Mastermind 2022: Semi Final 5

 First Round Heats

Martin McCann	La Vuelta a España	10	0	12	0	22	0
Sarah Trevarthen	Rocky Horror	13	0	15	0	28	0
Dom Walker	The Life and Works of John Clare	12	0	12	0	24	0
Rachael Neiman-Wiseman	Kate Bush	11	0	12	0	23	0

Well, dearly beloved, last week we saw the highest scoring contender from the heats, Anthony Fish, duly book his place in the final with a fair degree of comfort, it must be acknowledged. Last night saw the second highest scorer from the heats, Sarah Trevarthen, try to emulate his performance. Standing in her way were three contenders whose performances in the first round heats were separated by a mere 2 points. On paper, this looked cut and dried.

Of course, it wasn’t. Last week Anthony’s task was made easier by his three fellow contenders not being able to whack in the kind of performances in specialist that would at least give them a reasonable chance. Kicking off last night with Irish Involvement in the Spanish Civil War, Martin McCann whacked in an 11-point round – incidentally a point more than he managed on specialist in his heat. Judging by the previous semis this series, a perfect performance would only net you 14 or at most 15 points. This suggested that barring something exceptional, Martin would be in contention at the turnaround.

Sarah too matched her specialist performance from the heats. Back then she was answering on Rocky Horror, whereas last night she answered on Pulp. Both times she scored 13. I like Pulp, but it turns out I know next to nothing about them, as I failed to score any points on her rounds. Even on Martin’s round I scored a point – Guernica, since you’re asking. As I’ve said, 13 is very close to optimal performance. However, the fact that Sarah was only 2 points ahead of Martin kept the interest going in the heat.

For the third round in a row, the contender – Dom Walker in this case - repeated his specialist performance from the first round. Then he scored 12 on the poet John Clare. Last night he repeated that score on my favourite round of the night, Brian Clough. 8 points took me to the brink of double figures, and you can trust me, that doesn’t mean that Dom got an ‘easy’ round, because he didn’t. If you put the hard work into your preparation, then that’s what makes a round look easy.

Last to go was our very own Rachael Neiman-Wiseman. Look, I won’t lie about it. I always try to give every contender a fair crack of the whip, and most of the time I’m non-partisan. Well, I’m sorry, but last night it was a case of stuff that for a game of soldiers. Rachael has been this way before, and I was crossing everything that she’d be able to make it all the way this time. Well, Rachael was the only one of last night’s contenders to improve on her first-round heat specialist score. Back then she scored 11 on Kate Bush. Last night Rachael scored 12 on my second favourite subject of the night, The Harry Potter novels. Incidentally this subject is one that more people put on their applications forms than almost any other – the same is true of Fawlty Towers and Father Ted. Every few series they let someone take it – in this series Rachael got the nod. So, not in the lead at half time, but poised just one point behind, right on the leader’s shoulder.

All contenders were still very much in with a chance with only two points separating all of them after the specialist rounds. Martin returned to the chair, and delivered a battling 11 points. This was just one point down from his performance in the heats. However, without wishing to disparage anyone, the opposition in the semis is tougher than the opposition he faced in the first round. 22, I reckoned, was highly respectable, but surely at least one of these players would beat the score.

Dom Walker certainly gave an air of confidence as he answered the questions in his round without passing. He did well and scored 11, but I couldn’t help feeling that he’d left the door ajar for both Rachael and Sarah.

Rachael returned next. We’ve seen in her previous appearances and appearances on other shows that the target of 13 for an outright lead is within her capabilities. And at the start, she seemed very much on target for this. Oh, but come the 5th or 6^th question and she faltered. I thought things were not quite right when she asked for a repeat and had to endure some wobbles after that until she regained composure and momentum in the second half of the round. Vital time had been lost, and sadly she only managed to score 10, and agonisingly fell a point short of the target.

So to Sarah Trevarthen. She’s looked a potential champion in her GK round in the heats, scoring 15. She didn’t manage quite such an outstanding round this time round. Too many of the questions seemed to be going begging, but the finishing line was coming closer, and, with the last question on Yeats’ Lake Isle of Innisfree, she clamed the 10^th point she needed to take her to 23. Her reward? Well, since both she and Dom had scored 23 and no passes this meant a tie break. The result – well, Sarah won the tie break, 4 – 2.

Very hard lines to Dom. You can’t get much closer to a semi final place than that, sir. But congratulations to Sarah, who kept her head well in the tie break to find the answers that she needed. Only one semi final left now, and the Grand Final will soon be upon us.

The Details

Martin McCann	Irish Involvement in the Spanish Civil War	11	0	11	0	22	0
Sarah Trevarthen	Pulp	13	0	10	0	23	0	4
Dom Walker	Brian Clough	12	0	11	0	23	0	2
Rachael Neiman-Wiseman	The Harry Potter Novels	12	0	10	0	22	0