Mastermind 2024 Grand Final Review (spoilers)

Let me start by reiterating that I will be discussing the results of last night’s grand final, so please don’t read further until you’ve watched it. You’ll enjoy it, I promise.

Okay, so if you read my preview and have watched the final you’ll know that my predictions were even worse than usual, and that’s saying something! In terms of prognostications I set the bar for myself remarkably low and consistently fail to live up to it.

Let’s get on to the show itself then. First up was Oli Hanson. Oli was answering on the Wimbledon Singles Championships from the year 2000 to the present day. The star turn in his filmed insert was a personal message from the great Sir Andy Murray. I cannot imagine the amount of work involved in learning about all the matches and personalities involved in 23 years of Wimbledon Singles – I only managed the one point. I mentioned in my preview that I was a little worried about Oli’s Specialist scores. He did well again but again left some room for other contenders to put daylight between themselves and him, scoring 8 and 3 passes.

Ruth Hart was the joint highest scoring of the finalists in her first round heat. Yet she was also the lowest scoring of the finalists in her semi-final. Ruth was answering on Francis Bacon (the painter), who was unable to ring her with encouragement having passed away in 1992. Ruth served up a textbook demonstration of how deal with a specialist round in the grand final. She was asked fifteen questions and she answered all of them correctly. It’s an absolutely dream scenario, and presented the nightmarish prospect to her fellow contenders that they needed to produce their absolute best to make sure they were still in the contest by the time that the GK came round.

Helen Lippell cheerfully revealed that she was on her third go at Mastermind. Now, here’s a point. Back in the good old days before Covid, at least one of the finalists would win the filmed insert lottery and get a trip abroad. Helen, surely, would have been sent off to Greece bearing in mind that she was answering on the Ancient Greek poet Sappho. Not this time. Those days seem to have gone now with far more emphasis on the contenders’ families. I’d have wished them good luck if they’re tried to do that with my lot in 2007. Coming back to the point, Helen’s round on Sappho served to illustrate just how great Ruth’s round had been. I thought Helen had a very good round, but Ruth’s round had rendered the merely good redundant. Helen’s score of 10 meant that she was still five behind.

So to the frist of Clark’s predicted podium finishers, Sarah Thornton. Sarah was answering on The Mercury Music Prize and her message of encouragement came from Lauren Laverne. Sarah had scored consistently well on specialist in both heat and semi, where she had achieved 12 in both. She would need all of that, and more to put herself into contention. Fair play to Sarah, she gave it a good old lash, but by the end of the round she fell just a tiny bit short of her best, ending on 10.

So to Thomas Nelson, the teacher whom I predicted would win to become my successor as the last schoolteacher to win a series of Mastermind. In Thomas’ filmed insert he spoke of his disappointment in losing his heat despite scoring 26, and his subsequent joy in being invited to take part in the semi finals as a replacement. He also spoke of his joy in teaching – ah, I remember those days, long ago in the past for myself, sadly. The Marquis de Lafayette was apparently unable to make a call despite being Thomas’ specialist. Maybe the battery on his phone was dead. Thomas’ best score on specialist was 12 in the heats. I reckoned that if he could just improve slightly on that then he’d be in with a chance. Well, he came close, scoring another 12. 3 points is a bit of a mountain to climb though.

Finally George Twigg, my dark horse. George had performed admirably on specialist in both heat and semi. George was answering on Clara Schumann and during his filmed insert he revealed that like Oli he was a University Challenge old boy. George fell just a couple of points short of his specialist best, scoring 10. Now, don’t get me wrong, in the current era of Mastermind a score of 10 is a good performance in a grand final. But being five points off the lead really isn’t where you’d like to be.

So, at the halfway stage it looked as if we were left with a two horse race. Yes, I know all 6 contenders could still theoretically do it, but you have to go back to 2017 for the last time any contender overturned a 3 point lead at half time to win. That was LAM reader Isabelle Heward. In the last five finals the leader at half time has gone on to win. Would that be the case last night?

