[Neil Jones]

Must be even more frustrating when it's one of those shows that never gets aired at all (or at least not until it turns up on Challenge or similar years later, like the last 20 episodes of the 2007 Supermarket Sweep- though do they have to pay out then if it's never actually shown on ITV itself?).

Gameshow episodes sitting on shelves for ages has long been a thing, even in the 80s and 90s, sometimes with months between episodes, a lone episode going out months before or after any others, or episodes from one series not airing until after a series made later has premiered!

I suspect contestants on the unaired episodes of Shafted have given up all hope of ever receiving anything that was won, 23 years down the line.

But yes your episode tended to get aired in the 80s/90s at some point as they were a fixed amount of episodes, done in one block booking and almost certainly guaranteed to air at some point. whereas these days they knock shows out in bulk, hundreds of episodes a year and mix and match from anywhere up to about half a dozen series on airing, so hardly surprising you can go for months/years before your episode turns up..