Treasure Hunt

Regular Crew

Episodes

Click on a green episode title for detailed information of its clues and exact locations, provided by David Hodges.

beside a title indicates that the information for this episode is incomplete and I would appreciate any contributions from other viewers!

indicates that the episode page has links to a copy of the episode (not uploaded by me) on YouTube.

indicates that the episode page has links to the locations on a 1:25000 Ordnance Survey map on Streetmap – Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) episodes only.

Series 1: 1983 – Skyrunner: Anneka Rice; Host: Kenneth Kendall; Question Setter: Ann Meo
1.1	Indonesia – Bali	28 Dec 1982	Klungkung Gunang Kawi Bedulu Pura Panataran Sasih Temple, Pejang Pura Langon Temple, Ubud
1.2	Grampian – Speyside	6 Jan 1983	Nelson’s Monument, Forres Cawdor Castle Glenfarclas distillery, Ballindalloch Glenlivet distillery, Glenlivet
1.3	Suffolk	13 Jan 1983	Gainsborough’s house, Sudbury St Mary’s Church, Hadleigh Sir Alfred Munnings Art Museum, Castle House, Dedham Flatford Mill, East Bergholt St Mary’s Church, East Bergholt
1.4	Powys	20 Jan 1983	Aberdovey Yacht Club Dolgoch station Birds Rock, Craig Y Aderyn Llyn y Gadair, Cader Idris Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth
1.5	Lothian	27 Jan 1983	House of The Binns, Linlithgow Forth Rail Bridge Dalmeny House Craigmillar Castle Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh
1.6	Wiltshire	3 Feb 1983	HMS Royal Arthur, Corsham Fox Talbot Museum, Lacock Lacock Abbey Cherhill White Horse St Nicholas’s Church, Sandy Lane
1.7	London	10 Feb 1983	Blackfriars Heliport HMS Belfast Flamsteed House, Greenwich Royal Naval College, Greenwich Cutty Sark, Greenwich
1.8	Isle of Mull / West Highlands	17 Feb 1983	Eas Fors Aird of Kinloch Moy Castle, Lochbuie Duart Castle McCaig’s Tower, Oban
1.9	Gloucestershire – Forest of Dean	24 Feb 1983	Goodrich Castle Clearwell Caves Prospect Gardens, Ross-on-Wye High Street, Ross-on-Wye Blaize Bailey
1.10	Lake District	3 Mar 1983	Caldbeck Binsey Rydal Mount Levens Hall
1.11	Singapore	10 Mar 1983	Sentosa Singapore Botanic Gardens Tiger Balm Gardens Chinese Gardens Jurong Falls
1.12	Highlights	17 Mar 1983

Series 2: 1984 – Skyrunner: Anneka Rice; Host: Kenneth Kendall; Adjudicator: Annette Lynton
2.1	France – Burgundy region	5 Jan 1984	Château du Clos de Vougeaux Serrigny Hotel-Dieu, Beaune Meursault Château, Meursault Château de la Rochepot
2.2	Kent	12 Jan 1984	Brand’s Hatch The Leather Bottle Inn, Cobham Charles Dickens’ Swiss Chalet, Rochester Aylesford Friary Leeds Castle
2.3	Guernsey	19 Jan 1984	Belvoir Bay, Herm Off Fisherman’s Beach, Herm Castle Cornet, St Peter Port Hauteville House, St Peter Port Chouet Tower
2.4	North Yorkshire	26 Jan 1984	National Railway Museum, York Beningbrough Hall Home Farm, Thorpe Underwood Petrifying Well, Knaresborough Fountains Abbey
2.5	Birmingham	2 Feb 1984	British Leyland factory, Longbridge Botanical Gardens, Edgbaston Sarehole Mill, Hall Green Packwood House Meriden
2.6	Majorca	9 Feb 1984	Torre Picada Soller Son Marroig Valldemosa monastery La Granja
2.7	Northern Ireland	16 Feb 1984	Giant’s Causeway Carrickarade Island Bushmills distillery Portrush golf course Mussenden Temple
2.8	Cambridgeshire	23 Feb 1984	Wimpole Hall Barton Road Rifle Range Mathematical Bridge, Queen’s College, Cambridge Church of St Andrew and St Mary, Grantchester Anglesey Abbey
2.9	Cornwall	1 Mar 1984	Greenbank Hotel, Falmouth Duchy of Cornwall oyster farm, Porth Navas Goonhilly Downs RNAS Culdrose, Helston Gweek Seal Sanctuary
2.10	Malta	8 Mar 1984	War Museum, Valletta Mosta Norman House, Mdina Hagar Qim Temple Blue Grotto Cave
2.11	Gwynedd	15 Mar 1984	Lloyd George’s grave, Llanystumdwy Harbour Station cafe, Ffestiniog Railway, Porthmadog Gloriette, Portmeirion Llechwedd Quarry, Blaenau Ffestiniog St Twrog’s Stone, Maentwrog
2.12	Merseyside	22 Mar 1984	Liverpool Docks, Liverpool Port of Liverpool building, Liverpool Birkenhead Park Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight Speke Hall
2.13	Highlights	29 Mar 1984

