Play to the Whistle

Play to the Whistle
Genre Sports comedy panel game
Presented by Holly Willoughby
Starring Bradley Walsh
Frank Lampard
Romesh Ranganathan
Seann Walsh
Jimmy Bullard (2015)
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 3
No. of episodes 20 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Dan Baldwin
Production location(s) Fountain Studios (2015–16)
BBC Elstree Centre (2017)
Running time 60 minutes (2017; inc. adverts)
45 minutes (2015–16; inc. adverts)
Production company(s) Hungry Bear Media
Release
Original network ITV
Picture format 16:9 (HDTV)
Original release 11 April 2015 (2015-04-11) – 4 April 2017

Play to the Whistle is a British sports comedy panel game show that airs on ITV. It was first broadcast on 11 April 2015. In each episode two teams of three compete in sports knowledge rounds and physical games to achieve points for their teams, at the end the team with the most points is declared the winner. It was announced on 15 September 2017 that ITV had decided to axe the series after three series due to low ratings.[1]

The show is hosted by Holly Willoughby. One team is captained by entertainer, actor and presenter Bradley Walsh and the other team is captained by former professional footballer Frank Lampard. Lampard is joined by comedian Romesh Ranganathan as a regular panellist. Seann Walsh, also a comedian, is the resident scorer. Former professional footballer Jimmy Bullard was the host's assistant in the first series.[2]

Production

The show was commissioned as part of ITV's endeavour to find a panel show for their flagship channel after other pilot series have aired. The show is made by Hungry Bear Media and the executive producer is Dan Baldwin, Holly Willoughby's husband. Despite the sport theme, ITV say that they are not targeting sports fans specifically but producing the show for the whole family audience. Baldwin stated that the host's lack of sports knowledge "will help viewers in the same position". Filming of each episode takes place at the Fountain Studios in Wembley in front of a live studio audience. The first two episodes of the first series were recorded on 31 March 2015, the next two on 20 April, one on 27 April and the final two on 3 May.[2] It was revealed in November 2015 that ITV had ordered a second series.[3] Episodes for this series were recorded on 8 January, 15 January and 17 January 2016 with 2 episodes being recorded each day.

The show's title comes from the phrase used in football; the idea that players should continue with the game, even if they believe play should be stopped for any reason, until the referee has blown his whistle to halt play.[4] In the show it is when Willoughby blows her whistle that the rounds are concluded.

Transmissions

Series Start date End date Episodes
1 11 April 20156 June 20158
2 16 April 201621 May 20166
3 28 February 20174 April 20176

References

  1. ↑ User, Super. "Play to the Whistle Will Not Get Series 4". premieredate.news.
  2. 1 2 "Holly Willoughby to host new ITV panel show". British Comedy Guide. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "ITV order Series 2 of Play To The Whistle". British Comedy Guide. 18 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Weekly Football Phrase: To Play to the Whistle". languagecaster.com. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
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