If the letter appeared on the puzzle board, the contestant earned the value multiplied by the number of times the letter appeared. If the contestant landed on a number, they had to pick a letter. In the programme proper, the contestant was asked a 50/50 trivia question, and if the contestant answered correctly, they spun the wheel. This rule would actually encourage sacrificing a player's turn if he or she did not know the puzzle rather than risking his or her points by spinning again.įor the first three series, before the recording of each episode, each contestant spun the wheel the contestant with the highest score would start the first round. Points earned from all players carried on to proceeding rounds, and only scores for the current round were susceptible to Bankrupts, meaning a winner could be crowned who had never solved a puzzle, but acquired a large number of points. There was a reason for this: between 19, the Independent Broadcasting Authority and, for the last two years, its successor the Independent Television Commission imposed caps on the top prize game shows could give away per week, and standardising the prize on offer per episode ensured the programme did not breach the set limits.

Unlike the American version, where the numbers on the wheel correspond to the amount of money won by each contestant, the British version instead referred to these amounts as 'points' – they had no cash value, their only purpose was to determine the grand finalist, or to choose a winner for a particular round. On 27 June 2023, Whisper North announced the production of a revival series for broadcast on ITV1 and ITVX in Spring 2024, with Graham Norton serving as presenter. It mostly follows the same general format from the original version of the programme from the United States, with a few minor differences. The programme was produced by Scottish Television Enterprises, and aired between 19 July 1988 and 21 December 2001 for ITV. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that contestants spin throughout the course of the game to determine their cash and/or prizes. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes. Wheel of Fortune is a British television game show based on the American show of the same name created by Merv Griffin.

Buena Vista International UK (1988–1992).

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