Series 3: 1985 – Skyrunner: Anneka Rice; Host: Kenneth Kendall; Adjudicator: Wincey Willis
3.1	Israel	27 Dec 1984	Herodion Mount of Olives, Jerusalem David’s Tower, Jerusalem Qumran, Dead Sea Jericho
3.2	Warwickshire	3 Jan 1985	Hatton Locks Warwick Castle Charlecote House Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon Mary Arden’s house, Wilmcote
3.3	South Glamorgan	10 Jan 1985	Barry Island funfair Museum of Welsh Life, St Fagan’s Cardiff Arms Park rugby ground Castell Coch Caerphilly Castle
3.4	Norfolk	17 Jan 1985	‘The Beehive’, Wroxham Open Air Market, Norwich Mustard Shop, Bridewell Alley, Norwich ‘The Rising Sun’ pub, Coltishall Blickling Hall
3.5	South of France	24 Jan 1985	Parfum Fragonard museum, Grasse Moulin de Mougins restaurant, Mougins Hotel Majestic, Cannes Palm Beach Casino, Cannes ‘Krina 2’, off Côte d’Azur, Cannes
3.6	West Sussex	31 Jan 1985	‘The Toll House’, Lindfield Show-Jumping Course, Hickstead Clayton Windmills Sealife Aquarium, Brighton Brighton Pavilion, Brighton
3.7	Somerset	7 Feb 1985	Wookey Hole Caves Chewton Mendip Cheese Dairy Penniless Porch, Wells Clarks Shoe Factory, Street Glastonbury Abbey
3.8	Shropshire	14 Feb 1985	Burford House Gardens The Feathers Hotel, Ludlow Stokesay Castle Acton Scott Working Farm The Plough pub, Wistanstow
3.9	Corfu	21 Feb 1985	Achillion Palace Corfu Town Potamus Bay, Kira Chrysikou Dassia Paleokastritsa
3.10	Ayrshire	28 Feb 1985	Bridge of Doon, Alloway Butlins Holiday Camp, Heads of Ayr Crossraguel Abbey Culzean Castle off Girvan
3.11	Isle of Wight	7 Mar 1985	Osborne House Carisbrooke Castle Robin Hill Adventure Park The Original Old Village Rock Shop, Shanklin Old Village Blackgang Chine
3.12	Derbyshire	14 Mar 1985	National Tram Museum, Crich Heights of Abraham, Matlock Bath Haddon Hall Old Original Pudding Shop, Bakewell Chatsworth House “The Making of Treasure Hunt”: A second TV crew shadowed Anneka, Graham and Frankie as they rehearsed and filmed this episode.
3.13	London End-of-series special – Anneka and Kenneth as contestants; Ned Sherrin as host; Gemma Craven, Wayne Sleep and Kenny Lynch as skyrunners	5 Apr 1985	Chelsea Pheasantry Wig and Pen Club, Strand Treasure Hunt studio, Limehouse Studios
3.14	South-East Buckinghamshire / West Middlesex Special programme for the ITV Telethon appeal broadcast only on Thames TV (London area); Kenneth Kendall, Gemma Craven and Michael Barrymore as contestants	30 Oct 1985	Exact details are unknown at present, but locations are thought to have included Bekonscot model village in Beaconsfield and RAF Uxbridge.

