Runaround (UK game show)

Runaround
Also known as	'Poparound (1985-6)
Genre	Children's game show
Created by	Merrill Heatter & Bob Quigley
Presented by	Mike Reid (1975-6, 1978-81) Leslie Crowther (1977) Stan Boardman (1977-8) Gary Crowley (Poparound)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	12 (Runaround) 2 (Poparound)
No. of episodes	103 (inc. 3 specials) (Runaround) 12 (Poparound)
Production
Running time	30mins (inc. adverts)
Production company(s)	Southern Television (Runaround) Central (Poparound)
Distributor	Renown Pictures (Runaround) ITV Studios (Poparound)
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	4:3
Original release	2 September 1975 (1975-09-02) - 7 September 1981 (1981-09-07) (Runaround) – 19 June 1985 (1985-06-19) - 4 June 1986 (1986-06-04) (Poparound)
Chronology
Related shows	Runaround (US version)
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Runaround was produced by Southern Television for the ITV network between 2 September 1975 and 7 September 1981. It was much more successful than the original American version. The original host was comedian Mike Reid. In 1977 his place was taken by Leslie Crowther and Stan Boardman, before Reid returned in 1978. The ball in tube scoring was copied from the US version but with two colours; yellow worth one point for a correct answer and red worth two points for being the only contestant to choose the right answer. Metal Mickey made his screen debut on the British version of the show after being discovered by the show's in-vision researcher, Tim Edmunds. The series ended when Southern Television's franchise ended at the end of 1981.

A spin-off entitled Poparound was produced by Central and aired between 19 June 1985 and 4 June 1986 with Gary Crowley as the host.

Transmissions

Runaround

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	2 September 1975	7 October 1975	6
2	13 January 1976	24 February 1976	7
3	31 March 1976	5 May 1976	6
4	18 August 1976	29 September 1976	7
5	12 April 1977	12 July 1977	14
6	23 November 1977	4 January 1978	7
7	28 March 1978	2 May 1978	6
8	4 August 1978	8 September 1978	6
9	22 May 1979	31 July 1979	11
10	13 June 1980	19 September 1980	13
11	25 December 1980	25 March 1981	14
12	27 July 1981	7 September 1981	6

Christmas Specials

Date
26 December 1975
27 December 1976
24 December 1979

Out of 106 episodes from 12 series that were made during its 6 year run, 35 survived from the archives, which included Episode 9 of Series 5, Episode 3 of Series 7, Episode 4 of Series 8, Episodes 4, 6 & 10 of Series 9, The 1979 Christmas Special, Episodes 1, 3-5, 7-8 & 10-13 of Series 10, Episodes 1-7, 9 & 11-14 of Series 11 and all 6 episodes of Series 12.

Poparound

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	19 June 1985	24 July 1985	6
2	30 April 1986	4 June 1986	6

External links

• Runaround at UKGameshows.com