Face the Music (British game show)

Face the Music is a British panel game show revolving around classical music which originally aired on BBC2 from 26 December 1966 to 25 December 1979 and then moved to BBC1 from 17 April 1983 to 16 December 1984 with Joseph Cooper hosting the entire run.

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Format

The programme, chaired by Joseph Cooper,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> took the form of a quiz about classical music, 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", in which 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", in which Cooper would play a famous piece on a dummy (soundless) instrument, requiring the panel to identify it from hand movements alone.<ref name=indepobit>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> 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", in which 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.<ref name=indepobit/> 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

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
Pilot	26 December 1966<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 1
1	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 31 August 1967<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 5
2	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 21 October 1970<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 6
3	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 7 June 1971<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 12
4	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 29 May 1972<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 16
5	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 27 August 1973<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 16
6	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 19 August 1974<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 16
7	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 17 December 1975<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 13
8	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 19 December 1976<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 8
9	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 21 October 1979<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 12
10	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 22 May 1983<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 6
11	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 16 December 1984<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 8

Specials

Date	Entitle
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || Christmas Special
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || Christmas Special
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || Christmas Special
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || Christmas Special
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || Christmas Special
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || Christmas Special
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 100th Episode
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || Christmas Special

External links

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