Every Second Counts

1 9 8 6 – 1 9 9 3 (UK)
142 x 35 minute episodes

Hosted by TV magician Paul Daniels, Every Second Counts invited three married couples to answer questions that earned them vital seconds on a clock.

The highest-scoring couple then progressed to the final, where they used the seconds they had accrued to answer yet more questions and win progressively better prizes.

Each set of questions related to a subject and in the ‘true or false’ fashion, contestants had to state whether Daniels was reading a correct answer. Red herrings and contrived gags abounded.

For the final stage, the couple needed to extinguish a series of triangular lamps with quick and accurate responses to tricky little posers.

The BBC show ran from 8 February 1986 for nine series’ with the final broadcast on 29 October 1993.