19th February 1987
Channel 4’s Treasure Hunt comes from Jersey
Channel 4’s long-running helicopter-based gameshow, Treasure Hunt, came from Jersey on 19 February 1987. It had visited Guernsey in January 1984, during its second season, but viewers had to wait until the second episode of the fifth series before it landed in Guernsey’s larger near-neighbour, Jersey.
On this occasion, the contestants were a pair of antique rug restorers from Gloucestershire. As ever, they were helped in the studio by former newsreader Kenneth Kendall, and a large library of books (but, being 1987, no electronic reference works and no internet). Wincey Willis, a former weather presenter from TV-AM, was the adjudicator, who plotted the helicopter’s progress on a map.
Hello from Elizabeth Castle
The programme opened with skyrunner Anneka Rice, who was to be directed by the contestants as they solved a series of clues, introducing the programme from Elizabeth Castle. From there, the first clue took her to Jersey Zoo, then Mont Orgueil Castle, before looping back to St Helier, where the fourth clue was hidden in Howard Davis Park.
The fifth clue was off Noirmont point, and required Anneka to jump into the water, swim to its location, and read it while fully submerged. This would have led her to the last stopping off point, St Ouen’s Manor, but the contestants were unsuccessful: they ran out of time.
Channel 4 returned to Jersey in 2011 when it broadcast an episode of Time Team from the island.
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Other events that occured in February
Coal-filled steamer strikes the rocks
- A steamer loaded with coal was holed below the waterline when it struck rocks off Jersey's Noirmont Point in 1952.
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Lillie Langtry is buried in her parents’ tomb
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The States considers allowing English debates
- It took until 1900 for the States to consider whether debates could be conducted in English rather than French.
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Women are jailed for smuggling gold in their knickers
- Four women were caught smuggling gold in their knickers and were sent to prison at the end of their trial.
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