Sleb Mastermind - Show 10

The last of our sleb shows, and not a moment too soon, for the real McCoy started up again shortly after this on BBC2. I’m afraid that three of the slebs on the show were not people whose work I was previously acquainted with, still, that’s neither here nor there. First up was Martin Roberts. He presents a daytime TV show called Homes Under the Hammer – not, as I originally thought, a programme about demolition, but about buying properties at auction. Takes all sorts, I suppose. I liked Martin’s subject – Hanna Barbera cartoons. Anyone growing up in the 70s in Britain surely would have watched a few of these. Still, some of the questions were pretty testing, but you have to say that Martin looked to be out of contention when he posted a 6.

So who was the sleb I already knew of on this show ? Sashay forward Kristina Rihanoff. Kristina is probably most famous for being the professional dancer who partnered the immortal John Sargeant on Strictly a couple of years ago. Her specialist subject was Patrick Swayze. They didn’t mention it in the chat interlude, but Patrick Swayze himself was quite a fan of Strictly Come Dancing, and I even remember him once appearing on the BBC2 weekday show, doing an impression of Bruno. When you consider that I don’t think that English would be Kristina’s first language, you have to say that 13 points represented a very good performance.

Seeta Indrani, though, went on to show just what an excellent performance looks like. Seeta is an actress, singer, dancer, who has sung opera, acted on TV, and been a member of the cast of Cats for good measure. She was offering the Operas of Puccini, and virtually sprinted through a set of questions to earn a massive 18 points. A performance from the top drawer, that.

The last sleb of this series to offer us a specialist round was Micky Flanagan – a comedian. I’m not much of a fan of Bruce Springsteen, which I know is hardly likely to cause the Boss any sleepless nights – so I couldn’t really judge the relative easiness or difficulty of this set of questions. Still, a score of 13 is not to be sniffed at, and ensured that Micky – who decided that comedy was for him after training as a teacher – sensible man – would have a bit of a rest before returning to the chair.

Martin returned to the chair, and atoned for his less than impressive first round with a battling 12 , the joint highest of these GK rounds. Still, it would only need 6 for Kristina to improve upon his total, and this she managed. The GK round really does I think put you at a disadvantage if you have only been UK resident for a limited period, and Kristina did seem to find this round rather heavy going. She finished on 20.

Being realistic , it was Micky or Seeta to win, and if Micky was going to set a realistic target he was going to need a very good round. Well, he equalled the highest GK score of the night with 12, but with respect that was not going to put anything like enough pressure on Seeta . Faced with the task of scoring 8 for the outright win she never looked 100% at ease, but was never behind on the clock, and in the end did it with a few points to spare, scoring 10 for a total of 28.

Well done, and well done and thanks to all the Slebs who have entertained us in this year’s series.

The Details

Martin Roberts	Hanna Barbera	Just A Drop / Animals Asia	6 - 3	12 - 3	18 - 6
Kristina Rihanoff	Patrick Swayze	Latch	13 - 4	7 - 7	20 - 11
Seeta Indrani	Operas of Puccini	Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre	18 - 0	10 - 4	28 - 4
Micky Flanagan	Bruce Springsteen	Kids Company	13 – 0	12 - 0	25 - 0