My Quizzing Resolutions
Yes, its New Years Eve. I don't often make New Year's Resolutions. Fact is, I think that if you're going to stick at something, you're better off just getting on with it, and starting symbolically on New Year's Day won't make that much difference. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I can't remember making a New Year's Resolution that I've ever managed to keep until my birthday, which is in the middle of June.
So my quizzing resolutions take the form of what I'd like to stick to in a perfect world, and no one, least of all me, should be too surprised if I fail to stick to them. So, having set myself up to fail, here we go.
* I resolve to try to be more patient with Little Dennis when he doesn't hear the answers I give him to the questions in the quiz in the Rugby Club. Its not his fault he's deaf. Its our fault for letting him be scribe.
* I resolve to try to not greet every announcement of the handicaps in the Newport Quiz with the words "For Christ's Sake !"
* I resolve to try to stop giving guest question masters a hard time in the rugby club. Even when they are totally incompetent.
* I resolve to try to stop telling two teams off for using their wap phones to find answers whenever I'm the question master in the rugby club. They never win anyway.
* I resolve to stop slagging off Redtooth Quizzes. Just so long as I don't have to play in them any more.
* I resolve to stop saying that other teams must have cheated when they beat us. Even when they obviously have.
* I resolve to try to stop whinging about the fact that my school's Governing Body and the Local Education Authority couldn't be bothered to even send me a letter of congratulation over winning Mastermind.
* I resolve to take responsibility for applying to get on another show, and not wait for one of my mates to try to put a team in.
I'll let you know how well I manage to maintain my resolutions. Happy New Year to you all.
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Sleb Mastermind 3 - Tuesday 30th December
Now, back to the questions
Yes, after the Victoria Derbyshire crib sheet storm in a teacup we were finally able to get on with the series last night. I wrote about my feelings on the whole issue yesterday, and so we'll put that to one side, and with no further ado I'll get on with writing about last night's show.
'Whispering' Bob Harris kicked us off with the Life and Career of Alan Freed - some American Rock 'n' Roll DJ chappie from the 50s. Bob started off very confidently, but lost his way a little in the middle, before rallying towards the finish of the round to reach 12. ( Grreeeaaattt ! )
Next was dear old Johnny Sessions - sorry, I just went a little Stephen Fry there - answering questions on the Sherlock Holmes short stories. Scoring 15 points on this subject was one hell of an achievement - last time I counted there were 56 of them to choose from !
Louise Minchin, BBC news presenter, came next, answering on The Life and Career of Darcy Bussell. For those who know as little about ballet as I do, she's the ballerina who guest starred in "The Vicar of Dibley" once. Actually this was one of the actual questions that was asked, and correctly answered. There were 11 more of these as well, and 12 looked to be a good score to me on a noticeably highbrow subject.
Andrew "Brillo pad" Neil finished off the specialist round by answering on The Life of Adam Smith. He's the bloke with the wig on the latest version of the £20 note - that's Adam Smith, not Andrew Neil. 14 points on another quite highbrow subject seemed pretty good to me, and what with his journalist's background you might have fancied his chances at the halfway stage. Little did we know of the passfest that was to follow.
Whispering Bob seemed to spend most of his general round sitting in the chair waiting for answers to come to him. They never did. 4 was a modest total, and 5 passes seemed like quite a lot. This was positively conservative compared to what was to come. Louise Minchin managed to dredge up 6 correct answers, but she also collected 8 passes as she did so. Could Andrew Neil maintain the standard ? You bet he could. He also managed 6 correct answers and 8 passes. In fact I would have sworn that he passed on some of the questions even before John Humphrys had finished asking them. John Sessions then needed a modest 6 to win outright, and you have to say that he made fairly heavy going of it. He blurted out a lot of wrong answers very very quickly, but managed to score 7 - a total which was also matched by the number of passes he made. His 22 is the lowest winning score of the series so far, but he wins favour from me for paying tribute to Sir Anthony Hopkins, one of Port Talbot's favourite sons.
As a point of interest, there were no fewer than 34 passes in tonight's show. Is this a record for a 4 person show, I wonder ?
The Details
Yes, after the Victoria Derbyshire crib sheet storm in a teacup we were finally able to get on with the series last night. I wrote about my feelings on the whole issue yesterday, and so we'll put that to one side, and with no further ado I'll get on with writing about last night's show.
'Whispering' Bob Harris kicked us off with the Life and Career of Alan Freed - some American Rock 'n' Roll DJ chappie from the 50s. Bob started off very confidently, but lost his way a little in the middle, before rallying towards the finish of the round to reach 12. ( Grreeeaaattt ! )
Next was dear old Johnny Sessions - sorry, I just went a little Stephen Fry there - answering questions on the Sherlock Holmes short stories. Scoring 15 points on this subject was one hell of an achievement - last time I counted there were 56 of them to choose from !
Louise Minchin, BBC news presenter, came next, answering on The Life and Career of Darcy Bussell. For those who know as little about ballet as I do, she's the ballerina who guest starred in "The Vicar of Dibley" once. Actually this was one of the actual questions that was asked, and correctly answered. There were 11 more of these as well, and 12 looked to be a good score to me on a noticeably highbrow subject.
