Treasure Hunt was at one time Channel 4's most watched show with whole families gathering around their TV sets every Thursday night at 8pm.
The format was both unique and brilliant with TV Totty Anneka Rice dispatched to some far flung region of the British Isles, over which 5 confusing (and I really do mean confusing) clues were scattered each one giving cryptic directions to the other, With Anneka and team travelling to the various locations over the BEAUTIFUL English countryside via helicopter.
The big anti-climax came in the form of the 'treasure' which more often than not was actually a useless piece of crap like a small toy or a hat or something as equally mundane.
In the studio two very anal contestants who could only hear Anneka, tried to de-cypher these clues with the aid of the many books in the studio library helped along by the humour free Kenneth Kendall and the bubbly mulleted weather girl Wincey Willis who plotted the course and adjudicated.
Cameraman Grahame was so obsessed with Anneka's rear end that fathers all over the land tuned in for that alone. Anneka would regularly give commentary back to the studio as to what she was seeing and doing, though all in the studio were usually too busy to care.
Funny moments always came when Anneka would reach the location of one of the clues, yet the clue holder would always be doing something else like jousting or boxing and Anneka who clearly couldn't give a toss, would have to wait until they had performed their show for her even though the clock was ticking.
Some of the clues were actually located in major built up areas which meant that the helicopter would have to land about two miles away leaving Anneka and her crew to either run the rest of the way or flag down poor un-suspecting motorists to bum a lift and a boom mike sticking out of a Montego is a pretty funny sight.
99% of the time the clock ran out before the treasure was reached thus denying our contestants the £1000 prize pot.
After Anneka joined the 'pudding club' she left the show to be replaced by much better looking ex tennis star Annabel Croft. Though with Anneka and her magic arse gone, the writing was already on the wall and the show ended after one season.
BBC2 recently tried to revive the show in a 'tea-time not quite home from work' slot in direct competition with Her Majesties favourite show Countdown but the audience just wasn't there.
I not only loved the show but I loved the theme music as well, but I dreaded the ending as it meant that it was 9pm and with school the next day that meant enforced bed time by my parents. Nevertheless, Treasure Hunt remains a fondly remembered part of my youth.
STOP THE CLOCK!!!!
The format was both unique and brilliant with TV Totty Anneka Rice dispatched to some far flung region of the British Isles, over which 5 confusing (and I really do mean confusing) clues were scattered each one giving cryptic directions to the other, With Anneka and team travelling to the various locations over the BEAUTIFUL English countryside via helicopter.
The big anti-climax came in the form of the 'treasure' which more often than not was actually a useless piece of crap like a small toy or a hat or something as equally mundane.
In the studio two very anal contestants who could only hear Anneka, tried to de-cypher these clues with the aid of the many books in the studio library helped along by the humour free Kenneth Kendall and the bubbly mulleted weather girl Wincey Willis who plotted the course and adjudicated.
Cameraman Grahame was so obsessed with Anneka's rear end that fathers all over the land tuned in for that alone. Anneka would regularly give commentary back to the studio as to what she was seeing and doing, though all in the studio were usually too busy to care.
Funny moments always came when Anneka would reach the location of one of the clues, yet the clue holder would always be doing something else like jousting or boxing and Anneka who clearly couldn't give a toss, would have to wait until they had performed their show for her even though the clock was ticking.
Some of the clues were actually located in major built up areas which meant that the helicopter would have to land about two miles away leaving Anneka and her crew to either run the rest of the way or flag down poor un-suspecting motorists to bum a lift and a boom mike sticking out of a Montego is a pretty funny sight.
99% of the time the clock ran out before the treasure was reached thus denying our contestants the £1000 prize pot.
After Anneka joined the 'pudding club' she left the show to be replaced by much better looking ex tennis star Annabel Croft. Though with Anneka and her magic arse gone, the writing was already on the wall and the show ended after one season.
BBC2 recently tried to revive the show in a 'tea-time not quite home from work' slot in direct competition with Her Majesties favourite show Countdown but the audience just wasn't there.
I not only loved the show but I loved the theme music as well, but I dreaded the ending as it meant that it was 9pm and with school the next day that meant enforced bed time by my parents. Nevertheless, Treasure Hunt remains a fondly remembered part of my youth.
STOP THE CLOCK!!!!