TV tie-in games from each ITV region?

[PeteProdge]

Nothing more than an excuse to pop in here with my television nerd anorak on...

In the Spectrum's heyday, we had plenty of TV shows 'converted' to the platform, cashing in on their fame. A lot from America, a few deals with the BBC. Now, I've been wondering if all 14 ITV franchises of the time (1982-1992) had some kind of representation on the ZX Spectrum...

Anglia: Knightmare by Activision
The show was already a hit with the type of games players who prefer dungeon-based action, this was a no-brainer to bring to the home computer. The show's producer had a tough time trying to get the fusty Norwich-based broadcaster to commit to making this show. Anglia's most famous hit with ITV audiences was the cheapo game show Sale Of The Century, which made them a bit of a laughing stock. They seriously put it right with this effort...


Central: Blockbusters by TV Games
Your 5:15pm teenage quiz, hosted for Spectrum users, by a very jerky Bob Holness.


HTV: Robin Of Sherwood : The Touchstones of Rhiannon by Adventure International
Superb low budget Sunday night drama from the Wales and west-of-England broadcaster. I've yet to play this text adventure.


Thames: Benny Hill's Madcap Chase by DK'Tronics
Clearly, it was a different time. One of Don Priestley's games I'd rather not play again, in which you're the beret-adorned nemesis of Two Ton Ted from Teddington.


LWT: Play Your Cards Right by Britannia Software
Let's do his catchphrase - a-biv-a-viv-a-viv-viv-viv-a-viv-a-viv-viv-a-viv!


Yorkshire: Round The Bend! by Impulze
A conversion of a conversion? Round The Bend was pretty much Oink comic (a very anarchic publication aimed at 8-12 year olds, like a junior Viz) on the telly, minus all the Oink characters but still with the same writers and toilet humour. I've not played it, but it can only be better than the actual Oink game, which is completely abysmal.


Granada: The Krypton Factor by TV Games
No Corrie conversion here, but ITV's north west behemoth gets represented in the form of the physical/mental aptitude test, fronted by Gordon Burns.


Tyne Tees: Supergran by Tynesoft
A fitting software house for this one, but you'll be very disappointed if you play the actual game. It depicts the antics of the Scottish super hero pensioner from the kid's comedy series, much of which was shot in Whitley Bay.


That's pretty much it for what I've found. And yes, I know there are more than one game for some of these franchises. Could have given Thames an easier ride with Minder, for example.

This leaves us with six franchises that appear to have no representation on the Speccy, unless you know different...

• TSW
• TVS
• Channel
• Border
• Grampian
• Ulster
• Scottish

Okay, Scottish sort of does have representation, in a very tenuous way. From 1995, someone put together a thing called Hurricanes Digi Slide Show. It's based on the Hurricanes, a cartoon from the DIC stable aimed at a US audience and seems to have been produced there. Scottish TV part-funded it to gain the UK rights, and there is a legit Caledonian connection thanks to the manager character being based on Celtic FC's Jock Stein. However, this isn't even an officially licensed title and it's a demo-scene offering, not a game.

Somewhere in a parallel universe, we're able to cite the excellent Domark conversion of Border TV's hit Mr & Mrs; CRL's take on TVS's Ultra Quiz; Alternative Software's tribute to Grampian's James The Cat; reviews of how Incentive tackled TSW's Knightmare-but-on-a-fraction-of-the-budget Treasures Of The Mindlord; Spinnaker's educational representation of Channel's Dodo Club; Mullet-tastic fun from Hi-Tec's interpretation of Fun House from Scottish and a take on Audiogenic's attempt of Ulster Television's Password quiz.

[ramsrc]

TVS co-produced Fraggle Rock.

To be honest, I'm surprised there was never a game based on the series.

[PeteProdge]

TVS co-produced Fraggle Rock. To be honest, I'm surprised there was never a game based on the series.

Indeed they did. The theme tune was the first record I ever bought. (Yeah, with hindsight I could have picked a much better choice.)

I'm quite staggered to find sod all from TVS in terms of Spectrum games. Surely Catchphrase would have been a huge hit? Also under worthy consideration: Telebugs; All Clued Up; Jeopardy; C.A.T.S. Eyes and Finders Keepers.

[Joefish]

Is there a challenge / competition in the offing then?

TSW's Tube Mice?
Ulster's James The Cat?
Tube Mice vs James The Cat: Ultimate Smackdown!!!

TVS made the Rupert cartoon. There were a couple of Rupert games though the licensing credit on WoS goes to Express Newspapers, publishers of the regular comic strip. And they looked awful. One where the C64 versions did look amazing - some of the first games to overlay hi-res black outlines over multi-colour sprites, and the muted coloured backgrounds really did look the part.

[PeteProdge]

Is there a challenge / competition in the offing then?

