''Through the Keyhole'' is a British

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

panel game A panel show or panel game is a radio broadcasting, radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on ''The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity conte ...

show created by the TV producer Kevin Sim and originally presented by

Sir David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ' ...

in the studio and

Loyd Grossman Loyd Daniel Gilman Grossman (born 16 September 1950) is an American-British author, broadcaster and cultural campaigner who has mainly worked in the United Kingdom. He is well known for presenting the BBC programme ''MasterChef'' from 1990 to 20 ...

on location. The location presenter goes around celebrities' houses and a panel of other celebrities in the studio try to guess who the famous homeowner is. The show was originally produced by

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

and was broadcast 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 ...

from 3 April 1987 to 1 May 1995, then on

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

from 22 February to 23 December 1996 before moving to

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

from 5 May 1998 to 2004 and its sister channel

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

from 26 February 2006 to 4 June 2008. In 2013, the show was revived for ITV with

Leigh Francis Leigh Izaak Francis (born 30 April 1973), known professionally as Keith Lemon, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for creating and starring in Channel 4's sketch comedy show ''Bo' Selecta!'' (200 ...

as the host. In February 2020, it was reported that the programme had been cancelled after six series.

History

Original series

''Through the Keyhole'' originally started as a segment on

TV-am TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchise ...

, first being broadcast on its launch day on 1 February 1983. The idea was created by Kevin Sim as a chance to look around some of the most influential homes with Grossman at the helm as the tour presenter. Grossman was mistakenly given the job after someone had confused him with another journalist. It became a regular feature of TV-am throughout 1983. In 1987, Frost transferred the concept to

and produced a full half-hour programme for

, where a celebrity panel tries to guess whose house is being looked at. It ran in primetime on Friday nights for eight years on ITV and was rarely out of the top ten entertainment programmes on TV. The executive producers were Kevin Sim and Chantal Rickards. From 1996, it was produced by Frost's own production company, Paradine Productions, at Yorkshire Television. That same year, the show also moved to

for one series. It then moved to

''Daytime'' in 1998 until 2004. The final three series aired on

from 2006 to 2008, when it was finally cancelled by the BBC. However, a special aired in March 2011 for ''

Red Nose Day 2011 ''Red Nose Day 2011'' was a fundraising event organised by Comic Relief. There was a live telethon broadcast on BBC One and BBC Two from the evening of 18 March 2011 to early the following morning as well as a number of run-up events. The theme ...

'' as part of marathon panel show ''24 Hour Panel People''.

Revival

In 2013, the programme returned on its original broadcast channel ITV with

(in character as Keith Lemon) taking up the dual roles of studio presenter and house detective. The new series was filmed at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...

until 2018, with series 6 filmed at the

BBC Elstree Centre The BBC Elstree Centre, sometimes referred to as the BBC Elstree Studios, is a television production facility, currently owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The complex is located between Eldon Avenue and Clarendon Road in Boreh ...

's Studio D in the latter half of the year. Dave Berry is a regular panellist. He appeared in all the episodes of the first series and has also made numerous appearances in subsequent series. Celebrity guests on the show are a closely guarded secret until transmission. The first episode of the revived series aired on the same day that former host Sir

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ' ...

died, although the news did not break until the following morning. Before his death in August 2013, Frost gave his backing to ITV's remake, saying "I am delighted that the Keyhole format is now entering its fourth decade on TV. I know the pilot show went down very well with the studio audience and I wish Keith and his team the very best of luck for the series."

Format

At the start of each episode, Frost introduces a panel of three celebrities with the catchphrase "And ''what'' a panel they are ..." and some gently humorous or mocking descriptions. He then hands over to the location presenter who gives the panellists a guided tour of a property, noting particular items, though there is typically a large amount of misdirection involved as the items pointed out by the presenter are not necessarily the most pertinent clues to the person's identity. Items not specifically mentioned may provide much more useful clues. Once completed, Frost reveals the identity of the guest to the audience and the panel are given turns at guessing their identity. The audience participate with varying degrees of applause according to the accuracy of the panellists' guesswork. The panellists are either successful at identifying the guest or Frost reveals their identity, after which they are interviewed and given a key-shaped trophy as a memento. Starting during Loyd Grossman's reign as location presenter, the geographic spread was extended with one of the properties on each episode being located in the US and one in Europe. When

Stefanie Powers Stefanie Powers (born November 2, 1942) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jennifer Hart on the mystery television series ''Hart to Hart'' (1979–1984), for which she received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards a ...

joined in 2007, she was based in the US and conducted the US property tours, whilst in the UK

Lisa Snowdon Lisa Snowdon
7 May 2001, ''People'' (born Lisa Snawdon on 23 January 1972) is an English television an ...

conducted the European part.

Celebrity panellists and homeowners

ITV

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

Series 4

Revival

Series 1

* Note: Episode 7 was a Christmas special.

Series 2

* Note: Episode 8 was a Christmas special

Series 3

* Note: Episode 8 was a Christmas special.

Series 4

A fourth series began airing on 7 January 2017, with a Christmas episode airing two weeks previously, on 24 December. Eight episodes were recorded at

in July 2016. * Note: Episode 1 was a Christmas special.

Series 5

A fifth series began airing on 13 January 2018. Prior to this, an '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' special aired in December 2017 instead of a Christmas episode. * Note: Episode 1 was an ''

I'm a Celebrity ''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' is a British reality TV series in which a number of celebrities live together in a jungle environment for a number of weeks, competing to be crowned "King" or "Queen of the Jungle". The show was o ...

'' special.

Series 6

A sixth series began airing on 12 January 2019. Prior to this, a Christmas special aired on 14 December 2018. * Note: Episode 1 was a Christmas special.

Transmissions

ITV

Series

ITV Specials

Sky One

BBC

ITV revival

ITV Specials

International broadcast

In 2015, the Dutch

SBS6 SBS6 is a Dutch free-to-cable commercial TV channel and is a part of Talpa TV, formerly known as SBS Broadcasting B.V. and now owned by Talpa Network. Other channels of the group in the Netherlands are Net5, Veronica, and SBS9. History SBS st ...

channel broadcast the Dutch version, called ''Met de deur in huis'', hosted by Kees Tol. In this show, comedian Tineke Schouten visits the houses of Dutch celebrities. The panel (Maik de Boer,

Patty Brard A patty or burger (in British English) is a flattened, usually round, serving of ground meat and/or legumes, grains, vegetables, or meat alternatives. Patties are found in multiple cuisines throughout the world. In British and American Eng ...

and

Ruben van der Meer Ruben van der Meer (born 2 June 1970) is a Dutch actor and comedian. Career Music Van der Meer became known as one of the members of the band Hakkûhbar. Film In 2019, he played a role in ''Amsterdam Vice'' (''Baantjer: Het Begin'') ...

) have to guess whose house she is in. In 2016, a second series aired on SBS6.

References

External links

* *
''Through the Keyhole (1987–2011)''
at BFI. * {{David Frost 1987 British television series debuts 2019 British television series endings 1990s British television series 2000s British television series 1980s British game shows 1990s British game shows 2000s British game shows 2010s British game shows BBC television game shows British television series revived after cancellation English-language television shows ITV comedy ITV game shows ITV panel games Sky UK original programming Television series by Fremantle (company) Television series by ITV Studios Television series by Yorkshire Television Television shows shot at BBC Elstree Centre