Quiz of the Weeks News

Quiz of the Week’s News

In a new feature for 2012 on The Quiz Addict, I will be posting a Quiz of the Weeks News to help you remember the events of the past seven days and test yourself before heading out to those quizzes with the Current Affairs rounds. I aim to get these posted each Sunday Afternoon but Ill see how it goes. This weeks is very entertainment based as there has been little else in the news! Answers will be posted in the comments box so you can test yourself straight away….

 
1.       Which former Arsenal striker is returning to the club this week on a short term loan deal?
2.       Which shoe retailer had to axe over a thousand jobs this week as it entered administration?
3.       Two countries “skipped the dateline” this week meaning they lost a day and had no 30^th December this year. Name either?
4.       Who plays Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, due out in cinemas this week?
5.       What did a British teenager make 756 of between Xmas eve and Boxing Day?
6.       Katherine Jenkins announced her split from which Tv Presenter this week?
7.       What was the name of the Chimpanzee in the Tarzan films who died aged 80 this week?
8.       Which Singers fourth marriage ended this week after only 16 days?
9.       Which group landed the Christmas Number one in the music charts?
10.   Who hosted a special edition of Jim’ll Fix it over the festive break?
11.   Which Kylie Minogue song was this week announced as the most played song of the past decade?
12.   Which Tv Presenter revealed he would have called his son Wolf Galactic if his wife did not stop him?
13.   What is the name of the new leader of North Korea?
14.   Daniel Craig stars in an adaptation of a Steig Larrson novel released in Cinemas this week. Whats the name of the film?
15.   Darren Clarke and which other golfer received honours this week in the Queens annual New Year honours?
 

Radio Times This Week

A quick quiz related entry based on this weeks edition of the Radio Times. With a whole host of tv quizzes currently running, they have devoted a few pages to questions from the actual shows so us quiz fans have a treat of 60 or so questions from Mastermind, Eggheads and University Challenge to feats on. Worth picking up!

Sales Sales Sales

I ventured out today to hit the shops for a few bits and bobs and a look around the town to see what quiz related bargains I could pick up and noticed one or two very good bargains in chain stores that may be worth brining to your attention -

The Works are selling Pears Cyclopedia 2008 Edition which I would recommend highly for only 99p. The book is choked full of usual quiz titbits and even though this is the 2008 edition its well worth that price to add to your collection.

Also I have been after Trevor Montagues A-Z of England and Ireland for some time and it was on sale in BargainBookTime which I believe is a chain store for only £4.99.

If anyone else notices any quiz books or reference books in sales please let me know and Ill post them up!

2011 - A Year in Quizzing!

2011 is almost at an end and as usual at this time of year I tend to look back on the year that has gone and what better way to do so than look at the year in quizzing.

Back on 22^nd May 2011 I created and issued my first post on the Quiz Addict Blog, not knowing where or how it would end up, if anybody would view the site and how much I would be motivated to keep it running. Almost 7 months on and with the blog still going strong I find myself enjoying it more than ever, finding new ways to make it entertaining and gaining more readers. 2011 has been a time in my life that has seen some big changes so the autumn saw the blog suffer but its back now and I intend to make it better than ever in 2012 with new features, regular posting and a whole host of other goodies.

Some of the highlights of the year and notable mentions………..

1)      Quiz Shows of the Year

As you can tell from reading my blog Tv Quiz Shows are a personal obsession of mine. Whilst the usual have entertained me this year with great series’ of Mastermind and University Challenge, as well as enjoying the likes of Million Pound Drop, Eggheads and The Chase but there are three shows I have enjoyed a lot as I have discovered them this year.

Only Connect – Shame on me for only discovering this towards the end of the year but now the series has already become one of my favourites. Fun, addictive and utterly engrossing, Only Connect is something all quizzers should pay attention to.

Quiz Trippers -  Channels 4 “Come Quiz with Me” of sorts, this was a fun little show I am hoping to see more off. Quiz Trippers had a lot of criticism but for some relaxing tv to unwind to over tea after work it ticked all my boxes.