Series 4: 1986 – Skyrunner: Anneka Rice; Host: Kenneth Kendall; Adjudicator: Wincey Willis
4.1	USA – Orlando, Florida	27 Dec 1985	‘Be A Star’ circus, Circus World Sea World Reedy Creek, Disneyland Cinderella’s Castle, Magic Kingdom, Disney World Gateway of Japan, Epcot, Disney World
4.2	Clwyd	2 Jan 1986	Roewen Chapel Bodnant Gardens Welsh Mountain Zoo, Colwyn Bay Punch & Judy show, Llandudno Conwy Suspension Bridge
4.3	Oxfordshire	9 Jan 1986	Didcot Railway Centre River Thames, Radley Blackwell’s Bookshop, Oxford The Trout Inn, Godstow Blenheim Palace
4.4	Surrey	16 Jan 1986	Surrey Fire Brigade College, Wray Park, Reigate Walton-on-the-Hill golf course Juniper Hall, Mickleham Menuhin Music School, Millfield Lodge, Stoke D’Abernon Chessington Zoo
4.5	Cumbria – Lake District	23 Jan 1986	Old Man of Coniston Steamer “Gondola”, Coniston Water Ann Tyson’s Cottage, Hawkeshead Brockhole, Lake Windermere Limefitt Park
4.6	Bedfordshire	30 Jan 1986	Old Warden Aerodrome, Biggleswade Canoe Slalom Course, Cardington Clarendon School, Haynes Woburn Abbey Safari Park Woburn Abbey House
4.7	Devon	6 Feb 1986	HMS Olympus submarine Plymouth Hoe Cargreen, near Saltash Morwhellham Quay Living Museum Buckland Abbey
4.8	Stirlingshire	13 Feb 1986	Stirling Castle Blair Drummond Safari Park Doune Motor Museum ‘The Spindle’ wool shop, Callander Inchmahome Priory
4.9	Dorset	20 Feb 1986	Brownsea Island Village Square, Corfe Castle Wareham Channel Bovington Tank Museum Athelhampton House
4.10	North Yorkshire – Wharfedale	27 Feb 1986	Grass Wood, Grassington Kilnsey Crag Burnsall Bolton Abbey Skipton Castle
4.11	Nottinghamshire	6 Mar 1986	Woolaton Hall Boots factory, Beeston National Water Sports Centre, Holme Pierrepont Police Training Centre, Epperstone The Saracen’s Head pub, Southwell
4.12	Pembrokeshire	13 Mar 1986	St Govan’s Head Pembroke Castle Lawrenny Quay Manor House Leisure Park, St Florence Tenby Harbour
4.13	Cheshire	20 Mar 1986	Jodrell Bank Capesthorne Hall Nat West bank (formerly the priest’s house), Prestbury Quarry Bank Mill Tatton Park

Series 5: 1987 – Skyrunner: Anneka Rice; Host: Kenneth Kendall; Adjudicator: Wincey Willis
5.1	Switzerland	12 Feb 1987	North Face of the Eiger Schilthorn Wengen Interlaken Reichenbach Falls
5.2	Jersey	19 Feb 1987	Jersey Zoo Mont Orgueil Castle St Helier off Noirmont St Ouen Manor
5.3	Cornwall	26 Feb 1987	Longships Lighthouse Minack Theatre, Porthcurno Lobster Pot restaurant, Mousehole St Michael’s Mount Porthmeor surf beach, St Ives
5.4	Hampshire	5 Mar 1987	HMS Boxer frigate Buckler’s Hard Maritime Museum Beaulieu Motor Museum Black Knowl, Brockenhurst Quay Hill, Lymington
5.5	Wiltshire / Avon	12 Mar 1987	HMS Royal Arthur, Corsham Barton bridge, Bradford-on-Avon American Museum, Claverton Manor Pump Room, Bath Sally Lunn’s House, Bath Abbey Green, Bath
5.6	Hertfordshire	19 Mar 1987	Hatfield House St Albans School Gardens of the Rose, Chiswell Green Leavesden Aerodrome Chipperfield Common
5.7	Isle of Man	26 Mar 1987	‘Lady Isabella’ Water Wheel, Laxey Douglas Cregneash Open Air Museum Dalby Peel Castle
5.8	Buckinghamshire / Northamptonshire	2 Apr 1987	Olney Castle Ashby Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum Silverstone Racetrack Sulgrave Manor
5.9	Lancashire	9 Apr 1987	Hoghton Tower Samlesbury Hall Stonyhurst College Clitheroe Castle Pendle Hill
5.10	Gwynedd	16 Apr 1987	Glynllifon Agricultural College Caenarfon Castle Plas Newydd, Anglesey Beaumaris Courthouse Bangor Pier
5.11	Northumberland	23 Apr 1987	Warkworth Castle Alnwick Market Place Alnwick Castle Rumbling Kern, North Sea ‘Spirit of Adventure’ outward-bound centre, Craster
5.12	Kent	30 Apr 1987	Harrison’s Rocks, Eridge ‘Dippers Well’, Chalybeate Spring, The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells Whitbread Hop Farm, Paddock Wood Bayham Abbey, Lamberhurst Bewl Water
5.13	West Highlands	7 May 1987	Glenelg Eilean Donan Castle Boc Beag Balmacara Bay Plockton
5.14	North Yorkshire – North York Moors	14 May 1987	Yorkshire Gliding Club, Sutton Bank Fauconberg Arms pub, Coxwold Rievaulx Abbey Black Swan pub, Helmsley Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole

