well as Dusty Bin, which was always one of the five prizes, the other four prizes normally included a car and/or a vacation. Later serial sometimes featured two cars as prizes. The clues became ill-famed for being about impossibly difficult and obscure, having only a outside connection to the prizes, which contestants sometimes did not appear to grasp even after Ted had revealed it to them. It has frequently been suggested that the clues had more than one potential explanation, allowing the producers to control which prize the contestants received. indeed, in one episode, Ted facetiously said to confused contestants, attempting to make a decision : “ well, the rhymes could mean anything, as you know. “. ‡For example, a wishbone brought on by Sonny Hayes came with the clue “ Take one that never changes, add a public house and a valued stone, bring them all up-to-date, and nowadays, you ‘re on your own. “, which the contestants rejected hoping it referred to Dusty Bin. Rogers ‘ explanation of the hint was : “ ‘Take one that never changes ‘, well, that could be Dusty Bin which of course is where you might throw a wishbone. ‘Add a public house and a precious stone ‘, well, that does n’t point to Dusty. ‘Bring them all up-to-date, and now you ‘re on your own. ‘. Well, what about the wishbone ? Sonny said ‘a large wishbone ‘, so what might a big wishbone fall from ? Something larger than a chicken. Turkey, possibly ? now, ‘one that never changes. ‘ is a constant, a public house can besides be an hostel, there ‘s a distribute of precious stones but how many go with ‘constant hostel ‘ ? How about opal ? Yes, Constantinople, up to go steady, the pride of Turkey, you ‘ve rejected a 3–2–1 holiday ! “ .

Acts who appeared on the read [edit ]

The early serial of the broadcast featured a regular cast of comedy performers including Chris Emmett, Mike Newman, Felix Bowness, Debbie Arnold and Duggie Brown. This format was changed for later series when each show featured a total of variety show acts of the day deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as a house dance company such as the Brian Rogers Connection who would perform solo for the first act. They would belated frequently dance behind the acts who would constantly top the circular. former dance/hostess troupes who appeared include Lipstick ( choreographed by hostess Libby Roberts ) and the Gentle Secs.

other hostesses who appeared on the indicate include : Mireille Allonville, Jenny Layland, Patsy Ann Scott, Annie St John, Karen Palmer, Gail Playfair, Tula, Alison Temple-Savage, Libby Roberts, Fiona Curzon, Karan David, Wei Wei Wong, Caroline Munro and Lynda Lee Lewis. Acts who appeared included : Gloria Gaynor, George Roper, Ken Dodd, Charlie Williams, Bonnie Langford, Duncan Norvelle, Black Lace, Bernie Winters, Stutz Bear Cats, Kit and the Widow, Wall Street Crash, Kiki Dee, Michael Ball, ‘Nasty Nigel ‘ Lythgoe, Martin “ The Beast ” Francis, Tom Pepper, Fay Presto, Pete Price, Manhattan Transfer, Shane Richie, the Flaming Hamsters, Stan Boardman, Fascinating Aida, Showaddywaddy, Kajagoogoo, Frankie Howerd, Colm Wilkinson, Wilfrid Brambell from Steptoe and Son, Sinitta, Five Star, Indigo Lady, Cheryl Baker, Phil Cornwell, Jaki Graham, Nana Mouskouri, the Chuckle Brothers, Brian Conley, Roy Walker, the Drifters, John Sparkes, Wayne Sleep, Andrew O’Connor, Gareth Hunt, Peter Beckett, Syd Lawrence ( with his orchestra ), Humphrey Lyttelton, Frankie Vaughan, Jessica Martin, the Foxes, Mud, Keith Harris and Orville, Mick Miller, Diane Solomon, Tony Christie, Cover Girls, Lyn Paul, the Searchers, the Rockin ‘ Berries, Stephanie Lawrence, Don Lusher ( with his set ), Madeline Bell, Georgie Fame, Wayne Dobson, the real thing, Rebecca Storm, Richard Digance, Anna Dawson, Marion Montgomery, Bill Maynard, the Krankies, Terry Scott, Carmel McSharry, Bob Carolgees, Diana Dors, Lionel Blair, Alvin Stardust, Phil Cool, Vince Eager, Mike Reid, Nicholas Parsons, Sheila Steafel, Danny La Rue, Les Dennis, The Wurzels, Joan Benham, Ken Colyer ( with his jazzmen ), Frazer Hines, Charlie Williams, Pan ‘s People ( as Dee Dee Wilde ‘s Pan ‘s People ), Rita Webb, The Great Soprendo, Bernard Bresslaw, Charlie Drake, Aimi MacDonald, Mark Heap ( the Two Marks ), Vince Hill and Paul Da Vinci. As was the manner of the day, the usher frequently featured peculiarity acts such as a female singer who sang improbable renditions of popular songs whilst her male partner sketched caricatures of celebrated people connected with the song on a interchange chart ( e.g. a sketch of Marilyn Monroe was drawn whilst the Elton John song Candle in the Wind was performed ) who were Trevillion and ( Sadie ) Nine. The other songs performed were Smile ( Though, Your Heart is Breaking ), Eye of the Tiger accompanied by sketches of Charlie Chaplin and a packer. The loot announcers were : Anthony Schaeffer ( 1984–1985 ) and later John Benson ( 1986–87 ), who had provided the celebrated voice-over for Sale of the Century. [ 1 ] The Christmas editions of the picture sometimes featured celebrities in set of regular contestants. The first Christmas usher for 1978 ( but air in January 1979 ascribable to industrial carry through at YTV ) featured three celebrity partners, paired according to their nationality. The winners were Ireland ‘s Terry Wogan and Clodagh Rodgers. The couple eliminated the five prizes available for charity, becoming the series ‘ first contestants to end up with the ashcan choice and therefore earn nothing at all for their charity, much to their embarrassment. The follow years, members of the public were featured as the contestants as with the regular show, but in 1981, John Inman and Barbara Windsor were the winners and they besides won the ashcan ; but on this juncture, the prizes were all revealed to be ‘junk ‘ and the ashcan was in fact the star topology loot. Inman & Windsor were in on the set up and measuredly contrived to win the ashcan. however the 1983 Christmas edition featured children as contestants. The DJ Janice farseeing appeared as a dissenter [ 2 ] on the very first sequence with her then husband, Trevor, in July 1978

