It's Academic - 1983 Regional Final

It's Academic was an 80s general knowledge quiz show for high school students. Like its intermediate school sibling The W Three Show (aka W3), It's Academic was hosted by Lockwood Smith. With his Cheshire cat's grin the future Speaker of the House pulls questions from the numbered pockets, as teams from Onslow, Wellington and Newlands colleges — seated in the distinctive triangular pod set — compete in the Wellington regional final. At stake are brainiac bragging rights, school pride ... and digital watches, Britannica encyclopedias and handheld calculators.

I was probably asked to do further series of both W3 and It's Academic because I could get through up to eight shows a day without screwing things up. And when the show did have to stop, I could do live edits, saving heaps of post-production editing time. I was only ever an amateur. I started the TV work in Australia while I was an impoverished PhD student.

– Lockwood Smith reflects on his TV hosting career in a 2010 Sunday Star Times article

Key Cast & Crew

Lockwood Smith

Presenter

Kevan Moore

Producer, Director

Graeme Stevens

Technical Producer

Patrick Macaskill

Adjudicator

Lloyd Cole

Sound