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In January 1982, a groundbreaking new quiz-show debuted to great fanfare on ITV. Top of the World was a joint production between Thames Television, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and PBS in America, and its format was simple. Three contestants in London, Sydney and Miami would answer questions by satellite about Britain, Australia and America; in the next round, they would be quizzed on their chosen specialist subject, unless they were that week’s returning champion, in which case general knowledge would do; then there was a buzzer round requiring a time lag to allow signals to get around the world and back. The winner returned the following week, though players also competed against 11 other contestants from their own countries across a number of episodes, and eventually the three most successful qualified for the grand final, with the eventual victor (true story) given the keys to one of the cars used in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Tens of viewers worldwide were glued to their sets, and the show was cancelled after one series.

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