Editing 3-2-1 (section)

===Part 1: The 1,000-to-1 quiz===
In part one of the show, three couples had the chance to win up to [[Pound sterling|£]]1,000 in the "1,000 to 1 quiz". The first round consisted of a maximum of 10 questions in 30 seconds, each correct answer being worth £10 in the first round (or in the first series £1, but with three rounds available). Passes were permitted but there was no opportunity to return to the question. Each member of the couple answered in turn with the lady answering first and the first answer was given to her to avoid the possibility of a zero score, An incorrect answer, or the time limit, would immediately end the round. Each correct answer in the second round was worth the total amount scored in the first, hence the need to avoid a zero score which would have meant a couple were playing for nothing.

The questions were usually of the same 'word association' format. Ted Rogers would say, for example, an island and the contestants would have to name the country to which it belonged (e.g. Ted: "[[Gozo]]", Contestant: "[[Malta]]"). Another example would be songs and the artist or group who made it (e.g. Ted: "[[Never Say Die (Give a Little Bit More)|Never Say Die]]", Contestant: [[Cliff Richard]]).

In the first series, the winners of the quiz would return the following week to compete again, while the other two couples would progress to part two, but from the second series, this changed to the worst-performing couple being eliminated, taking home the money they won in the quiz and a ceramic model of Dusty Bin.

Dusty Bin was conceived as the booby prize by the show's producer Derek Burrell-Davis and created as a cartoon character by the designer and animator John Sunderland, who also designed the opening and end titles and the themed 'costumes' for Dusty Bin.

In the final series (1987–1988), the 1,000-to-1 quiz was replaced by a general-knowledge, fingers-on-buzzers quiz. As before, three couples participated, in just two rounds of questions. Each couple began with £10 and could earn another £10 for each correct answer in the first round.  The first round required ten correct answers (in other words, the round would not end if ten questions had been read out and not all answered correctly). As soon as Ted started to ask the question, the couple who hit the buzzer first, after Ted had said their name, had three seconds to answer the question, and if they failed to answer the question in three seconds, or answered the question wrong, Ted would say "On Offer" and the other two couples would have a chance to answer the question. Again, the couple who hit the buzzer first, after Ted had said their name, had three seconds to answer, and if they failed to answer the question in three seconds, or answer the question wrong, that question would go into the bin. Following the first round, Ted would give the couples a break, while, he introduced a "newcomer" to 3–2–1 (another addition to the final series). This was a chance for an act to perform, much like the later rounds as normal, though, the "newcomer" had never appeared on 3–2–1 before. Following the newcomer act, round two of the quiz would be played, with only fifteen questions been asked. As with previous series, whatever money the couples had after the first round would be the value of the question to them in the second round, and it was the same format for answering the questions. The maximum a couple could win in this round was £1,650 (as in the starting £10, ten first-round questions answered correctly plus all fifteen in the second round), however, this was never achieved. At the end of the two rounds of questions, the couple with the least money would leave with the money they'd won and their ceramic Dusty Bin, then they would go to the commercial break. On the 1987 and 1988 Christmas specials, the quiz only consisted of 20 questions worth £100.