Cash Cab – Alright, so by no means a new show but one I discovered on Quest Tv this year. Cash Cab is quick fire quizzing in a simple no frills format and I thoroughly enjoy it!

2)      Quiz Book of the Year

This year has seen my collection of reference and quiz books expand massively. This has been the first year I have purchased Trevor Montagues A-Z of Everything and that has been used massively so the nod must go to that. On the Tip of My Tounge, I Used to Know That, Pears Cyclopedia and The Danergous Book for Boys all must get mentions but its Montagues tome that deserves the main plaudit. As an essential to a quizzer as the pub quiz itself!

3)      Quiz Website of the Year

Two websites stand out this year for me and other than here, there are two website I spend most of my quizzing time on.

A close second place would be Quizzing.co.uk, the home of the British Quiz Association. With a lively forum and plenty of quizzing discussion this is one of the sites I make sure I visit almost every day. The site has undergone changes in the last few months so the once fun multiplayer games have gone, hopefully only in the short term, but either way the site is friendly, welcoming and somewhere I intend to carry on visiting in 2012.

But one site above all has proven to be provide me with more pleasure than any other than that is David Clarks Life After Mastermind Blog. I cannot recall how, earlier in the year, I stumbled on this site but ever since I have been reading it on a daily basis. David is a friendly chap who puts great effort into the site and has a true passion for quizzing. Having appeared on and won Mastermind as well as appearances on Only Connect, WWTBAM, Eggheads and Brain of Britain amongst others David knows what he is talking about and his blog is a joy to read. Also add in the fact the very helpful Quiz Masters eye feature and his range of ebooks, and you have a fantastic online presence in the quizzing community. Very much the inspiration for TQA!

4)      Personal Quiz Moment of the Year

Well there could be a few contenders here but my first victory at the Moorcock Quiz in Peterlee must be up there as well as, at the same quiz on another week, being the only quizzer in a full room to answer a questions right.

But in all just simply getting out there, going to as many quizzes as possible and getting the much needed experience of being in a pub quiz has been my personal highlight.

So as 2011 draws to a close I look back fondly at my Quizzing and look forward to an even more quiz filled year! Now to come up with some quizzing resolutions…………

Triviador!

Well, a few months back I recommended the excellent City Challenge game on Facebook that I was hooked on for a while, but Triviador is my latest obsessions and a quality example of a multiplayer online quiz game.

Head over to Facebook and try it for yourself but to cut a long story short each Triviador battle consists of 3 players, all actual human players played over the Internet. Its a very popular game so you never have trouble finding people to play with. You start off with one base on a map of the world and by answering questions correctly you can build your presence on the map. This is the first round and the game then moves on to a second round in which you "invade" and "defend" sections of the map to acquire points and places. should your base fall you are out of the game. Whoever is top of the points table after 5 rounds wins. It only takes 10 minutes or so per game is is really fun.

There are other things like leaderboards, rankings, xp and perks to help you but the best idea I would suggest is to simply head over and play it. Before you are allowed online you have to have a game against computer opponents anyway to get used to it!

Hopefully I will see some of you on there and feel free to add me to Facebook Daniel Fullard (fully234@hotmail.com)!

Celebrity Mastermind - Episode 4

Celebrity Mastermind - Episode 4

First of all, a quick mention that there is no write up or comment on Celebrity Mastermind episode 3 which aired yesterday. I did watch the show but was watching it with family at a get together so rather than go back using iplayer to make mention of events Ill simple move onto the fourth episode of Celebrity Mastermind which aired tonight.  

Contendors - 

Matthew Hoggard

Justin Moorhouse

Jules Hudson

Ray Fearon

Cricket legend Matthew Hoggard opening proceedings with questions on Friends, a show I did watch during its run. It was only the first two seasons which was a long time ago and I only managed 3 with Hoggard only fairing slightly better on 5. I have no memory of Julia Roberts being in the show though so thats at least something learned today!

