WAR of the WORDS

1. WARof theWORDS

2. Whether played on iPhonesand tabletsor in magazines and the back pages of everydaily paper, word gameshave never been more popular. But from ‘Call My Bluff’ to ‘Countdown’, whenever they’re played on TV their scope and appeal has been stifled by a lack of ambitionand low-key production… until now.

3. WAR of the WORDS Michael McIntyre hosts an ambitious new entertainment show where a panel of celebritiestry to crack the fastest and funniest word games on television. This isn’t stuffy, overly cerebral TV with limited appeal - this is primetime popular telly for all the family; ashiny comedy panel show that just happensto be about Words.

4. We want to make a big splash by bringing something genuinely new and surprising to Sky 1 with a series that isn’t just entertaining but that also encouragesand celebrates literacy, a show to be proud of.

5. Established household names and keen word game players like Mark Addy, Elle McPherson, Bill Bailey, andMartina Cole are paired with equally familiar though possibly less gifted wordsmiths like Katie Price, Carl Pilkington, Amy from TOWIE and Steve-O from Jackass. Here’s how it works…

6. The GAMES Every week two teams of celebrities will face fast and funny tests of their vocabulary,grammar,diction,spelling & general word knowledge…

7. The Conveyor Belt The contestants have to correctly name various objects passing before them on a conveyor belt. Each one will be quite familiar but will the celebrities know precisely what they are called? It’s not a “thingy” or a “what’s-it”, a “do-dah” or a “watcha-ma-call-it” – it has a name… but what is it?

8. Special Guest Rounds As Hugh shares tit-bits about his fruit and veg – Latin names, seasonality, cooking tips – the teams must put a name to each. Bonus points will be awarded for correct spellings of Cabbage, Plum, Courgette, & Aubergine. Special guests will be popping in to ask the teams to identify various items of special significance to them. Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall comes on pushing a wheelbarrow full of produce from his garden at River Cottage. Hugh then holds up five items of produce, one after the other without naming them.

9. Word Link Each player says a word then each following player in turn has five seconds to come up with a word that follows the last in a well know name, phrase or saying. For instances; team one says, ‘eggs’, team two might follow with, ‘Benedict’, then back to team one who may say, ‘Arnold’, and back to team two who could say, ‘Schwarzenegger’…etc.

10. Parlez – Vous? Up on the big screen Michael shows the teams various funny sounding foreign words. Each one has a rather strange definition – but what is it? Michael gives the teams three options but which will they choose? ‘Bakku-shan’is a Japanese word but what does it mean? Is it… • The wife of a chronic gambler? • A girl who is attractive - but only from behind? • A man who likes to wear women’s underwear?

11. Parlez – Vous? ‘Mamihlapinatapai’is a Yaghan word spoken by the inhabitants of Tierra Del Fuego, but what on earth does it mean? Is it… • A native dog that looks like a tiny lion? • A female pirate? • A shared look between two people that suggests unspoken desire? ‘Nunchi’is a Korean word but what does it mean? Is it… • Someone who never says or does the wrong thing in public? • An old man who likes to pinch ladies bottoms? • A female mud-wrestler?

12. Faux-Cabulary Up on the big screen Michael unveils a bunch of unfamiliar, exotic-sounding words some of which are made-up. One by one the celebrities must pick out one of the genuine words. After each pick the screen refills with a new selection of words. Pick a real word and score one point, choose a fake word and lose one point. Michael also offers bonus points for anything even approaching a correct definition! Who knew that ‘apodyopsis’was the act of mentally undressing someone or that when you’re ‘farctated’you’re utterly stuffed with food?

13. Specialist Subjects The celebrities must give correct definitions to five words from their chosen specialist subjects. Each correct definition scores that team one point. i.e. Peter Andre has chosen ‘bodybuilding’ as his specialist subject but does he really know what Isotonic, Carbohydrate, andAnaerobic actually mean?

14. Word Tetris Played against the clock. The big screen is laid out like TETRIS but instead of just square blocks falling from above we have letters. As the letters fall, their direction can be altered by the teams – the aim, to form as many English words as possible.

15. Word Tetris As soon as a team thinks they have made a word they shout it out. If the word is correct the letters glow red then disappear from the screen and the team scores one point. If they haven’t formed a word from the English dictionary or just miss-spelt a word the letters remain on screen and the team loses a point.

16. Word Tetris The object of the game is to score as many points as possible in one minute. If the team fails to identify any words and allows the screen to fill up with letters – they are disqualified and lose 5 points.

17. Plus a host of funnyquickfire spelling games… The teams must re-spell a sentence of text-speak: mi holwzxlntcziwnt 2 dismasinbeach akpltmzndspntmstof da day suninmslf.

18. Plus a host of funnyquickfire spelling games… The teams must spell 3 words from the UK Border Agency’s ‘Basic English Test’: Hello, Great,Britain. The contestants must spell 3 words from a Year Two SATS exam: Beautiful, Favourite, Embarrassed. The contestants must spell 3 familiar words that many of us see every day but frequently misspell: Escalator, Restaurant, Calendar.

19. Plus a host of funnyquickfire spelling games… The contestants must spell 3 new words that entered the Oxford English Dictionary this year: Defriend, Vuvuzela, Chillax. The teams are given a commonly miss-spelt word as used in a sentence that sounds like at least one other word with a different meaning. For instance; ‘where’. “Can you tell me WHERE the library is?”

20. (Not Very) Random Words Rounds The teams must try and spell five (apparently) random words that get harder as the game progresses. For Gillian McKeiththese might be: Diet, Nutrition, Colonic, Arachnophobia, Pescetarianism.

21. Phonetics Game On the big screen, our computer displays a series of words all spelt phonetically; ig-zaws-chuhn(exhaustion), maj-uh-stee(majesty), mawr-gij(mortgage) etc. The teams buzz in to give the correct dictionary spelling.

22. WAR of the WORDS This is a show to shout about and we won’t be shy to spread the word

23. Getting into Schools Establishing a real presence in schools up and down the country is a major priority for us, encouraging primary and secondary schools to hold their own fun and fruitful‘War of the Words’style spelling competitions.

24. Interactivity Of course we want everyone to play along at home – not just during the show itself but 24/7 online at the ‘War of the Words’ website where all of the games featured in the series will be available to play.

25. Sponsorship A strong commercial sponsor for the show will provide further enthusiastic and productivecross-pollination and non-TV based visibility.

26. Big Cash Prizes By calling in, texting or entering via the WOTW website, viewers can play for big cash prizes by answering a spelling question set by Michael at the end of every show, the total prize money is determined by the studio audience… i.e. “For £77,000: 77% of tonight’s studio audience failed to spell which of the following three words correctly? ‘Cardigan’, ‘Savoury’ or ‘Biro’?

27. War of the Words In Britain in 2011 the English Language is under attack! But the Word is out. This means WAR!