A surprisingly entertaining and exciting show tonight. I’ll explain what makes me say this as we go through.
First up tonight was Kevin Kilminster. Kevin was answering on
the novels of John Rebus by Ian Rankin ( yes, 'Uptown Top' as his mates call him. Ask your grandparents.). Kevin answered enough to show that he knows the
books. However, he scored 5, and I’d respectfully suggest that something must
have gone a bit wrong with his preparation, since he was caught out on too many
names and details. I never took novels or series of novels for any of my
subjects ( I wasn’t allowed to in 2006, and didn’t bother asking in my audition
for the 2007 season of blessed memory) so I wouldn’t presume to lecture anyone
on how to prepare for them. But I’d imagine reading all the books again would
be just where you’d start.
Well, enough of that for now. I got a miserable 1 on that
round myself. A score which was 1 more than I managed on Jodie Manning’s round
on the hip hop musical “Hamilton”. This is a musical beloved of my children,
especially my son, but I have to say that I’ve never seen it. Jodie obviously
has, though. She missed a few, but only just missed out on a double figure
round, whacking in 9 to lay down the gauntlet to the others.
Jodie was followed by Laura Ellerton. She was answering on
the Documentaries of Louis Theroux. Theoretically, having see most of them,
this was going to be my best specialist of the evening. Well, that was the
theory. In the end I managed to double my score, but since this just meant that
I score 1 point, it’s not something I’m particularly proud of. Laura took 6,
but I’m going to raise a point of order here. The subject was the Documentaries
of Louis Theroux, but two questions referenced his autobiography, on things he’d
said about the documentaries. A little bit sneaky? Well, not necessarily, but
tricky questions, certainly.
None of the first three contenders had quite ripped their
round to shreds, but that’s exactly what Allister Mallon did with his round on
James Craig, Viscount Craigavon. He was asked 13 questions, and he provided
thirteen correct answers. Nobody deliberately underscores on any round in
Mastermind, but I do love it when a contender has managed to cover all the
bases in their preparation – Heaven knows, I worked my socks off on my
specialists and yet never quite managed a perfect round like this. It was a
fine performance, and leading his nearest competitor by 4 points, you’d have
been justified in betting the farm on Allister taking the win.
So, Kevin was the first to return for the GK round. What
followed was a GK round the like of which we’ve hardly seen this series. Yes,
okay, it seemed like Kevin had one or two guesses come off in his round, but
then that is a skill in itself, coming up with a guess which could be the
answer. After 2 and a half minutes Kevin had added 16 points and no passes to
his score. If only he had scored just a couple more on his specialist, I mused,
he’d probably be finding himself in the winner’s enclosure.
Bearing in mind that she’d just seen this stellar performance
from Kevin, I applaud Laura for being able to whack in a good GK performance in
her own turn. It wasn’t as good as Kevin’s round, but then rounds like his are
like jockey’s legs – few and far between. Laura managed 12, to take her own total
up to a very respectable 18.
Without wishing to be too critical, after the first 40 seconds
or so of Jodie’s round I didn’t think she was going get very close to Kevin’s
total. She came close to Laura’s in second, mind you, but with 3 or 4 questions
to go she just couldn’t find another correct answer, and remained becalmed on
17.
Which left us with just Allister to go. I still fancied that
he’d win, but he needed 8 and no more than 1 pass to draw, and 9 to win. Amazingly,
Kevin had scored such a huge total that Allister was going to have to negotiate
the corridor of doubt. It was difficult to tell if Allister was feeling the
pressure. He had a calm, measured tempo, and didn’t seem phased when he had a
couple wrong. In the end, his 9 points wasn’t the most impressive GK round we’ve
seen in terms of what he answered. But in terms of dealing with the pressure,
it very much was. In the end he made it and won by a point.
Very hard lines, Kevin. I doff my hat to you for that GK
round, and dare to observes that, should you decide to pass this way again,
with a kinder specialist subject you, sir, will be a serious contender. But to
Allister the spoils. I salute your sang froid, and a fine, all round
performance. I wish you good luck in your semi final.
The Details
|
Kevin Kilminster |
The John Rebus Novels by Ian Rankin |
5 |
1 |
16 |
0 |
21 |
1 |
|
Jodie Manning |
Hamilton |
9 |
3 |
8 |
1 |
17 |
1 |
|
Laura Ellerton |
The Documentaries of Louis Theroux |
6 |
3 |
12 |
0 |
18 |
3 |
|
Allister Mallon |
James Craig, Viscount Craigavon |
13 |
0 |
9 |
2 |
22 |
2 |
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