I'd like there to be. However, my machine code skills are somewhat... at homeopathic levels. I can do alright in ZX BASIC and maybe knock up something in compiled BASIC...

Ulster's James The Cat?

That was Grampian!

TVS made the Rupert cartoon. There were a couple of Rupert games though the licensing credit on WoS goes to Express Newspapers, publishers of the regular comic strip. And they looked awful. One where the C64 versions did look amazing - some of the first games to overlay hi-res black outlines over multi-colour sprites, and the muted coloured backgrounds really did look the part.

That's probably as close as we'll get to a TVS-sanctioned Spectrum game then. Pretty much all of TVS's intellectual property is now legally held by Disney.

[Joefish]

I can do alright in ZX BASIC and maybe knock up something in compiled BASIC..

You could try Boriel's readily compilable ZXBASIC, or try downloading the CharAde bundle from the 'Spectrum Files' link in my sig. It's a simple extension to BASIC for drawing large character-based sprites and backgrounds quickly, using LPRINT strings. You can have a quick look at the manual if you'd rather do that first from the same link.

[PeteProdge]

I can do alright in ZX BASIC and maybe knock up something in compiled BASIC..

You could try Boriel's readily compilable ZXBASIC, or try downloading the CharAde bundle from the 'Spectrum Files' link in my sig. It's a simple extension to BASIC for drawing large character-based sprites and backgrounds quickly, using LPRINT strings. You can have a quick look at the manual if you'd rather do that first from the same link.

Cheers, although my next retrogaming project is going to be something that could take up a lot of spare time, so may not have the time to dabble in creating games, sadly.

[Daveysloan]

Get Fresh involved production companies from all over the ITV Network.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Fresh

So maybe Gilbert's Escape from Drill could be considered.

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... from_Drill




Failing that I'm sure 1D golf could be tweaked to represent that time a 9 year old Rory McIlroy lobbed golf balls into a washing machine on the Kelly show on UTV.

[PeteProdge]

Get Fresh involved production companies from all over the ITV Network.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Fresh
So maybe Gilbert's Escape from Drill could be considered.
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... from_Drill

Ah, but - with my telly nerd hat on - I have to point out it'd be attributed to Tyne Tees. They pretty much administered the show and had ownership over the Gilbert character (hence Gilbert's Fridge was a Tyne Tees production for Children's ITV, plus a few years later, a bizarre late night chat show called Gilbert's Late was another Tyne Tees production but only shown on Tyne Tees, Anglia and maybe Yorkshire. The copyright notice on Gilbert Escape From Drill certainly credits Tyne Tees TV plc.

Failing that I'm sure 1D golf could be tweaked to represent that time a 9 year old Rory McIlroy lobbed golf balls into a washing machine on the Kelly show on UTV.

Yay! Who needs Password anyway!?

[Lee Bee]

Thanks to Daveysloan for bumping this brilliant thread! Nice one, Pete! Fantastic trivia and great nostalgia!

I'd love to "fill in the blanks" for the missing regions. How about we take some average old games and mod them (@Ralf?) with new branding and music to tie in with old TV shows? You could probably do it with minimal graphical effort, and I'd happily provide AY music for all those classic TV themes!

[PeteProdge]

This thread has very likely been bumped because I drew attention to it on a Facebook group for The Other Place in a new post I made today.

There have been a lot of comments, most of them proving the members are incapable of reading the words I post or being able to use Google, but a handful have actually been properly insightful.

Other games have been highlighted, so if we want to start 'gotta collect them all', then...

Anglia 1
Knightmare by Activision

Central 6
Auf Wiedersehen Pet by Tynesoft
Blockbusters by TV Games
Blockbusters by Macsen Games
Blockbusters: Gold Run by Macsen Games
Bullseye by Macsen Software
Spitting Image by Domark

HTV 1
Robin Of Sherwood : The Touchstones of Rhiannon by Adventure International

Thames 6
Benny Hill's Madcap Chase by DK'Tronics
Danger Mouse In Double Trouble by Creative Sparks
Danger Mouse In Making Whoopee! by Creative Sparks
Danger Mouse in The Black Forest Chateau by Creative Sparks
Minder by DK'Tronics
Run The Gauntlet by Ocean

LWT 1
Play Your Cards Right by Britannia Software

TV-am (technically, not a region nor was it really part of ITV, fact fans) 1
Roland's Rat Race by Ocean

Yorkshire 2
Giddy Game Show, The by Mirrorsoft
Round The Bend! by Impulze

Granada 1
Krypton Factor, The by TV Games

Tyne Tees 2
Gilbert: Escape from Drill by Again Again
Supergran by Tynesoft

At the moment in this stage of research, Thames and Central have 6 games each, so they're leading. Please do add any more!

