TV Show of the Week: Jeopardy

With lockdown easing for many, there are still plenty who are still at home and whilst creativity have never been higher to vanquish boredom, sometimes we all need to take a chunk of time and relax in front of the TV, whether that be watching our favourite films and TV shows. I’ve been keeping myself busy over the past six weeks, and with the looming phone call to tell me I can return to work just around the corner, I just need to hang in there for the next couple of days. I believe I’ve found what can keep my mind active whilst I wait and that’s in the form of a TV show from my childhood… I know, I wasn’t expecting to write that either.

Jeopardy (not to be confused by the popular gameshow Jeopardy) was a live-action kids show that aired on CBBC, and even though it was labelled as a kids show, it certainly was the most adult kids show I watched as a kid, because of the intelligence, the scare factor, and the incredible story over the course of 3-seasons. Running from 2002 to 2004 (when I was between the ages of 8-10, at 4PM, after school every day, this show came on and me and my mum sat down and watched it together, both hooked on each episode.

Jeopardy follows the story of 8 secondary-school students and their teacher, who travel to Australian bush in search for UFOs. What was unique about this show was the homage to the found-footage genre, when the characters were given camcorders to record every day and any potential sightings. This gives the sense of realism and has been compared to the style of the Blair Witch Project, something that I did agree to the older I got and was man enough to handle the Blair Witch Project. Of course, those 8 students manage to capture more than just a sighting and end up in the middle of conspiracies and mysteries alike.

You might be thinking – why am I talking about watching a show from my childhood when I’m 26-years old, I must be truly getting desperate and bored with staying home. Well, what makes this show unique among all the others I watched as a child, is it held prominence over the years, because unlike other shows where I watched for the sake of watching because my mum allowed me time with the TV, this show was the first show with which I actually cared about the story and followed it tentatively. And, unfortunately, due to reasons I cannot remember, I never found out how it ended. I never found out the fate of those 8 characters. I’ve always sought out closure.

You might now be thinking that, why don’t I just google the Wikipedia article and read what happens, but I counterargue by stating that wouldn’t not be the same. Reading a synopsis on what happens is nowhere near the same to watching the show, following the details, and having complete closure on what happens. Until now. I have managed to track down all three seasons of the show, from episode 1 to the very end, and I would be lying if the child in me wasn’t excited about finally getting that long-awaited resolution.

As lockdown slowly eases and I’m waiting for that phone call, I think it’s the right time to binge-watch the entire show from start to finish, follow the stories of those 8 students 1 last time with the relief that I can finally find out what happens next.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)