Finders Keepers (1981 British game show)

Finders Keepers is a British children's game show television series that aired on BBC1 from 13 February 1981 to 1 March 1985, hosted by Richard Stilgoe.

Finders Keepers
Genre	Children's Game show
Presented by	Richard Stilgoe
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	42
Production
Running time	25 minutes
Release
Original network	BBC1
Picture format	4:3
Original release	13 February 1981 – 1 March 1985

Format

The show combined a quiz element with a computerised version of the game Battleships. Two teams of three primary school-aged pupils would compete against each other.[1] On scoring a "hit" at the Battleships game, the team had to answer a question to gain the associated points.[1]

Theme

The show was also notable for host Richard Stilgoe playing the theme on a synthesiser live in the studio at the beginning,[2] as well as the use of the phonetic alphabet to indicate the square on the battleship grid.[2]

Transmissions

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	13 February 1981[3]	3 April 1981[4]	8
2	19 February 1982[5]	2 April 1982[6]	7
3	25 February 1983[7]	1 April 1983[8]	6
4	9 January 1984[9]	26 March 1984[10]	12
5	4 January 1985[11]	1 March 1985[12]	9

28 out of 42 episodes survived from the BBC archives, which are Episodes 1 & 4 of Series 1, Episodes 1-2 & 4 of Series 2, Episodes 1 & 4-6 of Series 3, Episodes 1–6, 8 & 10-12 of Series 4 and all 9 episodes of Series 5.[13]

References

1. Finders Keepers on Sausagenet - Access Date 25 April 2018
2. Finders Keepers on UK Game Shows
3. "Finders Keepers - BBC One London - 13 February 1981". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
4. "Finders Keepers - BBC One London - 3 April 1981". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
5. "Finders Keepers - BBC One London - 19 February 1982". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
6. "Finders Keepers - BBC One London - 2 April 1982". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
7. "Finders Keepers - BBC One London - 25 February 1983". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
8. "Finders Keepers - BBC One London - 1 April 1983". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
9. "Finders Keepers - BBC One London - 9 January 1984". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
10. "Finders Keepers - BBC One London - 26 March 1984". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
11. "Finders Keepers - BBC One London - 4 January 1985". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
12. "Finders Keepers - BBC One London - 1 March 1985". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
13. https://www.tvbrain.info/tv-archive?showname=Finders+Keepers&type=lostshow

External links

• Finders Keepers at UKGameshows.com