It's a Knockout!

Channel 5 Fridays 8:00pm Hosts: Keith Chegwin, Lucy Alexander, Frank Bruno, Nell McAndrew FACTS: Nell McAndrew is the 'real life' Lara Croft and as posed as such in many mens magazines. Stuart Hall owns the rights to the British format and has all the inflatables and costumes used in his show stored in a warehouse.

Well, they may not have much money but as underdogs, you cannot deny Channel 5 don't try hard to make interesting and good programmes on a budget and they should be praised for it. First was a good, if not amazingly inspiring version of Fort Boyard, then there was Win Beadle's Money and finally there's this... It's a Knockout!

Yes! The British version of the French pan-european show Jeux Sans Frontieres (Games Wihtout Sensible Costumes) which began in the sixties with David Vine and then became popular in the Seventies with Stuart Hall and Eddie Waring (apparently it was THE programme to watch on a Friday evening) is back after 17 years and in a tres shrewd move, Channel 5 have tried tapping into the shows old fans by keeping it as close to the original as possible. Same timeslot, same theme tune and same silly costumes. Hurrah!

But how's it played? Three towns meet to play games involving endurance, skill and downright silliness and at the end the winners go through to the final and the losers are knocked out (hence It's A Knockout - see?). There are six events and each team participate in five. Each team play in the first and final game and the mini-marathon, a game that's played by each team throughout the show. Two teams each face off in the other three games and there are three points awarded to the winners of each game, two for the runners up and one for third. These points are doubled for the mini-marathon. PLUS! Each team has a Joker. If they play their Joker before the game then their points for that game are doubled. Mmmmm!

But what of the games? In each game, the competitors are made to dress up in oversized costumes which may (or may not!) fit the game they are about to play. Round One is played by all three teams and usually involves filling up buckets with water that's being showered down from a giant shower and then depositing it in your teams recepticle. To keep things interesting from week to week they play about with the format a little bit, like they'll get people dressed as sumo wrestlers to clmb up a giant inflatable hill, slide down the other side onto the turntable and start playing from there, Sometimes they'll be bits of rope trying to trip up the people on the turntable and added to the stupid costumes and the ever-increasing-slippiness of the turntable, staying on your feet is part of the game! Other things have included waiters having to run along a giant conveyor belt and stuff like that.

After every round, part of the Mini-Marathon is played. This a game that all three teams play throughout the show, the winner not being known until before the final game and it's played for double points (whoo!). Games have included guiding a cowboy to throw an inflatable to knocked down some tin cans whilst blindfolded, belly sliding (running down a runway and sliding across some plastic that's had washing-up liquid and water added to make it more slippy).

Rounds 3-5 are played by two teams each (so one sits out). The games are usually good, one always involved the large pool, and they come in a few types. Either a race to do something, a game against the clock to do as much as you can and then your opponents get a go or a timed game where your opponents try to put you off as much as they can (the best! - usually trying to knock someone off a ledge into the swimming pool). Generally, there's one really good game each week such as Pool Basketball. Dressed as teachers, the players climb up a slope and then step onto the giant conveyor belt above the pool. Three other team members, dressed as students, throw footballs to the player on the belt. The player on the belt tries to catch the balls being thrown to them and chuck them in the basket at the end of the pool. However the belt is running and so they've only got seven-eight seconds to do three balls before the inevitable happens and the player on the belt is dumped into the pool! Hilarious! People keep going round until the time's up and then the balls are counted and then the opponents have a go.

Excellently, there appears to be a good amount of variety in these games, so much so that none have been repeated exactly yet. Nice one!

The final round is a relay race across some inflatables dressed as something stupid. First they need to cross Twin Peaks (a giant inflatable with two big hills) then over the bridge, then over the Biff-Baff (an inflatable made up of inflatable spikes which have to be pushed through) and then there's a different obsticle each week before going back to the start, such as picking up and scooter and slaloming through some giant carrots. Or being a bee and bursting some balloons. Or finding giant eggs in a giant haystack. It's all very exciting and makes for a fitting end.

And do you know what? It's great. I don't have the original Stuart Hall show to compare it to (if you have, mail me!)but it is entertaining family fun where people are made to make absolute fools of themselves. Hurrah!

Keith Chegwin hosts the show amicably and although doesn't seem to go into the hysterics of Hall (and let's face it, who could?) he's able to jolly things up well. Look out for the banners around the arena that wittily say 'Cheggers Drinks Pop' which made me laugh when I first saw it. Lucy Alexander adds more personality to the proceedings and also hosts well. Thick-as-a-brick boxer Frank Bruno is the ref and gets into the role well and seems to enjoy himself (even if he isn't the most natural of presenters) and scoregirl Nell McAndrew is overrated.

So, after 17 years was it worth bringing it back? YES! Totally. It's great fun and excellently it's getting Channel 5's highest viewing figures which could only be a good thing. Jeux Sans Frontieres still does well on the continent and with Stuart Hall's backing (with occasional guest appearances!), high viewing figures and perhaps a bigger budget, we could be back in JSF yet which is bigger and better and gives us a chance to knock the Europeans about a bit (read: let the Europeans knock us about a bit).

But this will do very nicely for now, thank you very much.

Verdict: 8/10 - Excellent update of an old favourite. And the Royal Family are nowhere in sight! It's a Knockout! Sorry.