In 1996 Michaels game show Strike It Lucky was given a bit a make-over. This included a change of name because, apparently, the right to use the original name stayed with the original production company.

And so Strike It Rich was born, with a new set, new music, new sound effects and a jackpot of £10,000.

Everything else stayed much the same, three couples answering questions and gambling their prizes to be first across the row of screens.

The trademark of this show was Michael's interviewing of the contestants before the game got underway. In fact you needed to see the show being recorded to realise how much time he spent talking to them, the producers must have had quite a job editing everything down to keep within the half hour format that the show was broadcast in. Considering that more than 120 programmes were made there must be hours and hours that have never been seen on TV. I wonder if it still exists and if anyone has thought of making a compilation video.

Many of the spot prizes were substantially more valuable than in the the earlier version of the show, but not all - There were still fun prizes hidden among the dishwashers and video cameras, like llama trekking in Sussex. (Not that I've got anything against llamas, I'd just prefer a video camera).
The last screen was always an exotic holiday, which bought with it the chance to gamble again. The holiday could be, and sometimes was, lost depending on the contestants correctly answering a question.

And so to the end game. £10,000 could be won here, added to any earlier prizes. But how easy was it to get across those screens a second time, avoiding the hotspots and answering any questions that might come up?

You can have a go yourself. I have a version of the game that you can play right now on your computer. All you need is a bit of luck and, as around half of the questions are about Michael, just a little general knowledge. Click here to have a go and, unlike the TV contestants, if at first you don't succeed - have another go!
Very important point: This game has been tested in Internet Explorer 5.5. It does not work in Netscape browsers.