Series 6: 1988 – Skyrunner: Anneka Rice; Host: Kenneth Kendall; Adjudicator: Wincey Willis
6.1	Australia – New South Wales	18 Feb 1988	Fort Denison Manly Beach Sydney Opera House Elvira Trail Cottage Point Inn
6.2	Suffolk	25 Feb 1988	RAF Wattisham The Swan pub, Lavenham Kentwell Hall Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds Ickworth House
6.3	Lincolnshire / Leicestershire	3 Mar 1988	Belvoir Castle Harlaxton Manor College Belton House RAF Cranwell Kesteven Agricultural College, Caythorpe
6.4	West Sussex	10 Mar 1988	Bosham Chichester Weald and Downland Museum, West Dean Arundel Parham House
6.5	West Yorkshire	17 Mar 1988	Walkley’s Clog factory, Hawks Clough, near Hebden Bridge Brontë Parsonage, Haworth Oakworth Station Bingley Five Rise Locks Cow and Calf Rocks, Ilkley
6.6	Buckinghamshire – Chilterns	24 Mar 1988	Tring Park Arts Education School Stoke Mandeville Hospital spinal injuries unit Cock & Rabbit Inn, The Lee Speen Farm Home of Rest For Horses West Wycombe House
6.7	Scottish Borders	31 Mar 1988	Lindean Mill Melrose Dryburgh Abbey Makerstoun House Floors Castle
6.8	Wiltshire	7 Apr 1988	Berwick Down, Salisbury Plain Heale House Salisbury Cathedral Wilton Carpet Factory Fovant Badges
6.9	Staffordshire	14 Apr 1988	Shugborough Hall Abbot’s Bromley JCB Factory, Rocester Alton Towers Froghall Wharf
6.10	Devon	21 Apr 1988	HMS Sandpiper frigate, Dartmouth Ferry Boat pub, Dittisham Civic Hall Square, Totnes Torbay Aircraft Museum, Blagdon Model Village, Torquay
6.11	Gloucester – Cotswolds	28 Apr 1988	Cleeve Hill Sudeley Castle Cotswold Farm Park, Guiting Power Birdland, Bourton-on-the-Water Donnington Brewery, Stow-on-the-Wold
6.12	Ireland – County Kerry	5 May 1988	Ballydavid Dingle Killarney Eagle’s Nest, Ring of Kerry Gap of Dunloe
6.13	County Durham	12 May 1988	Durham Ice Rink Durham Cathedral Gateshead Athletics Track CoOp, Beamish Open Air Museum Pitman’s Cottage, Beamish Open Air Museum
6.14	Clwyd	19 May 1988	Chirk Castle Llangollen Pont Cysyllte aqueduct Erddig Hall Boat Inn, Erbistock
6.15	Various Special programme for ITV Telethon appeal	29 May 1988	Start at Clue leads to Cramon, Edinburgh Edinburgh Castle Castle Howard, North Yorkshire Flamingo Land, Kirby Misperton Kingsbury Water Park, Tamworth Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield Clayton Windmills, Sussex Brighton beach Chelsea Bridge helipad, London Blackheath Fair, London

