Mastermind 2022: First Round: Heat 10

Phew, I nearly missed out on this one. BBC2 Wales in their ‘wisdom’ decided to bump Mastermind for Masterchef. No disrespect to a very popular show in its own right, but come on! Monday night is quiz night. Thankfully it’s not the only version of BBC2 to which I have access.

So let’s begin with Lynn Anslow. She was answering on The Inspector Morse Novels. I will say that Crime fiction is not my favourite genre, but a couple of times while staying with my in-laws in Alicante I’ve been stuck for a book, so I’ve read Last Bus to Woodstock and The Dead of Jericho. Frankly, this didn’t help me much and I was lucky to scrape a point. I’ve no doubt that Lynn knows her stuff, but she seemed to be afflicted by a mid-round bout of nerves which rather curtailed what in other respects was looking a pretty useful round, and she ended up with 7.

I wasn’t too worried about only getting the one point on the first round, because I really fancied a go at Joe Pugh’s round on King William IV. William was the younger brother of and successor to George IV, who was my specialist subject for my semi in the 2007 season of blessed memory. I had my highest specialist score of this series with 9. Joe did better – he got a score in double figures, and I think I can safely say that I know the subject well enough to be able to vouch for the fact that he certainly does know his stuff. Good round.

Considering the fact that I have seen quite a few of the films or Richard Curtis that were referenced in Claire Filer’s round, 4 points was not a great return. Claire, though, produced the best round yet if the specialists. And honestly, I’ve had enough friends and acquaintances who’ve taken films as their specialists to be able to say that there is nothing soft about specialist rounds based on films – the amount of revision is every bit as onerous as for any other. Then I’d guess there’s the risk of putting yourself off films that you once really enjoyed.

Finishing things off, then, was Will Vince, who was answering on Joseph Rowntree. Strangely enough, none of the questions recalled his role as Shaft the eponymous hero of the 1970s TV series. Which observation probably means you won’t be surprised when I tell you that I failed to trouble the scorer on this round. Will, on the other hand, supplied a superb round, topping Claire’s by one point. As I think I may have mentioned more than once during this series, it always puts me in a good mood when the contenders have put in the preparation for their specialists. Mastermind really is just not the show to embark upon on the proverbial wing and a prayer.

Sometimes lightning can strike in the same place. Lynn wasn’t going particularly quickly in her GK round when she returned to the chair, but she was picking off some really quite difficult stuff. Then, during the second half, the answers just stopped coming, and having lost what momentum she’d built up, she found it difficult to push her score much further. She managed 8 for a total of 1.

Joe, on the other hand, did really very well. In order to get a score in the teens, which he did, you really have to cover a wide amount of ground. We have seen at least one show this series where Joe’s score of 23 was not enough to win, but you’d have been forgiving for putting your money on him at this stage, even with two contenders still to go.

Claire Filer certainly gave it a lash to traverse the corridor of doubt. She never quite sounded confident, and yes, she fell a little short at the end, scoring 9. But she got to 20, and that’s a significant number to score in the current version of the show. Still, it meant that only Will stood between Joe and a semi final place. Now, how often do we see a contender beginning confidently, picking up points steadily, only to falter within sight of the finishing line? Will was two points ahead of Joe at the halfway mark, but a huge hesitation late in the round made it look as if he might not get there. As it was, he took 11, which put him equal on points with Joe. Crucially, though, it may well have been that the hesitation prevented him taking a pass, since he won on pass countback. That’s the way it goes – that’s Mastermind. It’s cruel, but that’s just the way it goes. Joe, you can take satisfaction from a very good performance that, on another night, would have been good enough.

However, the spoils go to Will. Congratulations for keeping your head in the final stages of your round, and congratulations on a very good all-round performance. I wish you the best of luck in the semi finals.

The Details

Lynn Anslow	The Inspector Morse Novels	7	3	8	4	15	7
Joe Pugh	King William IV	10	1	13	1	23	2
Claire Filer	The Films of Richard Curtis	11	1	9	3	20	4
Will Vince	Joseph Rowntree	12	0	11	0	23	0