Mastermind 2018 - Semi Final Three

Well, you know how this works by now. We’ll start by casting an eye over the form guide.

Michael Taylor	U2	14	1	14	4	28	5
Ian Jack	The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell	13	0	10	4	23	4
Neil Wright	Emperor Tiberius	10	3	16	1	26	1
Maggz Bennett	Duran Duran	12	0	12	1	24	1
Tim Footman	The Beach Boys	12	1	17	0	29	1

As we’ve so often seen in the past, form from the heats is not always a very useful guide to how contenders may perform in the semi final. Still, for what it’s worth there looked to be two very heavy hitters in GK in the shapes of Tim Footman and our own Neil Wright. Neil was runner up in his heat having put in a good but not outstanding specialist round. Also looking worth a punt was University Challenge winner Michael Taylor.

It was Michael who kicked us off. Now, to date there is but one double Mastermind/UC champion, our own Stephen Fellows. Michael looked as if he was intent on changing this state of affairs in the way that he attacked his round on the films of Paul Thomas Anderson. I’ve only seen one of the films mentioned, so take everything I say in that light, but judging from what I heard Michael was asked for some pretty esoteric details, and he was headed for a perfect round until the very last question. Still, a score of 11 in the semi was at least as impressive as his 14 in the heat. He was going to definitely have a say in the outcome of this semi.

Of all this week’s contenders, Ian Jack had delivered the weakest performance in GK in the heats – although 10 is by no means a weak performance, having said that. Still, it suggested that if he was going to challenge he was going to need an outstanding GK score on his round on The Novels of Virginia Woolf. Now, with the exception of ‘Orlando’, me and the Woolfmeister  (Woolfmeistress?)just don’t get on. She is not one of my favourite writers, so I take my hat off to anyone who could study her work in enough detail to post a score of 10. This was if anything slightly better than Ian’s performance in the heat, but I felt he needed to be ahead of the pack rather than snapping at the leader’s heels.

So to Neil Wright, this week’s repechage semi finalist. When I saw Neil was taking Wines of Burgundy I did worry for him a little. I’ll tell you why. Back in my heat in the 2007 SOBM, the runner up, Tim, was taking wines of Germany. Now, my thought was that this was an exceptionally wide subject, since there’s just so much that falls under the subject banner that ‘wines’ is one of those subjects which should come with a Government health warning. I fancy that this may have been what caused Neil to post a rather modest 6 on this round. Now, don’t get me wrong – my own 2 sitting at home was a hell of a lot more modest than that, but in terms of the contest, essentially it put him out of the running. 

Maggz Bennett had won a lower scoring heat answering on Duran Duran. Well, if anyone thought she was just making up the numbers here they were abused of that notion in the way that she posted a fine 12 on the band Motley Crue. It wasn’t a perfect round, but answering quickly meant that she just squeezed in a correct answer quickly enough to allow John to start the last question just as the blue line of death completed its circuit. 

Finally Tim Footman. He was answering on the Life and Works of Kazuo Ishiguro. I wonder if it was the production team who insisted on the whole Life and Works, rather than just the novels, which would be, in my opinion, a valid subject in their own right? Whatever the case, it added a whole other level of complexity to what was a difficult enough subject anyway. Tim, like Neil previously, posted 6, a modest score in the context of this semi final, and was, to all intents and purposes, out of the contest. 

Coming back for GK, both Neil and Tim demonstrated something of what might have been. Neil, I noticed, took the first half dozen or so questions on the bounce, and they were by no means all at all easy. The rest of the round was punctuated by a few wrong answers, but he never completely lost his momentum, and posted 12 to take his score to 18. Sadly, with the best will in the world that was not going to be enough to win. Tim really needed a round of the same quality as that which he’d produced in the heat, where he’d scored a wonderful 17. Well, he too scored 12, which is a fine score in a semi, although not to my mind quite as good as his score in the heats. This meant he led, for the time being, having no passes, but again, it was highly unlikely to last. 

Ian’s round was rather more faltering than the two we’d already seen. However, he had a 4 point head start. He needed it too, since it was only on the last question, where his disbelieving reply of Dr. Johnson brought him the 9^th point he needed to edge him across the line just ahead of Tim and Neil.

