The Revised (May '98) TV Dreams Game Information Leaflet

On Monday 16th February 1998, Camelot launched their 39th Instants scratchcard called TV Dreams, which costs £2 instead of the more usual £1. At the same, they released a Game Information Leaflet, which I've reproduced without permission below (my comments are in square brackets). In May 1998, Camelot changed the rules slightly and issued a new leaflet, changing its colour from beige to light blue - I have included the changes from this second leaflet as well.

Are you game for the dream game ?

If you're game, we are.

Three ways to win:

Match three identical cash amounts and win that amount instantly.
TV Dreams lets you win up to £1,000 instantly. Simply scratch off the TV panel on your ticket and match three like cash amounts to win that amount [once !]. Prizes range from £2 [yes, win your stake back] to £1,000.
In addition, players winning a £1,000 instant cash prize (who apply before 30/5/98 [this date has come and gone]) will be given the opportunity to join a pool of players from which random draws (Instant Win TV Draws) will take place in order to gain a place as an Instant Win Studio Play winner and appear on the show. All players who reveal 3 £1,000 symbols should contact the National Lottery Line on 0645 100 000 who will forward to you an Instant Win TV Draw pool information pack, including forms which must be returned to Camelot within 7 days. Due to the nature of the TV show, you will be required to sign a form agreeing to publicity.
Match three TV symbols, tune into The National Lottery Big Ticket on BBC 1 and you could win up to £50,000.
If you scratch off the TV panel on your ticket and match three TV symbols, you've won the opportunity to play along with the TV Show at home - with the chance to win up to £50,000.
To do this, you must next scratch off the TV Home Play panel where you'll find four numbers to match with the numbers drawn on the Show. Match the first number in that panel with the first number drawn and you'll win £10. Match the first and second numbers and you'll win £50. Match the first, second and third numbers and you'll win £1,000. Match all four numbers and you'll win an incredible £50,000. However, all numbers must be matched in the same order starting on the left of the TV Home Play panel as those drawn on that TV Show [I can see this causing much confusion, because the order doesn't matter on the main online UK lottery !].
Your TV Home Play numbers are valid for all sixteen 1st series Shows, no matter when you bought your ticket, if purchased at any time before game closure. So, if you do reveal all three TV symbols, check your TV Home Play numbers against the previous draws' winning numbers and don't forget to keep on checking [this could be tedious methinks, except I now have all the numbers on this Web site and have extended the Ticket Checker to include them !]. But remember, you can only win once with each ticket (the first number drawn on each Show will be withdrawn for all subsequent first number draws).
Match three star symbols, call 0645 100 000 to be part of The National Lottery Big Ticket and win up to £100,000.
Scratch off the TV panel on your TV Dreams ticket and match three star symbols, and you have won the opportunity to take part in the TV Show as a Studio Play winner.
As a Studio Play winner, once you've called The National Lottery Line on 0645 100 000 and provided some details about yourself and your ticket, you will then be invited to a Show where you will receive a guaranteed minimum of £1,000 and stand the chance of winning as much as £100,000.
After calling The National Lottery Line, you will be mailed a TV Dreams Winners Information Pack containing all the information you need, plus a set of forms which must be completed with your ticket within seven days of the date that you first register your claim.
Due to the nature of the TV Show, Studio Play winners will be required to sign a form agreeing to publicity.

If you are, there are 3 ways to win, win, win.

TV Dreams ^TM is a new kind of game from National Lottery Instants ^TM that lets you win in three different ways, including the chance to win as much as £100,000 on The National Lottery Big Ticket ^TM - a new TV show.

With TV Dreams, you can win money instantly, win the chance to play from home while you watch the Show or even win a place on the Show itself.

Millions of viewers are expected to tune in to the first Show on 28th March 1998 and you could be part of it.

