Comedy Central UK Orders New Series Of ‘Blockbusters’ With Dara O’Briain
Dara O’Briain’s personal challenge to host every show on tv continues, as Comedy Central UK announces it has ordered 2 seasons of cult classic game show ‘Blockbusters’ with the Gru from ‘Despicable Me’ lookalike as host.
The 20×30-minute episodes will be produced by Thames, part of Fremantle, reviving the classic game show format which pits students and sixth formers against each other as they take on the iconic gold run. The reincarnation will remain true to the original format, with players crossing a hexagonal board by answering quiz questions correlating to a letter, for a chance to win an experiential prize. The series is already in pre-production and will include two celebrity specials.
“I’m delighted to take over this classic quiz-show, and with it, the speculation that, like Bob Holness, I played the saxophone on the original recording of Baker St,” commented O’Briain. “For the record, I did not, although I did play the Marimba on “I Shot the Sheriff”. However, I will not be laughing at contestants saying “I’d like a P please, Dara”, just as I haven’t laughed at the planet “Uranus” in 10 years of StargazingLive. See, I can do serious.”
The original ’80s and ’90s cult hit version of the show aired on ITV and was hosted by the legendary Bob Holness for 11 series. There have been a few other revivals of the show over the years hosted by Michael Aspel in 1997, Liza Tarbuck in 2000–2001, and with Simon Mayo in 2012. Although the show is seen as very British, it is actually based on a 1980’s American series hosted by Bill Cullen, although it never took off quite as well as the UK version.
“We are beyond thrilled to be bringing back our legendary gameshow Blockbusters, which has always been a real fan favourite,” adds Phil Harris, Creative Director of Thames TV. “The relaunch of this time-honoured and successful format, combined with Dara’s comedic talent, is guaranteed to be a winning formula and we couldn’t think of a better home for it than Comedy Central.”
‘Blockbusters’ will air on Comedy Central UK in 2019.