Michael had already shown his GK mettle in the heats. Remember, in the heats, anything in the teens is a useful score on GK, and Michael had scored 14 off 2 and a half minutes. A similar performance should bring him the 10 he needed. Well, he actually did a bit better than that. He too managed to accrue 12 points, and this put him out in front with 23, 4 points ahead of second, with only 1 contender to go. 

Maggz had scored 12 off 2 and a half minutes in the heats. To win this semi outright she needed to match that score, but do it in only 2 minutes. This looked to be a tall order, which got taller as the first minute progressed. Well before the blue line of death brought the proceedings to a close it was clear that she was only really playing for second spot on the podium. This, to be fair, she managed, with a round of 8, to finish with 20.

Well played Michael – best of luck in the finals. Stephen, if you’re reading, are you ready to make a bit of room up there for Michael on your pedestal? 

The Details

Michael Taylor	The films of Paul Thomas Anderson	11	0	12	0	23	0
Ian Jack	The Novels of Virginia Woolf	10	1	9	1	19	2
Neil Wright	The Wines of Burgundy	6	1	12	3	18	4
Maggz Bennett	Motley Crue	12	0	8	0	20	0
Tim Footman	The Life and Works of Kazuo Ishiguro	6	0	12	0	18	0

Quarter Final Stages - Fitzwilliam, Cambridge v. Merton, Oxford

Fitzwilliam, Cambridge v. Merton, Oxford

An interesting one on paper, this one. Fitzwilliam, consisting of Theo Tindall, Theo Howe, Jack Maloney and skipper Hugh Oxlade had never looked like losing either of their previous matches. However, they had faced and overcome decent opposition in both. Merton, in the shape of Edward Thomas, Alex Peplow, Akira Wiberg and skipper Leonie Woodland, had looked very much the team to beat, especially in the way that they overcame a distinctly useful Oxford Brookes team in round two. For me, Merton were the favourites going into the show, but the Clark tip has ruined many a team’s chances in the past. 

Alex Peplow did exactly what I would have done for the first starter. Asked for a female writer of detective fiction he came straight in with Agatha Christie and lost 5. Given that she wrote “Death Comes To Pemberly” it was easy for Hugh Oxlade to supply the correct answer of PD James. 19^th century history gave all of us a full house. Both teams sat back on their buzzers a bit. Given the words “Marco Polo” and “Emperor” that ought to be enough to give you Kubla/Kublai Khan. When Coleridge’s poem was brought into it, Theo Tindall supplied the correct answer. Mathematics in poetry really did not offer any of us a great deal, but Fitzwilliam still took a full house. They led by 55 points. It was too early to be thinking in terms of a possible upset, nonetheless this was a great start for the Cambridge team.A lovely UC starter gave us the world records for three men’s athletics events, and asked us to add up the distances of the events in question. 200+400+1500 made 2100, as Jack Maloney quickly worked out. Bonuses on Georges Cuvier only supplied one bonus for both of us. Asked for any three of the US States that are both contiguous with each other and have names of 7 letters or fewer, Akira Wiberg tried Utah, Nevada and Wyoming, and put Merton’s account into the black. Charles Dickens, and opening words of his novels, supplied them with 2 correct answers. For the picture starter we saw a definition of an everyday french word taken from a French dictionary. All the teams had to do was supply the word, in French. My schoolboy French was good enough to give me the word biere, shortly afterwards supplied by Leonie Woodland. The word, that is, and not the beer. More of the same followed, and we both took a full house. Akira Wiberg buzzed early to supply the acronym OECD for the next starter – a good shout, that. The Absurd Cycle of Albert Camus brought us all another full house. So having just passed the 10 minute mark, both teams had made fruitful visits to the table, and were tied at 65 apiece. 

