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“And on my team this week…”

Lionel asks Kenny for help finishing off Howard's End

Seeing as how Daybreak is now officially A Flop, ITV bosses will soon be reaching around for other formats in which to park their channel’s most famous face.

For you can bet your life that one morning before the clocks go back we’ll hear the giveaway phrase “Adrian Chiles is away this week” tumble awkwardly from Christine Bleakley’s lips, followed by Christine herself taking a leave of absence, followed by Christine discovering she is to be indefinitely paired with Alan Titchmarsh or Lily Savage, and so on.

Adrian, then, faces a future quite probably as the frontman for some hastily revived format, which is triumphantly paraded in a peak primetime slot for precisely one week then flung out late at night or before teatime every Wednesday until Christmas.

One such format we can very well imagine providing a berth for Chiles is Give us a Clue – or Adrian Chiles’ Give us a Clue as it would be known.

Which then poses the more interesting question: who would be the guests, both regular and otherwise?

There aren’t many who’d be able to pull off Lionel Blair [pause for I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue-esque gales of laughter].

Michael Ball suggests himself, by virtue of being “theatrical” and of being an ITV face. As for his guests, assume the likes of  Barrowman, Richard Bacon and someone off Emmerdale or The X Factor.

Filling the role of Una Stubbs/Liza Goddard, we fear the call would go out to Claire Sweeney, “forces’ sweetheart” and another ITV spare part. Her team would be entirely comprised of Loose Women.

In fact, the show could even become a regular slot on Loose Women, helpfully keeping it out of sight of that population of the UK that has taste.

Alternatively, Give us a Clue could be revived properly, with Aspel back behind the desk (not Parky – no way), someone like Noel Edmonds captaining “the boys” and Caroline Quentin “helming” the girls. But that would never happen, at least not on ITV, because it smacks of good sense.

9 Comments

9 Comments

  1. Nick Gates

    September 29, 2010 at 11:35 pm

    Not as silly idea as it might sound! In Holland “Hints” was successfully revived this year, TalkbackThames are (or at least were) looking into a possible UK revival.

    Although unless it has a version of that theme tune, it will probably be worthless, obviously.

  2. Nick Gates

    September 29, 2010 at 11:38 pm

    And actually, having seen the Dutch show, it managed to be quite entertaining even when not in tmy native language.

  3. TV Cream

    September 30, 2010 at 9:58 am

    Blimey, that was quick – it seems that Adrian and Christine were “away” this very morning!

  4. Chris Hughes

    September 30, 2010 at 11:42 am

    That’s because Adrian was presenting the football last night, and apparently they refuse to present without each other.

    Surely the ITV format just waiting to be revived with the Midlands miseryguts in the chair is Child’s Play. Or, of course, Chiles Play.

  5. Chris Hughes

    September 30, 2010 at 11:47 am

    Oh, and for Give Us A Clue captains, I say Danny Baker and Fern Britton.

  6. Pearlyman

    September 30, 2010 at 3:57 pm

    I chanced upon an old one onYoutube just yesterday. Lionel with Leslie Crowther, Bob Holness and Tim Rice against Liza with Mary Parkinson, Eve Ferret and A.N Other.

    I can imagine the Titchmarsh being involved in any remake. Also Nicki Chapman, for some reason

  7. Matthew Rudd

    October 5, 2010 at 6:29 pm

    That still of Lionel and Kenneth couldn’t be more camp if it tried.

  8. David Pascoe

    December 4, 2010 at 12:09 pm

    Noel Edmonds would never be a contestant on any game show, I think it would be the host role or nothing for him.

  9. Arthur Nibble

    December 4, 2010 at 8:28 pm

    I’ll settle for nothing in that case!

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