Andrew "Brillo pad" Neil finished off the specialist round by answering on The Life of Adam Smith. He's the bloke with the wig on the latest version of the £20 note - that's Adam Smith, not Andrew Neil. 14 points on another quite highbrow subject seemed pretty good to me, and what with his journalist's background you might have fancied his chances at the halfway stage. Little did we know of the passfest that was to follow.
Whispering Bob seemed to spend most of his general round sitting in the chair waiting for answers to come to him. They never did. 4 was a modest total, and 5 passes seemed like quite a lot. This was positively conservative compared to what was to come. Louise Minchin managed to dredge up 6 correct answers, but she also collected 8 passes as she did so. Could Andrew Neil maintain the standard ? You bet he could. He also managed 6 correct answers and 8 passes. In fact I would have sworn that he passed on some of the questions even before John Humphrys had finished asking them. John Sessions then needed a modest 6 to win outright, and you have to say that he made fairly heavy going of it. He blurted out a lot of wrong answers very very quickly, but managed to score 7 - a total which was also matched by the number of passes he made. His 22 is the lowest winning score of the series so far, but he wins favour from me for paying tribute to Sir Anthony Hopkins, one of Port Talbot's favourite sons.
As a point of interest, there were no fewer than 34 passes in tonight's show. Is this a record for a 4 person show, I wonder ?
The Details
| Bob Harris | Life and career of Alan Freed | 12 -2/ | 4 - 5/ | 16 - 7 |
| John Sessions | The Short Stories of Sherlock Homes | 15 - 0/ | 7- 7/ | 22 -7 |
| Louise Minchin | The Life and Career of Darcy Bussell | 12 - 1/ | 6 - 8/ | 18 - 9 |
| Andrew Neil | The Life of Adam Smith | 14 - 3/ | 6 - 8/ | 20 - 11 |
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
When is a crib sheet not a crib sheet ?
Can open - worms all over the floor - Get Over It !
When is a crib sheet not a crib sheet ? In case you haven't seen the news, Celebrity Mastermind has hit the headlines today. In her Radio 5 Live show, Victoria Derbyshire revealed that she had been invited to take part in the show back in November. When she said that she would like to do the Novels of Thomas Hardy as a specialist subject, the production team offered her some help. Now, the furore seems to centre around her choice of the words 'crib sheet' to describe the help she was offered. These words conjur up pictures of a sheet of paper containing possible answers to the questions she could be asked. Which was not what she meant at all. Nobody was offering her insider knowledge of the questions or answers. What she was offered was a list of possible useful sources for research. Despite this, she apparently turned down the offer to appear on the show because she wouldn't have enough time to learn her subject well enough to avoid embarrassment.
So what makes this a news item ? Well, apart from anything else it comes at the end of a period when television companies have been forced to own up to some very questionable practices, and it really has come to seem that nothing is sacred , even Blue Peter. So its hardly surprising that the media would leap at anything which has the slightest sniff of underhand practice about it. But please, is this really worth making a fuss about ?
Now, nobody offers to help you find research sources for your specialist subjects in regular Mastermind - that's true. But although Celebrity Mastermind may look like regular Mastermind its a different show. The celebrities who take part are all, or nearly all, presumably , people who would never have chosen to appear in the regular series of their own volition. Unless they win, and they get a trophy, they get nothing for their pains, since their fees go to charity. So not only are they giving up time, and putting themselves through the hassle of learning a specialist subject for no reward, for each of them there is the very real chance that they will make a fool of themselves in front of 5 or 6 million people. Case in point. Do you know how Victoria Derbyshire made her revelation in the first place ? It was because she and her guests were discussing the less than impressive General Knowledge performance of David Lammy on Sunday's show. So if the production team try to give the celebrities a little help by pointing them in the right direction of some research materials, then what on earth is there to object to about this ? They still have to do the research themselves. Look at the scores these people achieve, for heaven's sake. If they were being told the answers to their specialist rounds beforehand, then they would all score between 15 and 18, which they don't.
From my own experience the Mastermind production team are very decent, honest and talented people who work extremely hard to put together an entertaining show. Everything, and I repeat everything, was absolutely above board in all of the shows I participated in. They dedicate a huge amount of time and trouble to make sure that every contender is given a fair chance with their specialist subjects, without showing any partiality in the least to any of them. They don't deserve this nonsense.
So what we actually have here is a non-story, whipped up by a hungry media which is at a bit of a loose end, all because of Victoria Derbyshire's careless use of the phrase 'crib sheet', which she didn't really mean. Would this have been a story if she'd have said " The production team said they could suggest some good sources I could use to help me learn my subject " ? Would it hell !
I wasn't listening to the show, so I don't know if they were discussing Mr. Lammy's performance in a tone of sympathy or one of schadenfreude, but I hope it was the former. After all, the reason why Victoria Derbyshire turned down the invitation was because she didn't want the same thing to happen to her.
