You know, there are some editions of the show where there just seems to be something in the sir, something pervasive which seems to get a hold of most of the contenders. I had this feeling again watching last night’s show.
First up was Christopher Davis. Christopher was answering
on German Military Aircraft of World War II. I did state in my preview of this
week’s specialists that this was my ‘banker’ subject for the evening, having
been an avid Airfix modeller when I was a nipper. To be fair I didn’t do too
badly. 4 off the bat with no preparation. It seemed to me that Christopher
misheard or got the wrong end of the stick with a couple of the questions – see
what I mean about something in the air, and this is why he ended up with a
respectable 7 rather than something more competitive.
Next came Lilian Downs. Lilian was answering on the TV
series Arrested Development. I have never watched it, so it is impossible for
me to comment on the level of difficulty of these questions. Lilian started
brightly but in one of the early questions I think she had it wrong when she
thought she knew the answer, and this seemed to stop her in her tracks. She
finished with 3 on the round, and my heart went out to her.
Marion Vasquez offered us the life of the painter,
Whistler. The two questions on the John Ruskin flinging a pot of paint etc.
trial brought me two point, and one other brought me an unexpected three.
Marion did very well. She passed Christopher’s total, and powered on to double
figures, ending the round with a competitive ten.
So it fell to Tom Moody to complete the specialist round.
He was answering on Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy.
Actually, I say that, but you could get away with a relatively sketchy memory
of the films, and a pretty good knowledge of the three books. The evidence for
this assertion is that I managed 7 of these. However this pales into
insignificance compared with Tom’s stupendous full house of 13.
Essentially then at the halfway stage we had two contenders
down among the wines and spirits with two in contention for the main prize.
Lilian returned to the chair, and maybe through a bit of shock at the first
round, maybe because of a perfect storm of a set of questions that really
didn’t suit, but she scored 6 for a total of 9.
Christopher Davis did better, but not to the tune of the
double figure score he needed to make the two front runners have to negotiate
the corridor of doubt. I do applaud the tactic he used in his round of
answering fairly quickly and not passing anything. It takes presence of mind
but I do think that if you can do it then it gives you a decent chance of
producing your best.
Marion followed Christopher. As I said earlier, there must
have been something in the air in this heat because she too produced a
respectable but unspectacular round in which she scored 7. Her 1 pass meant
that Tom needed to score 4 and no passes in order to win.
He managed it. But again, for the third GK round in a row
we saw a fair total which didn’t come close to a double figure round. Something
in the air. Tom scored 7 too which was good enough to secure him the win. Well
done, sir, and good luck in the semi finals.
The Details
|
Christopher Davis |
German Military
Aircraft of World War II |
7 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
15 |
0 |
|
Lilian Downs |
Arrested Development |
3 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
9 |
3 |
|
Marion Vasquez |
The Life and Times of
James Abbot McNeill Whistler |
10 |
1 |
7 |
0 |
17 |
1 |
|
Tom Moody |
Peter Jackson’s “Lord
of the Rings” Trilogy |
13 |
0 |
7 |
2 |
20 |
2 |
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