TV classics - The National Lottery

By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)

IN 1993, the growingly-unpopular John Major Conservative government made one of their few successful moves in office by passing an act to commission Britain a lottery draw.  Camelot Group was awarded the license and The National Lottery was launched.

     Playing the lottery was dead easy, providing the player was 16 years or over.  They needed to select six numbers from a block of 49 for just £1 to be entered into the upcoming draw.  It could be played at virtually any retailer in the country like Tesco, ASDA, WHSmith, Woolworths as well as in post offices and selected petrol stations.  Matching all six numbers would make the player a chance to become a millionaire.

PLAY: 'It could be you!'

     On November 19, 1994, over 20 million people tuned in to BBC1 to see the first ever National Lottery draw with Noel Edmonds overseeing the proceedings.  A jackpot of £6 million was shared between seven people leaving Camelot red-faced that none of them got an exact million pound winning.  Following this spectacular launch, the coming weeks saw The National Lottery Live broadcast from a different location every week with Anthea Turner and Gordon Kennedy hosting.

     In April 1995, it made the permanent switch to broadcasting from the Television Centre with Turner still presenting, though often sharing the now solo role with Bob Monkhouse and Dale Winton amongst others.  It was also at this time when Alan Dedicoat would begin to describe the draw as it happens and the fortune teller Mystic Meg would give physiological predictions on the draw.  Perhaps the most infamous moment in the Lottery’s history came on November 30, 1996 when the draw machine Guinevere, failed to start.  The draw was delayed for around an hour to fix the fault and avoid leaving millions of people demanding refunds.

     1998 saw the start of the transition of the Lottery draw being morphed into a format with a typical Saturday gameshow.  First came Big Ticket with Patrick Kielty and Anthea Turner which although proved to be entertaining, it never really warmed to the public.  Next was Winning Lines with Simon Mayo and then Phillip Schofield in later years.  Other shows given the lottery treatment included Jet Set, In It to Win It, 1 vs. 100 and Who Dares Wins.  As more and more games were churned out, the main lottery became a twice weekly draw with a Wednesday draw and was also joined by sister draws to give viewers more chances to win.  Thunderball debuted in 1999 and the appalling Lottery Extra which got ditched in 2006 (about 6 years too late to be precise!) with the more pleasing Dream Number.

     In May 2006, a protest by the activist group Fathers 4 Justice resulted in the lottery draw being taken off air for several minutes and somehow, managing to finish in time before the Eurovision Song Contest, as that was being held on the same night at its traditional 8pm start time.  This resulted in the BBC taking the inept decision from September 2006 to move the lottery draws to a specially constructed studio inside Lottery HQ.  This was increase security whilst the quizzes were now all pre-recorded and intercut with the draws, still being broadcast live.

     Throughout the years, popularity within the game has declined significantly, resulting in the jackpot prize being much lower than its peak in the nineties.  It is expected because not much progress or improvement can be made in this game unlike many others.  However, the impact that The National Lottery has made on the nation has been quite spectacular and will continue to be played week after week for many more years to come.

The Senna movie - A fitting tribute

By Simon Wright (Personal Review)

ON TUESDAY lunchtime, I went to the cinema to watch a motor racing movie about one of my heroes, who really appealed to me, Ayrton Senna.  When The Senna Movie was announced for commission at the beginning of last year, I was looking forward to seeing the final piece of work.  Senna’s life, both on and off the racetrack was certainly full of theatre and deserved the proportions of a movie on a big screen.

     Ayrton Senna was only 34 years old when he was killed, crashing into a concrete wall on the Imola circuit during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.  Although I’d heard a lot of positive reviews about the movie from motorsport experts, commentators and from the Senna family themselves, I did hope this would be a moving that would give depth to his life and be a fitting tribute.  Maybe it was concern from The Social Network, which showed how Facebook was created, but struggled to appeal to me when I saw it in November last year, but I was hoping that The Senna Movie wouldn’t go down a similar route.  My plaguing doubts turned out to be completely whittled away.

