Blast from the Past: Going for Gold presented by the late Henry Kelly
“The heat is on, the time is right, it’s time for you, for you to play your game….when you’re going for, going for gold!” – the jaunty Europop theme tune of daytime Europhile quiz show Going For Gold is undoubtedly etched in many of our memories.
Running from 1987 to 1996, and fronted by Henry Kelly, who died earlier this week, the light entertainment show presented us with an array of smiling, waving, thumbs up, contestants from all over Europe.
The soporific show, screened after Neighbours, was pure gold student-fare. No thought was required to watch Hans, a retired diplomat from Austria, Jacob, a clog-wearing farmer from the Netherlands, and Ian, a lab technician from Burnley, battle it out to win a trip to the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
The ‘gold’ theme was stretched to breaking point as holidays on the Gold Coast or trips panning for gold were offered as prizes.
Henry Kelly, who was educated at University College Dublin and was northern editor of The Irish Times, never once betrayed any notion that he was punching under his intellectual weight. His “Who am I?”, catchphrase had a particular poignancy. "What am I doing here?" was the unspoken follow-up.
Once you started watching an episode, it was practically impossible to stop, which was why it was pure TV gold.