Catchword (1990)

Concept and creative process

Paul Coia presented the quiz ‘Catchword’ which tested contestants' knowledge of words. The titles were produced digitally, composited on a Quantel Harry, and rendered a uniform blue. The sequence comprised a background of dictionary definitions, with a layer of animated Paintbox-generated Scrabble tiles and a live action shot of a dictionary’s pages rapidly turning. The letters of ‘Catchword’ were also animated like a game of noughts and crosses before forming the programme logo on a grid of lines centre screen, retained from the 1998 series.