Jules Hudson had Operation Market Garden which I could recall a few bits and bobs about, but obviously less than I thought suffice to say that I was no where near Hudson's impressive total of 12 which is one of, if not the, highest score seen so far in this series of Celebrity Mastermind on the specialist round.

Justin Moorhouse chose Les Dawson, way before my time so the handful I got didn't compare to Moorhouse's 11. Another great total.

Finally into the chair was Ray Fearon, who I spent most of the round trying to remember what he had been in. His chosen subject of Othello was the play I studied for A-Level and seemingly have forgotten most of it scoring a lowly 5 compared to the 10 scored by Fearon. 

Shaping up to be a close edition of Celebrity Mastermind tonight!

Standings after Round 1 - 

Jules Hudson - 12
Justin Moorhouse - 11
Ray Fearon - 10
Matthew Hoggard - 5


As usual their was the usual bit of chit chat before Matthew Hoggard started the tough task of putting himself back into the race with his General Knowledge round. As always with Celebrity Mastermind he was drip fed some easy questions. A very easy set, I managed to get all but two with Hoggard struggling a little more scoring 8 for the round bringing his total to 13 and confining him to last place for sure you would think.

Ray Fearon was next and Humprheys must have been running out of ideas by asking "What makes Shakespeare a genius?". Fearon got off to a terrible start and it got worse as he froze in the famous chair.He had an easy set and I am sure having not been in the chair he would have scored a lot more, but nevertheless he scored only 3 points meaning he matches Hoggards 13. There have been quite a few celebrities fail in the Celebrity Mastermind seat this series and I am sure Fearon is kicking himself.

Justin Moorhouse, who despite watching a heck a lot of stand up I have never actually heard off before, was next up. I did not know the fact about Tim Vine, Jeremy Vine's younger brother, having the the world record for most jokes in an hour. Moorhouse had a solid run and got off to a flyer, with a bit of humour added about the W in George W Bush. Gaining a score of 17 for the round, 28 overall and surely enough to win Celebrity Mastermind tonight.

Finally, Jules Hudson headed to the hot seat needing a tough 16 to win. Jules did not get off the best start though and a few wrong answers early on left him with an uphill struggle. 23 was the final score and Justin Moorhouse had stormed to victory on tonights Celebrity Mastermind!

Final Standings -


Justin Moorhouse - 28
Jules Hudson - 23
Ray Fearon - 13
Matthew Hoggard - 13



The general knowledge questions have been fare better on the last few Celebrity Mastermind shows thankfully and I have enjoyed them far more in the last few days. Celebrity Mastermind is having a few days rest and will return on Monday 2nd January which is turning into quite a night for TV quizzing!

Enjoy your New Year Celebrations whatever you are up to!

Celebrity Mastermind - Episode 2

Celebrity Mastermind - Episode 2

After being a bit disappointed with last nights first edition of Celebrity Mastermind with questions even more toned down than usual, I was hoping tonights show was a bit more interesting. Preparing this blog post I noticed the contenders for tonights Celebrity Mastermind....

Simon Day

Sophie Grigson

Steve Harley

Stacey Solomon 

All seemed fine until I realised what I had just read.....Stacey Solomon on Celebrity Mastermind. Please no! Without meaning to cause offence I find Stacey Solomon to be on the most irritating and annoying people on television. Even from a quiz show fanatic like myself getting through the rounds of Stacey Solomon on Celebrity Mastermind without either turning the sound off or changing channel would be tough.

Nevertheless, the second episode in the ten series run of Celebrity Mastermind got underway with Stacey Solomon herself with an interesting round on a favourite TV show of mine, The Inbetweeners. A little giggle as she walked to the seat reminded me of the reason I cannot stand this woman. Never mind, its for charity. Taking an age with the first question was a sign of things to do and she was dealt really easy questions. Pitifully easy. Stacey Solomon scored 5 points and was not too annoying but thankfully the round passed quickly. Bless her.

Sophie Grigson was next with Friends of the Highgate Cemetery trust....I managed to bluff a few questions and knew a couple more but was no where close to Sophie's score of 10, a very confident showing.

