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Quartet - Jogos de Natal 1982

Christmas Special
(First Version)

Event Staged: Saturday 23rd October 1982
Venue: Praia do Carvoeiro (Carvoeiro Beach), Carvoeiro, Portugal

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
BRT 1 (B): Sunday 26th December 1982, 4.45-5.45pm (as Kwartet)
BBC1 (GB): (not transmitted)
RTP (P): (not transmitted)
Nederland 1 (NL): (not transmitted)

Weather Conditions: Hot and Sunny

Celebrity Performers / Competitors:
Roger de Vlaeminck, World Champion cyclist (B)
Dana, singer (GB)
Hans Kazàn, magician and illusionist (NL)
Paulo Caetano, bullfighter and horseman (P)

Commemorative Trophies presented by:
Eládio Clímaco

Theme: Festive Fun

Teams: Blankenberge (B) v. Plymouth (GB) v.
Hilversum (NL) v. Praia do Carvoeiro (P)

Team Members included:
Blankenberge (B) - Willem Content (Mayor of Blankenberge), Roger de Vlaeminck (Celebrity), Walter Capiau (Presenter), Françoise d'Alphen, André Marmanaud, Danny van Teyne, Martin de Recke, Karin van Teyne;
Plymouth (GB) - Reg Scott (Mayor of Plymouth), Dana (Celebrity), Vince Hill (Presenter), Les Crawford, Karen Hurst, Dawn Kay, Andrew Mastochy, Tony Murphy, Jill Perry;
Hilversum (NL) - Kris Rukken (Mayor of NUTS-1), Hans Kazàn (Celebrity), Dick Passchier (Presenter), Fred Benavente, Leontine Ceulemans, Lisette Hordijk, Catherine Keyl, Sipke van der Land and Henk Mouwe;
Algarve (P) - Adel Santos (Mayor of Lagoa), Paulo Caetano (Celebrity), Eládio Clímaco (Presenter), André Bernensio, Elsa Kabissa, Fernando Martins.

Games: The Rescue Party, Postal Delivery (Mayors' Game), Collecting the Froth, The Blindfolded Bellringers (Celebrities' Game), Decorating the Christmas Tree, Spin the Wheel (Mayors' Game), The Caged Ball Catchers, Collecting Ping-Pong Balls (Celebrities' Game), The Wine Collectors, Sorting the Food (Presenters' Game), Finding the Wine (Mayors' Game), Dressing Up (Presenters' Game), The Celebration Cake.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd
4th

 B • Blankenberge ●
 GB • Plymouth
 P • Praia do Carvoeiro
 NL • Hilversum

43
36
23
22

The Host Town

Carvoeiro, Portugal

Carvoeiro is a small village with a population of around 3,000 inhabitants in the district of Faro and is located 46km (29 miles) west of Faro, 146km (91 miles) south-east of Moura, 189km (117 miles) south-east of Lisboa and 916km (569 miles) north-west of Funchal, capital of the Portuguese island of Madeira. It should be noted that the official district of Faro covers the same area which is more commonly-known as the Algarve. The only significant difference is that the Algarve is split into two distinct halves - Barlavento (windward-facing) which runs from the western boundary of the city of Faro along to coast of the Atlantic Ocean and Sotavento (leeward-facing) which runs from the eastern boundary along to the border with Spain.

Dating back to Roman times, the parish and picturesque village have had a long history of settlements with the name of the town originating from Caboiere, an old Islamic name for a hamlet of fishermen.

The region was frequently subjected to pirate and military assaults along the coast, with a number of naval battles occurring in the area. Most notably, in 1544, a squadron of ships under Pedro da Cunha, did battle with the Turkish barbary coast pirate, Xarramet.

For most of its history, fishing was the mainstay of the local economy. However, from the 1960s onward, and somewhat due to its vast number of sandy beaches protected by high cliffs, tourism gradually became the economic base of the area, with many new hotels, apartment complexes, shops, roads, and significant improvements to infrastructures completed to attract visitors to the region.

