Overview

Three Little Words was a popular game show that was produced by TWW then by HTV West and ran on the ITV network from 1967 until 1987. The programme was hosted by several people, including Don Moss, Alan Taylor, and Ray Alan with his wife Barbie. The show was created by Roy Ward Dickson, who invented many game shows. It has similarities to Password. The aim was to get your partner to say a particular word by giving them single word clues. For example one partner might offer the clue "headgear" to describe the word "hat". 20 points were given for a word solved on the first clue, 15 points scored for a word solved in two clues and 10 points were awarded for a word solved on the third attempt. After three clues the opponents had a shot at the word for 5 points. After a certain number of words the team with the highest score became the champions and won money. Teams could win up to 6 times before being forced to retire. Ken and Christine Rowland were the only couple to receive full marks having given the correct answers after each first clue word. However some of their clues, e.g. "Schneider" to produce the answer "trophy", clearly worried Ray Alan and they were not invited back like other winners.