The star buzzer of Merton’s second round match, Alex Peplow, showed his form really for the first time in this match, buzzing in very early to confirm that it was Holst’s Planets which has one section titled with the same name as the French month of March. Biochemistry only brought a couple, but it put Merton into the lead. Jack Maloney hit back for Fitzwilliam, knowing the star Canopus (and not, as I’ve heard it called – Canopenus). The Book of Genesis provided the basis for a great UC special set. For each question, teams had to work out the number of years between specific events in History, and then work out which figure of the Old Testament lived that long. That’s fertile ground for question setters. The usual ones asked are Methuselah – 969 – Noah – 950 – Adam – 930 but there are others in the 900s. In this case the answers were Abraham at 175 – then Methuselah and Noah. Fitzwilliam only took Methuselah. Akira Wiberg, who was on great form in this contest, came in very early, needing just Robin Williams and Robert De Niro to give the film title Awakenings. Bonuses followed on the Art Historian Fiona Spalding. Now the first bonus was controversial. Asked for the institution of which she’d written a history, captain Leonie Woodland offered “Tate Britain”. Now, the original Tate Gallery IS now called Tate Britain. JP refused, since he wanted The Tate. I don’t know – I’ve seen answers which were wider of the mark than that awarded the points before now, especially since the question specified the institution on Millbank, which IS Tate Britain now. They answered the other two correctly, and at least were given the points for those. So to the music starter, and it was Alex Peplow who recognised one of the songs from the musical Matilda. Songs from three more musicals rewarded for their lyrics gave Merton 2 more correct answers. I didn’t recognise Sunday in the Park with George either.  Fra Lippo Lippi gave me Robert Browning for the next one. Whether it was that name or another that gave it to him, Alex Peplow, who had found his range by now, took it. Granite only brought a further 5 points. The excellent Akira Wiberg provided the name of Kitty Hawk, where the Wright Brothers made their first powered flight. Greek mythology, all answers starting with At – provided a full house , and the Merton Juggernaut really seemed to be moving into top gear. Who else but Akira Wiberg would buzz in for the next starter, which required the Nervous system as the answer. 2 bonuses on the Adriatic meant that in a few minutes Merton had opened up a triple figure lead over Fitzwilliam. Alex Peplow took another starter by knowing that Costa Rica had abolished its army. One bonus on Chinese History  meant that by just after the 20 minute mark, Merton led by 200 – 80.

The second picture starter saw Akira Wiberg identify composer Clara Schumann. Other women on the Edexcel A Level music syllabus provided us both with just the one correct answer with Bjork. Now, I’ll be honest, if I’m asked for a North American economist of the 20^th century I always answer Milton Friedman, so I can’t blame Edward Thomas for that, even though it lost him 5. Fitzwilliam couldn’t supply the name JK Galbraith. The next starter saw me in very quickly as I recognised the final words of Iago from Othello. Alex Peplow was almost as quick. The River Severn provided a bonus. At last Fitzwilliam managed to beat Merton to the buzzer, as Jack Maloney was very quick to identify the Filipino language Tagalog. Bonuses on chemical elements since antiquity saw Fitwilliam take the ten points they needed to reach triple figures. Dairyman Crick gave me the next starter, him being a character in Tess of the D’Urbervilles (Monday to Saturday, Dairyman Dick, On Sundays Mr. Richard Crick)which Alex Peplow took. Indian Prime Ministers and their home states brought just the one bonus, but by this stage it was academic anyway. A great buzz from Jack Maloney saw him correctly answer that 6,7 and 8 are the 3 consecutive numbers between 1 and 10 which share an initial letter with a King of England since 1066. The Elizabethan Navy provided one bonus.Now, I’d been a long time waiting for a lap of honour question in this show, but when asked for a greek letter denoting a receptor blocked by some or other chemicals – beta blockers (thanks, Bill Werbeniuk) came into my head, and I set off at twice my normal speed in order to make sure that I was sitting back down by the gong. The living room isn’t at all large, but I am VERY slow.) That man Akira Wiberg bagged another with that one. Bonuses on Africa gave Merton a full house, and just an outside chance of hitting 300. That faded when it was Theo Tindall who correctly guessed that Asbjornson and Moe collected the folk tales of Norway. That was it though, as we were gonged before the bonuses. The final score was 270 to 125.  

