Sunday 4 January 2015

53 Screen Test



First  watched : Uncertain

This  stalwart  started  on  Wednesday  18th  November  1970.

Screen  Test  was  a  quiz  show  for  kids.  Four  contestants  were  asked  questions  relating  ( in  variable  degree ) to  a  film  clip  they  had  just  watched.  One  of  the  questions  usually   demanded  recall  of  a  minute  observation , an  idea  shamelessly  ripped  off  by  The  Krypton  Factor  a  few  years  later.   At  first  the  quiz  would  be  broken  up  by  a  small  feature  about  some  aspect  of  film-making  but  in  1973  the  Young  Film-maker  of  the  Year  competition  was  integrated into  the  format  instead ( the  only  famous  winner  was  Ratatouille   director  Jan  Pinkava  in  1980 ). I  think  there  were  usually  four  clips  including  one  from  a  film  that  was  more  or  less  current  and  one  that  you'd  never  heard  of,  made  by the  Children's  Film  Foundation  ( although  I  did  see  some  of  these  on  Saturday  mornings  at  the  ABC  in  Rochdale  later  in  the  decade ).  The  prizes  were  always  Premium  Bonds; I  wonder  if  anyone's  still  holding  them  and  whether  any  contestant  had  a  big  win ?

The  programme  was  hosted  by  the  genial  Michael  Rodd  who  looked  like  he'd  dipped  his  hair  in  quick-setting  concrete  before  going  on  screen. I  don't  remember  either  of  the  later  presenters  ( it  went  on  till  1984 )  so  I  guess  I  tuned  out  some  time  in  the  late  seventies.

Most  of  it  has  been  wiped  but  there  are  reportedly  three  of  the  Rodd  series  still  extant. It  was  a  big  break  for  Rodd  who  was  only  26  when  it  started  and  he  went  on  to  Record  Breakers  and  Tomorrow's  World.  At  the  start  of  the  eighties  he  formed  his  own  production  company  Blackrod   and  after  two  series  on  ITV  The  Real  World  and  Circuit  Training   he  ceased  doing  any  presenting   although  he  pops  up  now  and  again   to  contribute  to   business  programmes  and  nostalgia  shows.

No comments:

Post a Comment