When is a crib sheet not a crib sheet ? In case you haven't seen the news, Celebrity Mastermind has hit the headlines today. In her Radio 5 Live show, Victoria Derbyshire revealed that she had been invited to take part in the show back in November. When she said that she would like to do the Novels of Thomas Hardy as a specialist subject, the production team offered her some help. Now, the furore seems to centre around her choice of the words 'crib sheet' to describe the help she was offered. These words conjur up pictures of a sheet of paper containing possible answers to the questions she could be asked. Which was not what she meant at all. Nobody was offering her insider knowledge of the questions or answers. What she was offered was a list of possible useful sources for research. Despite this, she apparently turned down the offer to appear on the show because she wouldn't have enough time to learn her subject well enough to avoid embarrassment.
So what makes this a news item ? Well, apart from anything else it comes at the end of a period when television companies have been forced to own up to some very questionable practices, and it really has come to seem that nothing is sacred , even Blue Peter. So its hardly surprising that the media would leap at anything which has the slightest sniff of underhand practice about it. But please, is this really worth making a fuss about ?
Now, nobody offers to help you find research sources for your specialist subjects in regular Mastermind - that's true. But although Celebrity Mastermind may look like regular Mastermind its a different show. The celebrities who take part are all, or nearly all, presumably , people who would never have chosen to appear in the regular series of their own volition. Unless they win, and they get a trophy, they get nothing for their pains, since their fees go to charity. So not only are they giving up time, and putting themselves through the hassle of learning a specialist subject for no reward, for each of them there is the very real chance that they will make a fool of themselves in front of 5 or 6 million people. Case in point. Do you know how Victoria Derbyshire made her revelation in the first place ? It was because she and her guests were discussing the less than impressive General Knowledge performance of David Lammy on Sunday's show. So if the production team try to give the celebrities a little help by pointing them in the right direction of some research materials, then what on earth is there to object to about this ? They still have to do the research themselves. Look at the scores these people achieve, for heaven's sake. If they were being told the answers to their specialist rounds beforehand, then they would all score between 15 and 18, which they don't.
From my own experience the Mastermind production team are very decent, honest and talented people who work extremely hard to put together an entertaining show. Everything, and I repeat everything, was absolutely above board in all of the shows I participated in. They dedicate a huge amount of time and trouble to make sure that every contender is given a fair chance with their specialist subjects, without showing any partiality in the least to any of them. They don't deserve this nonsense.
So what we actually have here is a non-story, whipped up by a hungry media which is at a bit of a loose end, all because of Victoria Derbyshire's careless use of the phrase 'crib sheet', which she didn't really mean. Would this have been a story if she'd have said " The production team said they could suggest some good sources I could use to help me learn my subject " ? Would it hell !
I wasn't listening to the show, so I don't know if they were discussing Mr. Lammy's performance in a tone of sympathy or one of schadenfreude, but I hope it was the former. After all, the reason why Victoria Derbyshire turned down the invitation was because she didn't want the same thing to happen to her.
Brain of Britain - Sleb MM 2
Brain of Britain Semi Final 2
What a great contest this was. The outcome was in doubt right up until the final round. Mr. Kirby and Mr. Armand , probably the two lesser known of today's semi finalists played the well known quizzer Dag Griffiths, and my predecessor as Mastermind champion, Geoff Thomas. To be honest this line up was good enough to be a final . Mr. Armand raced off to a lead by getting his five first round questions all correct, to thus earn a bonus. The quizzing thereafter was fast and furious, and the standard of the contestants' answers was superb. Geoff Thomas was last to go int he very last round. Dag Griffiths had a 4 point lead, and so in reality Geoff had to answer all five of his questions correctly. He's made of the right stuff is our Geoff, and he pulled it out of the bag to win a well-earned place in the final. commiserations to the other three. You all played really well, and it was an absolute pleasure to listen to.
Celebrity Mastermind Episode 2
Ok, last night's crop was as varied and interesting as always. We had:-
Rav Wilding,from 'Crimewatch',
Mark 'Chappers' Chapman , who apparently presents sports reports on Scott Mills' Radio 1 show, Phillippa Gregory who wrote, amongst other novels, "The Other Boleyn Girl",
and the biggest sleb on this show : -
Jon Culshaw, best known for TV's "Dead Ringers".
Former Metropolitan Police Officer Rav Wilding kicked off with 'The Human Body', and scored a creditable 11. I think that Mr. Wilding had decided to avoid passing by saying the first thing that came into his head for the questions he had no idea on. I'm sure that one of his answers was 'cheese sandwich' , and he definitely said that the sac around the heart was called the television.
The last time I deliberately listened to Radio 1 Simon Bates was still presenting Our Tune on it, so I wasn't familiar with Mr. Chapman. In fact when I heard that Mark Chapman was on the show I did a double take, since the only other Mark Chapman I knew of was John Lennon's assassin. Still, this Mr. Chapman certainly knows his football. Premiership football is a wide subject, and scoring 13 on it is no mean feat.
Philippa Gregory's score of 16 on "Elizabeth Woodville " was highly impressive. Any good historical novelist knows about the importance of research, and Ms Gregory had obviously done her homework very well. Full marks for picking a highly interesting subject too. Elizabeth Woodville was wife of one king, mother of the next, sister-in-law of the next, mother-in- law of the next, and grandmother of the next.