A few hundred metres along the coast east of the main square and beach, is a popular nature site where ocean wave erosion has carved out grottoes, islets and water-spouts. It is also renowned in the vicinity for prime marine life spotting. In 2011, a blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) was sighted off the coastline by local fishermen, but more commonly, bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) are seen in pods of up to 12.

The Visiting Towns

Blankenberge is a town and resort with a population of around 21,000 inhabitants in the néerlandophonic (Dutch-speaking) Belgian province of West-Vlaanderen and is located 1,826km (1,134 miles) north-west of Carvoeiro.

Plymouth is a city with a population of around 280,000 inhabitants in the English county of Devon.

Hilversum is a town of around 95,000 inhabitants in the Dutch province of Noord-Holland and is located 1,991km (1,237 miles) north-west of Carvoeiro.

The Venue

Praia do Carvoeiro (Carvoeiro Beach)

The games for this festive edition were played on the sands of the local beach.

Due to its size and importance, very little information is available for research regarding the beach. However, what is known is that it has high craggy cliffs, calm waters and located south of the centre of Carvoeiro. From the beach, tourists have the opportunity to take a boat trip around the caves or to take part in water sports during the high season.

The Games in Detail

Introduction

Following the opening titles, Portuguese presenter Yvonne Ferreira introduced the commentators beginning with her fellow countryman, Eládio Clímaco, who entered the arena riding a bicycle. After being handed the microphone, he then introduced Belgian presenter Walter Capiau, who made his entrance on the back of a donkey. He then introduced British presenter Vince Hill to the audience, and Hill entered the arena in a horse-drawn hackney carriage. After a few words, Hill then handed the microphone to Yvonne Ferreira and she introduced Dutch presenter Dick Passchier, who had dressed as Father Christmas. Following on from this, the mayors of the four competing towns were transported into the arena by horse and cart and introduced individually to the assembled crowd.

Game 1 - The Rescue Party

The first game - ‘The Rescue Party’ - was introduced by RTP co-presenter Eládio Clímaco and played in unison over one minute duration. It featured all six competitors (three males and three females) from each team and the four celebrities, who were located in bathing huts at the far end of the course. On the whistle, the teams had to race down the 25m (82ft) course, traversing a small hurdle en route, in order to reach the bathing hut. They then had to rip open the hut (which was actually constructed of paper) to reveal their respective celebrity sitting on a wooden chair. They then had to lift the chair off the ground and carry the mayor back to the start of the course, traversing the hurdle and placing him on a podium. The team completing the game in the faster time would be declared the winners.

This was a very straightforward and simple game which saw two of the Great Britain competitors jumping the gun and starting prematurely. However, after all the teams had raced down the beach, Belgium were the first to set off on the return journey ahead of Great Britain. Despite a little cheating by the British team, whereby their celebrity ran on foot over the final three metres (9ft 10¾in) of the course, Belgium completed the game in 27 seconds followed by Great Britain one second later. Portugal completed the game in 32 seconds with Netherlands failing in their task and deemed out of time.

Game 2 - Postal Delivery (Mayor's Game)

The second game - ‘Postal Delivery’ - was introduced by BBC commentator Vince Hill and was the first of three which featured the four mayors of the competing countries. On the whistle, a postman on a bicycle had to ride into the arena carrying a large leather sack which he would then hand to the presenter. Hill then had to remove four envelopes from inside the sack and hand one to each of the mayors who were sitting around a table. The mayors then had to be asked, one by one, to open their respective envelopes to reveal a message and this would instruct the scoreboard operators to add a stated number of points to his respective team’s score.

This was a very simple and straightforward game which appeared to be dependant on which of the envelopes Vince Hill decided to hand to the mayors. The first mayor to reveal his message was Kris Rukken from NUTS-1 (the region of North Netherlands in which Hilversum is located) and he awarded 3pts to his team. This was followed by Adel Santos, the mayor from Lagoa (the administrative district in which Carvoeiro is located), awarding 1pt to his team. The third mayor to declare was Willem Content from Blankenberge and he awarded 4pts to his team whilst the final mayor, Reg Scott from Plymouth, awarded 2pts to his team.

