In the first round, the crossbow was operated by blindfolded cameraman Derek Chason receiving instructions from a contestant, playing either at home by phone or in the studio from an isolation booth.

First-round winners from previous shows would be invited to the studio to compete in pairs using crossbows fitted with butts, sights, and triggers mounted on stands.

In later rounds, the contestants operated the crossbow themselves, first by remote control using a joystick, and finally handling the Tele-Bow directly for the ultimate prize.

In his autobiography, host Bob Monkhouse recounted the story of a person who competed on the show from a telephone kiosk while watching a television in a rental shop over the road.

Bob Monkhouse was a guest star on the tenth episode, and his autobiography reveals he did so fully intending to demonstrate to the producers that he should replace Rae as host.

Because the programme was broadcast live (necessary because contestants took part over the telephone), Monkhouse often chatted to the participants to fill in whilst the crossbow was adjusted after the previous round.

The studio facilities in Birmingham, situated in a converted cinema, were rather run-down and unreliable (they dated from the start of ATV's franchise in 1956) and simply not well-suited to a fast-moving live show like The Golden Shot; as such, technical failures were common, but Monkhouse was well able to cover for them through his quick-witted humour.

ATV's production controller Francis Essex suspected collusion and fired Monkhouse, although publicly it was announced that he "was being released to find opportunities for his abilities elsewhere".

The gift was in fact the collectable book The Shy Photographer and there was no collusion; however Monkhouse's side of the story was not made public until his autobiography Crying with Laughter was published in 1993.

Monkhouse had no hesitation in accepting the offer, though, his agent negotiated that he would only return if ATV took up an option on the American game show The Hollywood Squares.

Three people acted as "Bernie" on the show; Alan Bailey, Derek Young, and Johnny Baker (a film unit grip).

On 1 October 2005, as part of their Gameshow Marathon celebrating 50 years of the ITV network, Ant & Dec hosted a one-off revival that was the only edition of the series to be broadcast live.