Jon Culshaw picked my favourite of the specialist rounds - British Pop Music of the 1980s. Full marks to him for knowing the fire eating German was the lead singer of the Goombay Dance Band - I answered all the others that he did, but didn't know that one.
In the General knowledge round Rav Wilding struggled. He fell into a bit of a pass spiral, but still seemed to have kept his sense of humour by the end. Mark Chapman's 12 was a good round, and his final total of 25 would have been enough to have won the previous show. Not this one though. Philippa Gregory found some imperious form to score 14, which gave her a grand total of 30. Jon Culshaw indulged in a little light hearted banter with John Humphrys, doing a very good impression of Tom Baker, and a not so good impression of John Humphrys. "Do I sound like that ? " the great man asked. Well, actually, no you don't John. Jon Culshaw made less of an impression with his answers, but at least made it into the 20s with a final score of 23.
Just a small thing I'd like to saybefore we go onto the details. Rav Wilding was given a question to which the answer was Mauritius. His father is from Mauritius I believe. Also I think that Philippa Gregory was asked about Kenya's largest sea port. She was actually born in Kenya. I'm not trying to make any particular point here, just think its interesting.
The Details
What a great contest this was. The outcome was in doubt right up until the final round. Mr. Kirby and Mr. Armand , probably the two lesser known of today's semi finalists played the well known quizzer Dag Griffiths, and my predecessor as Mastermind champion, Geoff Thomas. To be honest this line up was good enough to be a final . Mr. Armand raced off to a lead by getting his five first round questions all correct, to thus earn a bonus. The quizzing thereafter was fast and furious, and the standard of the contestants' answers was superb. Geoff Thomas was last to go int he very last round. Dag Griffiths had a 4 point lead, and so in reality Geoff had to answer all five of his questions correctly. He's made of the right stuff is our Geoff, and he pulled it out of the bag to win a well-earned place in the final. commiserations to the other three. You all played really well, and it was an absolute pleasure to listen to.
Celebrity Mastermind Episode 2
Ok, last night's crop was as varied and interesting as always. We had:-
Rav Wilding,from 'Crimewatch',
Mark 'Chappers' Chapman , who apparently presents sports reports on Scott Mills' Radio 1 show, Phillippa Gregory who wrote, amongst other novels, "The Other Boleyn Girl",
and the biggest sleb on this show : -
Jon Culshaw, best known for TV's "Dead Ringers".
Former Metropolitan Police Officer Rav Wilding kicked off with 'The Human Body', and scored a creditable 11. I think that Mr. Wilding had decided to avoid passing by saying the first thing that came into his head for the questions he had no idea on. I'm sure that one of his answers was 'cheese sandwich' , and he definitely said that the sac around the heart was called the television.
The last time I deliberately listened to Radio 1 Simon Bates was still presenting Our Tune on it, so I wasn't familiar with Mr. Chapman. In fact when I heard that Mark Chapman was on the show I did a double take, since the only other Mark Chapman I knew of was John Lennon's assassin. Still, this Mr. Chapman certainly knows his football. Premiership football is a wide subject, and scoring 13 on it is no mean feat.
Philippa Gregory's score of 16 on "Elizabeth Woodville " was highly impressive. Any good historical novelist knows about the importance of research, and Ms Gregory had obviously done her homework very well. Full marks for picking a highly interesting subject too. Elizabeth Woodville was wife of one king, mother of the next, sister-in-law of the next, mother-in- law of the next, and grandmother of the next.
Jon Culshaw picked my favourite of the specialist rounds - British Pop Music of the 1980s. Full marks to him for knowing the fire eating German was the lead singer of the Goombay Dance Band - I answered all the others that he did, but didn't know that one.
In the General knowledge round Rav Wilding struggled. He fell into a bit of a pass spiral, but still seemed to have kept his sense of humour by the end. Mark Chapman's 12 was a good round, and his final total of 25 would have been enough to have won the previous show. Not this one though. Philippa Gregory found some imperious form to score 14, which gave her a grand total of 30. Jon Culshaw indulged in a little light hearted banter with John Humphrys, doing a very good impression of Tom Baker, and a not so good impression of John Humphrys. "Do I sound like that ? " the great man asked. Well, actually, no you don't John. Jon Culshaw made less of an impression with his answers, but at least made it into the 20s with a final score of 23.
Just a small thing I'd like to saybefore we go onto the details. Rav Wilding was given a question to which the answer was Mauritius. His father is from Mauritius I believe. Also I think that Philippa Gregory was asked about Kenya's largest sea port. She was actually born in Kenya. I'm not trying to make any particular point here, just think its interesting.
The Details
| Rav Wilding | The Human Body | 11 - 1 | 4 - 5 | 15 - 6 |
| Mark Chapman | Premiership Football | 13 - 0 | 12 - 2 | 25 - 2 |
| Phillippa Gregory | Elizabeth Woodville | 16 - 0 | 14 - 2 | 30 - 2 |
| Jon Culshaw | British Pop Music of the 1980s | 16 - 3 | 7 - 6 | 23 - 9 |
Monday, 29 December 2008
Colonel Mustard loses his commission
Siarad Cymraeg ?