Game 3 - Collecting the Froth

The third game - ‘Collecting the Froth’ - was introduced by BRT commentator Walter Capiau and played in unison over 1 minute 45 seconds duration. It featured a male competitor from each team wearing large foam-rubber sandals and sitting on the edge of a podium. On the whistle, the competitor had to stand up and run to the rear of the game and collect a can of beer. He then had to shake the can profusely whilst returning to the front of the game via a small tunnel. When he reached the front of the podium, he had to jump down onto the sand, open the can of beer and empty its contents (now mainly froth) into a small Perspex measuring cylinder. The game then had to be repeated throughout. The team collecting the higher volume of froth would be declared the winners.

This was a simple game which appeared to be dominated by Portugal and at the end of the permitted time their cylinder contained the greater amount of froth. Netherlands appeared to finish in 2nd place, Belgium in 3rd place and Great Britain in 4th place, having just a miniscule amount in their container. Belgian commentator Walter Capiau then remarked that although the competitor had made several successful essays and had deposited the froth, there was hardly anything showing despite his efforts. It was then revealed that there had been a problem with two of the cylinders which meant that the froth / liquid had been leaking out and onto the sand underneath. Eládio Clímaco, acting as referee on this game, announced that as this was the case it was only fair to award each team 4pts.

Game 4 - The Blindfolded Bellringers (Celebrities' Game)

The fourth game - ‘The Blindfolded Bellringers’ - was also introduced by the BRT commentator and played in unison over one minute duration. It was the first of two which featured the four celebrities from the competing countries, all of whom had been blindfolded, being led on to the arena by Capiau and positioned on to their respective podium. In front of the competitors were four ropes hanging down and which were attached to bells. Once all four were in a seated position, they were then instructed to stand up and rotate three times. Once completed, the game was started and the celebrities had to walk forward with their hands in front of them in order to feel for their respective rope. Once located, the rope had to be pulled to sound their bell. The celebrity ringing their bell in the faster time would be declared the winner.

This was another simple and straightforward game which only took a few seconds to complete and saw Roger de Vlaeminck representing Belgium locate and ring his bell in just 3 seconds. Hans Kazàn representing Netherlands located his bell in 8 seconds whilst Paulo Caetano (Portugal) rang his bell after 20 seconds. Dana, representing Great Britain, lost her direction from the outset and had to eventually be assisted by Walter Capiau to the location of her rope so that she could ring her bell after 25 seconds of elapsed time.

Game 5 - Decorating the Christmas Tree

The fifth game - ‘Decorating the Christmas Tree’ - was introduced by BBC commentator Vince Hill and played in unison over 1 minute 30 seconds duration. It featured a female competitor from each team and a giant wooden façade of a Velcro-covered Christmas tree. The four competitors each had a lifebuoy around her waist which was attached to an elasticated rope, with the other four ends being joined together. On the whistle, the competitors had to collect Velcro-covered decorations from their respective containers located at 90° angles from each other around the edge of the game. In order to do so, they had to stretch the rope which would inevitably hinder the other competitors. Once a decoration had been collected, the competitor had to stand on a circular podium at the centre of the game and then toss it towards the tree to get it to stick. The game then had to be repeated throughout. Any decorations that became dislodged during play would not be counted. The team attaching the greater number of decorations would be declared the winners.

Although this was a simple game, it appeared that Great Britain and Portugal were struggling to reach their respective containers whilst the other two competitors were finding the going very easy and could be frequently observed tossing decorations. After 45 seconds of elapsed time, the Portuguese competitor appeared to suffer some kind of injury, causing her pain, and could be observed removing the lifebuoy from around her waist. Nevertheless, the game was played out to a finish and when the results were announced there was something of a surprise for the home team. Whilst Netherlands appeared in contention throughout, it was deemed that they had failed to attach any decorations to the tree and were given a score of 0. The other three teams, despite their efforts, had only attached one decoration each to the tree.