The National Lottery Big Ticket is expected to be the most exciting TV Show [compared to what ? The test card ?] and offers some of the biggest cash prizes the UK has ever seen. It will be broadcast on BBC 1 every Saturday evening for a total of 16 weeks. Celebrities and representatives of projects which have benefited from National Lottery Good Cause grants will play a range of games giving TV Dreams Studio Play ^TM winners the chance to win up to £100,000.

Please remember, although each TV Dreams ticket you the chance to win in three different ways, you can only win once with each ticket.

How to claim a prize

TV Home Play and Instant cash winners

These prizes can be claimed in the following ways:

Up to £75 - at any National Lottery retailer.
Up to £200 - at any National Lottery retailer (at their discretion).
Up to £10,000 - at National Lottery Post Offices or Regional Centres.
Over £10,000 - at National Lottery Regional Centres.
TV Home play prizes and Instant cash win prizes must be claimed by no later than 11.00pm on the 180th day after the Camelot announced date for the close of the ticket sales for the game (this date will be displayed by retailers [er, it's never displayed by retailers for other Instants games, so I doubt it will be for TV Dreams either]). Every first number drawn on the TV Home Play game will be removed from future first number draws and will not therefore appear in subsequent draws as first draw numbers.

Studio Play winners

Studio Play winners (anyone who uncovers three stars symbols) must register their claims by no later than 3.00pm on the 35th day after the Camelot announced date for the close of ticket sales for the game.

Any Studio Play winners not allocated to one of the 16 televised Shows will be entered into an alternative event, which may or may not be televised [sneaky - so we could have major winners not appearing on TV at all...what a swizz !], with equivalent chances to win similar amounts of money in accordance with the full revised (May '98) Game Rules and Procedures for TV Dreams.

The claiming and payment of prizes by and to Studio Play winners and Instant Win Studio Play winners are set out in the revised (May '98) Game Rules and Procedures and in the information pack sent out to those who win the opportunity to appear on the Show. All players applying to be in the Instant Win TV Draw pool must register their application to join the pool before 30/5/98 [this date has already elapsed].

You must be sixteen or over to play or claim a prize.

These are the approximate odds of obtaining a:

Instant cash prize       TV Home Play chance        Studio Play prize
1 in 5                   1 in 8                     1 in 90,000

For all levels of prizes and odds of winning, please contact The National Lottery Line of 0645 100 000 or refer to the Game Procedures summary on display at retailers. [There are 1,792 TV Home Play £1,000 jackpots].

The TV Dreams game is subject to the TV Dreams revised (May '98) Game Rules and Procedures and in the event of any discrepancy between this leaflet and the revised (May '98) Game Rules and Procedures, the revised (May '98) Game Rules and Procedures prevail. Copies are available through The National Lottery Line and at National Lottery Instants retailers. A separate MINICOM Line for the hard-of-hearing is available on 0645 100 045.

Further notes not on the leaflet:

The National Lottery Big Ticket TV show will be presented by Anthea Turner and Patrick Kielty for the 16 Saturdays between 28th March 1998 and 11th July 1998 inclusive - the first show aired at 7.05pm to 8.00pm GMT, but future shows were 7.20pm-8.10pm. Yes, that's an exasperatingly long 50 minutes, but it does also include the main online UK lottery at the end of the show. Sadly, the show is mostly recorded one week (i.e. the previous Saturday) in advance of it being broadcast, except for the TV Home Play and main online UK lottery segments.
As of Monday 6th July 1998, 114 people had claimed their Studio Play prize (three star symbols). I will keep an eye on this figure - I'm curious to see if they can fill in all the TV shows by the end of the 16 weeks. If there's too many to fit into the 16 shows, I pity the poor people who have to play the tacky games "offline" (not televised) ! Their 50 minutes of fame won't happen...
My own opinion is that the TV Dreams scratchcard costs too much (should be £1), the jackpot still isn't big enough (£500,000 would be a lot more exciting), it's outrageous that they need a 50-minute show for it and you've got to question the BBC's involvement in all of this (scratchcards are more addictive than the online lottery game and the BBC is fronting a high-visibility TV game involving them !).
There's more details about the game rules available on a separate page.