19th January 1984

Channel 4 gameshow Treasure Hunt comes to Guernsey

The Channel 4 gameshow Treasure Hunt spent 101 episodes over nine series hunting for clues around the British Isles – and sometimes beyond. The episode broadcast on 19 January 1984 was set around the Bailiwick of Guernsey.

As ever, the studio contestants, Liverpudlians Marion and Neville Krasner, and their helper, Kenneth Kendal, didn’t know where sky runner Anneka Rice would be based before a cover was rolled back to reveal the map of the islands. Studio host Annette Lynton did have prior knowledge of the location, so she could give them some basic facts at the show’s opening.

Rice started the show standing on by Brehon Tower, on the rocks in Little Russell. The helicopter was already circling above her, carrying her regular crew – cameraman Graham, sound man Frank and pilot Pete.

The whole programme has been uploaded to YouTube, which you can view here. If you don’t want to know what happened, he warned that there are spoilers in the text below.

A close neighbour

The first clue took Anneka to Herm and its one-person prison, the smallest in the world. There was some confusion over what to do next, which saw the team return to the helicopter and take off while the studio contestants tried to work out where they needed to go.

It turned out that they didn’t need to go far at all, as the clue actually led them to a lobster pot, which had been sunk just off Herm. They returned to Fisherman’s beach and took a boat to a buoy attached to the pot. Once found, the programme broke for some adverts.

Clues three (from the pot), four and five took Anneka and her crew to Guernsey. Specifically, they pointed to Castle Cornet in St Peter Port, Victor Hugo’s former home at Hauteville House, and finally to the German range-finding tower at Pleinmont.

Time was tight throughout, and a bit of confusion over how to enter the tower may be the reason that the team was within seconds of succeeding when the clock ran down to zero. To complete the quest, Anneka needed to abseil down the tower from the roof, but she was still only half way down when the time ran out.

Treasure Hunt visited Jersey in February 1987 for the second episode of its fifth series.