Get Your Own Back is a British children's television game show created by Brian Marshall. Each episode staged a contest between teams of children – attempting to score as many points as possible – and their respective adults – attempting to make tasks as difficult as possible for their child contestants – playing a variety of games. The winning child earns a right to get revenge on the adult by ejecting them into a tank of gunge; adult contestants in the show are somewhat embarrassing, for a variety of reasons, to their child counterparts. It ran from 26 September 1991 to 31 March 2003, and was hosted by Dave Benson Phillips. Peter Simon served the role of voice over in 1995.
Format The show consisted of two teams (the first series had three), each comprising one child contestant and a parent/relative/older sibling/teacher/celebrity (aged 16 to around 70) who in the child's eyes had committed a crime of some sort, for which they sought revenge. The 'crimes' in question were usually trivial, such as singing badly or asking the child to tidy their room. Dave and the audience always showed bias against the adults by booing them as much as possible, and from series 7 till series 10 the adult would come on inside a cage.
Main Game Throughout the show, the teams must compete in several games. The exact nature varied over time. It is best remembered that the adults would try to hinder their child to score while wearing inflatable or otherwise comical costumes. However in the first few series it was actually the adults playing for points with the children stopping them (usually by throwing custard pies / gunge at them). A list of games include: Poke 'em Off: 2001 - 2002: - Both team members stand on a stool, the child wearing a knight armor with a spear and the adult a dragon costume covered in balloons. The object of the game is for the child to pop as many balloons as possible with the spear, with the one on the tail being worth more than the ones on the body, Each balloon is worth 10 points and the one on the end of the tail is worth 50 points. Royal Flush: 2000 - 2003: - On an inflatable castle, the parents are on top, sitting on thrones and having gunge ready. On the signal, the child must bring six nuggets down into a tub. Managing to collect all six nuggets within the allotted time or with no time limit will result in the adult being gunged, in addition to their throne deflating, Each nugget is worth 10 points. Surf's up: 1998: The adult is on a surfboard and maintain their balance and has 45 seconds to stay up, The child has to fire beach balls at the adult in order to knock the adult off by using the catapult, if they get the first 15 seconds the child gets 30 points, 30 seconds it's 20 points and the full 45 seconds it's 10 points. Good Vibrations: 2001 - 2003: The child has to grab the gold discs from a box and put them on the wall, while the adult sings into the microphone by making the wall shake and the gold discs fall off the wall, each gold disc of worth 10 points. Toast Terror: 1997 - 2001: The child has to grab an egg soldier crash through the toast tunnel and put it in the egg cup, Each egg soldier is worth 10 points, The adult is dressed as a chef with the legs bungeed together and move the toast into the tunnel, Each piece of toast bashed through is also worth 10 points. Squeal on the Wheel: 1997 - 2003: The adult is strapped to the wheel as the child prepares to throw the balls onto the team coloured section, At the start of the game everybody says "Make them squeal, spin that wheel!", Each ball on the team coloured section is worth 10 points and the middle target is worth 20 points, This reports that it was designed by Andrew Brice. Energize: 2000 - 2002: The children have to grab the batteries then run through the course through the drop and put them into the battery holders at the end, while the adults will throwing gunge around and make the drop very slippery, The first child will put all 4 batteries in the right sequence will cover their adult in gunge and win the round, Each battery is worth 10 points. Throwing A Wobbly: 2001 - 2002: The children have to tidy their bedrooms grabbing the toys run past the wobbly clowns and put the toys into the toybox, the adults are dressed as wobbly clowns, what the children get for every toy in the toybox is 10 points. Gunge Lab: 2003: The children have to grab their test tubes of gunge and run through an inflatable course and put what gunge they have left into the tubes at the end there are 3 colours to make which that yellow and red make orange blue and yellow make green and red and blue make purple, The adults dressed as lab assistants will be spinning the tubes so quickly and they make it very difficult for the children to pick up the tubes and get them to the end, the first child to get all 3 colours mixed correctly will be rewarded with 60 points and they will gunge their adult, Each colour mixed correctly is worth 20 points. Feed The Bird: 2002 - 2003: Same rules as Feeding Frenzy except the adult is dressed as a bird and the child has to feed it worms and insects from the nest, while the adult runs from the child to make it harder for the child to feed it, And it's 10 points for every insect that makes it into the beak. Shower Power: 2001 - 2003: The children have to collect buckets filled with gunge, they've got to be very careful not to spill it and pour the gunge into the tanks, The 2 adults are dressed in their shower-wear and holding each a ladle to scoop out the gunge, the first child with the most gunge will get to release a shower of gunge all over their adult and each level is worth 10 points. Hoopa Scooper: 2000: The children have to pick up their hoops and put them onto the red pole, the adults have to grab their scoopers and throw gunge all over to make it very difficult. Each hoop is either