Oli returned to the chair looking and sounding like a man in shock. He passed a bit more than I would have expected based on his previous 2 GK rounds, but he did seem to rally as the round went on. He finished having scored a battling 13. Oli, if by any chance you read this, you’re a young chap. You could easily have another final appearance in the future, and your GK is only going to keep improving. Give it a couple of years, and then give it another lash, that’s my advice.

Helen Lippell went next to provide a great demonstration of how experience in the Mastermind chair can really help you in the long run. Helen gave us a great GK round. She scored an excellent 15 to raise the target to 25. I thought that this was maybe just a couple of points down on a potentially winning total, but it was certainly enough to give everyone left some food for thought.

Sarah Thornton came close. Like Helen she started on 10. Fifteen would not actually have been enough to put her into the lead, bearing in mind she had passes from specialist while Helen had none. She provided an excellent round of her own, though, finishing with 24. She can be justifiably proud of her contribution to this year’s Mastermind.

George Twigg, like all of this year’s contenders, is a dedicated quizzer and he set off in his round meaning business. George knew that the best way to rack up a cricket score is to snap out your answer just as the last syllable of the question is dying on Clive’s lips, and he started off at a tremendous clip. During the round a couple of questions pulled him up short and he passed once as well. The 12 and one pass he ended with is a good score. But he’d needed something outstanding.

Which brings us to the outsider in our two-horse race. Thomas had to score 3 points more than Ruth to force a tie break. As I said earlier, that’s a mountain to climb. In my own final all those years ago I was lying in third at the turn around, two points behind the leader. I thought that this was too much of a gap and even when I’d scored my best GK round I did think I would be just a point short of a tie break. Thomas had scored 16 on GK in the heat, and 14 in the semi. Great scores, and so if he could match this level of performance then he had a chance. He tried, he certainly tried, and he came close to his best with another 14. When he returned to his chair a rueful expression passed briefly across his face. I think he knew that this was just a couple of points down on what he needed.

Let’s put Ruth’s task into perspective. She’d scored 14 on GK in the heats and 10 in the semi. 10 would not be enough this time out. Crucially though there is that little bit more time in the final. For the first half of the round the coin was in the air as she missed a couple. Ruth kept her head, though, and in the second half of the round any doubts evaporated. She scored a good 13, which was enough to hand her the title and the win, with 28 points. I liked the way that Clive didn’t bother telling her the score, just “you ARE the Mastermind champion!”

Many, many congratulations, Ruth. You played brilliantly and deserved to win. Enjoy!

Thomas, I once again apologise for tipping you and hope you’ll come back this way soon. Someone needs to be the next schoolteacher to win Mastermind. It could well be you.

Oli, Helen, Sarah and George, congratulations on acquitting yourselves admirably throughout this series. Thank you for the entertainment you and all the contenders have provided. I say this a lot, but it’s worth repeating, that without people willing to put themselves on the line and to give up their time to prepare specialist subjects, we don’t have a series. Congratulations as well to Clive and the production team for another highly enjoyable and successful series. Roll on the next!

The Details

Oli Hanson	The Wimbledon Singles Championships 2000 - Present	8	3	13	4	21	7
Ruth Hart	Francis Bacon	15	0	13	0	28	0
Helen Lippell	Sappho	10	0	15	0	25	0
Sarah Thornton	The Mercury Music Prize	10	2	14	1	24	3
Thomas Nelson	The Marquis de Lafayette	12	0	14	0	26	0
George Twigg	Clara Schumann	10	0	12	1	22	1

Ivory, Apes and Peacocks? Unlikely.

What, still burbling on about Mastermind, Dave? Yeah, ‘fraid so. I can’t help it and be fair, the Grand Final is tomorrow evening.