Series 7: 1989 – Skyrunner: Annabel Croft; Host: Kenneth Kendall; Adjudicator: Wincey Willis
7.1	New Zealand	16 Feb 1989	Lake Rotomahana Blue Lake Rotorua Longridge Park, Te Puke Kaituna Gorge
7.2	Worcestershire – Malverns	23 Feb 1989	Schweppes bottling plant, Colwall Malvern Hills Bromyard Lower Brockhampton House Shelsley Walsh
7.3	Devon	2 Mar 1989	Palm House, Bicton Gardens Shell Gallery, A La Ronde, Exmouth Marines’ Commando Course, Lympstone Barracks Maritime Museum, Exeter Music Room, Powderham Castle
7.4	Cumbria	9 Mar 1989	Cartmel Newton Fell Lake Windermere Kent Sands Leighton Hall
7.5	West Berkshire	16 Mar 1989	Lambourn Littlecote House Norland Nannies’ Training College, Denford Park, Hungerford Bagnor Theatre, Newbury Inglewood Health Farm
7.6	Perthshire	23 Mar 1989	Blair Castle Faskally Wayside Centre Pitlochrie Festival Theatre Strathtay Golf Course Edradour Distillery
7.7	East Sussex	30 Mar 1989	Long Gallery, Firle Place Seven Sisters Country Park Grand Hotel, Eastbourne Pevensey Castle Herstmonceux Observatory
7.8	Thames Valley – Berkshire / Buckinghamshire	6 Apr 1989	“Royalty and Empire” Museum, Windsor and Eton Central station, Windsor Windsor Safari Park Bisham Abbey Medmenham Stonor House
7.9	Shropshire	13 Apr 1989	Guildhall, Much Wenlock Foundry, Blist’s Hill Industrial Museum Coalport China Museum Lilleshall Sports Centre Weston Park
7.10	Humberside	20 Apr 1989	City Hall, Hull King George Dock, Hull Burton Constable Hall Beverley Minster Skidby Windmill
7.11	Somerset	27 Apr 1989	Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton Montacute House Barrington Court Dowlish Wake Cricket St Thomas
7.12	Gwent	4 May 1989	Penhow Castle Golden Hill, Llanllowell Wolvesnewton Farm Museum Tintern Abbey Chepstow Museum
7.13	South Lancashire	11 May 1989	Sports Centre, Howe Bridge ‘The Way We Were’ Heritage Centre, Wigan Pier Heinz factory, Kitt Green Camelot Theme Park, Charnock Richard Rufford Old Hall
7.14	Derbyshire – Peak District	18 May 1989	Italian Garden, Ilam Country Park Market Place, Ashbourne Hurdlow Buxton Opera House Errwood Reservoir

Series 8: 2002 – Skyrunner: Suzi Perry; Host: Dermot Murnaghan
8.1	Kent – Folkestone	16 Dec 2002	St Leonard’s Church, Hythe Russian Submarine, Folkestone Harbour Tappington House, near Denton Higham Park Hall, Patrixbourne Italian Water Garden, Higham Park Hall, Patrixbourne
8.2	Kent – Canterbury	17 Dec 2002	Whitstable Harbour, Whitstable Wildwood Wildlife Park, Herne Common Sarre Windmill, Sarre Oriental Room, Quex Park, Birchington Gallery 1, Quex Park, Birchington
8.3	Kent – The Weald	18 Dec 2002	Biddenden Vineyard, Biddenden Tenterden station, Kent and East Sussex Railway Rare Breeds Centre, Woodchurch Ellen Terry house, Smallhythe Place, Smallhythe Ellen Terry theatre, Smallhythe Place, Smallhythe
8.4	Kent – Dover	19 Dec 2002	Battle of Britain museum, Capel-le-Ferne Shakespeare Cliff Dover Castle, Dover Walmer Castle, Walmer Queen Mother’s garden, Walmer Castle, Walmer
8.5	West Kent	20 Dec 2002	All Saints Church, Tudeley Enchanted Forest, Groombridge Chalybeate Spring, Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells Book of Hours room, Hever Castle, Edenbridge Hever Castle Maze, Edenbridge