worth 10 points or 20 points in at the start. Chocks Away: 1998 - 2002: The child is in the plane and will be throwing bombs on the target, While the adult is also in the plane and be doing some serious running which will make it very difficult for the child to get the bombs on the target, Each bomb on the target is worth 10 points. Load the Toad: 1998 - 2000: The child has to throw the flies into the toad's mouth while the adult spins the toad around, The child gets 10 points for every fly that gets into the toad's mouth and it was designed by Alex Connolly. D'you Think 'e saw us?: 2001 - 2003: The children have to climb up a Stegosaurus to collect some eggs that are being guarded by the adults that are dressed as cavemen, Once they've collected the eggs they take them back and put them into the leaves the child gets 10 points for every egg that gets into the leaves. Mangle Tangle: 2002: The children have to jump up to the washing line grab the washing and put it on, the adults are dressed as washer women and they have to wind the in washing, The children have to be very careful of Dave's smelly socks, For every item of laundry the children get 10 points. Bees Knees: 1999 - 2000: The children are dressed as bumblebees and they have to fly around the flowers and grabbing pollen and putting it in the baskets, The adults are dressed as flowers and be doing some serious bouncing, Each bit of pollen is worth 10 points. Snow Business: 1999 - 2000: The child is inside the igloo guarding the fish fingers and put them in the frying pan, while the adult is dressed as a snowman and will block the igloo's exits, Each fish finger in the frying pan is worth 10 points. Humbug Hullabaloo: 1997: The children have to pick up a sweet from the big of sweets in the center, run through the course and put them into the bowl, The adults are dressed as humbugs and they have to slow the children down, the children get 10 points for every sweet in the bowl and it was designed by Amanda Hampson. Chicken and Egg: 1997 - 1999: The children have to get the eggs in the ball pool, once they get them they take them back into the nest, The adults are dressed as chickens and they have to defend the eggs from being taken, Each egg is worth 10 points. Motor Mania 1997: Both the child and the adult have remote control vehicles, and the aim is to get to the finish line while the adult tries to intercept the child at a crossroads near the finish line, each attempt is worth 10 points and there are 3 attempts to do it. Penalty Shoot-out: 1998: Same rules as Motor Mania except the goal is to kick a football into the goal while the adult plays as a goalie, each attempt is worth 10 points and there are 3 attempts to do it. Great Balls of Fire: 1998 - 2003: Named after the song by Jerry Lee Lewis, the children have to collect yellow and blue rocks and put them into the boulder holders while the adults try to throw them back into the volcano, and each rock in the boulder holder is worth 10 points. Bag the Swag: 2001 - 2002: The child has to collect items like jewels and gold and place them in a safe while the adult dressed as a robber with a ball and chain on and tries to steal them by using the bag of swag, each jewel is worth 10 points. Rob the Spider: 1998: The child has to crawl through the web towards the adult dressed as a spider holding money bags, Once the child grabs a money bag they take it into the treasure chest, Each money bag in the treasure chest is worth 10 points. This was designed by Bethany Stevens. Tour de Farce: 2002: The child has to assemble a bike while going across a conveyor belt that is being moved by the adult while cycling, each part of the bike is worth 10 points. Polar Explorers: 2002 - 2003: The children have to get on the polar ice pack full of fish, they have to collect the fish and full them into the basket, while 2 very hungry penguins have to eat the fish. Each fish in the basket is worth 10 points. Bounce Back: 1997 - 2003: The child starts with 4 discs on this center wall and will be grabbing the discs from the side wall and put them on the center wall, while the adult has to grab the discs from the center wall and putting them on the other side wall, The child will get 10 points for every disc that makes it on the center wall. Knight Fever: 1999 - 2000: The children go into the castle and grab the money bag balloons and put them into the team colour barrels, The adults are dressed in their knight armours charging around and bursting the money bag balloons, Each money bag balloon is worth 10 points. Wall Ball: 1995 - 1997: The child is sitting at the catapult firing balls at the wall and knock it all down, the adult has to stop the wall from falling off and defend it with the big hands, Each brick knocked down is worth 10 points. Petal Power: 1997: The adult is dressed as a flower, The child has to use the ball blaster to knock off the petals, Each petal knocked off is worth 10 points. Moving Targets: 1997: The adults are all covered in targets and they have to ride their bikes while the children have to use the ball blasters to shoot the targets off, Each target shot is worth 10 points. Lunar Loonies: 1997: The adult is dressed as a spaceman covered in either stars or planets and tied to the bungee ropes and has to bounce around while the child is armed with the ball blaster and has to fire the balls into to knock off either the stars or the planets, The child gets 10 points for either every star or every planet knocked off and it was designed by Margaret O'Neill. Mouse Alert: 1997 - 1998: The adult is dressed as a mouse and has to defend the cheese while the child either shoots the cheese by using the catapult or shooting the balls with the ball blaster into the cheese holes, Each ball or piece of cheese through the holes is worth 10 points. It was also designed by Andrew Brice.