THE 1980s were a simpler time. Prior to the rise of the internet and the electronic games revolution, schoolchildren had to find amusement elsewhere.

Flange Krammer creator Neil Dagley was one of the playground heroes who could successfully imitate former Butlins Redcoat Ted Rogers’ 3-2-1 finger-waggle – as seen on Saturday evenings around the country by more than 12 million viewers before the variety gameshow was axed by Yorkshire TV in 1988.

“If you analyse old footage of Ted doing it, he never did it properly,” says Dagley today. “It was just quick!

“I have watched a lot of episodes over the past ten months – the more you watch Ted Rogers the more you like him. He’s likeably rubbish! I think people liked the everyman quality, bumbling through the show.”

Before ITV decide to bring back the old format “probably with Vernon Kay presenting it” Dagley has taken 3-2-1 to the stage, following up a residency during the Edinburgh Fringe with a monthly night at The Old Market in Hove.

And what better character to present it than Dagley’s ski champion alter-ego Flange Krammer?

“Flange is a larger-than-life character, so he’s perfect for a game show,” says Dagley, who first created the obnoxious skier while hosting a comedy night during the Winter Olympics, taking his name from the Austrian alpine ski racer Franz Klammer.

“He’s a bit of a comment on professional sportsmen and the way they think they are God’s gift to everything but are not quite as clever as they think.”

He developed the character by reading autobiographies by professional skiers.

“Skiing is a really dangerous sport – to go down a slope at 85 miles an hour you have to be a bit overconfident. With all the après-ski world and the glamour you can see how a skier could become quite egocentric. I’ve only been skiing myself two or three times, but people who do go skiing have---- said they’ve met instructors like him.”

As well as allowing Dagley room to riff and improvise in the confines of the quiz format, he is also using it as a showcase for alternative comedy acts.

“The original show was a big quiz in the first half, where three couples would be whittled down to one, and then the second half would see variety turns come on, do their bit and give a clue to the star prize,” he says.

“Whereas the original show would have a singer, a juggler and a comedian, we are going to have alternative comics. We often think of Brighton as an alternative city but there aren’t that many outlets for real alternative comedy.”

Joining Flange on the first night will be Croydon-based Chortle Student Comedian Of The Year Adam Hess, Bristol’s Matt Ewins and Malcolm Head from Kent, all recruited after Dagley saw their Edinburgh shows.

And Flange will be assisted by the glamorous Gemma Whelan, aka Yara Greyjoy in Game Of Thrones, show producer Laurie Rowan as booby prize Dusty Bin’s copyright-free cousin Rusty Dustin, and some lucky contestants trying to work out 3-2-1’s famously tricky riddles and clues.

“I like audience participation when you’re a character,” says Dagley. “It’s much more fun to have that element of the unknown.

“Sometimes people get scared off by audience participation but it’s going to be fun – nobody will get the mickey taken out of them.

“It’s going to be a different show every month, with three new comedians backed by the solid element of the game show.

“Apparently 3-2-1 was getting huge viewing figures when it was axed – it should never have been taken off the air. With 13 million viewers it would be the biggest thing on TV today!”