Mel Giedroyc to front new BBC Two gameshow Letterbox

The new programme sees pairs of contestants (couples, family, friends, work colleagues) compete head to head in an attempt to crack a series of passwords hoping to walk away with £2000 in their banks. Described as a simple yet addictive word game, Letterbox is light-hearted and is designed to be played-along-at-home with the audience.

Letterbox was jointly commissioned by Dan McGolpin, BBC Controller of Programming and Daytime and Kate Phillips, BBC Controller Entertainment and will be produced by Hindsight Productions.

Mel Giedroyc says: “I played a version of this game and was a) extremely competitive at it, b) annoyingly bad at it, c) strangely addicted to it, d) needed to do more of it, e) asked the big cheeses if I could present it, f) was delighted when they said yes, g) can’t wait to start recording the shows and meeting the contestants, h) hoping to get seriously skilled at playing it so that i) I’ll be able to SMASH IT if the board game comes out. Now how many letters have I used up? (see what I did there).”

David Young says: "It’s a word game designed to appeal to a family audience because it doesn’t contain any general knowledge questions. On Letterbox you don’t need to be an Egghead to walk away a winner!”

Dan McGolpin, BBC Controller of Programming and Daytime, says: “Letterbox is an exciting new show for BBC Two and Mel is the perfect choice to take the reins. Her inimitable style will see her encourage, tease and cajole our contestants into pitting their wits against each other in this brand new word-play game.”

Letterbox has been commissioned for 15 x 30 minute episodes for BBC Two. Jo Street is the Commissioning Editor for the BBC. The Executive Producers will be David Young and Kate Middleditch (Weakest Link). The Series Producer is Mike Maclaine (Pointless) and the director is John L. Spencer (The Chase). The format was created by David Young.

AF2