An amateur record by George Theaker and Peter Dobing of a fun 'It's a Knockout' style contest between local schools teams taking place in the grounds of Haughton Comprehensive School, in 1978. Title: It’s A Knockout! The opening view shows a juvenile jazz band marching across a field playing kazoos. A leader or supervisor walks alongside them. A number of jazz bands are on parade, followed by teams of contestants for the ‘It’s A Knockout’ style games. One group carries a...

An amateur record by George Theaker and Peter Dobing of a fun 'It's a Knockout' style contest between local schools teams taking place in the grounds of Haughton Comprehensive School, in 1978. Title: It’s A Knockout! The opening view shows a juvenile jazz band marching across a field playing kazoos. A leader or supervisor walks alongside them. A number of jazz bands are on parade, followed by teams of contestants for the ‘It’s A Knockout’ style games. One group carries a banner which reads ‘Haughton Youth Club’. The parade moves slowly on. Crowds gather behind rope fences to watch the start of the games. A team in red and black football shirts relax on the grass while a coach or steward converses with a team member, a piece of paper in his hand. Other teams relax nearby, each wearing distinctive colours. The games begin with an obstacle style course which has to be negotiated by running while wearing swimming flippers that snorkelers or divers might wear. Participants carry cans of coloured water they must not spill. At the end of the course the participants pour what remains of the coloured water into a large plastic bin. Then they run back, and relay style, pass the empty cans to the next runner who fills them again from a nearby oil drum. They in turn run down the course. Judges measure the amount of water in one team's bin at the end of the course to determine how much water they have retained. A similar game follows on where the cans filled with coloured water are then placed at each end of a long pole and carried across the shoulders of each contestant. One part of the course requires the contestant to run along the length of a gymnasium form or bench while balancing the cans. Close up views show the cans being replenished with coloured water. Then the runner sets off down the course. A family group watches from the side-lines sitting or standing next to their car, as the games progress. A team wearing blue tops and shorts relaxes on the grass. A man with a microphone makes an announcement. General views show other teams relaxing on the grass during a lull in proceedings. Next a game where a car tyre inner tube is carried by two runners towards a length of canvas pinned to the ground under which the runner must crawl taking the inner tube with him. Both contestants emerge from the other end, and run towards a tall pole, where they attempt to throw the tube over the top of the pole so it slides down to its base. Another challenge involves two white painted tractor tyres. Two team members support the tyre at each side while the third ‘walks’ along the top it making it move forward. One of the teams’ walkers falls off the top of the tyre while the other team continue on their way. Five teams are involved in this race, and each one has to stop frequently as the ‘walker’ falls off the top of the tyre. The other challenge with this race, is they have to burst balloons that are pinned to the ground with their tyre. A team hold up a ‘joker card’ [one of the traditions in the televised ‘It’s a Knockout’] Teams then play a ‘horse and rider’ game where two members of a team form the ‘horse’ and the third is the rider. They have to rush over to a goal post, retrieve a balloon and walk or run back over a set of boxes, returning to do it all over again. Teams and spectators gather around blackboards, which have been used to record each team’s tally of successes or otherwise at each event A trophy is handed to a female team member who also carries a large teddy bear. The film ends with some competitors having a flour fight. Title: The End