Or to put it another way, do you speak welsh ? I'm ashamed to say that I don't, even though I've lived in Port Talbot for slightly more than 2 decades now. Now don't get me wrong. I have nothing against the welsh language at all. In fact, at the risk of sounding like a patronising Englishman I'd go so fa as to say that I think its a beautiful language, which has real poetry in it, even when you hear people using it in everyday conversation. But the thing is that I live in an area which is predominantly anglophone, and so not really needing to speak welsh, I've never got round to joining a class to learn it.
So how was it that I came to take part in a quiz conducted entirely in Welsh last night ? Well, I was invited, and none of my regular Sunday quizzes was on. My Head of Department is a first language welsh speaker, and he rang me up on Boxing Day and invited me to a quiz in Alltwen Rugby Club near Pontardawe, with his brother and a former colleague of ours. Apparently this is an annual fixture, and they were runners-up last year. Well we weren't even close this year. We won the last round, on General Knowledge, but the events of 2008 and the sports round finished us off. A very different experience, though, playing in a quiz where I had to have each of the questions translated for me by my team mates. However even in a relatively fruitless evening, there were still a couple of interesting things which I learnt . For instance, you might have heard that a new version of Cluedo has been launched, where the characters have names rather than titles. I hadn't. Apparently the new characters are:-
Cassandra Scarlet - ( an aging star often featured in the tabloids )
Jack Mustard ( now a former sports star - so he's lost his commission )
Victor Plum - ( a computer wizard dot com millionaire )
Jacob Green ( afro american )
Eleanor Peacock
Diane White
That will surely come up again somewhere.
I must confess that I didn't know which was the most southerly capital city of South America. I narrowed it down to Montevideo, Santiago and Buenos Aires. Of the three I went for Santiago, which is actually further north than the other two. The correct answer is actually Montevideo.
Or to put it another way, do you speak welsh ? I'm ashamed to say that I don't, even though I've lived in Port Talbot for slightly more than 2 decades now. Now don't get me wrong. I have nothing against the welsh language at all. In fact, at the risk of sounding like a patronising Englishman I'd go so fa as to say that I think its a beautiful language, which has real poetry in it, even when you hear people using it in everyday conversation. But the thing is that I live in an area which is predominantly anglophone, and so not really needing to speak welsh, I've never got round to joining a class to learn it.
So how was it that I came to take part in a quiz conducted entirely in Welsh last night ? Well, I was invited, and none of my regular Sunday quizzes was on. My Head of Department is a first language welsh speaker, and he rang me up on Boxing Day and invited me to a quiz in Alltwen Rugby Club near Pontardawe, with his brother and a former colleague of ours. Apparently this is an annual fixture, and they were runners-up last year. Well we weren't even close this year. We won the last round, on General Knowledge, but the events of 2008 and the sports round finished us off. A very different experience, though, playing in a quiz where I had to have each of the questions translated for me by my team mates. However even in a relatively fruitless evening, there were still a couple of interesting things which I learnt . For instance, you might have heard that a new version of Cluedo has been launched, where the characters have names rather than titles. I hadn't. Apparently the new characters are:-
Cassandra Scarlet - ( an aging star often featured in the tabloids )
Jack Mustard ( now a former sports star - so he's lost his commission )
Victor Plum - ( a computer wizard dot com millionaire )
Jacob Green ( afro american )
Eleanor Peacock
Diane White
That will surely come up again somewhere.
I must confess that I didn't know which was the most southerly capital city of South America. I narrowed it down to Montevideo, Santiago and Buenos Aires. Of the three I went for Santiago, which is actually further north than the other two. The correct answer is actually Montevideo.
Sleb Mastermind
Celebrity Mastermind 1 - Sunday 28th December
Attack of the Daves
Yes, its that time of year when the BBC interrupts proper Mastermind, and ejects it from the schedules so that Mastermind Lite, with added celebrities, can take its rightful place on the main channel. I shouldn't be so scathing. I enjoy the sleb version, as I enjoy all the different versions of Mastermind. So, lets get on to last night's show.
For the first programme of this series then it seemed that the main qualification was being called David. We had David Lammy ( who he ? ) , Dave Myers ( ditto ) , and David Harewood ( didn't know the name , but recognised him as some actor chappie ) Toyah Wilcox completed the lineup, and she at least we recognised. She's looking quite well is Toyah, although she looks as if she's rather less eager to turn Suburbia UPSIDE DOWN than she was in her heyday. And I'm sorry but I have no intention of explaining that last reference to the under 40s.
David Lammy was first up. Apparently he was the youngest MP in the House of Commons following the 2000 General Election. He was answering on Muhammed Ali. Now I must confess that Muhammed Ali was a subject I offered which was turned down the first time I applied to Mastermind, and I have to say that Mr. Lammy actually got wrong some questions about very significant moments in Ali's career. Well, he does have the country to run, I suppose, so can be forgiven for not doing his homework.