Let’s start with Fitzwilliam. They are a good team, and they still showed that tonight. What they seemed to lack, though, was an absolute demon on the buzzer. Merton have not one but two of those. I believe that Akira Wiberg was best in this match, but Alex Peplow wouldn’t have been far behind either. This double buzzing whammy makes Merton very hard to beat. I’m not going to ruin their chances by putting the Clark 50p on them to win the series. . . yet. . . but I can’t see me putting it anywhere else while Merton are still involved.  

Jeremy Paxman Watch 

Just really the controversial Tate Britain ruling, and I’m guessing that was voices in his ear which told him to rule it like that. He did say some nice things to Fitzwilliam about them still showing some pretty impressive displays of knowledge too.

Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week

Canopus is actually named after the pilot of King Menelaus in Greek Mythology.

AND

The Escorial is often cited as being the largest granite building in the world.

Mastermind 2018 Semi Final 2

Shall we start with the form guide? Here’s how last night’s contenders did in their heats: - 

Adam Gilchrist	The Battle of Agincourt	12	0	11	2	23	2
Cliff Houghton	Everton FC	12	0	14	0	26	0
Chris Cummins	Paul Simon	13	0	13	4	26	4
Madeline Grant	The Harry Potter Novels	15	0	10	0	25	0
Alfred Williams	The Life and Times of Alfred the Great	15	0	16	3	31	3

Now, being honest you have to say that one name stands out. Step forward Alfred Williams. If that GK performance was not a flash in the pan, and I had no reason to suspect it was, then Alfred was going to go very well indeed. The only former semi finalist was Chris Cummins, who’d done well in his previous campaign, but had left himelf too much to do on GK in his previous semi.

So Adam Gilchrist kicked us off with the sitcom Frasier. Very well he did it, too. Last time out he scored a useful 12 off 120 seconds on Agincourt. So realistically, his 10 on Frasier was an improvement. Ironic that this should be show the week that British born John Mahoney, who played Marty, Frasier’s dad, passed away. I watched the show from time to time, but only managed the three easiest questions. Not a great start if I was going to improve on last week’s aggregate SS total.

Cliff Houghton was this week’s repechage semi finalist. He was a contender in that remarkable 9^th first round heat where the winner David Love, Cliff and Teresa De Billot all qualified for the semis. He too had scored 12 on his specialist subject – Everton FC. Switching codes to Rugby League, he too improved in real terms, scoring 10 on Warrington Rugby League Football Club. Just the one for me, and prospects were looking bad.

By now, Chris Cummins isn’t just an old Mastermind hand, he’s experience in other broadcast quizzes as well, most notably being part of a team which reached the finals of Only Connect a few years ago. Like Adam, Chris offered us a sitcom that I watched from time to time, but didn’t know anything like enough about – namely Absolutely Fabulous. There was a sense of inevitability in the way that he too claimed a score of 10. Three for me took me to 7 overall.

Madeline Grant participated previously in Marianne’s 2015 series, where she was just a point or two short of a repechage semi slot. In her heat she was allowed to use one of those subjects I don’t think we’ll see again for a while – The Harry Potter Novels where she scored an excellent 15. She did very well again last night with the novels of Jane Austen. Madeline’s round demonstrated the way that if you really snap the answers quickly back at John H, then he sometimes speeds up his delivery. I noticed that in a couple of rounds last night. Madeline’s 11put her into the lead, and my 5 put me into respectable territory.

Finally Alfred Williams, my pre-match favourite. He was answering on Eric Satie, which meant it was a case of Dave C – nul points. Alfred too fired back the answers at machine gun speed and was rewarded by a quick delivery of the questions. He finished with 10, but being only one point behind Madeline, the Clark 50p looked to be backing the right runner. Without wishing to sound horrible, I felt in my heart of hearts that even despite the fact that only 1 point separated the 5 contenders, it would be a two horse race, between Chris and Alfred.

Adam returned first to the chair, and I’m afraid that his GK round was a bit of a struggle for him. He never go the run of questions he needed to build up any momentum, and when John told him he’d scored a total of 18 overall, his face told the story. He knew it wasn’t going to be enough. Cliff Houghton pushed the target into the 20s. A double figure round on GK in 2 minutes is a good round, but you have to say that with the big hitters still to come, his score of 10 for 20 never looked like it was going to be enough. 

