''Finders Keepers'' is a British

children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person young ...

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

television series that aired on

BBC1 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, ...

from 13 February 1981 to 1 March 1985, hosted by

Richard Stilgoe Sir Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe (born 28 March 1943) is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician, and broadcaster who is best known for his humorous songs and frequent television appearances. His output includes collaborations with Andrew ...

Format

The show combined a quiz element with a computerised version of the game

Battleships A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type o ...

. Two teams of three

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

-aged pupils would compete against each other.Finders Keepers on Sausagenet – Access Date 25 April 2018
/ref> On scoring a "hit" at the Battleships game, the team had to answer a question to gain the associated points.

Theme

The show was notable for host

playing the theme on a synthesiser live in the studio at the beginning, as well as the use of the phonetic alphabet to indicate the square on the battleship grid.Finders Keepers on UK Game Shows
/ref>

Transmissions

The series was a victim of the BBC's

wiping Lost television broadcasts are mostly those early television programs which cannot be accounted for in studio archives (or in personal archives) usually because of deliberate destruction or neglect. Common reasons for loss A significant prop ...

of their children's programming in the 1990s. 28 out of 42 episodes survive in the BBC archives. The surviving episodes are: Series 1: Episodes 1 and 4; Series 2: Episodes 1–2 and 4; Series 3: Episodes 1 and 4–6; Series 4: Episodes 1–6, 8 and 10–12. Series 5 exists in its entirety

References

External links

*{{UKGameshow, Finders_Keepers_(1) 1981 British television series debuts 1985 British television series endings 1980s British children's television series BBC children's television shows British children's game shows British children's television series British English-language television shows Lost BBC episodes