Now, contrary to popular belief, when I meet someone for the first time I don’t say “Hi, I’m Dave Clark and I won Mastermind in 2008.” Or something similar. But it happens sometimes that I might be with someone who points it out, or after I’ve known them for some time then it might come up in conversation. The person will almost invariably ask two questions. The first is always “What was your specialist subject?” Not subjects, you note. I always tell them my final subject. Then the next question is usually “What did you win?” I’ve built up a little monologue over the years, building up from if you’re beaten in the first round you get nothing, if you’re beaten in the semi final you get nothing, if you come sixth in the final you get nothing – and so on right up to, but if you win, not only do you become the Mastermind of the United Kingdom, you also get (imaginary drumroll followed by dramatic pause) – a glass bowl!

Of course, you get intangible things as well. So while you might not get ivory, apes and peacocks – well, there’s no might not about it – you probably do get a huge sense of satisfaction. In my case, relief as well. I knew I was a good quizzer by 2007, but I didn’t have a great deal to prove it. Three previous TV appearances had not gone well. The really great thing about winning Mastermind is that the show is still to some extent in the public consciousness. If you win Mastermind, then you don’t have to explain to people what it is all about. This sounds pathetic, but I had a burning desire in 2007 to do really well in the show, by which I mean to reach the Grand Final. When I won, though, it had a marvellously cleansing effect. Yes, I am still competitive. I still want to win every quiz I enter. But I haven’t had that unhealthy, burning need ever since. Yes, I entered both Brain of Britain and Only Connect, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the experiences despite being comfortably beaten in both finals. My MENSA membership has lapsed now, and so it’s unlikely that I’ll play in Brain of Mensa again, but I still enjoyed all the times I played in the competition, even though I only won it twice.

There are things which didn’t happen. I never expected to get any kind of media career out of it, and I didn’t. I never expected to get recognised in the street, and with 2 exceptions, I didn’t. I did expect to get some kind of recognition from my school and from my local education authority . . . but I didn’t. Mark “The Beast” Labbett, whom I’ve known for a long time, greeted me after the final was shown and said that he bet my local authority were over the moon and making a big fuss of me. He’d had a letter of commendation from South Gloucestershire just for appearing on Discovery Mastermind. Nope. Not even a congratulatory email from Neath and Port Talbot. Just as disappointing was that I didn’t receive any acknowledgement from my own school’s governing body. This was after 20 years’ good service, and a slew of positive publicity for the school in the local media following the win. I was invited to a reception in the Mayor’s Parlour, but the Mayor informed me that this was his own initiative and had nothing to do with the school or the authority. The Chairman of Governors turned up, and I’m glad I had the good grace not to mention the lack of acknowledgement from the Governing body he headed. Unfortunately, I’m gifted with the kind of memory that can’t forget these things. Thankfully this only cast the smallest of shadows over what was pretty much a king for a day kind of experience.

For there were things I never expected that did happen too. For example, being invited back to my old school in Ealing to make a speech and present some prizes. Getting invited to take part in the Get Connected charity quiz auction on a number of occasions. Being as my final subject was the History of London Bridge I was also invited to participate in the banquet for the 900^th anniversary of Old London Bridge held in Fishmongers Hall in the presence of the Lord Mayor of London. For a Londiniophile (or whatever the term for a lover of London is) like me, this was the most fantastic experience. I’m sure tomorrow night’s winner will have opportunities they never expected too.

The Great Fred Housego (Fred, if you ever read this, my offer to take you out for a pint which I first made years ago still stands) once offered this advice to all future winners – ride the bus for all it’s worth because it doesn’t stop twice. Amen. I can’t really add a great deal to that other than, for tomorrow night’s champion, winning Mastermind is unlikely to change your life, but for a while at least it can certainly enhance it.

Pob lwc.

Why don't Schoolteachers win Mastermind any more? (Answers on a postcard please)

Yes, gentle reader, it’s time to return to a well trodden subject in these here parts, namely, teachers and Mastermind. Specifically schoolteachers and Mastermind.

I’ll tell you what brings this on. Yesterday I tipped Thomas Nelson to win tomorrow’s grand final. I never even stopped to think what his profession might be. A quick check on the iplayer this morning revealed that he is in fact a teacher. A schoolteacher. Thomas, if by any chance you ever read this, I apologise profusely for tipping you and I sincerely hope that you will strip me of the honour of being the last schoolteacher to win a series of Mastermind.

