Mastermind
The veteran quiz Mastermind (BBC2) is gradually turning into Noel Edmonds’s Telly Addicts. That suits me, but it can’t be what Magnus Magnusson had in mind when he launched his quiz for polymaths, 50 years ago.
One contestant in this grand final chose the sitcom Extras as his specialist subject. That’s hardly classic comedy, even by the hit-and-miss standards of its star, Ricky Gervais.
Another wore a waistcoat and flat cap like gangster Tommy Shelby, to answer questions on Peaky Blinders in an earlier round. This time, in his general knowledge round, he was asked: ‘Pogo Patterson, Gripper Stebson and Zammo McGuire were characters in what children’s TV school drama series that ran from 1978 to 2008?’
‘Grange Hill!’ I yelled at the screen. Noel would be proud of me.
Quiz: The veteran quiz Mastermind (BBC2) is gradually turning into Noel Edmonds’s Telly Addicts
And when an executive from Aberdeen was interrogated on the life of the Roman Caesar Augustus, telly knowledge saved me again.
Inquisitor Clive Myrie asked what fruit the emperor ate shortly before his death. Fans of the 1970s toga drama I, Claudius know that it was poisoned figs — with Brian Blessed as Augustus, done in by his wicked wife Livia (Sian Phillips).
Earlier this year, I noted that Clive’s laidback style does some contestants no favours, and he hasn’t improved. He drawls, he chuckles, he prevaricates. Asked to name the levy that replaced purchase tax in 1973, one finalist said, ‘Vat’. Clive clarified his answer: ‘Vee Ay Tee,’ but gave him the point anyway.
Either it’s right or it’s wrong — and if it’s right, don’t waste valuable seconds on a correction.
Two stars: One contestant in this grand final chose the sitcom Extras as his specialist subject. That’s hardly classic comedy, even by the hit-and-miss standards of its star, Ricky Gervais
But he really messed up after Stuart Field, an administrator from Sheffield, had a barnstorming first round, with 14 correct answers, giving the last as the bleeper signalled he was out of time.
Clive gave a little laugh of appreciation — and then began the next question. ‘When . . .’ he said, and continued, ‘I’ve started so I’ll finish.’ Stuart duly scored another point.
There was no ambiguity, no overlap. The round was over, but Clive asked another question.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter, since Stuart raced ahead on general knowledge and won the trophy by a clear three points. But sloppiness like that risks reducing Mastermind to the status of a pub quiz.
How To Build A Motor Car
Nothing threatens the status of the Bentley, a marque so swish that the late Queen herself travelled in a bespoke model.
How To Build A Motor Car (Yesterday) followed the construction of a Bentley Continental GT in sequin blue, a metallic pigment created to copy the sequin of a customer’s favourite dress.
Other cars have been finished in colours inspired by lipstick, nail varnish or even a Hawaiian shirt — ‘tricky,’ pointed out a technician, ‘because those shirts have a lot of different colours in them’.
Pieces of pleasantly educational information, not too heavy on statistics, trundled across the screen, in the fashion of a factory assembly line. We learned that Bentley’s upholsterers use hides from bulls, not cows, because male skins won’t have stretch marks.
Flashy: How To Build A Motor Car (Yesterday) followed the construction of a Bentley Continental GT in sequin blue, a metallic pigment created to copy the sequin of a customer’s favourite dress
Narrator Michael Griffiths, whose voice has the low growling purr of a luxury vehicle, informed us that the stage where the engine is assembled and matched to the car’s body is called the ‘marriage table’. That sounds reassuringly Victorian and suggests there might be cake involved.
The documentary took an unexpected side road in the final five minutes, when we glimpsed a concept car, the EXP 100GT. Controlled by artificial intelligence, it will be self-driving — unless, suggested a publicist, you want to take the wheel while ‘cruising through the Alps’.
Yes, on a mountain precipice, I don’t think I’d trust a robot chauffeur.
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