Mastermind 2020 Round 1 Heat 8

Back again after the break for the World Athletics Championships, last night Mastermind gave us a rather gentle contest, conspicuously lacking in fireworks.

First up was teacher Julie Bungey. I’ve probably mentioned this umpteen times, but I’m still the last schoolteacher to win a series, and in fact, I’ve now held this title for longer than any other champion. David Edwards reigned from 1990 until Discovery Mastermind in 2001. I won in 2008 (actually it was 2007, but not broadcast until 2008) so even if a teacher wins this year it will be 12 years. To be honest, I’m not surprised that no schoolteacher has won since then. The time demands on members of our profession are such now that I wouldn’t be able to find the time to prepare for Mastermind now, I think. All of which is a very long winded way of saying I am full of admiration for any teacher who is still willing to put themselves up there and have a go. Now, when I saw Julie’s subject, the Plantagnenet Queen Consorts, I thought – yum yum. I usually do pretty well on British Kings and Queens. And indeed, I took 9 on this round. Close, but no cigar, since Julie herself managed a well judged 10.

Football clubs, as offered by Tom Niblett, are one of those subjects which should carry a Government health warning, since only the really fanatical fan is likely to be able to cover the subject in enough detail to have a real chance of a top score. And let’s be honest, Tom did well in his round, but 7 put him three points behind with 2 contenders yet to go. It’s a classic example of a round which is actually much more wide ranging than it appears on the surface – although sorry, Tom, but I did know Sir Alf Ramsay, which was one of the 3 points I managed on this round.

When I watch a Mastermind, first and foremost I love to watch a contender smashing a GK round to pieces. After that, though, I do love to see a contender who has thoroughly prepared his or her GK round, and so I thank Mo Hassan for this. He was so thoroughly well prepared on members of the weasel family that I suspect that John could have gone on asking questions for five minutes, and Mo would have had them all. I was surprised and delighted to take a half dozen on this round which put me up to 18 for the night. The chances of breaking the season’s record still looked slim, but there was a real chance of a second +20 score of the year.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I love Eurovision. We always have a family party for the occasion, so Phoebe Williams’ subject – Eurovision in the 21^st century – was full of Eastern promise. I didn’t do badly, picking off 5 easy ones – Jedward, Hard Rock Hallelujah etc. but Phoebe’s 11 was far more impressive.

Coming to the General Knowledge rounds, we started with Tom. Now, in this series we’ve several times had the rather unedifying experience of having to watch several contenders being caught like a rabbit in the headlights during their GK rounds. I’m sorry to say that this happened to Tom. He stumbled, hesitated and then passed on his second question, and this set him off on a pass spiral from which he never really recovered until the end of the round. He finished with a total of 13, and so did at least hold the lead briefly.

Then to Julie. Now, you know that we’re not all quizzers, and there’s no way that entry to this competition should be restricted to just serious, regular quizzers. However, it does make some sense to me that you should at least have a decent level of General Knowledge before you try your luck in the chair. The risk/reward ratio is slanted too far towards risk if you’re going in on a wing and a prayer and trusting to luck. Just my opinion, and please feel free to disagree. Thankfully a good general knowledge was exactly what Julie displayed in her round. Once you get into double figures for a round, and once you’ve achieved 20+ in total, you know you’ve done well, however anyone else does. Julie did precisely that, adding 10 points to her total to set the bar at 20.

That was definitely the kind of performance to put the two remaining contenders, both of whom started a point to the good, within the corridor of doubt. For the first minute of his round, Mo looked like he could well match Julie’s score and take the lead. He slowed a little, and it was still in the balance as the last 30 seconds ticked away. He didn’t quite make it, finishing with 8 for a total of 19.

All of which left Phoebe, and I’m sorry to say that after her first minute it wasn’t a question of whether she could win, but a question of whether she could salvage enough points to post something respectable within the last minute and a half of her round. She certainly picked up some speed, as she started to find some correct answers, but in the end she garnered 6 to take her total to 17.

As I said at the start, this really was a pretty gentle heat, and I do hope we have something to get a little more excited about in the weeks to come. Nonetheless, well done Julie! I wish you the best of luck in the semi finals.

The Details

Julie Bungey	Plantagenet Queen Consorts 1154 - 1485	10	0	10	0	20	0
Tom Niblett	The History of Birmingham City FC	7	1	5	6	13	7
Mo Hassan	Members of the weasel family	11	0	8	3	19	3
Phoebe Williams	Eurovision in the 21st century	11	0	6	3	17	3