     When I came out from the film, I realised that I had witnessed a piece of sporting drama in the big screen that had really captured the imagination.  Even being a motorsport fan, I saw some never-before-seen footage and learnt more about the great Brazilian’s life.  The main focus point of the movie was the two controversial clashes with Alain Prost at the Suzuka circuit which decided the 1989 and 1990 world championships.  I saw footage of the driver’s briefings from both years which were very interesting.  In 89, Senna looked a serious figure, one who seemed to be fed up with the politics already before the Japanese event.  Prost seemed far more relaxed about the whole situation.  That was surprising, considering it was Prost who couldn’t cope with Ayrton’s attitude and had already decided to quit the McLaren team at the end of the season.  A year later, Senna looked even more fed up with the politics in the sport, especially against the controversial FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre.  He was convinced that Balestre was cooperating with his fellow countryman Prost for the championship both seasons.  In 1990, Senna walked out of the drivers briefing after Nelson Piquet raised a controversial point about the chicanes at Suzuka and he was furious that the other drivers agreed with Piquet, who disliked Senna anyways.  When pole position was refused to be moved onto the cleaner side of the grid, the consequences became inevitable for the tangle in the first corner.

SMASH: This crash led to another clash between Senna and Balestre

     A year later, Senna clashed again with Balestre, this time over chicanes at the German circuit, Hockenheim.  Ayrton had escaped unharmed from a spectacular crash in practice for the Mexican Grand Prix, which had been made worse by the lack of absorption from the tyre barriers.  He was furious to find tyre stacks put at the end of the three long straights on the Hockenheim track.  He bickered with Balestre, insisting that cones should be used in place for safety.  This time, the other drivers agreed with the world champion and it is believed that this confrontation of views led to Balestre’s downfall and eventual departure as FISA president.

     Senna’s death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix rocked not just the world of Formula One and sport, but the worldwide news, which showed the significant impact he had on the sport.  His country Brazil went into national mourning.  Brazil was going through some difficult times and alongside Pele, Ayrton Senna gave them a glimmer of hope and belief that united a country full of divisions.  Watching Senna in the movie on that Imola weekend was sad.  He never smiled on the weekend and looked to be occupied with other matters.  It was interesting to see new camera angles of the terrifying startline crash which saw spectators injured, Ayrton’s reaction to Roland Ratzenberger’s fatal accident on the Saturday, his fury at how slow the Safety Car was going whilst the debris was being collected up, moments before his demise. 

     I was only five when Ayrton Senna was killed.  I remember fuzzily watching some of the race on Eurosport, although I can’t honestly remember the accident.  However, Senna was one of my inspirations in life and his legacy on the sport will never be forgotten.  Ironically, another of my inspirational figures in Nelson Mandela, who at the time, was being sworn in as the president of a previously divided South Africa.  He is still missed, even 17 years on from the tragic accident.

     The Senna Movie is a chilling, emotional and passionate piece of theatre and I’d urge everyone, even those who don’t have any following with motorsport to watch the movie.  It is very powerful and a fitting tribute to a Brazilian legend.   

Imola 1994 - The Darkest Weekend In Formula 1 History

This weekend marks the 16^th anniversary of that shocking April/May weekend at Imola in 1994.  The San Marino Grand Prix will be remembered for one of the most hideous times in Grand Prix history, with a catalogue of spectacular and deadly crashes, which may have helped the safety of today’s modern-day cars, but caused its destruction in the process, taking away the life of the greatest Grand Prix driver of his generation, Ayrton Senna.

