The Generation Game is back with Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins as hosts

The Generation Game is back with brand new episodes, bringing celeb guests, big laughs and family fun to BBC One.

Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins host the much-loved game show, with amazing prizes (and a cuddly toy!) to be won on the legendary conveyor belt.

Four family pairs from different generations battle it out in games including Bollywood dancing, plate spinning, sausage making, pottery, cake decorating, balloon modelling, a vanishing box magic trick, and dancing the Argentine Tango.

Mel and Sue are also joined by celebrity panellists, including quiz show host Richard Osman, TV presenter Lorraine Kelly, comedian Roisin Conaty and presenter Melvin Odoom. Plus there will be special appearances from Basil Brush and surprise guests!

Q&A with Mel and Sue

What can you tell us about the new Generation Game?

Sue: Four words - clay, sausages, Danny Dyer.

How does it feel to be bringing The Generation Game back almost 50 years after it first aired?

Mel: It’s a privilege. This is one of the most cherished entertainment shows of all time and we don’t take that lightly.

Sue: We’ve stayed true to the spirit of the original - we meet great families and we try to give them the best night of their lives.

What were your favourite moments during filming?

Sue: We don’t want to spoil the surprise, but we witnessed some of the most graphic teapot spouts ever made on television. So graphic, some of the contestants needed counselling afterwards. It took us about an hour to stop laughing.

Did you try any of the tasks yourself?

Sue: We tried all of them, because essentially, we behave like toddlers and love to get our hands dirty.

Mel: After the recordings there was barely a surface of the set that hadn’t been smeared, smashed or gunked by us.

What’s your favourite memory from the Sir Bruce Forsyth days of The Generation Game?

Sue: We grew up with Brucie, and they don’t make them like that anymore. He was the only entertainer we can think of who not only had a catchphrase, but a personalised silhouette - that bent leg, fist to forehead stance.

Mel: As soon as you saw that, you knew you were in for a good night. He was a one off, a legend and an utter gentleman.

How many items do you think you could remember from the conveyor belt?

Sue: Out of twenty? We think we could safely remember four.

Mel: Anything after the heated towel rail and the mind goes blank to be honest.

Sue: We love a heated towel rail.

If you could choose just one prize from the conveyor belt what would it be?

Mel: It’d be too easy to say the Cuddly Toy.

Sue: In truth, we’d be tempted by the fondue set, having always wanted to be those people who sit around dipping a courgette into hot cheese.

The Challenges

Pottery

Did you know that comedian Johnny Vegas has a degree in ceramics! Who better then to show contestants how to make the perfect teapot, but will they make hay or clay of it?

Bollywood Dancing

Bollywood has danced its way on to The Generation Game, led by Bollywood dance specialist Naz Choudhury.

Naz says: “We had an amazing experience performing in The Generation Game. All the contestants were full of life and did a great job of keeping up. I grew up watching the show on the BBC and now to be a part of it with my team performing Bollywood was surreal”

Sausage Making

Gary McClure, pig-breeder and holder of a world record for the largest Cumberland sausage, shares his sausage-making secrets with the contestants before they give it a go for themselves.

Gary says: “What can I say about being part of such an iconic show, the whole experience from start to finish was a blast. Mel and Sue made great compares and I loved every minute of this production. By the end we had sausages thick, thin and skinless and laughter echoed from them and the audience.”

Plate Spinning

There’s a certain art to keep multiple plates spinning and Magician and illusionist Andrew Van Buren sets the contestants the task of doing just that. Hosts Mel and Sue lead the way as they each attempt to keep plates upright, Andrew’s certain of one thing, everyone will have a smashing time!

Cake Decorating

Millennial cake designer Georgia shows the contestants how to perfectly ice a cake in minutes. She proves it is possible, but can they rise to the challenge?

Georgia says: "I don't know what was funnier - watching the other tasks backstage on the screens or watching the contestants try and copy my cake in front of me! Decorating a cake isn't an easy task. Decorating one in two minutes is even more of a challenge, hence why there was more buttercream on the floor than the actual cakes."

March 28, 2018 5:00am ET by BBC One  

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