The Big Breakfast hurtled into our lives in September 1992 and immediately changed the landscape of British breakfast TV. No longer were we restricted to the sedate, sensible murmurings of BBC and ITV who served up gentle fare to ease us into the day.
![]()
Instead, The Big Breakfast delivered non-stop, anarchic fun and japes as they turned breakfast TV on its head with singalongs, silliness and (for the most part) fantastic chemistry between the hosts. Oh, and how could I forget, they also brought us some immensely fun and ridiculous games to get the nation's competitive pulse pacing.
And here's 5 unforgettable games from The Big Breakfast!
1. More Tea Vicar?
There's perhaps nothing more British than a vicar coming round for a cup of tea. Well, perhaps a vicar coming round for a cup of tea and his trousers falling down, but sadly we can't all live in a 1970s sitcom.
![]()
Anyway, The Big Breakfast leapt upon this Britishness by dreaming up More Tea Vicar?The game first emerged during the early days of the show with Chris Evans playing a vicar; Take That even joined in on one occasion. The game would later return to The Big Breakfast with Johnny Vaughan playing a vicar with a horrendous set of teeth and even more frightening relationship with Denise Van Outen as the cowering Sister Philomena
![]()
A ridiculously simple game, More Tea Vicar involved contestants watching a film and then having to guess how many cups were featured in it; as the contestants shouted out their answers, the vicar would respond with "More Tea!" of "Less Tea!" to guide them to almost certain glory.
And, yes, you could actually win a car.
2. One Lump or Two?
![]()
Keeping the tea theme going, another early foray into games for The Big Breakfast was One Lump or Two which cleverly disguised a swimming pool as a cup of tea to act as the main arena. Sounds barmy and, uh, yes, it kind of was.
![]()
You see, rather than some excuse to show off athletic prowess, One Lump or Two traded on the ridiculous. Guests of the show would hurl a couple of oversized sugarcubes into the 'tea cup' before a blindfolded guest was launched into the teacup on a rickety raft. Callers to the show then had to, very loudly, direct the floating guest to capture the sugarcubes.
And, yes, people could actually win a holiday.
3.Gaggin' for It
![]()
The Big Breakfast was always at it's best when their was a magical chemistry between the hosts; this was never truer than with Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen as they conjured up saucy japes and plenty of will they / won't they intrigue.
And this was what made Gaggin' For It such magnificent fun.
![]()
Johnny Vaughan played the incredibly cheesy gameshow host Syndon Chump whose cheery facade hid a secret world of pain and trouble. In between delivering god awful gags (straight from his book Syndon Chump's World of Gags) Syndon was joined by his glamourous assistant (and all round Essex girl) Gemsy played by Denise Van Outen who delivered such gems as "We've got a girl who claims to be a model, but how she can call herself a model when she don't take her top off, I don't know"
![]()
Gagging For It was another simple guessing game where callers had to guess how many correct punchlines two teams of guests would correctly identify. The genius of Gagging For It, though, lay in the biting satire of daytime quiz shows, skewering Essex girls and the gleeful excuse to bombard viewers with double entendres.
And, yes, you could actually win a holiday abroad.
4. Egg on Your Face
![]()
Being an integral part of breakfast, eggs were just perfect for The Big Breakfast to base a game around. And, in particular, a ludicrously simple one as in Egg on your Face.
![]()
A video of a celebrity is shown with an egg superimposed over their face and the caller has to guess who it is. However, as at least 3/4 of said face would be visible at some point throughout the clip, it would tale a high level of ignorance to get it wrong. To make things a little tougher there was then a general knowledge question to truly weed out the wheat from the chaff.
![]()
And, yes, you could actually win a holiday to America. Or the booby prize of a Big Breakfast cereal bowl. Which I would kill for now.
5. Whose Washing Line is it Anyway?
You get the sense that due to all the in-house razzamatazz, the budget for The Big Breakfast was stretched in other areas and this was never more apparent than in Whose Washing Line is it Anyway?
![]()
Bearing absolutely no relation to Whose Line is it Anyway? here was a game which was less improvisational masterclass and more cheap, silly nonsense which, as you're probably beginning to realise, The Big Breakfast excelled in.
Various items were gradually hung up on a washing line (watch out for the literal red herring) and callers were given one chance to guess the celebrity they related too e.g a vinyl record and a London map was East 17. And that was it. Yes, no second round of taxing conundrums, just a simple guessing game. One which once featured Robbie Williams taking charge.
