Pass the Buck

Host: Eamonn Holmes Time and Channel: 5:30 Weekdays BBC2 Interesting fact: This show was originally hosted by Fred Dineage. Fred Dineage: Cool - Eamonn Holmes: GMTV. 'Nuff said

Have you ever played a game called Hot Potato? It's a game where you're given a subject and have to give an answer to it whilst holding a potato that plays a tune for a random amount of time. When you give a good answer, you chuck the potato at someone. If you give a wrong answer, a repeat or your holding the potato when it stops then you pick up a chip (the idea being to not have your chips. Do you see?).

That is good fun, however, there is a more fun version where you just chuck the potato as hard as you can to your younger brother in the hope that he gets concussed and will therefore be in control of the potato when the time runs out.

'Pass the Buck' is a bit like this. 12 people line up at the top of some steps and Eamonn gives a question with many answers. You have three seconds to answer. If you're right the buck passes to the next person. If wrong, you run of time or you repeat then you are out. The winners go down a step. This continues until there are 5 people left.

Anytime during the show a buzzer will sound: this means that there is a 'Memory Moment' and 18 words are read out. The remaining players must listen, learn and repeat one of those words when their turn comes up. It's easy with Linguaphone, perhaps not quite so easy when you're standing on the steps.

When there are five people left (who are guaranteed a place in the next show) the rules change a bit. Each player now has three lives and one is lost when a question goes wrong. When they get an answer right they also get to decide who goes next. A bit like a quickfire 15 to 1, if you like.

When there are two people left, they battle it out for a prize (ooh!). They play for 120 seconds and get a point for a good answer and no point and loss of control for a wrong one. Whoever has the most points at the end of the time is the winner (whoo-hoo!)

And that really is it, so in substance it's a bit like a simpler version of ITV's Split Second (A review of which can be found here) and ooh! it feels much simpler. And it is a tad dull. And it's very BBC (a bit overly middle-class) with it's canned audience (why? TV shows seem so much better with a real audience). And Eamonn Holmes does GMTV, so that says it all really. It's mildly diverting but it's a bit boring.

Verdict: 5/10 - Stick to concussing your brother.