''Mr and Mrs'' is a British television game show that aired on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

, hosted most familiarly by

Derek Batey Derek Batey (8 August 1928 – 17 February 2013) was a British television presenter and television executive. Batey was born in Brampton, Cumberland, and educated at the White House School, Brampton. After appearing in clubs as a ventriloqui ...

and based on the Canadian show of the same title.

Format

Each couple attempted to match each spouse's answers to six questions concerning their domestic and love life. The couple would switch roles after the first three questions. For each set of three questions, one spouse would attempt to predict how the other, seated behind a window and wearing headphones, would answer those questions. Any couple that successfully matched answers to all six questions would win a jackpot prize.

Broadcasting

The series was unusual in versions being made by more than one ITV region: Alan Taylor hosted the HTV version, Derek Batey hosted the version produced by

Border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

and Norman Vaughan hosted a version made by Anglia. The first version for TWW began in 1964, with the Border version following in 1967. The Anglia version ran for one year (1969) across the ITV network, but it was not until 1972 that the series was regularly networked, with hosts Batey and Taylor alternating each week. In 1976 the Border version alone was transmitted nationally, and remained part of the daytime scheduling until 1988. There was also a local version of the programme produced by Tyne Tees in 1976, shown on Sunday afternoons in summer and autumn. Tyne Tees had previously provided colour production facilities for Border in the early 1970s to produce their version as the latter had not yet upgraded to colour production. It was then aired on UK Living and regionally on HTV, hosted by Nino Firetto and entitled ''The All-New Mr and Mrs Show'', and then back on the

network in 1999 hosted by

Julian Clary Julian Peter McDonald Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter. He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s. Since then he has also acted in films, television and stage productions, numerous pantomim ...

. The show was part of an eight-episode series called '' Gameshow Marathon'' hosted by Vernon Kay and aired on 12 May 2007. It was revived in 2008 as a celebrity game show entitled '' All Star Mr & Mrs'', hosted by Phillip Schofield, originally with

Fern Britton Fern Britton (born 17 July 1957) is an English author and television presenter. She co-presented '' Breakfast Time'' in the 1980s, coming to mainstream national attention when hosting cookery game show ''Ready Steady Cook'' between 1994 and 200 ...

Transmissions

UK Living version

Carlton version

International versions

The show originated in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1963. The Canadian version was produced at CFTO-TV in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and ran on the CTV network for 780 episodes, and was hosted by Peter Parker.

Roy Ward Dickson Roy Ward Dickson (August 18, 1910 – September 16, 1978), born Richard Louis del Valle, was a pioneering Canadian television producer, writer, and emcee. Dubbed King of Quiz by an Edmonton journalist, Dickson invented the game show. His fi ...

was the show's creator. The British version originated in Wales in 1964 as a

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

only programme in the same format entitled ''Sion a Sian'', ''Sion a Siân'' or ''Siôn a Siân'' ("John and Jane") where it continued until 2003 presented by

Ieuan Rhys Ieuan Rhys (born 24 December 1961) is a Welsh actor. His television work has included thirteen years in the BBC Cymru soap opera ''Pobol y Cwm'', Seargent Tom Swann in the last series of ''A Mind to Kill'' (for Fiction Factory/ Channel 5) and s ...

. It was first broadcast on TWW, then HTV and finally

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking ...

. The series was revived in 2012, presented by Stifyn Parri and Heledd Cynwal. That year saw ''Sion a Sian'' feature its first gay couple.

References

3.: Independent Broadcasting Authority Annual Report and Accounts, 1976-1977, page 22 and 93.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mr and Mrs (TV series) 1960s British game shows 1970s British game shows 1980s British game shows 1990s British game shows 1965 British television series debuts 1999 British television series endings ITV game shows Television series by ITV Studios English-language television shows Television shows produced by Border Television British television series revived after cancellation Television game shows with incorrect disambiguation