Game 6 - Spin the Wheel (Mayors' Game)

The sixth game - ‘Spin the Wheel’ - was introduced by NCRV commentator Dick Passchier and played over two heats. It was the second of three games which featured the mayor of each of the competing teams and was a game of risk and pure luck. Set on easels were two wooden wheels with rotating rims. Each rim was split into fourteen equal sections - seven which were red and seven which were black. Above the top of the wheel was an arrow pointing downwards. Before the start, the mayor was asked which section he believed the wheel would stop at after being rotated and also how many points he would place on being correct. If the prediction was correct, the number of points gambled would be added to the team’s score. If the prediction was incorrect, the number of points gambled would be deducted.

The first heat saw the participation of Belgium and Netherlands and whilst the mayor of Blankenberge predicted red and gambled 5pts, the mayor of NUTS-1 (Hilversum) opted for red and gambled 8pts. The mayors were then asked to spin their respective wheels and when they had stopped, Belgium had been successful whilst Netherlands had failed.

The second heat featured Great Britain and Portugal and although both predicted red, the mayor of Plymouth gambled 5pts whilst the mayor of Lagoa (Carvoeiro) gambled 9pts. After the wheels had stopped, Great Britain had been successful in the prediction whereas Portugal had failed.

Game 7 - The Caged Ball Catchers

The seventh game - ‘The Caged Ball Catchers’ - was introduced by the NCRV commentator and played over two heats of one minute duration. It featured all six competitors (three males and three females) from each team and a large open-topped cage in which they were all standing. On the whistle, team members from the opposition tossed different-sized balls in to the cage and the competitors had to catch and hold them throughout the permitted time. Balls were permitted to be placed inside the costumes to maximise their score. Any balls that dropped to the floor of the cage would be deemed out of play. At the end of the game, the cage was opened and the competitors had to place all the caught balls into a receptacle to be counted. The team collecting the greater number of balls would be declared the winners.

The first heat of this simple and straightforward game saw the participation of Great Britain and Portugal. At the end of permitted time, Great Britain had collected 25 balls whilst Portugal had collected 23 balls.

The second heat featured Belgium and Netherlands and whilst Belgium had collected 22 balls, Netherlands had collected 20 balls.

Game 8 - Collecting Ping-Pong Balls (Celebrities' Game)

The eighth game - ‘Collecting Ping-Pong Balls’ - was introduced by BRT commentator Walter Capiau and played in unison over one minute duration. It was the second of two games which featured the four celebrities from the competing countries. In the middle of the arena was a podium which was surrounded by four padlocked boxes. On the whistle, the celebrities, each equipped with one key, had to run to one of the boxes and try to unlock the box with the key they had been given. If the key failed to open the lock, they then had to move to one of the other boxes to see if it fitted. This had to be repeated until the correct lock was found. If successful, the box then had to be opened and this would release a number of ping-pong balls to fall onto the arena floor. The celebrities then had to collect as many of the balls as they could and keep them safe on their person. Irrespective of which box the balls fell from, they could be picked up by any of the four celebrities. The celebrity collecting the greater number of balls would be declared the winner.

This was a very simple game which saw Great Britain somewhat hindered by the type of clothing worn by their celebrity, Dana. Dressed in denim jeans and pullover, she was limited in terms of places to store the balls and how the tightness of the denim restricted her movement, whereas the male celebrities were attired in jackets with various pockets, open-fronted shirts and loose trousers. However at the end of the game, Netherlands had collected 39 balls (although nine of which were actually part of an illusion but permitted to count), Belgium had collected 37 balls, Portugal had collected 24 balls and Great Britain had collected 16 balls.

Game 9 - The Wine Collectors

The ninth game - ‘The Wine Collectors’ - was introduced by RTP co-commentator Yvonne Ferreira and played in unison over 1 minute 45 seconds duration. It featured two competitors (one male and one female) from each team and a set of four wine vats. The male competitors, armed with large bowls, were blindfolded and each was standing in front of one the vats. The females were crouched down underneath a podium with four holes cut in the top, in front of the game, and also armed with large bowls. On the whistle, the taps of the vats would be opened and the male competitor had to fill his bowl and then traverse it to his competitor’s receptacle. In order for him to pour the liquid in the correct hole, each of the females were armed with a different type of noise-making equipment - Belgium (open-tambourine), Great Britain (bicycle hooter), Portugal (covered tambourine) and Netherlands (child’s trumpet). Once the liquid had been transferred, the female then had to carry the bowl and empty its contents into an inverted triangular measuring cylinder. She then had to return to the podium, but had to crouch down underneath a different hole to the one she had used previously. This was in order to ensure that the male competitors did not become complacent as to the location of their female team-mate. The game then had to be repeated throughout in the same manner. The team collecting the greater volume of liquid would be declared the winners.

