Face the Music (British game show)

Face the Music is a British panel game show that originally aired on BBC2 from 3 August 1967 to 2 January 1977 and then moved to BBC1 from 17 April 1983 to 16 December 1984 with Joseph Cooper hosting the entire run.

Face the Music
GenrePanel game show
Created byWalter Todds
Presented byJoseph Cooper
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series10
No. of episodes114
Production
Running time30 minutes
Release
Original networkBBC2 (1967–77)
BBC1 (1983–84)
Original release3 August 1967 (1967-08-03) –
16 December 1984 (1984-12-16)

The theme music for the show was the Popular Song from the Façade suite by Sir William Walton (who was a guest on the programme in his 70th birthday year). During its most popular period the programme had a weekly audience of over 4 million.[1]

Format

The programme, chaired by Joseph Cooper,[2] took the form of a quiz, with a panel of three music-loving celebrities, but without scoring or any winner. Each week there would be a special guest, who would also have to answer questions – with the focus being on topics that related to the guest's life and career, so as to lead to amusing anecdotes. The questions to the panel were asked in a series of rounds, each with a theme, such as "The Face, The Music", where the panel would have to identify a composer from their picture, as well as the composer of the music played along with it.

The most demanding round was the "Dummy Keyboard", where Cooper would play a famous piece on a dummy (soundless) instrument, requiring the panel to identify it from hand movements alone.[3] For the benefit of the audience at home, the music in question – which Cooper was hearing through earphones for the purpose of synchronisation – would be slowly faded in as the piece progressed.

Another round was "Hidden Melody" where Cooper would perform a popular tune in the style of a famous composer, while including extracts of works by that composer to help the listeners.[3] Robin Ray, if a member of that week's panel, would typically identify the opus number of the quoted works.

For opera lovers, the panel were shown a filmed performance of one opera with the soundtrack of a different one, and asked to identify both.

Transmissions

Series
SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
13 August 1967[4]31 August 1967[5]5
216 September 1970[6]21 October 1970[7]6
322 March 1971[8]7 June 1971[9]12
414 February 1972[10]29 May 1972[11]16
514 May 1973[12]27 August 1973[13]16
66 May 1974[14]19 August 1974[15]16
724 September 1975[16]17 December 1975[17]13
824 October 1976[18]19 December 1976[19]8
917 April 1983[20]22 May 1983[21]6
1028 October 1984[22]16 December 1984[23]8

Specials
DateEntitle
26 December 1967[24]Christmas Special
24 December 1972[25]Christmas Special
25 December 1973[26]Christmas Special
25 December 1974[27]Christmas Special
20 December 1975[28]Christmas Special
26 December 1976[29]Christmas Special
2 January 1977[30]100th Episode

References
  1. "Joseph Cooper". The Daily Telegraph. 6 August 2001. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  2. "Pianist Joseph Cooper dies". BBC News. 6 August 2001. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  3. Anderson, Martin. "Obituaries – Joseph Cooper". The Independent. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  4. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 3 August 1967". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  5. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 31 August 1967". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  6. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 16 September 1970". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  7. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 21 October 1970". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  8. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 22 March 1971". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  9. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 7 June 1971". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  10. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 14 February 1972". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  11. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 29 May 1972". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  12. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 14 May 1973". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  13. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 27 August 1973". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  14. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 6 May 1974". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  15. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 19 August 1974". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  16. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 24 September 1975". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  17. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 17 December 1975". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  18. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 24 October 1976". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  19. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 19 December 1976". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  20. "Face the Music - BBC One London - 17 April 1983". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  21. "Face the Music - BBC One London - 22 May 1983". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  22. "Face the Music - BBC One London - 28 October 1984". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  23. "Face the Music - BBC One London - 16 December 1984". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  24. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 26 December 1967". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  25. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 24 December 1972". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  26. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 25 December 1973". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  27. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 25 December 1974". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  28. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 20 December 1975". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  29. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 26 December 1976". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  30. "Face the Music - BBC Two England - 2 January 1977". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
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