Dave Myers is actually one half of a quiz question that has done the rounds in the last couple of years. He and his colleague Si King are the Hairy Bikers / Hairy Bakers, who have had their own cookery show on the box. That exhausts my knowledge about the Hairy Bikers. Mr. Myers had an impressively highbrow specialist subject in The Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood, and he scored a creditable 12.
Toyah, bless'er, took us to the other end of the spectrum, answering questions on David Bowie. Now, the Thin White Duke has been around for longer than Mastermind has, and so Toyah limited her frame of reference to just the first ten years of his career. Toyah managed 10 on some quite obscure questions.
David Harewood is one of those actors whose name might mean nothing to you, but whose face you'd recognise straightaway. John Humphrys himself paid tribute to Mr. Harewood's appearence in the series Criminal Justice.Answering questions on Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, he raced away to a highly impressive 17.
So at the halfway stage its a one horse race, with David Harewood holding a five point lead over his closest challenger, Hairy Biker Dave Myers. David Lammy returned to the chair, and fared less well in his GK round than he had in his specialist. I think that the occasion had got to him. He scored 5 , but his face registered that he'd known many of the questions he passed on, but just couldn't get them out, through nerves or whatever. Toyah looked delighted when her round was over. To be fair she gave it a fair old crack of the whip, but I don't think General Knowledge quizzes are really her thing at all.
Dave Myers seemed to be enjoying himself immensely - and why not ? Apparently most of his career in television has been as a makeup artist , and now here he is with a TV series about two of his loves - bikes and cooking. He went at the GK questions with real gusto, dropped a few, but made an impressive 12 and 1 pass, which exactly matched his specialist score. That's good quizzing.
So David Harewood needed 8 to win outright, and the way he went at his specialist questions you'd have put money on him to do just that. However he got trapped in a bit of a pass spiral, and by the time the end of the round came he'd scored only 7, to give him 24, the same as Dave Myers. However the hairy one had only 2 passes, to Mr. Harewood's 6 passes. So well done, all of you, a very good and exciting show.
The Details
Attack of the Daves
Yes, its that time of year when the BBC interrupts proper Mastermind, and ejects it from the schedules so that Mastermind Lite, with added celebrities, can take its rightful place on the main channel. I shouldn't be so scathing. I enjoy the sleb version, as I enjoy all the different versions of Mastermind. So, lets get on to last night's show.
For the first programme of this series then it seemed that the main qualification was being called David. We had David Lammy ( who he ? ) , Dave Myers ( ditto ) , and David Harewood ( didn't know the name , but recognised him as some actor chappie ) Toyah Wilcox completed the lineup, and she at least we recognised. She's looking quite well is Toyah, although she looks as if she's rather less eager to turn Suburbia UPSIDE DOWN than she was in her heyday. And I'm sorry but I have no intention of explaining that last reference to the under 40s.
David Lammy was first up. Apparently he was the youngest MP in the House of Commons following the 2000 General Election. He was answering on Muhammed Ali. Now I must confess that Muhammed Ali was a subject I offered which was turned down the first time I applied to Mastermind, and I have to say that Mr. Lammy actually got wrong some questions about very significant moments in Ali's career. Well, he does have the country to run, I suppose, so can be forgiven for not doing his homework.
Dave Myers is actually one half of a quiz question that has done the rounds in the last couple of years. He and his colleague Si King are the Hairy Bikers / Hairy Bakers, who have had their own cookery show on the box. That exhausts my knowledge about the Hairy Bikers. Mr. Myers had an impressively highbrow specialist subject in The Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood, and he scored a creditable 12.
Toyah, bless'er, took us to the other end of the spectrum, answering questions on David Bowie. Now, the Thin White Duke has been around for longer than Mastermind has, and so Toyah limited her frame of reference to just the first ten years of his career. Toyah managed 10 on some quite obscure questions.
David Harewood is one of those actors whose name might mean nothing to you, but whose face you'd recognise straightaway. John Humphrys himself paid tribute to Mr. Harewood's appearence in the series Criminal Justice.Answering questions on Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, he raced away to a highly impressive 17.
So at the halfway stage its a one horse race, with David Harewood holding a five point lead over his closest challenger, Hairy Biker Dave Myers. David Lammy returned to the chair, and fared less well in his GK round than he had in his specialist. I think that the occasion had got to him. He scored 5 , but his face registered that he'd known many of the questions he passed on, but just couldn't get them out, through nerves or whatever. Toyah looked delighted when her round was over. To be fair she gave it a fair old crack of the whip, but I don't think General Knowledge quizzes are really her thing at all.
Dave Myers seemed to be enjoying himself immensely - and why not ? Apparently most of his career in television has been as a makeup artist , and now here he is with a TV series about two of his loves - bikes and cooking. He went at the GK questions with real gusto, dropped a few, but made an impressive 12 and 1 pass, which exactly matched his specialist score. That's good quizzing.
So David Harewood needed 8 to win outright, and the way he went at his specialist questions you'd have put money on him to do just that. However he got trapped in a bit of a pass spiral, and by the time the end of the round came he'd scored only 7, to give him 24, the same as Dave Myers. However the hairy one had only 2 passes, to Mr. Harewood's 6 passes. So well done, all of you, a very good and exciting show.