The horror of the weekend began on Friday 29^th April 1994, when in the first official qualifying session, the young Brazilian Rubens Barrichello lost control of his Jordan Hart car approaching the quick Variante Bassa chicane.  His car launched off a kerb and smashed into the tyre wall at colossal speed, narrowly avoiding going over some catch fencing, which separated the track from local spectators.  Only the quick reactions of Professor Sid Watkins prevented the talented Barrichello from swallowing his tongue.  Remarkably, he walked away with just a cut lip, minor bruising and a broken nose.  His weekend was over, but his life had remained intact.  It reminded Grand Prix fans and drivers of the real dangers that the sport possesses.  Just 24 hours later, the luck ran out.

31-year old Austrian Roland Ratzenberger was qualifying for only his second Grand Prix, having finished his first race in Aida, Japan just a fortnight earlier.  Eighteen minutes into Saturday’s second qualifying session, Ratzenberger’s front wing broke off exiting the flat-out Tamburello bend.  It is thought that the wing may have been weakened by an earlier off-track excursion.  With no steering capability, the Simtek Ford car ploughed straight into the concrete wall at Villeneuve, on the approach to the Tosa hairpin.  The impact was thought to be close to 200mph, Roland powerless to control any impact with this crash.  With his car smashed to pieces, it came clear from a very early evident stage that Roland wasn’t going to be as lucky as Barrichello was.  Once again, the session was stopped and the medics did what they could to save the rookie’s life.  However, it was a battle in vain, with Ratzenberger being pronounced dead on arrival at Bologna Maggiore Hospital.  He became the first driver to be killed at a race meeting for twelve years, since Ricardo Paletti’s demise at the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix.  The last driver to suffer a fatal crash in an F1 car was the Italian Elio de Angelis at the wheel of a Brabham, during a test session at Paul Ricard, France in 1986.  The next tragedy to hit the sport was less than 24 hours away.

Having taken his 65^th pole position, the Williams FW16 of Brazilian, Ayrton Senna raced into an instant lead, from German wunderkind Michael Schumacher (winner of the first two races) and Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari.  However, the race was put under caution, when JJ Lehto’s Benetton stalled on row three of the grid, and was collected immediately by the unsighted Pedro Lamy in the Lotus.  Lamy escaped unhurt and Lehto suffered a light arm injury, but it was spectators hurt; eight of them hit by flying debris from the crumbled Lotus Mugen Honda.  After five laps under Safety Car, Senna charged away, needing the points badly to keep up with Schumacher at the top of the drivers’ standings.  On lap seven, Senna’s car refused to turn into the flat-out Tamburello corner, pitching straight-on into a concrete wall at some 140mph, possibly even greater speed.  The destroyed Williams returned to the edge of the circuit, throwing debris in all directions.  The race was red-flagged.

Once again, it was clear that Senna was in a grave condition from the outset, with very little sign of movement from the cockpit of his car.  As Watkins and the marshals got to work again, the severity of the crash, especially from the pictures being beamed around the world on Eurosport made the scene even worse.  Senna was airlifted to hospital from the track, and very quickly, medical bulletins filtered through that any hope of a recovery was being realistically lost.  The race continued, with Schumacher claiming another win under a deep black cloud.  After the race, Senna was announced as clinically brain dead and his life machine was switched off.  Brazil went into a state of national mourning, the world of sport stunned into silence.  Where would Formula 1 go now, after the loss of its most influential and iconic figure?  Another crash involving Michele Alboreto’s Minardi in the pit lane in the restarted race, which injured mechanics from Lotus and Ferrari just added to the doom and gloom around the Autodromo Enzo E Dino Ferrari.

Fortunately, the steps taken to improve safety in Formula One have been of massive leaps and boundaries.  Many drivers since then, including Robert Kubica, Heikki Kovalainen, Takuma Sato and more recently in Hungary last year, Felipe Massa have had serious, shocking accidents, but have been able to live the tail and go racing again.  The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix will go down as the darkest weekend in motorsport history and sixteen years on, its legacy will remain, but its pain will never heal.

   

R.I.P Roland Ratzenberger & Ayrton Senna: Gone, but never forgotten!