This was emphasised as Chris took the first minute of his own GK round and pretty much ripped it to shreds. He was well ahead of the clock, and was always going to take the lead. However the second minute of his round was not as good as the first. Oh, don’t misunderstand me, 13 off 2 minutes is a very good score, but at one stage I thought he was heading for 15 or more. Yes, the remaining two contenders would have to pass throught the corridor of doubt, but the corridor was not quite as long as it might have been.

Like Chris, Alfred ripped the first minute of his GK round to shreds. He continued to do so through the second minute as well. It wasn’t a perfect GK round, but then how often do you see that? That didn’t matter. It was a great GK round, and 15 off 2 minutes is top drawer quizzing. Alfred finished with 25, and the mountain that Madeline had to climb had assumed Everest proportions.

I’m not just saying this. Normally I manage to score a similar amount on all the GK rounds in a given show, allowing for the speed of the contender’s answers and the number of questions asked. I have to say though that I rather struggled with Madeline’s round. I’m not saying it was necessarily harder than others, just that it was harder for me. So I have some sympathy with Madeline. By the minute mark she was out of contention for the win, and it was just a question of how close to the top she could get. In the end she finished with 18.

Well played all, and many congratulations to Alfred – a very serious contender for the title, I would say. 

The Details

Adam Gilchrist	Frasier	10	1	8	3	18	4
Cliff Houghton	Warrington RLFC 1895 - present	10	0	10	1	20	1
Chris Cummins	Absolutely Fabulous	10	1	13	3	23	3
Madeline Grant	Life and Works of Jane Austen	11	1	7	2	18	3
Alfred Williams	The Life and Music of Eric Satie	10	0	15	1	25	1

Univeraity Challenge 2018 - Quarter Final match 1

Quarter Final 1: Bristol v. Newcastle

Here we are then, the quarter final stages. Not quite as labyrinthine as JP’s comment that the rules were devised by Torquemada would suggest, if truth be told. Bristol, then, were Ollie Bowes, Kirsty Biggs, Dom Hewett and captain Sam Hosegood. Their opponent were Newcastle, represented by Jack Reynard, Molly Nielsen, Adam Lowery, and their skipper Jonathan Noble.

Ollie Bowes took first blood for Bristol, knowing that ‘device’ plus ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ equals guillotine. A set of bonuses on Roald Dahl brought a full set, which served ample proof of Bristol’s serious intentions. The next starter was one of those you had to wait for, before the name of the African country it wanted for the answer became obvious. Molly Nielsen didn’t wait, losing 5. However – once the words – entirely surrounded by the republic of – were uttered it became clear it was Lesotho, which answer was supplied by the Bristol skipper. Temporary capital cities brought nowt, and so we moved to the net starter. Jonathan Noble was the first in for a rather lovely starter, working out that the character in the Harry Potter world whose name is derived form the Greek messenger of the Gods is Hermione. Star clusters brought me an unexpected correct answer with the Pleiades, but Newcastle managed a great full house. Right, if you multiply the three numbers sharing keys with the £, the $ and the %, what do you get? Easy if you have the keyboard in front of you, but not so easy if you don’t. Jack Reynard was the first to get 60. Bonuses on pointillism were a bit of a giveaway, and Newcastle duly despatched them to the boundary for a full house. The picture starter showed us a map highlighting one of the stem duchies of the Holy Roman Empire ( it wasn’t Holy, it wasn’t Roman and it wasn’t an Empire. Oh, you’ve heard it before? Sorry.) None of us recognised Saxony. Ollie Bowes did well to work out that the Maori moko and the Japanese yakuza were linked through distinctive styles of tattoos. So more stem duchies followed, of which C was obviously Munich. I didn’t get any of the others and neither did Bristol. For the next starter we were asked for a disease. Molly Nielsen buzzed, collected her thoughts for half a second, and just as JP was going to give her a wigging gave the correct answer of Typhus. Insects brought them a couple of bonuses, which meant that Newcastle led by 65 to 50 just after the 10 minute mark.