This was another straightforward game which ended without incident. At the end of the game a close-up shot of the measuring cylinders showed that Belgium had collected the greater volume of liquid, followed by Netherlands, Great Britain and Portugal.

Game 10 - Sorting the Food (Presenters' Game)

The tenth game - ‘Sorting the Food’ - was also introduced by the RTP co-commentator and played in unison over one minute duration. It was the first of two games that featured four of the five presenters of the four competing countries (with Eládio Clímaco representing Portugal). At the start of the game, each of the presenters was blindfolded and standing behind a table on which there was a large receptacle containing nine items of food found in a typical Portuguese restaurant kitchen. These items included a leek, an apple, a lemon, a sardine, a pineapple, a potato, an octopus, a large red cabbage, a large fish and a chilli pepper. On the whistle, the presenters had to use their hands (and noses if they wished to smell the items) to find the three items requested by the rules - the lemon, the red cabbage and the sardine - and toss the unwanted ones out of the receptacle. The presenter completing the game with the correct items in the faster time would be declared the winner.

This was somewhat of a simple game that Belgium completed in 1st place, followed by Portugal in 2nd place, Netherlands in 3rd place and Great Britain in 4th place. However, when the results were announced none of the teams had collected all the correct items and therefore no points were awarded.

Game 11 - Finding the Wine (Mayors' Game)

The eleventh game - ‘Finding the Wine’ - was introduced by BBC commentator Vince Hill and played in unison. It was the third of three games which featured the mayor of each of the competing teams but on this occasion also involved a male member of their respective team. At the start of the game, the four team members were standing on a podium, each with five water-filled balloons inside their bathing costumes. Whilst four of the balloons contained clear water, one was filled with red-coloured dye. On the whistle, the mayors, each armed with a pointed rod, had to take it in turn at bursting a balloon on an opposing team’s competitor. If clear water poured from the costume, the mayor had to wait for a second essay. If red-coloured water flowed, then the mayor was deemed to have completed his essays and awarded the respective finishing position.

The first round of this simple game saw the mayor of Plymouth bursting a balloon of the competitor from Portugal but could only produce clear water. He was followed by the mayor of Lagoa (Carvoeiro) bursting a balloon of the competitor from Belgium but he achieved the same result. The third mayor to participate was from NUTS-1 (Hilversum) bursting a balloon of the competitor from Great Britain and, as had been the case previously, the essay only produced clear water. The final mayor to feature was from Blankenberge bursting a balloon of the competitor from Netherlands and, as with the previous essays, produced clear water.

The second round saw both Great Britain and Portugal fail whilst Netherlands and Belgium were both successful at producing the red dye.

The third round saw both Great Britain and Portugal again producing just clear water.

With just two balloons remaining in the costumes, both Great Britain and Portugal produced red dye.

Game 12 - Dressing Up (Presenters' Game)

The twelfth and penultimate game - ‘Dressing Up’ - was introduced by RTP co-commentator Yvonne Ferreira and played in unison over two minutes duration. It was the second of two games that featured four of the five presenters of the four competing countries (with Eládio Clímaco again representing Portugal). At the start of the game the four male presenters were standing on the beach with their backs to the sea. Behind them were two changing tents and four deep baskets each containing four colour-coded items of pantomime-style clothing - a jacket, a scarf, a pair of trousers and a hat. On the whistle, the presenters had to turn around and run to the baskets and collect their first item of clothing. Once collected, they then had to enter one of the two tents and attire themselves with the item. The game then had to be repeated with each presenter collecting an item of clothing from each of the baskets. Once fully attired, they then had to run back to the start of the course to complete the game. The team completing the game in the faster time would be declared the winners.