Hand gesture [edit ]

Ted Rogers would regularly make a lightning fast 3–2–1 hired hand gesticulate. This became an important doodad of the usher – and a school playground favored – chiefly because, it was quite difficult to do, and resulted in a natural hand gesture if performed falsely. The correct way of doing the gesture is to hold up three fingers ( index, middle, and ring ) on the mighty hand, facing inbound ; two ( index and middle ) facing outward ; and then one ( index ) facing inbound, turning the wrist while changing the fingers .

Dusty Bin [edit ]

Dusty Bin was both the express ‘s mascot and its booby trophy. Dusty would appear at the begin of each show, dressed in the style of that workweek ‘s subject, though, this did not occur in the 1987 series, as these programmes did not have a root as per former series. The cartoon character of Dusty Bin was created by freelance couturier John Sunderland, who developed the fictional character based on the show producers ‘ brief for a booby respect which would work on the british version of the indicate. The original spanish adaptation had a pumpkin as a dumbbell prize. Sunderland ‘s concept for the shows ‘ original titles, which were shown on the original series, included the give birth of the bin. The quality came to life as Yorkshire Television ‘s chevron logo falls to earth after shooting up into the sky like a skyrocket above the studios, exploding in a ashcan stand by the studio ‘s stage door. The bank identification number contained a clown ‘s costume, parts of which become one with the bin, bringing it to life as the character Dusty Bin ; separate ashcan, part clown, partially enduring iconic character. The original automatic Dusty Bin, and his yorkshire Terrier pawl Garbage, was put together by Ian Rowley, in his convert chapel workshop in Rodley, Leeds. He used over 73 microprocessors, which was cutting border 1980s outback control robotic technology in that day, at a monetary value around £10,000 to manufacture – which was a small fortune in those days – to control Dusty and Garbage, and in 151 shows, some of Dusty ‘s & Garbage ‘s antics included dressing up as a caveman and dinosaur, bullfighting as a matador and bull’s eye, dressing up as a baby, driving into the studio apartment in a Ford Model T, juggling balls like a clown, playing the piano like Elton John, flying round the studio with a James Bond jetpack, escaping from chains like Harry Houdini, riding a bicycle, spraying Ted Rogers with key and even driving a tank into the studio apartment, to bomb the hearing with confetti. There are three Dustys made in full, one which is amply robotic is with the creator Ian Rowley. Another is greeting people at the ITV studio entrance and the third is owned by Ted Rogers ‘s son Danny .

