How does it feel?

I said in my last Mastermind review that single figure totals are rare, and the stats seem to bear me out. We’ve seen 84 contenders thus far this series and only 2 have ended with single figure totals.

Ten years ago and more I was not always the caring and laid back person that I am today, I’ve even said some harsh things in this very blog when contenders have had single figure scores. I don’t think I was ever trying to be mean to the contenders themselves, but the me of the time used to believe that the production teams of the day were not doing enough to protect some contenders from themselves. I’m sure that you’ve seen the kind of things which got said on social media – and for that matter still get said when a contender posts a low score. Back in the day my point was that surely a production team should be able to tell when a contender does not possess a good enough GK to potentially rescue themselves after a specialist disaster.

Well, I’ve modified my views a little bit since then. Let me tell you where I am today.

Let’s start from a baseline position. The only concrete thing we can be certain of when a contender posts a low total is this – they did not answer many of the questions correctly. That’s it. We can’t say anything about their intelligence and we can’t say anything about their knowledge of a specialist subject – not with any degree of certainty. Of course people do make such comments – even those who should know better.

As a viewer, I still do feel very uncomfortable when I see a contender finishing with single figures for the whole show. Maybe this is because I am fortunate – I never had that experience myself on the show and indeed the 2007 SOBM was one of the great experiences of my life. But I can’t help imagining how a contender feels when, for whatever reason, things go wrong for them. I know some people do enjoy the schadenfreude they derive from the spectacle. To my mind this puts them close to a par with the tricoteuses – the old girls who’d sit in the font row at the Place de la Concorde, knitting while another aristo’s freshly slice loaf hit the basket. But that’s not me. I hate the metaphorical sight of metaphorical blood.

But then, do contenders themselves view a disaster on the show as such? I honestly don’t know. I don’t know if I’ve ever met anyone who had the experience and if I had I certainly wouldn’t have asked them about the experience unless they volunteered the information. But look just how many heat winners say how surprised they are to have won. Yes, some of them are just being modest probably, but even so, you enter the show knowing that you have a decent chance of being beaten. Getting on the show is the thing. Appearing on the show, sitting in the chair and having a go, that’s the thing. So if it doesn’t go your way, well so what? You’ve still had the experience. Now, I don’t know if this is how people feel. But I can’t say for certain that it isn’t.

When you get right down to it, I’d be intrigued to know how it feels, and how you handle the aftermath and some of the reactions that you get. But it’s not the sort of thing I’d ever be comfortable asking about. (Unless of course you’ve ever been in that position and you’d LIKE to tell me about it . . . )