40 Fun Facts About Going for Gold

Which future Oscar-winning film composer co-wrote the theme tune for the daytime quiz Going for Gold?

Hans Zimmer wrote the theme with Sandy McClelland in 1987, a year before his score for Rain Man made his name in Hollywood.

Which Irish broadcaster hosted Going for Gold throughout the original run from 1987 to 1996?

Henry Kelly fronted all ten series, having started out as a newspaper journalist reporting from Belfast in the early 1970s.

Contestants from across Europe had to answer every Going for Gold question in which language?

English was the only language used, yet players from the Continent still won six of the nine series that were open to all of Europe.

Which Australian soap's lunchtime showing usually came just before Going for Gold?

Neighbours had reached British screens only a year earlier, in October 1986, as part of a revamped daytime schedule.

Which British network showed Going for Gold at lunchtime for almost nine years from October 1987?

BBC1 gave the quiz a regular 1.50pm slot, and during the early series repeated each edition the following morning.

The Going for Gold series champion once won tickets to which sporting event as the star prize?

The Olympic Games tickets went to the series winner, while the runner-up in a grand final left with a consolation prize such as a colour television.

Which veteran ITN newsreader hosted the live revival of the quiz show Going for Gold in 2008?

John Suchet took over 12 years after the original ended, fronting a version open only to players from the UK and Ireland.

How did the United Kingdom compete on Going for Gold alongside countries such as Norway and Denmark?

As four nations: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each sent their own players, and so did Jersey and the Isle of Man.

In which Going for Gold round did a single wrong answer send a contestant's score back to zero?

Four in a Row gave each player 40 seconds on a category of their choice, and a perfect run of correct answers stopped the clock early.

The host of the 2008 Going for Gold revival is the elder brother of an actor famous as which detective?

Hercule Poirot was played from 1989 to 2013 by the host's younger brother David, who earned a BAFTA nomination for the role.

Which choice did the trailing finalist make before each question in the last round of Going for Gold?

Play or pass decided who held the big four-point zone, so the player who was behind could back a subject or hand it to the rival.

What did the series champion of the original Going for Gold usually win as the star prize?

A faraway holiday was the usual reward, with Australia, New Zealand and the USA among the destinations shown off in a promo film every episode.

The two hosts of Going for Gold both also presented shows on which radio station, launched in 1992?

Classic FM had the original host among its launch presenters, and the revival's host later took over its weekday morning show.

The original Going for Gold host first became a household name on which ITV entertainment show?

Game for a Laugh made him famous from 1981, and he stayed for two years before leaving for breakfast television.

The co-composer of the Going for Gold theme won a first Academy Award for scoring which animated film?

The Lion King earned him the Oscar for Best Original Score, and a second followed for Dune almost three decades later.

Which quiz champion, later a regular on Eggheads, won the first series of Going for Gold?

Daphne Fowler won under her then surname Hudson, and went on to take Brain of Britain and two Fifteen to One titles.

The long questions in Going for Gold's opening and closing rounds usually took which form?

A first-person description of a mystery person, animal, place or object ran for 20 to 30 seconds, adding detail until somebody buzzed in.

Which British broadcaster brought Going for Gold back to daytime television in October 2008?

Channel 5 screened the revival live each weekday until March 2009, paying the day's winner £1,000.

Which Australian television mogul's company sold the Going for Gold format to Britain?

Reg Grundy built his company on game shows, having devised and hosted a quiz on Sydney radio in 1957, three decades before this deal.

Going for Gold began life as which unsold American game show pilot, recorded in 1987?

Run for the Money was recorded for ABC at its Television Center in Los Angeles with Bill Rafferty hosting, and when no network bought it the format went to Europe.

Which long-running French quiz show is a direct adaptation of the British format Going for Gold?

Questions pour un champion launched in November 1988 and far outlasted the British original, reaching its 10,000th edition in 2022.

Which presenter fronted France's version of Going for Gold for over 27 years, until 2016?

Julien Lepers hosted from November 1988 to February 2016, and is also a songwriter who composed hits for the singer Herbert Léonard.

Which British quiz launched in 2000 repackaged the later rounds of Going for Gold under a new title?

One to Win kept the buzzer, category and head-to-head rounds but raised the final target to 21 points, with £200 for each day's winner.

Which pan-European satellite service also carried Going for Gold to viewers on the Continent?

Super Channel shared the broadcasts, a natural fit for a quiz whose players flew in from countries such as Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Which sporting term describes Going for Gold's format, where beaten players returned the next day?

Repechage meant seven players began on Monday and the losers kept coming back, so one unlucky contestant could appear all week.

For several series, Going for Gold was recorded before tiny audiences at which Hertfordshire studio base?

Elstree was home to the quiz for several series after a start at Television Centre, and the studio audience there is said to have numbered just six at times.

On Going for Gold, which 1980s studio feature revealed the contestants and later took them away?

A revolving set swung the players in and out, and in most series they sat in two tiers, much like the panel on Blankety Blank.

Going for Gold's original host spent the early 1970s in Belfast as Northern Editor of which newspaper?

The Irish Times sent him north in 1970 as the Troubles began, and two years later he published the book How Stormont Fell.

The co-composer of the Going for Gold theme tune was born in which European country?

Germany, in the city of Frankfurt: he wrote the theme during his years working in the United Kingdom, before turning to Hollywood scores.

In 2000, the original Going for Gold host played a quiz show host in the last episodes of which sitcom?

Dinnerladies cast him as the host of a television quiz in its final two episodes, in which canteen worker Bren gets the chance to play for a cash prize.

In the all-British last series of Going for Gold, what did contestants represent instead of countries?

Their counties took the place of nations once the borders closed, so the last champion, Mike Ramsden, won the title for Kent.

In the last round of Going for Gold, what fell in stages the longer a finalist waited to buzz in?

The points on offer dropped from four to one as more of the description was read, so an early buzz was a bigger gamble for a bigger reward.

During the final of the original Going for Gold, what appeared on screen for viewers at home only?

A clue to the answer was shown once the subject had been named, giving people on the sofa a head start over the two finalists.

In Going for Gold's buzzer round, what was a player told before picking a question's value?

The next subject was announced first, so a player strong on it could gamble on three points while a weaker one played safe with one.

The original Going for Gold host grew up a regular visitor to the family home of which fellow Irish broadcaster?

Terry Wogan's brother Brian was his friend at Belvedere College in Dublin, and TV Times once picked him out as the presenter with the Terry Wogan accent.

Later series of Going for Gold left the south of England and were recorded in which city?

Manchester became the quiz's base in its later years, after the corporation's northern arm joined as co-producer in 1992.

Which feature was added to the 2008 Going for Gold revival a month into its run, with its own presenter?

A viewers' phone-in arrived in November 2008, hosted by former ITV Play presenter Alex Kramer, who repeated each question several times and chatted to the caller.

Which production company made the 2008 revival of Going for Gold, two decades after the original launched?

Talkback Thames produced the revival, which ran for 105 live editions between October 2008 and March 2009.

The co-composer of the Going for Gold theme appears briefly in a famous 1979 music video by which band?

The Buggles featured him fleetingly in the video for Video Killed the Radio Star, years before the quiz theme and his film scores.

What did the original host of Going for Gold put on specially for each grand final?

A dinner jacket marked the occasion, worn as he handed the champion the star prize at the end of each series.