The Details
| David Lammy | Muhammed Ali | 8 - 1 | 5 - 5 | 13 - 6 |
| Dave Myers | The Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood | 12 -1 | 12 - 1 | 24 - 2 |
| Toyah Wilcox | David Bowie 1967 - 77 | 10 - 3 | 4 - 5 | 14- 8 |
| David Harewood | His Dark Materials Trilogy | 17 - 1 | 7- 5 | 24 - 6 |
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
Awards for 2008
The Quiz Awards
Yes, its the time of the year when we reflect upon the last 12 months, so that we've got a halfway decent chance of being able to do well in the traditional end of year quiz at the Aberavon Rugby club. so in the spirit of the season of goodwill, I've decided to reflect a little on the year of quizzing, and give out a few awards.
1) The - Best New TV Quiz - Award : -
There's been several new TV quizzes, but relatively few worthy of the award. In 2008 we've seen, to name a few : -
Terry Wogan's Perfect Recall -
which had the novel idea of using the same answers in every round. In practice this became rather boring rather quickly. Not only that, but winning anything approaching a serious amount of money in the final was exceptionally difficult. Not quite as difficult, though, as winning even £2000 on the next show in this category.
Battle of the Brains -
a show which had a couple of things very much in its favour. For one thing it actually solicited the services of some extremely good quiz teams, for which the producers deserve nothing but praise. But, oh dear, they could have done better on the way that they organised the head to heads. At times the balance between questions was as bad as it can often be on Eggheads, and it was exceptionally difficult for any of the teams to win any money. Still, a second series is in production as I write, and it wouldn't be too hard to make this into a decent show.
Sports Mastermind -
extended the Mastermind franchise a little bit further. It was enjoyable enough, although poor old Des Lynam wasn't well during the filming, so I heard, and never seemed to show his legendary smoothness and charm until the Grand Final. Congratulations to winner Chris Bell, though.
Are You An Egghead ? -
was, in my opinion, rather more enjoyable than the long-running Eggheads show itself, but it still suffered from some of the flaws which mar the original show. Some of the questions were desperately unbalanced. Not only that, but the multiple choice format does blur the distinction between the merely good, and the great, and this maybe was shown up a little bit in the final. The rumour is that current world champion, brain of brains, top brain and brain of Britain, Mark Bytheway was auditioned for the show but rejected. If this is true, then it does the producers no credit whatsoever. once again congratulations to Barry Simmons - who looked a worthy Egghead throughout the whole series.
So - which new series took on and beat all comers ? Why - none other than : -
Only Connect
Regular readers are very aware of my high regard for this show, but its not just me. As far as I can see this is a show that has met with pretty much universal approval from regular viewers. Victoria Coren is a fine presenter, who shows just how well you can do a quiz show without having to jettison any trace of personality - Paddy O'Connell please take note. The games are absorbing and challenging. In fact, the only real complaint that anyone could make about the show is that it is stuck in the ghetto of BBC4. So one of my christmas wishes is that this show will make a comeback, and will graduate to BBC2 for another series.
2) The - Biggest Missed Opportunity on TV - Award
No contest on this one. The award goes to Battle of the Brains. The nation is crying out for an intelligent weekday quiz show in the evening slot - we haven't really had one since 15 to 1. Battle of the Brains could have been just that. Too many contestants per team, and head to heads that could be decided by just one question stopped it from being what it might have been. Still, another series is on the way, so you never know. It wouldn't take that much to turn this into a good show.
3) The - What Were They Thinking ? - Award
Another award goes to the BBC, this time for announcing Barry Simmons as the newest Egghead in the listings BEFORE the final of Are You An Egghead had even been broadcast.
And now I'll become even more self-indulgent - if such a thing is possible, and give out a few awards to recipients a little closer to home.
4) The - What Makes You Think You're Something Special ? - Award
The Gold Bog Roll is awarded jointly to the Governing Body of my school, and the Local Education Authority. Despite the issue being raised by the two teacher governors, the governing body decided that my Mastermind win didn't merit even so much as a letter of congratulations - a stunning display of ignorance which was also matched by the Local Education Authority. The school also refused me permission to travel to London during term time to present the trophy in this year's final. Bitter ? Me ? Gentlemen - I thank you all from the heart of my bottom.
5) The - We was stitched up, funniest moment of the year - Award.
For me , winning a poor RedTooth quiz on a Sunday evening in Rhiwbina, in the PantMawr Inn. The runners up were asked to choose between a bottle of red wine and a bottle of white wine. We, the winners, were asked to choose between taking the money and putting it in the charity box. No pressure there at all !
6) The Biggest Ego Trip of The Year Award
You'll appreciate that this year has given me more than its fair share of this. There have been many many great moments for me this year. eg -
The trophy for the annual Mayday in Melincrythan Charity Quiz has been named the Dave Clark Mastermind 2007 trophy - I kid you not !
I was interviewed in a broom cupboard for the BBC Wales news
Nancy Banks-Smith in The Guardian pay tribute to my 'big face'.
Becoming the first team to score 100% in the Aberavon Rugby Club Thursday night quiz.