So it had been a lively opening to the contest with both teams showing a little sprightly form on the buzzer. Judging by the way they sat on their buzzers, neither team had heard of King Louis Philippe’s dad, Louis Egalite, but it was Jonathan Noble who chanced his arm, and fortune did indeed favour the brave. This brought bonuses on the novels of Saul Bellow. Well, I only know Herzog, but I still guessed Trotsky for the first, ending with two, the same two that Newcastle managed. Molly Nielsen was very quickly in with the Hindu festival of Holi for the next starter. Bonuses on logic brought none of us any joy, so let’s move on. Now, if you get any question which mentions Buddhism, and the Odyssey, then you slam the buzzer through the desk and answer lotus. Both teams dwelt a little before Ollie Bowes picked that particular low hanging fruit. For the first two bonuses on molecular biology JP might just as well have been speaking Klingon for all that I understood them, but ATP is an old chestnut, and gave both Bristol and me our only correct answer of the set. Mind you, Bristol, to be fair, did not set off on a lap of honour as I did. The music starter offered us an American composer. Now, if it’s American I used to always say Copland (That’s Aaron, not Stewart). However now half of the time I say Glass. I did this time, as did Ollie Bowes and we were both right. 3 more composers who have written music in a minimalist form brought Bristol 1 and me nowt. Asked a question about the moons of a specific planet for the next starter, Jack Reynard tied himself in knots, saying “Titan – oh, Saturn”, allowing the Bristol skipper to come in with Saturn.” Harsh but fair. The first answer is the one that must be accepted. Mothers who gave birth to two kings of England gave Bristol two bonuses, which meant they took the lead again and became the first o the two teams into double figures. A terrific early buzz from Dom Hewett saw him identify a couple of the subjects of Eliot’s Four Quartets. Politics and social science offered me but little although I actually got the same two as Bristol. There may be another word which can come after dialectical, but materialism is the one I’ve heard. Jack Reynard knew that the human skeleton has 12 thoracic vertebrae, which took his team into treble figures. 2 bonuses on genetics meant that only 5 points separated the two teams on the cusp of the 20 minute mark. Great game.

So, as we entered what in boxing would be called the championship rounds, or in football, ‘squeaky bum time’, neither team leapt in to answer the Hemingways – Ernest and Wayne. Skipper Noble chanced his arm, but Bristol couldn’t capitalise. Ollie Bowes knew the huckleberry for the next starter earning bonuses on battles of the Civil War, of which they managed one. Johnathan Noble identified a picture of Andromeda for the Art starter. (Isn’t that a defibrillator, an art starter?) More pictures of Andromeda brought just the one correct answer. Asked for three of the next five most spoken languages in England in the 2011 census, Jack Reynard opted for Polish, Urdu and Punjabi, and he was right to do so. Dependencies in the Caribbean Sea brought a great full house, and pushed Newcastle’s collective nose in front for the first time for what seemed like ages. Jack Reynard also knew that GWP stands for global warming potential. H.L. Mencken brought two more correct answers. Importantly this meant that Bristol would need two visits to the table to pull ahead now. Jonathan Noble widened the gap further, knowing that the terms feng shui and kamikaze both refer to wind. Words originating in the quechua languages of South America had the double bonus of providing another ten points, but also running the clock down. Surprisingly, nobody on either team knew two of the three 20^th century queens regnant of the Netherlands – Juliana, Beatrix and Wilhelmina. Adam Lowery knew that Staten Island holds the Southernmost point of the city and state of New York. Wives of Roman Emperors gave another 10 points, and game was well and truly safe for Newcastle now. Adam Lowery knew that Transnistria is part of Moldova, and that was it, as we were gonged before any of the bonuses could be asked.

For once JP hit the nail on the head, saying that the match felt closer than the 225 – 130 scoreline suggested. It’s very difficult to go on to win the whole shooting match after you’ve lost your first quarter, but Bristol are still in there, and good enough to give anyone trouble in their next match. Well played Newcastle, a deserved win. Good show, everyone. 

Jeremy Paxman Watch

Well, I thought we were on course for another show with nothing worthy of note, until Jack Reynard’s starter fluff. JP’s reaction was as if this was a personal affront – although having said that this tone only lasted for the first couple of words of his utterance, and he even included the words ‘I’m sorry’ in his response. Oh, is it just me who longs for the good old days of responses like ‘Swaziland . . . in the EU? Are you MAD?”

