Cluedo inventor’s daughter hands over archives to Birmingham museum | UK News

Board game Cluedo has sold in the millions, spawned dozens of editions, books, computer games, game shows and even a film, but it all began as a “lockdown” project, the daughter of its inventor has said.

Professional musician Anthony Pratt came up with the idea to stave off the boredom of the blackouts during World War Two in Birmingham, with his wife Elva designing the now iconic board.

Their daughter Marcia Lewis returned to the city this month to hand over one of the first versions of the game, letters and other memorabilia to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, saying it deserved to “come home”.

“Without Birmingham, Cluedo would never have been invented,” she said.

Her father had toured the world, performing on cruise ships as well as giving piano recitals at country hotels, but like many others switched careers to help with the war effort after 1939.

Due to his poor eyesight he did not fight on the front line, but worked at an engineering factory making parts for tanks.

Ms Lewis said it left him “time on his hands to think” and create what would become a cherished game across the world.

The game itself was inspired by Anthony Pratt’s evenings playing piano in grand country hotels, where murder mystery games were a regular form of entertainment.

The couple were also fans of detective fiction from writers like Agatha Christie.

Ms Lewis added that her father had partly been inspired their neighbour in Kings Heath, called Geoffrey Bull, who had invented the game Buccaneer about a decade earlier.

“That planted the idea of inventing a board game in my dad’s mind,” Ms Lewis said.

Mr Bull also provided the contact for the manufacturer Waddingtons, who went on to make and distribute both games.

Originally named Murder! the murder mystery game featured 10 characters and nine weapons, including a bomb and a poison-filled syringe when it was provisionally patented in 1944.

It would not be launched until 1949 because of war-time delays and a shortage of materials.

“They were delighted and relieved when they saw it in the shops because it was a long time appearing,” said Ms Lewis.

More than 150 million copies of the game have been sold around the world, according to toy manufacturer Hasbro, which bought Waddingtons 30 years ago.

“It’s just lovely to think that they’ve left that legacy of something that gives so much pleasure to people”.

And it continues to be popular today, with dramas and TV shows like Traitors showing there is still life in the murder-mystery format.

Kit Carnell owns Chance & Counters, a board game cafe in the Digbeth area of Birmingham.

“Despite having 500 different games to play, we still get loads and loads of people playing Cluedo, ” he said.

“It’s a bit like the feeling of putting on an old record, the nostalgia and cosiness of playing it.”

Modern editions of the game include Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Office and Game of Thrones versions among many, many others.

It has also spawned dozens of computer games and even VHS and Betamax editions over the years.

And yet its inventor would only get to see a portion of the royalties after selling off some of the rights prematurely.

In 1953 Ms Lewis said Waddingtons told her father “they were rather disappointed in sales” and offered him £5,000 in exchange for the international rights.

She said in those days that was a good deal of money, enough to buy two average houses and a car.

“I think it was a very tempting proposition, I’d just been born and I’m sure my dad thought it was the responsible thing to do.”

He continued to receive UK royalties till they ran out in 1967, but he lost out on a fortune when the US version, marketed under the name Clue, became hugely popular across the Atlantic.

Ms Lewis said her father didn’t mind.

“At the end of the day, what do you get remembered for? Making a shed load of money or creating something that brings genuine pleasure, happiness and escapism to people,” she said.

Today, the couple are buried close together in Bromsgrove’s old cemetery in Worcestershire.

Unlike his characters, Anthony Pratt lived a long life, dying at the age of 90. On his gravestone it reads, “Inventor of Cluedo”.

Ms Lewis said her parents lived long enough to witness the success of the game and see the original film Clue come out in 1985, as well the first stage play, adding that they were “quite blown away by that”.

Now 72, she said there was a “bit of a pang” of emotion about handing over treasured letters and other items to the museum.

But she felt it was the “right thing to do” and knew they were in “safe hands”.

Jo-Ann Curtis from Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery said the city had a “tendency not to shout about the things it has done in the past”.

The senior curator described the moment Ms Lewis got in touch regarding donating memorabilia to the museum as a “dream call”.

She said they hoped to display some of the material in the future as part of a collection about amazing inventions.

Many of the documents and letters donated to the Library of Birmingham are already available to the public to view.

Peter Dore, Head of Archives and Collections, said it was “great to see the process from the initial idea, to the game going to market and how long and drawn out that was”.