[Neil Jones]

So obvious in these early episodes the games and players were pre-selected with Richard often having to correct them. Guessing they kind of filmed each zone live rather than refilming those selections.

It was never a secret that the whole thing was "fixed" (for want of a better word) in terms of what gets played, but I think the emphasis particularly later on in the Tudor-Pole years was "you have a skill game and we suggest Fred plays it".

Bob Lishman had a website where he documented his time and it told you there plain that it was not a spontaneous decision as to who plays what, so its probably safe to assume it applied in the O'Brien days as well:

all that stuff about "I think we'll have Neil playing a physical game" is about as spontaneous as a wedding service. At the beginning of each zone, you are TOLD which three (or four) games are to be played, ... and a strong recommendation as to who should play them. This 'recommendation' is based upon the information that you gave to them at the original interview

Wouldn't be very good if you gave somebody a game based around words or spelling and they happen to be dyslexic...