Talking Telephone Numbers

Talking Telephone Numbers is a British game show that aired on ITV from 28 February 1994 to 29 December 1997 and was hosted by Phillip Schofield and initially Emma Forbes, who was later replaced by Claudia Winkleman. The show's format features variety acts which will be used to generate numbers. Viewers will have the chance to win up to £25,000 if the five random numbers generated during the program match the last five digits of their telephone number in any order.

Talking Telephone Numbers
Genre	Game show
Presented by	Phillip Schofield Emma Forbes (1994–96) Claudia Winkleman (1997)
Starring	Cash Peters (1994)
Voices of	Bruce Hammal (1994–95) Enn Reitel (1996) Caroline Feraday (1997)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	62
Production
Production location	Fountain Studios[1]
Running time	30 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production company	Celador and Carlton
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	4:3
Original release	28 February 1994 – 29 December 1997

Format

An act would perform for everyone watching, and play a short game that generated a number from 0 to 9. Five digits were selected in this manner, and these were meant to match the last five digits of a viewer's telephone number in any order. Viewers who did would call the show via an onscreen telephone number, and hopefully be answered by one of 96 telephonists. If one of the telephonists answered them, they would become a potential contestant. While the telephonists took in their calls, a pop singer would sing their latest single or a final act would perform.

A phone line was then picked at random, and that viewer would have a chance to win money. They would then have to answer three questions with numerical answers. Getting them all right won the game; an incorrect answer, however, resulted in another line being picked. This went on until someone won the game.

The winner of the game would be given a choice to either take £10,000 or take a cash prize attached to their telephonist (ranging from £1,000 to £25,000); regardless of choice, the telephonist would reveal their value, which almost nobody took.

International versions

Australia

An Australian version aired in early 1996 on the Seven Network hosted by Rob Elliott & Bridget Adams and was produced by Grundy and Celador (the show's format creator). It lasted three weeks before being cancelled due to low ratings.

Serbia

In Serbia, Talking Telephone Numbers aired on RTS 1 between 2004 and 2005 as Срећни телефони.

Transmissions

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	28 February 1994[2]	9 May 1994[3]	10
2	4 January 1995[4]	24 April 1995[5]	17
3	8 January 1996[6]	29 April 1996[7]	17
4	1 September 1997[8]	29 December 1997[9]	18

References

1. http://www.tvstudiohistory.co.uk/studio%20history.htm#fountain
2. "28 February 1994, 61". Retrieved 28 August 2019.
3. "9 May 1994, 71". Retrieved 28 August 2019.
4. "4 January 1995, 59". Retrieved 28 August 2019.
5. "24 April 1995, 71". Retrieved 28 August 2019.
6. "8 January 1996, 76". Retrieved 28 August 2019.
7. "29 April 1996, 65". Retrieved 28 August 2019.
8. "1 September 1997, 59". Retrieved 28 August 2019.
9. "29 December 1997, 53". Retrieved 28 August 2019.

External links

• Talking Telephone Numbers at UKGameshows.com