Series 9: 2003 – Skyrunner: Suzi Perry; Host: Dermot Murnaghan
9.1	USA – San Francisco	14 Apr 2003	Bay Delta Model, Marin Ship Complex, Sausalito Light Ship “Relief”, Jack London Square, Oakland Fire Boat, Pier 30, San Francisco Lookout Tower, Alcatraz Al Capone’s cell, Alcatraz
9.2	Mexico – Mexico City	15 Apr 2003	Capingo Texcoco Laguna Texhuilo, Xochimilco ecological park Bull ring, Arroyo, Tlalpan Ranch, Teotihuacan Aztec Pyramid, Teotihuacan
9.3	New Zealand – North Island	16 Apr 2003	Sodom and Gomorrah spring, Hell’s Gate thermal area, Rotorua Agrodome, Waiteti Marsh, Ngongotaha Radium Pool, Polynesian Spa, Rotorua Maori Arts and Crafts Institute, Rotorua
9.4	Australia – Alice Springs	17 Apr 2003	Frontier Camel Farm Old Ghan Railway Telegraph Station Reserve Alice Springs Desert Park
9.5	Australia – Melbourne	18 Apr 2003	Gallows, Old Melbourne Gaol Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Park Captain Cook’s Cottage, Fitzroy Gardens “Polly Woodside”, Maritime Museum Tattersalls Ocean Theatre, Batman Park
9.6	USA – Arizona	24 May 2003	St Xavier mission church La Posta Quemada ranch museum “The Drapery”, Colossal Caves outside Grand Palace Saloon, Old Tucson Studios Locomotive “Reno”, Old Tucson Studios
9.7	Australia – Hobart	7 Jun 2003	Royal Yacht Club, Sandy Bay Cascade Brewery museum Antarctic Adventure, Battery Point Richmond Bridge, Richmond Richmond Gaol, Richmond
9.8	USA – New Orleans	14 Jun 2003	Destrehan Plantation Mardi Gras World John James Audubon Park Jackson Square Cabildo Museum
9.9	New Zealand – Christchurch	12 Jul 2003	Ferrymead Park Sign of Takahe, Cashmere Air Force World, Hornby Christ’s College, Hagley Park Antigua boat shed, Avon River
9.10	Australia – Gold Coast	2 Aug 2003	Burleigh Heads, Miami Sea World Paradise Country, Nerang Oaky Creek Farm Show, Dreamworld Woodland Aviary, Dreamworld

Episodes 9.6–9.10 were originally scheduled to be shown on consecutive Saturdays, starting on 24 May 2003 and finishing on 21 June 2003. However the 31 May episode (Australia – Gold Coast) was postponed because over-running coverage of tennis from Queens. The same fate befell the 21 June episode (New Zealand – Christchurch) on account of athletics coverage. Subsequent coverage of tennis from Wimbledon meant that these two episodes ended up being shown much later than the rest of the series.

Helicopters

Three Agusta-Bell 206B JetRanger II helicopters were used for making Treasure Hunt. All were owned and chartered from Castle Air, Liskeard, Cornwall.

• G-BHXU was used as the Skyrunner’s helicopter (1982–1989), and was flown by Keith Thompson. The doors on the port side were removed for quick entry and exit. Sadly it sank on 29 June 1995 when it was forced to ditch into the sea off Alderney in the Channel Islands after a suspected main gearbox failure. The pilot (Mike Malric-Smith) and the passenger escaped unharmed.

• G-ONTV was used as the Skyrunner’s helicopter (2002–2003), and was flown by Keith Thompson, again with the port-side doors removed.

• G-SPEY was used as the communications helicopter, handling communications between the Skyrunner and the studio. It was flown on different occasions by Ian Durston (1982–1983), Jerry Grayson (1983), Geoff Newman (1983–1985), Mike Malric-Smith (1986–1989) and Kevin Grey (2002–2003). The communications engineer (Nigel Tilbury for all the UK episodes) flew as a passenger.

Production Technicalities

The Skyrunner wore a VHF transmitter/receiver connected to over-the-ear headphones and a noise-cancelling microphone which minimised helicopter noise. This “runner pack” was in radio contact with the communications helicopter which remained airborne and approximately in line-of-sight of her while she was on the ground. The comms helicopter in turn communicated with a static outside broadcast truck which had a BT landline connection to the studio. Given that adjudicators Annette and Wincey sometimes updated the helicopter’s position on the map during each leg of the flight, including any wrong-direction mistakes, even when Anneka had not reported her position, it is probable that one of Keith Thompson, Graham Berry or Frank Meyburgh was in voice contact with the studio, reporting the helicopter’s position in greater detail than the less precise “where are you now?” answers that Anneka/Annabel gave. There was no video link between the helicopter and the studio. Treasure Hunt was made long before GPS was available for reporting the helicopter’s and the Skyrunner’s positions.

Graham Berry’s camera was tethered by “umbilical cord” to a U-Matic (3/4") portable video cassette recorder carried by Frank Meyburgh. For his dramatic low-angle in-flight shots, Graham used a periscope attachment with the camera held vertically; this is shown in the top-right photograph at the top of the page. Given that a U-Matic VCR is a mechanical device with tape-transport and spinning video head, Frank did a very good job of keeping it steady while he was running; there were only a few occasions when there was a video dropout and momentary picture roll due to excessive movement of the VCR.