And, yes, you could actually win a pink CD system.
Instead, The Big Breakfast delivered non-stop, anarchic fun and japes as they turned breakfast TV on its head with singalongs, silliness and (for the most part) fantastic chemistry between the hosts. Oh, and how could I forget, they also brought us some immensely fun and ridiculous games to get the nation's competitive pulse pacing.
And here's 5 unforgettable games from The Big Breakfast!
1. More Tea Vicar?
There's perhaps nothing more British than a vicar coming round for a cup of tea. Well, perhaps a vicar coming round for a cup of tea and his trousers falling down, but sadly we can't all live in a 1970s sitcom.
Anyway, The Big Breakfast leapt upon this Britishness by dreaming up More Tea Vicar?The game first emerged during the early days of the show with Chris Evans playing a vicar; Take That even joined in on one occasion. The game would later return to The Big Breakfast with Johnny Vaughan playing a vicar with a horrendous set of teeth and even more frightening relationship with Denise Van Outen as the cowering Sister Philomena
A ridiculously simple game, More Tea Vicar involved contestants watching a film and then having to guess how many cups were featured in it; as the contestants shouted out their answers, the vicar would respond with "More Tea!" of "Less Tea!" to guide them to almost certain glory.
And, yes, you could actually win a car.
2. One Lump or Two?
Keeping the tea theme going, another early foray into games for The Big Breakfast was One Lump or Two which cleverly disguised a swimming pool as a cup of tea to act as the main arena. Sounds barmy and, uh, yes, it kind of was.
You see, rather than some excuse to show off athletic prowess, One Lump or Two traded on the ridiculous. Guests of the show would hurl a couple of oversized sugarcubes into the 'tea cup' before a blindfolded guest was launched into the teacup on a rickety raft. Callers to the show then had to, very loudly, direct the floating guest to capture the sugarcubes.
And, yes, people could actually win a holiday.
3.Gaggin' for It
The Big Breakfast was always at it's best when their was a magical chemistry between the hosts; this was never truer than with Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen as they conjured up saucy japes and plenty of will they / won't they intrigue.
And this was what made Gaggin' For It such magnificent fun.
Johnny Vaughan played the incredibly cheesy gameshow host Syndon Chump whose cheery facade hid a secret world of pain and trouble. In between delivering god awful gags (straight from his book Syndon Chump's World of Gags) Syndon was joined by his glamourous assistant (and all round Essex girl) Gemsy played by Denise Van Outen who delivered such gems as "We've got a girl who claims to be a model, but how she can call herself a model when she don't take her top off, I don't know"
Gagging For It was another simple guessing game where callers had to guess how many correct punchlines two teams of guests would correctly identify. The genius of Gagging For It, though, lay in the biting satire of daytime quiz shows, skewering Essex girls and the gleeful excuse to bombard viewers with double entendres.
And, yes, you could actually win a holiday abroad.
4. Egg on Your Face
Being an integral part of breakfast, eggs were just perfect for The Big Breakfast to base a game around. And, in particular, a ludicrously simple one as in Egg on your Face.
A video of a celebrity is shown with an egg superimposed over their face and the caller has to guess who it is. However, as at least 3/4 of said face would be visible at some point throughout the clip, it would tale a high level of ignorance to get it wrong. To make things a little tougher there was then a general knowledge question to truly weed out the wheat from the chaff.
And, yes, you could actually win a holiday to America. Or the booby prize of a Big Breakfast cereal bowl. Which I would kill for now.
5. Whose Washing Line is it Anyway?
You get the sense that due to all the in-house razzamatazz, the budget for The Big Breakfast was stretched in other areas and this was never more apparent than in Whose Washing Line is it Anyway?
Bearing absolutely no relation to Whose Line is it Anyway? here was a game which was less improvisational masterclass and more cheap, silly nonsense which, as you're probably beginning to realise, The Big Breakfast excelled in.
Various items were gradually hung up on a washing line (watch out for the literal red herring) and callers were given one chance to guess the celebrity they related too e.g a vinyl record and a London map was East 17. And that was it. Yes, no second round of taxing conundrums, just a simple guessing game. One which once featured Robbie Williams taking charge.
And, yes, you could actually win a pink CD system.