There was just a hint of the old JP. On the genetics bonuses, when Jonathan Noble gave the correct answer of colchicine, he rather sniffily replied, “Col KYE SEEN I think it’s normally called, yes.”

Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week

The word quinine comes to us from Quechua, as does puma and guano.

Mastermind 2018 - Semi Final One

Now, I love the Six Nations as much as the next man, but come on, you don’t postpone Mastermind until Saturday in Wales just for a preview. Or rather, that’s exactly what BBC Wales did do last night. Sod ‘em. I watched it on BBC2 England. 

Let’s begin by studying the form book.

Teresa De Billot	British Oscar winning Actors and Actresses	14	0	12	3	26	3
Richard Chaney	Porridge	11	0	13	1	24	1
Pam Poole	Top 10 singles 1963 - 1973	10	1	13	0	23	1
Ben Holmes	Dr. Who 2005 - date	15	0	14	1	29	1
Philip Isaac	Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em	13	0	13	3	26	3

As you can see, there wasn’t a lot to choose between the GK rounds of any of last night’s contenders in their heats – and those, you remember, were all 2 and a half minute rounds. Rather more of a range between the SS rounds. And of course, we have to consider the enduring truth that while all semi finalists have managed to get to grips with one specialist subject well enough, not everyone can manage to prepare a second subject to that standard. 

So to begin. Teresa De Billot was the repechage semi finalist in this show. She appeared in Heat 9 – which incidentally would provide another repechage semi finalist in Cliff Houghton, where she was beaten by former finalist David Love. Last night she offered us Olympic Track and Field 1972 – 1992. – Yum yum – thought I. Love Olympics, love track and field, and that era in particular. So under the circumstances I was disappointed with myself not to get double figures, finishing with 9. This was 1 less than Teresa – and remember, anything double figures is an excellent SS score for a semi these days. 

Now, it isn’t very nice of me to mention this, but last time Richard Chaney was in a semi final, in Clive’s 2014 series, he had a bit of a 'mare on his specialist, having been one of the more impressive qualifiers from the first round. For the first couple of questions on his specialist last night, the Tolpuddle Martyrs, it looked as if lightning might strike twice. To his immense credit he steadied the ship, and picked his way through what looked like tricky set, to earn a highly respectable 7. With things seeming so tight on GK though, this looked likely to leave him as an outsider by the time the half time oranges were passed round.

I was always quite proud of the diversity of my 5 SS rounds during my time on MM, and Pam Poole’s SS of the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt was certainly different from her round on top 10 singles from the first round. Now, for me there really wasn’t much in the way of controversy in this semi final, but I did note one question. To be honest, it was one of only three questions that I answered correctly in the round. The architect of the Step Pyramid of King Djoser I knew was Imhotep. Pam answered ImhoPET. John said “Yes, ImhoTEP.” So here’s my issue. For all I know, Imhopet was a perfectly acceptable alternative – I know that translation of Ancient Egyptian names can vary. In which case, though, why did he feel the need to give the more common form, wasting her valuable time as he did so? If it wasn’t an acceptable alternative – well, I’m sorry, but it would have been an incorrect answer and then should treated accordingly, you don’t, or shouldn’t, get marks for a near miss. If anyone can fill me in on this one I’d be grateful. Whatever the case Pam finished with 8, and a two point gap to negotiate.

The top first round performer of last night’s contenders was Ben Holmes, who’d answered on my favourite specialist subject, Doctor Who. Last night he gave us The Graphic Novels of Daniel Clowes, or as he is known in LAM Towers, Daniel Who? Last time he was in the semi finals in 2014, like Richard he too was undone by a relatively modest specialist performance. No chance of that happening tonight. With 10 points and 2 passes he was matching Teresa stride for stride at the head of the field with only one contender to go.