17 years ago, in 2007 (yeah, I know the records say that I won in 2008, but the final was filmed in June 2007) I never thought that I would be in the last year of my teaching career before another schoolteacher would win. Should Thomas not win tomorrow night then I will be retired before the next schoolteacher wins. Before the next anyone wins in 2005. I should point out that I am not the last educator to win a series -the great Ian Bayley and the great Clive Dunning, both MM and BOB double winners, come to mind immediately. But none of the champions since have been schoolteachers. Why should that be?

Well, of course, I do have my own ideas about that. If you know much about the history of Mastermind you’ll know that it’s first decade was pretty much dominated by schoolteachers and college lecturers. The first two years were won by college lecturers Nancy Wilkison and Patricia Owen, while the next two were won by schoolteachers Elizabeth Horrocks and John Hart. The next two years were won by civil servant Roger Pritchard and retired ambassador Sir David Hunt. Schoolteacher Rosemary James won in 78, student Philip Jenkins (who went on to become a university lecturer) in 79. The great Fred Housego won in 1980, but the following year schoolteacher Leslie Grout followed in 1981.

Even though the number of educator winners started to tail off in the 80s and 90s, we still saw schoolteacher Margaret Harris win in 1984, schoolteacher David Edwards win in 1990 and lecturer George Davidson win in 1994. Even after the first TV version ended, educators still kept winning with Robert Gibson and Stephen Fellows in 1998 and 2000 respectively. The first TV revival, 2001’s Discovery Mastermind was won by schoolteacher Michael Penrice.

The famine really came in with the revived BBC TV series, beginning in 2003. Retired lecturer Geoff Thomas won in 2006, schoolteacher me won in 2007/8, lecturers Ian Bayley in 2011 and Clive Dunning in 2014, then . . . well, I think that’s it.

Forgive me if I concentrate on schoolteachers now but that’s really my area of knowledge and experience. All of this begs the question – why don’t schoolteachers win Mastermind any more? As a body, are schoolteachers less intelligent than they were in the 70s/80s? Is everybody else smarter than they were back then? In both cases I don’t think so. I do think that more people have more access to university education now – it was between 10 and 20 percent through the 70s and 80s and something approaching forty percent by the 2020s.

Of course, you don’t need a university education to win Mastermind. So there’s probably other factors involved. Now, when I began my teaching career in 1987 a lot of the old guys and gals in the staffroom would often make the point that teaching had changed for the worst. Nowadays, when I’m not actually off school with depression and anxiety I often say the same thing. But in all honesty, I do not know how a schoolteacher now would find the time to prepare properly for a Mastermind campaign. Nor the energy. Then there’s the change in quizzing culture since the late 80s when I started, let alone the early 70s when Mastermind did. I don’t know how much of a quiz background any of tomorrow’s finalists have but I honestly believe that if you have at least a quiz league background then you have a big advantage over anyone who doesn’t. I would argue that there is far more opportunity to play regularly in high level quizzes now than there would have been in the 70s, for example. It’s not always the highest general knowledge scorer who wins the grand final, but it’s never the lowest.

Well, whatever the case, I wish all of our finalists the very best of luck, and especially I hope that Thomas can beat the curse of the Clark tip.

Mastermind Grand Final Subjects

You don’t have to be a Mastermind yourself to figure out that I’m really looking forward to tomorrow night’s Grand Final. I’ve already given you my take on the runners and riders, so let’s do the same for the specialist subjects.

Now, by rights, with six subjects my specialist aggregate could be my highest of the whole series. Not so sure, though. Here’s the six –

Wimbledon Singles Championships since 2000. I reckon I should get two, possibly three.

The artist Francis Bacon – I’ll be disappointed if I don’t get any but gobsmacked if I manage more than a couple.

The ancient Greek poet Sappho – maybe general knowledge might brig me a point, but there’s little chance of any more

The Mercury prize – again, one maybe two maybe none.