This was a very straightforward game which saw Netherlands finishing in 1st place in 47 seconds, followed by Portugal in 50 seconds. The third team to finish was Great Britain in 51 seconds, followed by Belgium in 4th place in 52 seconds.

Game 13 - The Celebration Cake

The thirteenth and final game - ‘The Celebration Cake’ - was introduced by RTP co-commentator Eládio Clímaco and played in unison over two minutes duration. It featured all six competitors (three males and three females) from each team standing back to back in a circle with the waists of their trousers sewn together. On the whistle, the competitors had to work together and make their way down to the water’s edge in order to collect a large three-tiered cake from the sea. They then had to lift the cake aloft their heads and transport it back to the start of the course and then pull a tag to set off a firecracker. The team completing the game in the faster time would be declared the winners.

This was a straightforward game which was played without incident and saw Portugal finish in 1st place in 1 minute 10 seconds followed by Great Britain in 2nd place in 1 minute 25 seconds. The third team to complete the game was Belgium in 1 minute 33 seconds, with Netherlands deemed to have finished in 4th place after failing to finish the game within the permitted time.

Team Personnel

One innovation brought in for this programme was that teams participating in this competition would be drawn from particular professions in each town, rather than from the sports fields of those places. Consequently, the competition saw British Royal Navy medics take on Belgian amateur dramatic actors, Dutch television professionals and Portuguese hotel waiters. Despite this, the team names were given on screen as the locality represented by the competitors, with the Carvoeiro team being named after the resort's beach.

Returning Teams and Competitors

Belgian celebrity performer / competitor Roger de Vlaeminck had previously participated in Jeux Sans Frontières in 1971 for the team of Oostende in 1971. In that programme, Roger and his elder brother Erik had been given the honour to participate as the ‘experienced’ competitors in the Fil Rouge.

Media Attention

On Saturday 22nd May 1982, the British newspaper Daily Mirror, ran a story entitled Knocked Out!, which revealed the 1982 series of Jeux Sans Frontières would be the last. It went on to suggest that British producer Geoffrey Wilson was "looking for a new formula for international fun and games" and that "a try-out programme [would] be filmed on a beach in the Algarve [which would] be ready for Christmas viewing."

Presenters, Officials and Production Team

BBC presenter Vince Hill, a singer and entertainer, fell victim to a captioning error on the programme as broadcast in Belgium, in which he was credited in the end titles as 'Vence Hill'.

Additional Information

This programme was designed to round off what was then thought to be Jeux Sans Frontières' final year, and hopefully augur in a new format which would allow for the continuation of the series without the involvement of the European Broadcasting Union, which had reportedly been demanding large participation fees from the main broadcasters involved - including the BBC (this same issue had seen the Germans leave Jeux Sans Frontières in 1980).

Unfortunately, this pilot show proved to be a disastrous affair. Ostensibly a festive special, it started off as Quartet with four nations taking part - Belgium, Great Britain, Netherlands and Portugal - but ended with just three, with the Belgians reportedly leaving the programme – for wholly understandable reasons. The build quality and design of the games for this event was of a standard greatly inferior to those made for other Jeux Sans Frontières competitions, cheaply produced and fragile, and this led to a number of equipment and prop failures.

The recording was completed, with the Belgian team from Blankenberge winning the competition in fine style, 7pts ahead of their nearest rivals. However, Dutch celebrity Hans Kazàn later recalled that it had quickly become apparent in the Outside Broadcast vehicle, where the pictures and sound were received, that the footage was unusable. Unhappy with the technical quality of the programme, the production team announced their intention to remount the entire competition later in the week on Thursday 28th October (a date that was already reserved for further recording, possibly of a second edition of Quartet). The Belgian team considered this decision to be grossly unfair to them and protested. When the producers refused to sway on their decision, the BRT personnel present withdrew the Belgian team from the programme and asked to be supplied with a recording of the otherwise unfavoured first version. It was this, albeit edited from 90 minutes to an hour, which the BRT ultimately screened on 26th December 1982 and subsequently archived. It appears that Belgium was the only country to air this version of the 1982 Christmas Games.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in Belgian archives (as Kwartet)
British and Dutch recordings do not exist / Portuguese version may exist