Philip Isaac has been a semi finalist before, although this was in 2015 rather than 2014. Would you believe it if I told you that he too was undone by his specialist score? Doesn’t matter whether you believe it or not, for it’s the truth. Whatever it was that proved his downfall three years ago there was no repeat last night, since he’d obviously thoroughly prepared, and posted a fine 8 points in another tricky historical round, on president of the USA Andrew Jackson. My one point on this round was enough for me to set my first SS aggregate of this year’s semis with scores of 9 – 2 – 3 – 0 – 1 for a total of 15. 

Richard was unfortunate, in my opinion, to get a few more difficult questions at key points in his round. Every time he got a couple right, and had the chance to pick up a wee bit of steam, he’d be bowled another chest high bouncer. As a result his round never really got going, and he finished with a total of 13.

With Pam Poole, though, it was a different story. Pam answered the first 9 questions on the bounce, and let’s be fair, there was a real mix of subjects and levels of difficulty within these. She missed a couple after that, but the Force was with her, and she continued sticking them in the back of the net from all angles. Her round of 14 and no passes in 2 minutes was a round of real quality, and from looking an outsider at the turn around, she now looked as if she had every chance of becoming a Mastermind finalist. 

Philip Isaac, though, would have his say about that first, though. Far from being cowed by such a big total, Philip set off confidently to traverse he corridor of doubt. At one point I did think he might be behind the clock, but this was an illusion, as he maintained steady progress throughout the round. By the buzzer he too had posted a splendid 14 points. Sadly this didn’t quite put him in contention for the win, since he had incurred a couple of passes during his brace of rounds. Nonetheless this was an excellent performance. 

Teresa de Billot, then, needed 12 and no passes just to equal Pam. If she was at all nervous, it certainly didn’t show. Let’s remind ourselves – these are all Mastermind semi-finalists, and they can all handle general knowledge, so we shouldn’t be surprised when they do well. And Teresa’s round was a double figure round in its own right, which is a mark of quality in a 2 minute GK round in this day and age. However, it was 10 rather than the 12 she needed.

So only Ben remained to challenge Pam. There’s a famous quote from the Duke of Wellington about the Battle of Waterloo, “It has been a damned nice thing - the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life” Mind you, he also said that it was won on the playing fields of Eton, which is complete tosh, so what can you do? Nonetheless, this was a near run thing as well. A total of 22 would not be enough for Ben, since he had incurred an earlier pass. He’d scored 12 for 22 as the blue line of death began to encircle the score box, and Pam had one foot in the final. However there was time for that last question, and I felt sure that Ben would know the term malware. He did, and this got him just over the line.

Well played all. Very hard lines to Pam and to Philip especially, but take solace from fine performances which were good enough to have earned a final place in another semi. Very well done Ben – good luck in the final. 

The Details

Teresa De Billot	Olympic Track and Field 1972 - 1992	10	0	10	1	20	1
Richard Chaney	Tolpuddle Martyrs	7	0	6	0	13	0
Pam Poole	Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt	8	0	14	0	22	0
Ben Holmes	The Graphic Novels of Daniel Clowes	10	2	13	0	23	0
Philip Isaac	President Andrew Jackson	8	1	14	1	22	2

Neil Phillips - My Friend, the Legend.

Before we start, it would remiss of me if I did not say a few words about Neil Phillips, who passed away last week.  

Neil was a stalwart quizzer, whom I first met when we both made our Mastermind debut in the same heat of the 2006 series, where we were both beaten by the redoutable Kath Drury. It’s a measure of the man that, to the best of my knowledge, Neil remained friends with all of the other contenders from our show.  

Neil and I remained friends, and thus in 2010, the two of us came to form two thirds of the Radio Addicts, along with 2012 Mastermind champ Gary Grant, our inspirational skipper. I knew that Neil was good company before we met up for the audition in Cardiff, but I didn’t realise just how true that was, and the time we spent together during the filming of that series was an absolute pleasure.

To me, Neil will always be The Legend. I gave him this moniker following his incredible performance in the missing vowels round in our semi final. We had been thrashed all ways till Tuesday for most of the contest, yet Neil just kept buzzing and buzzing through the final round, and we won by a point. It was an incredible performance. 

We didn’t meet again in person, but stayed in fairly regular contact, and Neil’s support during my depression last year was totally typical of the man, but still very much appreciated.  

Thanks for being a good mate, Legend. Rest in peace.