For the Suzi Perry episodes, the cameraman (Guy Littlemore) had a self-contained camcorder so there was no need for the separate person carrying a video recorder. However a second person (Simon Burles) did accompany the cameraman. His only purpose seemed to be to carry a microphone with “hairy Dougal” wind-shield, maybe to record atmospheric ambient sound. He carried a separate sound recorder which may have been synchronised with the camcorder by wireless link, or may have beeen synchronised before the programme by clapperboard: there was no “umbilical cord”.

The End of Treasure Hunt

It was announced in November 2003 that the BBC (in their infinite wisdom) would not be commissioning Chatsworth to make any more episodes of Treasure Hunt. So that’s the lot.

I can’t help thinking that the BBC didn’t actually want Treasure Hunt to succeed, hence the short-notice cancellations, the showing at inconsistent times of day and the lack of trailers – to turn its apparently low number of viewers into a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Links

I apologise for having to remove the sound clips that I refer to in the following sections. I found that downloads of these, often repeatedly by web-bots, were generating excessive network traffic to the site which kept causing my web hosting company to disable the site.

Treasure Hunt

• Treasure Hunt was derived from the French programme La Chasse aux Trésors (French: Treasure Hunt), created in 1980 by producer Jacques Antoine, with Philippe de Dieuleveult as the skyrunner. The background to the programme is explained in here. Both links are to articles in French, translated to English by Google Translate.

• In 1985, S4C produced a one-off Welsh language version of Treasure Hunt, called Helfa Drysor (Welsh: Treasure Hunt), with Robin Jones (S4C’s chief announcer at the time) as the studio-based presenter and Sioned Maid (an actress) as the skyrunner.

• Treasure Hunt title music by Zack Laurence (1983–1989 series) (temporarily removed for bandwidth reasons)

• Treasure Hunt title music by Francis Haines (2002–2003 series) (temporarily removed for bandwidth reasons)

• A contestant (who sounds suspiciously like Paul Merton!) encouraging Anneka to “Dive in! Go on! Get wet! In you splash!” at Gweek Seal Sanctuary, Cornwall in 1984 (MP3: 30 KB)

• Spoof of Treasure Hunt, as an observation test on The Krypton Factor in 1989

• An excellent article which describes the history and evolution of the original Anneka Rice version of Treasure Hunt and the behind-the-scenes work involved in producing an episode

• A review of the 2002 Suzi Perry version of Treasure Hunt

• Keith Thompson talks about working on Treasure Hunt (RealMedia: 840 KB)

Interceptor

• Interceptor title music – based on Revolutionary Étude by Chopin (MP3: 418KB)

• Chris Hart’s excellent Interceptor site

• Clive Harris, a contestant, describes his experience of the selection process and the filming of the episode that he took part in

• Clive Harris talks about Interceptor (RealMedia: 690 KB)

• Mike Malric-Smith talks about working on Interceptor (RealMedia: 400 KB)

Castle Air

• Castle Air’s website

• Keith Thompson and Mike Malric-Smith talk about Castle Air and its helicopters (RealMedia: 1020 KB and 1120 KB)

• Jerry Grayson’s autobiographical books Rescue Pilot: Cheating the Sea and Film Pilot: From James Bond to Hurricane Katrina in which he describes his career in the Royal Navy as an air-sea rescue pilot. He also describes the setting up of Castle Air and mentions Treasure Hunt.

• Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report into the ditching of G-BHXU (the Skyrunner helicopter) into the sea off Alderney in the Channel Islands on 29 June 1995. A catastrophic fault with the engine gearbox was suspected but could not be confirmed as the helicopter sank. The pilot (Mike Malric-Smith) was able to autorotate to the surface of the sea, and perform an engine-off, zero-speed landing on the water. The helicopter capsized, and Mike and the engineer bailed out and were rescued by Sea King air-sea rescue helicopter from RNAS Portland shortly afterwards.

Miscellaneous

• The UK Gameshows website

Episode list © Martin Underwood, 2021

Detailed episode descriptions © David Hodges with additional information by Iain Dodd and Stephen Parkes, 2003

Sound excerpts © Chatsworth Television, 1982, 1984 and 2003

Page last modified: 07 April 2021, 12:31 – added information about helicopters and production technicalities