In popular culture [edit ]

In 1999, as separate of their Christmas particular entitled “The Phantom Millennium” ; french and Saunders included Dusty Bin in a spoof of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace ; where Dusty Bin played Droid DB-321. Dawn french makes the 3–2–1 “ hand signal ” whilst she commands the droid in the guise of Queen Amanana ( A spoof of Queen Amidala ). besides, as part of Comic Relief 2007, the BBC showed a short sketch based around The Proclaimers ‘ 1988 stumble song “ I ‘m Gon na be ( 500 Miles ) “. Directed by and starring Peter Kay, it featured Dusty Bin dancing with a gaggle of forget celebrities from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The song was released as a candle single and DVD. Dusty besides appeared briefly in a robot-themed chapter of the webcomic Scary Go Round. [ 3 ] The course 321 trains were nicknamed ‘Dusty Bins ‘ due to the number bearing the same name as the game show, and classify 153 unit count 153 321 is besides dearly known as ‘Dusty Bin ‘ by prepare crews because of its total. The Airbus A321 is besides nicknamed ‘Dusty Bin ‘ due to the type bearing the same identify as the express. A 2001 sequence of ChuckleVision entitled “ Let ‘s Get Quizzical ” features Ted Rogers as a downmarket game show host. In one fit where the Chuckle Brothers are hiding from Rogers in two ashcan cans, Rogers shouts “ Come back hera with my ashcan ! “, possibly in citation to Rogers ‘ association with 321 and Dusty Bin. besides in another scene where Rogers hosts the game show “ Trophy ‘s Cabinet ” he begins with a little hand gesture, which is likely a parody of his celebrated 321 hand gesture. The Burkiss Way, a radio receiver comedy appearance which co-star 3-2-1 regular Chris Emmett, parodied the show with a sketch involving a final clue of “ It ‘s a ashcan and not a car. “, which was revealed to be an anagram of “ It ‘s a car and not a ashcan. ” and frankincense by rejecting it, the contestants had turned down winning a new car. Another parody was performed on Russ Abbot’s Madhouse, in which the show was named 1-2-3. The host – played by Les Dennis – presents as the final examination clue a bag and the rhyme : “ I pack my bags to go on one, and stay in a nice hotel, and see the sun polish through the palm trees ; this a travel agent might sell. ” The eager contestants ( Russ Abbot and Bella Emberg ) pluck this respect, certain it will be the vacation … It turns out to be the bank identification number.

In the Artic text adventure crippled “ Planet of Death “ that was made for all major 8 act computers in the early 80s, 3-2-1 was a major hint towards the end of the game. When the character got past the push field, they entered a room that contained their embark and the plagiarize that would take them off the planet. however, the face-lift is unpowered so on some farther exploration the character comes across another board in which, there are 3 switches and the clue reads – “ 3,2,1 – No Dusty, Bin Rules. “ .

DVD game [edit ]

An synergistic DVD interpretation of 3–2–1 was released by Universal in 2007. Hosted by Dusty Bin ( though, Rogers appears in series clips used for the game ), it offers both questions from original broadcasts and stream ones .

The prizes [edit ]

3–2–1 become ill-famed for the improper prizes it awarded to winners. For case, couples only won a trade name fresh metallic element ashcan if the final examination clue revealed was “ Dusty Bin ”. A pet pawl was besides awarded ( Episode 1 featured a St. Bernard and a year ‘s supply of brandy. This was rejected by Janice Long and her then conserve Trevor. early less excessive prizes have included : a sofa that turns into a pond table, gold nuggets, a share in a racehorse, a family determined of folding bicycles, a year ‘s issue of pisces, and matching ‘his and hers ‘ parchment coats .

Transmissions [edit ]

Series [edit ]

Series Start date End date Episodes
1 29 July 1978 20 October 1978 13
2 24 October 1979 5 April 1980 14
3 25 December 1980 4 April 1981 15
4 30 January 1982 1 May 1982 14
5 29 January 1983 14 May 1983 14
6 3 December 1983 17 March 1984 16
7 1 September 1984 22 December 1984 17
8 31 August 1985 21 December 1985 17
9 30 August 1986 15 November 1986 12
10 5 September 1987 21 November 1987 12

Specials [edit ]

Date Entitle
25 December 1978 Christmas Special
25 December 1979 Christmas Special
25 December 1980 Christmas Special
2 January 1982 New Year Special
25 December 1982 Christmas Special
24 December 1983 Christmas Special
22 December 1984 Christmas Special
21 December 1985 Christmas Special
20 December 1986 Christmas Special
19 December 1987 Christmas Special
3 September 1988 Olympic Special
24 December 1988 Christmas Special

References [edit ]