[PeteProdge]

Further updates!

Looks like Central is clearly in the lead...

Anglia 1
Knightmare by Activision

Central 13
Auf Wiedersehen Pet by Tynesoft
Blockbusters by TV Games
Blockbusters by Macsen Games
Blockbusters: Gold Run by Macsen Games
Bullseye by Macsen Software
Huxley Pig by Alternative Software
Orm And Cheep: Narrow Squeaks
Orm And Cheep: The Birthday Party
Sporting Triangles by CDS Microsystem
Spitting Image by Domark
Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends by Alternative Software
Thomas The Tank Engine II by Alternative Software
Thomas the Tank Engine's Fun With Words by Friendly Learning

Granada 1
Krypton Factor, The by TV Games

HTV 1
Robin Of Sherwood : The Touchstones of Rhiannon by Adventure International

LWT 1
Play Your Cards Right by Britannia Software

Thames 9
Benny Hill's Madcap Chase by DK'Tronics
Count Duckula by Alternative Software
Count Duckula 2 by Alternative Software
Danger Mouse In Double Trouble by Creative Sparks
Danger Mouse In Making Whoopee! by Creative Sparks
Danger Mouse in The Black Forest Chateau by Creative Sparks
Minder by DK'Tronics
Run The Gauntlet by Ocean
Sooty & Sweep by Alternative Software

TV-am 1
Roland's Rat Race by Ocean

Tyne Tees 2
Gilbert: Escape from Drill by Again Again
Supergran by Tynesoft

Yorkshire 3
3-2-1 by Cheetahsoft
Giddy Game Show, The by Mirrorsoft
Round The Bend! by Impulze

[Wall_Axe]

Fun house and the zx spectrum need to come together somehow

[deanysoft]

I suppose I must mention 'Sooty & Sweep 2'

[PeteProdge]

I suppose I must mention 'Sooty & Sweep 2'

It did get brought up today, but as it was never commercially released, so I can't count it. I did meet the star of the game last year, brought to life by puppeteer Ronnie Le Drew...

[PeteProdge]

Bit of an update, and more strong wins for the midlands.

Someone's pointed out Thunderbirds, which belongs to ATV, a franchise that was defunct on ITV before the ZX Spectrum was released! But yeah, the two Thunderbirds games count, so ATV is being thrown in. (Anyone got anything from Rediffusion? ABC? Southern? Westward)

Plus, the subject of Bangers And Mash and yet another Bullseye game has come up, taking Central to 15! It does seem to be the winner. Oh, and someone else pointed out the existence of the Super Gran text adventure. So...

ATV 2
Thunderbirds by Firebird
Thunderbirds by Grandslam

Central 14
Auf Wiedersehen Pet by Tynesoft
Bangers And Mash by Alternative Software
Blockbusters by TV Games
Blockbusters by Macsen Games
Blockbusters: Gold Run by Macsen Games
Bullseye by Macsen Software
Bully's Sporting Darts by Alternative Software
Huxley Pig by Alternative Software
Orm And Cheep: Narrow Squeaks
Orm And Cheep: The Birthday Party
Sporting Triangles by CDS Microsystem
Spitting Image by Domark
Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends by Alternative Software
Thomas the Tank Engine's Fun With Words by Friendly Learning

Tyne Tees 3
Gilbert: Escape from Drill by Again Again
Supergran by Tynesoft
Supergran - The Adventure by Tynesoft

[deanysoft]

It did get brought up today, but as it was never commercially released, so I can't count it. I did meet the star of the game last year, brought to life by puppeteer Ronnie Le Drew...

Neither was Thomas II for the Spectrum, C64, CPC or Atari 8-bit, but annoyingly it was for the ST!

Wow- you met the actual Sooty & Sweep! Cool.

[PeteProdge]

Neither was Thomas II for the Spectrum, C64, CPC or Atari 8-bit, but annoyingly it was for the ST!

Oops! I counted it up there, well, gotta discount it now and bring Central back to 14.

(I have both Sooty & Sweep II and Thomas The Tank Engine II as .tzx files thanks to a certain online resource!)

Wow- you met the actual Sooty & Sweep! Cool.

Yeah and those puppets were actually from Harry Corbett's era! Proper OG, as the kids say.

[Lee Bee]

I'm quite staggered to find sod all from TVS in terms of Spectrum games. Surely Catchphrase would have been a huge hit? Also under worthy consideration: Telebugs; All Clued Up; Jeopardy; C.A.T.S. Eyes and Finders Keepers.

Agree that Telebugs would make a great Speccy game. Here's my little effort.

[Nick]

LWT were also responsible for Saint and Greavsie, Grandslam released a quiz with their images splashed all over it. There's also Terrahawks, although the show was produced by Gerry Anderson for LWT.