But above all of these was this tribute paid to me by a 12 year old girl in school : -
" I saw you on the telly. You won, didn't you. Hmm - you quite clever for a teacher, in' you ? "
In case I don't get a chance to post again before January, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all readers a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy and Successful New Year.
Yes, its the time of the year when we reflect upon the last 12 months, so that we've got a halfway decent chance of being able to do well in the traditional end of year quiz at the Aberavon Rugby club. so in the spirit of the season of goodwill, I've decided to reflect a little on the year of quizzing, and give out a few awards.
1) The - Best New TV Quiz - Award : -
There's been several new TV quizzes, but relatively few worthy of the award. In 2008 we've seen, to name a few : -
Terry Wogan's Perfect Recall -
which had the novel idea of using the same answers in every round. In practice this became rather boring rather quickly. Not only that, but winning anything approaching a serious amount of money in the final was exceptionally difficult. Not quite as difficult, though, as winning even £2000 on the next show in this category.
Battle of the Brains -
a show which had a couple of things very much in its favour. For one thing it actually solicited the services of some extremely good quiz teams, for which the producers deserve nothing but praise. But, oh dear, they could have done better on the way that they organised the head to heads. At times the balance between questions was as bad as it can often be on Eggheads, and it was exceptionally difficult for any of the teams to win any money. Still, a second series is in production as I write, and it wouldn't be too hard to make this into a decent show.
Sports Mastermind -
extended the Mastermind franchise a little bit further. It was enjoyable enough, although poor old Des Lynam wasn't well during the filming, so I heard, and never seemed to show his legendary smoothness and charm until the Grand Final. Congratulations to winner Chris Bell, though.
Are You An Egghead ? -
was, in my opinion, rather more enjoyable than the long-running Eggheads show itself, but it still suffered from some of the flaws which mar the original show. Some of the questions were desperately unbalanced. Not only that, but the multiple choice format does blur the distinction between the merely good, and the great, and this maybe was shown up a little bit in the final. The rumour is that current world champion, brain of brains, top brain and brain of Britain, Mark Bytheway was auditioned for the show but rejected. If this is true, then it does the producers no credit whatsoever. once again congratulations to Barry Simmons - who looked a worthy Egghead throughout the whole series.
So - which new series took on and beat all comers ? Why - none other than : -
Only Connect
Regular readers are very aware of my high regard for this show, but its not just me. As far as I can see this is a show that has met with pretty much universal approval from regular viewers. Victoria Coren is a fine presenter, who shows just how well you can do a quiz show without having to jettison any trace of personality - Paddy O'Connell please take note. The games are absorbing and challenging. In fact, the only real complaint that anyone could make about the show is that it is stuck in the ghetto of BBC4. So one of my christmas wishes is that this show will make a comeback, and will graduate to BBC2 for another series.
2) The - Biggest Missed Opportunity on TV - Award
No contest on this one. The award goes to Battle of the Brains. The nation is crying out for an intelligent weekday quiz show in the evening slot - we haven't really had one since 15 to 1. Battle of the Brains could have been just that. Too many contestants per team, and head to heads that could be decided by just one question stopped it from being what it might have been. Still, another series is on the way, so you never know. It wouldn't take that much to turn this into a good show.
3) The - What Were They Thinking ? - Award
Another award goes to the BBC, this time for announcing Barry Simmons as the newest Egghead in the listings BEFORE the final of Are You An Egghead had even been broadcast.
And now I'll become even more self-indulgent - if such a thing is possible, and give out a few awards to recipients a little closer to home.
4) The - What Makes You Think You're Something Special ? - Award
The Gold Bog Roll is awarded jointly to the Governing Body of my school, and the Local Education Authority. Despite the issue being raised by the two teacher governors, the governing body decided that my Mastermind win didn't merit even so much as a letter of congratulations - a stunning display of ignorance which was also matched by the Local Education Authority. The school also refused me permission to travel to London during term time to present the trophy in this year's final. Bitter ? Me ? Gentlemen - I thank you all from the heart of my bottom.
5) The - We was stitched up, funniest moment of the year - Award.
For me , winning a poor RedTooth quiz on a Sunday evening in Rhiwbina, in the PantMawr Inn. The runners up were asked to choose between a bottle of red wine and a bottle of white wine. We, the winners, were asked to choose between taking the money and putting it in the charity box. No pressure there at all !
6) The Biggest Ego Trip of The Year Award
You'll appreciate that this year has given me more than its fair share of this. There have been many many great moments for me this year. eg -
The trophy for the annual Mayday in Melincrythan Charity Quiz has been named the Dave Clark Mastermind 2007 trophy - I kid you not !
I was interviewed in a broom cupboard for the BBC Wales news
Nancy Banks-Smith in The Guardian pay tribute to my 'big face'.
Becoming the first team to score 100% in the Aberavon Rugby Club Thursday night quiz.
But above all of these was this tribute paid to me by a 12 year old girl in school : -
" I saw you on the telly. You won, didn't you. Hmm - you quite clever for a teacher, in' you ? "
In case I don't get a chance to post again before January, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all readers a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy and Successful New Year.
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