Mastermind Round 1 - Heat Four

Good evening, Dearly Beloved. Yes, I’ve pulled my finger out and finally managed to post a Mastermind review on the same evening in which it was broadcast. And a very interesting Mastermind it was.

So, let’s kick off, should you pardon the pun, with Anna Lister and Chelsea FC in the Premier League. Now I’ve never been a Chelsea fan, which is maybe surprising considering I’m a born West Londoner, but there we are. So, I was not too upset that I only managed the one point. Anna did quite a bit better, but she did seem rather nervous throughout the round. A fair number of the questions passed her by. She managed 7, and I dare say that you really needed to know your stuff to get that much on that round. However, she must have returned to her chair knowing that she would have ground to make up in the second half.

Arijit Goveas who was next into the chair was answering on one of my ‘problem’ authors, Franz Kafka. What I mean by that is Kafka’s work is something that I appreciate when I read it, and I can see why others like it, but I can’t say that I enjoy it. I’ve no doubt that Arijit enjoys it. He racked up 9 to lead at this stage by 2 points. Again, it was the kind of round where you really needed to know your stuff even to get that many points, but again, you had the feeling that there was still a little room on the top in this round.

I’d scored one on Chelsea and 2 on Kafka (imagine them reading out that score on Grandstand – Chelsea 1, Kafka 2 – away win). George Twigg, who already had appearances on Only Connect and UC under his belt, was answering on Anglo Saxon England. This was my banker for the show and for once it actually yielded me a decent crop of points – 6 to be precise. Which paled into insignificance alongside George’s perfect 13 from 13. This put him well ahead of the chasing pack with only one contender still to come.

This contender was Sharon Malley. She was answering on pop performer and actor, Harry Styles. Now, I will admit that I am really not familiar with Mr. Styles and his work. I’m more familiar with the work of Mr. Styles, the man who used to come round every week to collect  insurance payments from my Mum back in the late 60s. However I only needed 1 point to give me a double figure aggregate on specialist so I gritted my teeth and fluked a guess. I’m sure that Sharon wasn’t guessing on any of the 10 questions she answered correctly to put her into second place, albeit three points off the lead.

You’d have been forgiven for writing Anna Lister off at half time. What followed when she returned to the chair was a very interesting GK round. On the surface she seemed to be going very slowly. She was going quite slowly, but she was getting a large number of the questions right. Despite never seeming less nervous than before, she added 13 to take her score to a highly respectable 20. Good round.

If Arijit was daunted by Anna’s high scoring performance he didn’t show it. His style contrasted to Anna’s. He was answering a good deal more quickly, although not quite as accurately. The two point lead over Anna that he’d held at half time came into its own, as he managed to add 12 to his score. This raised the bar to 21.

Sharon Malley then needed a double figure score on GK to give her any chance at all. Sadly, it was not to be. Sharon had one of those rounds where the contender suddenly gets stuck in the mud in the second minute and just can’t build up any momentum. All you can do is shrug your shoulders and accept that it just ain’t your night.

So George returned to the chair, knowing that 8 and no passes would be enough. Not a massive target, no. Nonetheless, whatever the target you still have to find the answers. Which is what George did. His round was not as good as Anna’s. nor as Arijit’s either. But it didn’t need to be. He was over the line with questions to spare, and he finished with 10 points for a total of 23. Well done, sir, clearly the strongest all-round performance of the night. Best of luck in the semifinals.

The Details

Anna Lister	Chelsea FC in the Premier League	7	0	13	1	20	1
Arijit Goveas	Franz Kafka	9	0	12	1	21	1
George Twigg	Anglo Saxon England	13	0	10	0	23	0
Sharon Malley	Harry Styles	10	0	8	1	18	1