Game Show Memories – The Krypton Factor TV Times Special.

The Krypton Factor TV Times Special (1983)

As a fan of The Krypton Factor, I am always on the lookout for any more specials to review in addition to the regular series. And this is a rather interesting one, as it seems that this was never actually shown on TV. This was before I watched The Krypton Factor or read TV Times, but I presume that there was a competition where viewers could take part in a edition.

As always, the host was Gordon Burns, who insisted that thousands of people had entered this competition. But only four could make it to this stage, and one of them was called William Stewart (not that one!). There would be three rounds instead of the usual six, all taking place in the studio, so they wouldn’t have to get their tracksuits on for a go on the obstacle course. This was about 20 minutes long, and also seemingly featured no studio audience.

The scoring system was the same, and the winner would receive a specially-made trophy that was a replica of the scoreboard, which was still very much analogue in those days. Round one is Mental Agility, and was based around the game of Battleships. At the end of this, there were joint leaders. Round two is Intelligence, with lots of fiddling about with multi-coloured hexagons. Curiously there wasn’t the usual commentary on their progress to accompany this.

After this, there is now a clear leader, but will they still be out in front at the end? The third and final round is General Knowledge. Each contestant is asked three questions individually for two points each, and then there are questions on the buzzer for 90 seconds, with one point for a correct answer, and one point deduced for an incorrect answer.

And after time is up, the winner, with a Krypton Factor of 21, from Christchurch in Dorset, is Nick Jenkins! He then receives the trophy, along with some (probably canned) applause, and he says that he would like to enter the regular series too. I don’t know if this actually happened, but who knows, maybe he was a future superperson in the making.