Mastermind returns on Friday . I've been over to the BBC's own Mastermind website and a quick perusal of the specialist subjects leaves me in something of a dilemma - to take the wiki challenge or not ?
For the uninitiated the wiki challenge is an idea we came up with on this very blog during the last series ( which for all intents and purposes will hereinafter be referred to on this blog as Gary's series ). Basically, you look at the BBC website to find out what the specialist subjects are this week, then check out the wikipedia entry for the subject before the show, and see how many questions you can answer. This idea was based on the theory that in most cases you can find at least 10 answers to any set of specialist questions of a specialist set on that subject's appropriate page on wikipedia.
The BBC website only lists 3 subjects for Friday
The Novels of Jane Austen
The Life of Elizabeth I
Fawlty Towers.
Now, I have to say that all three of those subjects strike me as subjects I could possibly do well enough on without doing any wiki work - and there's no way on this earth that I shall be passing up the opportunity to test my Fawlty Towers knowledge. My uncle Dennis, a decent quizzer in his own right, always said that he would only ever do Mastermind if he could use Fawlty Towers as his specialist subject , but I doubt very much it's him. I was with my cousin Ben , his son, at the weekend, and he never mentioned it, and I'm sure he would have done otherwise. So unless I can find out the other subject which the website didn't mention, then I imagine that I'll leave the challenge for next time.
For once I don't think that I know for certain who any of the contenders will be in this series, but as always I'm greatly looking forward to it.
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7 comments:
It's the Savoy operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, David.
Hi Nic
Ah - thanks for this. I think the Wiki challenge is back on for me , then !
Dave
Fawlty Towers??
If the producers are reading this, then can I just point out the double standards?? I was told last year that 'Phoenix Nights' wasn't allowed as a SS because there were only 12 episodes made. Fawlty Towers, 12 episodes - Grrr.
Hi Dave
It's horses for courses, I suppose. In my first audition for Mastermind ( 2006 - Geoff's series ) I was told that I couldn't do Tottenham Hotspur FC. Lo and behold, a year later in my series Susan Sworn took none other than Tottenham Hotspur FC as her specialist subject. Not that I'm complaining, since it worked out well for me in the end.
It goes to show, I think , that it's not just the contender, and it's not juts the subject, but it's the two of them together they're looking for.
Makes you wonder, though.
I had to fight pretty hard to get Jane Austen as a (hypothetical) final subject in 2009-10 (by saying that I thought it would be more interesting for viewers to watch than me struggling with something I'd had to learn from scratch) but it was a SS in 2009-10 and is again this time. (So if I want to use it in my next attempt at Mastermind I'll now have to wait another 2 years!
Yes, 'Gary's series' has a nice ring to it I must say ;-)
Hi All.
Gary - you're welcome, but I still baggsy SOBM ( Season of Blessed Memory ) for 2007.
Hi Lisa - yeah, the thing is, though, that it's inconsistent. Just because one subject is allowed back after 2 years doesn't mean other subjects would be - I guess it may well be quite ad hoc.
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