WEB PAGE NO. 2858 18th November 2021 DOTTO

First Picture: Shaw Taylor

Second Picture: Shaw Taylor with the artists

Third Picture: The artists backstage

Forth Picture: The Dotto board game

Dotto 1 9 5 8 – 1 9 6 0 (UK)

Now here is a 1950’s quiz program that you might well have forgotten, Dotto. This quiz was based on dot-to-dot pictures and was imported from the United States. Each featured picture contained 50 dots and two contestants raced to guess the famous face to win the round, winning £5 for each dot not used. They did this by answering general knowledge questions. The show was originally hosted by Robert Gladwell, and subsequently by Jimmy Hanley and then Shaw Taylor. The show was produced in the Alpha television studios which were based in Birmingham. Excitement reigned when a 45-year-old sheet metal worker Henry Baker had millions of viewers gasping as his winnings topped £1,000 (he went on to win £1,280), while 19-year-old Tricia Ball (the youngest contestant at the time) and Madeleine Casket (who wore a series of beautiful saris) became viewer favourites across the UK. The dot-to-dot pictures were drawn by Terry White and Charles Stewart who worked behind the screens, dressed in hooded black costumes so they would not be seen in the background see picture three. The original American version was forced off the air after being implicated in the so-called ‘Quiz Show Scandal’ which rocked US game shows in the late 1950s. It was alleged that certain ‘interesting’ contestants (those whom viewers liked and who generated good audiences) were given the answers to questions in advance so they could continue as reigning champions from programme to programme. In England Dotto rose to become the highest-rated daytime program in television history, as of 1958. The first ever contestant was introduced as "Jacqueline Evans, actress, dress-designer, horsewoman and racing motorist, who was married to a top Mexican bullfighter." The host Robert Gladwell could only say "Well, that sounds like a very colourful career". Quite. The producers of the programme produced a home version of the game and was very popular in the family homes of the late 1950’s Stay in touch, Peter gsseditor@gmail.com