Your Starter For Glory

Last night's University Challenge was a blinder, the best I've ever seen. It's not the first time there's been a tie break, but the passion of the contestants was something to behold, one of them so passionate in fact he has apparently become an internet and twitter sensation. Well, I don't know about that and it's not the first tie break ever, but it was the way the game was played, with feeling and gusto that made it stand out.

If you're not familiar with the format teams compete over a starter question, if a team interrupts and gets the question wrong they lose five points, get it right and not only do they get ten points but they also get three bonus questions where the other team cannot buzz in. Normally there is no point interrupting a bonus question, but Wolfson College Cambridge, playing School of Oriental and African Studies did this many times in order to avoid wasting so much as a second when playing catch up.

It seemed contagious too as SOAS made several interruptions on starter questions and lost points accordingly. Despite several penalties on both sides and the lead changing constantly, it was a very high scoring game for both teams, finally resolved by a sudden death starter question after a tie at full time so to speak. Remember, interrupt a starter question and get it wrong and you  lose five points, so the pressure was intense. It was also fascinating as a match between old and young effectively as well, something most unusual. I won't spoil it for you in case you watch it on iPlayer, catchup or whatever.

Anyway, all eight contestants were post grad students, but the SOAS team were considerably older. I watch BBC's Mastermind too, where I can usually answer a smattering of questions, but University Challenge is in another ball park completely, it has always amazed me that people so young can have learned so much, in so short a time. Sadly the speed of it means I fail to retain much of what I should be learning, but as entertainment, when something happens the way it did last night, it's hard to beat.

You can find out for yourself whether the older or the younger team prevailed. It's to be hoped that the losers will go through as one of the top losers. Sadly a contestant on one team appears to have died between filming and screening, sincere condolences. This was TV history.

Something for the hobbyist

Self Serving BBC

BBC News had a technical problem with a report on their main story about NHS Providers saying they cannot meet targets with their current funding, let alone go to a full seven day service as politicians, most of whom have no experience running a business, let alone a big corporation, have decreed. BBC switched from the report even though we could have heard what was being said and only the picture of the reporter was faulty.

Later in the broadcast the programme did a self serving piece of promotion for its own radio show 'The Archers', as if the story line hasn't had enough publicity. This is soap, not news, not real life, they didn't go back to the lost report at all. It's no longer much of a news report at all. Disgraceful. thank goodness for Channel 4 News.

Malcolm Snook

BBC Crimewatch Debacle

Members of the public were outraged to see the BBC using a cliffhanger ending to get people to tune in to Crimewatch again next week. The tragic story was about a teenage girl raped and murdered many years ago. However, due to advances in the understanding of DNA the killer has now been caught and jailed. Well that's good, however.......

The BBC clearly should not have treated this as a drama, or as something to achieve ratings, but the BBC has its defence all ready. They say the story needed two episodes to be told. Now, forgive me if I'm wrong, but I think everyone is missing something.

Surely the whole raison d'être  of Crimewatch is to get the public to help solve UNSOLVED crimes, not tell the story of solved murders at such length that it takes TWO episodes. The BBC are trying to defend the indefensible and  popular dancing Jeremy might have had the foresight to just say no.

Malcolm Snook

Plain Rude

On the whole Channel 4's F1 coverage is pretty good, but David Coulthard's arrogance in trying to buttonhole Valterie Bottas who was already involved in an interview with a lady presenter, from his home country, on the grid at Monza was appalling. DC did apologise later, no doubt after a flood of complaints, but at the time he didn't think he'd done anything wrong, saying something along the lines that Bottas thinks he's all big time now he's qualified fifth.

I haven't put that in quotes because it may not be word perfect from memory, but it is the gist of what he said, accusing Bottas of the very arrogance he actually displayed. We all make mistakes in the heat of the moment, but plain good manners, should be a basic human reaction, it wasn't a leg pull or a mistimed joke, it was BAD.

Malcolm Snook