The French Revolutionary the Marquis de Lafayette – ditto

French composer and pianist Clara Schumann – nul points.

I don’t have a ‘banker’ amongst all of these. I’d be gobsmacked if I got more than 10 altogether.

Mastermind 2024 Grand Final Preview

 The Tale of the Tape 

For each contender the top row is the semi final stats, the second row is the first round stats and the third is the average of the two.

Ruth Hart	The novels of Dame Muriel Spark	10	0	10	2	20	2
		12	0	14	0	26	0
		11	0	12	1	23	1
Helen Lippell	British Prime Ministers of the 18th century	11	0	13	0	24	0
		12	0	9	0	21	0
		11.5	0	11	0	22.5	0
Thomas Nelson	Sir Bobby Robson	12	0	14	0	26	0
		10	0	16	0	26	0
		11	0	15	0	26	0
Oli Hanson	World Athletics Championships 2011 to the Present Day	11	0	12	2	23	2
		9	0	12	0	21	0
		10	0	12	1	22	1
George Twigg	The Prose Edda	12	-	13	0	25	0
		13	0	10	0	23	0
		12. 5	0	11. 5	0	24	0
Sarah Thornton	Happy Valley	12	0	14	1	26	1
		12	0	11	1	23	1
		12	0	12. 5	1	24. 5	1

 

Okay, it’s that time of the year when I embarrass myself by making predictions about the Mastermind Grand Final. I have been singularly unsuccessful in the last few years, but there you go. For what it’s worth, and in the order in which they won their place in the final :-

Sarah Thornton

Sarah won the first semi. Now, in both heat and semi her specialist rounds were exemplary. It doesn’t automatically mean she will do well in specialist in the final, but it’s a useful indicator that she is likely to. For Sarah I can’t help thinking it will come down to GK. If she gets close to the performance from the semi, then she could be there. However her GK in the heat was good, but not outstanding. Prediction – amongst the meals, but silver or bronze most likely.

George Twigg

Like Sarah, George’s specialist rounds have been excellent. I believe tha this will be another very tight final, and the ability to bring out a top scoring specialist round could turn out to be the difference between the winner and the rest. George himself said that his 10 on GK in the heats was disappointing. I think he’ll need a round closer to the GK from his semis. Let’s not forget that George took out the top scorer from the heats, Stephen Dodding in his semi. Prediction – Silver, but gold would not be a shock either.

Oli Hanson

Oli is the opposite to Sarah and George. He’s consistently scored well in GK but only managed good rather than great rounds on Specialist. While his general knowledge has been high in both rounds, it hasn’t bee quite high enough that you can see him overhauling everyone else if he’s a couple of points behind at half time. Prediction – not on the podium.

Thomas Nelson

We are in the unusual position that the most impressive performer of his group of Mastermind finalists did not actually win his heat. Thomas lost by a point to Peter Wilson in the heats, but was brought in when one of the heat winners could not make it to the semis. Well, Peter Wilson did not make it to the final. We’ve seen enough times in the past that someone who has achieved excellence in heat and semi performs below par in the final, so this has to be born in mind, but Thomas seems to have an advantage in GK. Prediction – champion.

Helen Lippell

In all honesty the tale of the tape suggests that the final is so close that it could be won by any of these 6 contenders if they have a great performance on the night. So make no mistake, Helen is certainly in with a chance. Based on what we’ve seen I think it’s a little less likely she will win than three we’ve already mentioned. But what do I know? Prediction – not on the podium.

Ruth Hart

Well, so far it’s really been a game of 2 halves for Ruth. Along with Thomas she was the best performer out of the finalists in her first round heat. Yet she went on to have the lowest winning score of any of the semis. So you really do have to pay yer money and take yer chance on what kind of performance she will have. Can she win? Certainly. But I have to go on the balance of probability. Prediction – not on the podium.

So – Thomas, I can only apologise. The Clark tip for the top is usually the kiss of death for any contender.