Sleb Mastermind - Show 2

Last night’s show , as did the previous one, featured a sleb I have actually met. Stacey Solomon was one of the special guests at the GetConnected Charity Quiz in 2010. We didn’t really talk at all, so I can’t offer any real opinion, other than the fact that she was giving her services for the evening for a good cause, which means that she is alright by me. In the inter round chat Stacey made it clear that she was just along for the experience, and being honest that is as good a reason for having a go in the chair as any. So let’s be kind about her performance, and suffice it to say that quizzes probably aren’t really her forte. Stacey’s specialist subject was the TV series The Inbetweeners, which is something of a guilty pleasure of mine. She scored 6. Stacey was playing on behalf of the Great Oaks Dean Hospice.

Next up was Sophie Grigson. Sophie is a TV chef and also food writer. Her subject was Highgate Cemetery. I take my hat off to her for picking a subject inspired by her choice of charity – she was actually representing the Friends of Highgate Cemetery. This is an unusual subject, although I do recall that Leslie Grout won the 1981 series taking the Burial Grounds of London as his semi final subject – which he also took in our heat of Champ of Champs. Sophie knew her subject very well. Double figures in a 90 second round is the mark of a quality performance, and her 11 was very impressive. For the record I scored 5 on both her subject, and Stacey’s.

Simon Day is one of those actors whom everyone recognizes, but only a few people can put a name to his face. I always usually default to calling him Tommy Cockles, one of his Fast Show characters. That or Dave Angel, anyway. Simon’s subject was Season 1 and 2 of the Sopranos. This presented me with a problem since I have never watched an episode of the show, and know nothing about it. A fact which I proved by failing to answer any of Simon’s questions. Simon though put on 8 answers for his chosen charity , Kids Company.

The last of our contenders was Steve Harley . Steve Harley ? Oh come on – come up and see me ( make me smile ) – The Phantom of the Opera ? Oh, THAT Steve Harley. I must confess a little surprise that he chose T.S.Eliot – the 4 Quartets , which just goes to show that you shouldn’t stereotype people. Steve made a good fist of this round, and answered 9 correctly. I suppose it says a lot about me that I answered 5 questions on the Inbetweeners correctly, but only 3 on T.S.Eliot. Steve was splitting the proceeds of the show between the Cancer and Polio Research Fund, and The Mines Advisory Group.

Poor old Stacey. She had what I think could fairly be called a very ‘Stacey –friendly’ set of GK, but struggled to 4. Still smiling mind, and she looked like she was still enjoying the experience. You can’t knock that. Simon returned to the chair, and whacked in a very good round of 15. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think he was likely to win at the half way stage, but this forced me to reassess his chances. Steve was only one point better than Simon at the halfway stage, and he was going to have to go like the clappers to give himself the best chance of overhauling Simon. He gave it a fair old lash, mind, but ran out of time before he quite managed to reach Simon’s score. He added 13 to his total, to finish on 22. Only Sophie remained, then, and she was very much the favourite on the Clark sofa. Still, a couple of questions caused her to waste time - she knew that she knew the answers – but just couldn’t dredge them past the tip of her tongue. As John helpfully pointed out at the end of the round, had she answered these, then she would have done it. As it was her score of 11 put her on 22, equal with Steve, but still a point behind Simon. So well played, or as your Fast Show colleague John Thompson would put it – Great.


The Details

Stacey Solomon	The Inbetweeners	6 - 0	4 - 2	10 – 2
Sophie Grigson	Highgate Cemetery	11 - 1	11 - 3	22 – 4
Simon Day	The Sopranos Season 1 and 2	8 - 1	15 – 0	23 – 1
Steve Harley	T.S.Eliot – The 4 Quartets	9 - 1	13 - 2	22 - 3