Former 'The Generation Game' presenter Isla St Clair has blasted the reboot's new hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins for their lack of "drive and sparkle".
Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc
The famous game show returned to screens last weekend - 16 years after it was axed due to failing ratings - with the former 'Great British Bake Off' presenting pair at the helm.
But Isla, who co-hosted the programme alongside Larry Grayson for four years from 1978 until 1981, has branded the reboot "disappointingly lacklustre" and thinks the comedy duo failed to bring the excitement to screen, unlike previous presenters.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, Isla said: "The staging seemed rather cramped. Mel and Sue's presentation style, although competent and ¬pleasant, didn't have the drive and sparkle of previous hosts.
"I was surprised that the producers plumped for the old format with little new innovation, encompassing perhaps a computer-style game which would invariably flummox the oldies and amuse the younger generation. All in all, a degeneration game show."
The 65-year-old singer had high hopes for the show when she heard it was being revived and was surprised that it had taken the BBC so long to bring it back.
She explained: "I don't know what's taken the BBC so long to revive such a fun family format, enjoyed by all ages.
"People are longing for something good fun that doesn't involve eating worms or awful revelations about folks' dirty washing which should've been kept indoors."
And Isla isn't the only former host to knock the revival as Jim Davidson - who took over from the late Sir Bruce Forsyth in 1995 - predicted that Mel and Sue would struggle to keep the show going because they don't know how to "ad-lib."
Speaking before the show hit screens last weekend, he said: "They're not right, they won't know how to ad-lib. They're not there to teach them how to bake a f***ing cake.
"I don't know these women, I've never heard of them but you need someone that's going to be able to ad-lib and drive the show along.
"That's why Bruce was so good. He drove it along his way. He was the energy. You can't remember any of the people on it, all you remember is Bruce."
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