The British TV game show Twenty One was based on the notorious American quiz program of the same name. Host Chris Howland would place two contestants in separate isolation booths, asking both a series of increasingly difficult questions from pre-chosen categories. Whoever accrued 21 points won the game, as well as the privilege of returning the following week. The series' biggest winner was actor Bernard Davies, who went home with a princely 6,000 pounds. Twenty One debuted over Granada Television in 1958, the same year that its American counterpart was canceled due to accusations of cheating and game-fixing. Ironically, the British version was also yanked from the airwaves when one of the contestants claimed that he had been fed his answers in advance.
by Hal Erickson
synopsis