Simon Day came in with a subject I knew very little about, The Sopranos Series 1 and 2. I couldn't hazard a guess at most questions but Day held his own scoring 8 with one pass.

And finally Steve Harley took to the black chair to answer questions on TS Eliot and the Four Quartets....thats more like it! 9 point scored with the hardest questions of the round I feel, although cannot comment on how hard The Sopranos were.

So after the specialist subject round of Celebrity Mastermind Episode 2 the standings were - 

Sophie Grigson - 10
Steve Harley - 9

Simon Day -8
Stacey Solomon - 5

A three way battle was shaping up now and it would prove to be an interesting General Knowledge set. Being in last place Stacey Solomon came out first and set off on her Gk round after the usual Celebrity Mastermind chit chat. She tried to be cool and calm but got her usual laughs from the audience from her mention of a run for Prime Minister! This woman hates silence! Jacobs Creek brought a chuckle to me, not knowing who Rooney married was surprising and scoring 5 points was at least something. Now onto the reasonable contenders....

Simon Day was next, great to here of some new Fast Show episodes, to be called The Faster Show and shown online. He got a very gettable set of questions, evident by the fact he managed to get 15 and taking his total to 23 which is always a strong score on Celebrity Mastermind.

Steve Harley was next up getting off to a poor start by somehow thinking Jaws was a whale....the pressures of the chair! His score of 13 was not quite good enough to make up to Simon Day leaving only Sophie Grigson with the chance of toppling him to take tonights Celebrity Mastermind title.

Grigson struggled with a few answers on Mathematics and The Sound of Music and seemed again to be feeling the pressure of the chair. Missing a few gimmies cost her dearly and she score only 12 points in the final round gaining 22 points making Simon Day the winner.

Final Standings - 

Simon Day - 23
Steve Harley - 22
Sophie Grigson - 22
Stacey Solomon - 10


So another straight forward episode of Celebrity Mastermind with a good close first round leaving the General Knowledge round more open. The next episode of Celebrity Mastermind airs tomorrow  at the same time.

Kevin Ashman Sale of the Century

Another classic quiz video for you from youtube archives. Again another game show that was before my time, Sale of The Century. Eggheads own Kevin Ashman making his appearance here.

Christmas University Challenge - Final

Christmas University Challenge - Final

Trinity, Cambridge

Robin Bhattacharyya

Daisy Goodwin

John Lllyod

Edwin Stourton

Vs

Warwick

David Jean

Daisy Christodoulou

Christian Wolmar

Carla Mendonca

So, after a very enjoyable series of Christmas University Challenge we reached the final stage. One team has stood out more than others so far, in fact one player has stood out more than anyone. If you devised a drinking game around how many times you heard the phrase....

Warwick Christodoulou 

....then you would be pretty drunk by the half way point of the show normally. Daisy Christodoulou  has of course won the normal version of the show before with Warwick in 2007 and I would love to see the percentage of how many points she has earned her team during this run. Certainly she dominates the team and answers most of the questions with a superb general knowledge. 

Anyway, Christodoulou  took her seats with the others as the Christmas University Challenge final began. And guess who buzzed first? Warwick  Christodoulou!....glad I didn't start that drinking game now. 15-0 and Warwick were off the mark. Christian Wolmar moved in next with a buzz and Christodoulou then earned a round on Hamburgers (.....as in people from Hamburg!). A few minutes in and Warwick had opened up a lead of 40-0.

Robin Bhattacharyya   had gave his team victory in the semi final and popped up with some excellent knowledge on China to bring Trinity straight back into it. Bhattacharyya was not finished there giving his team control of an Astronomy round which narrowed the score to 40-35.

It was another Daisy, Daisy Goodwin (who always looks rather uncomfortable answering) who got the buzz that put Trinity ahead. Again Daisy Goodwin got the next buzz with a great Dickens question. It had been a while since we heard Warwick Christodoulou and with the team 85-35 down it was Trinity Bhattacharyya that was being heard far more often. Daisy Goodwin was also chipping in with some solid buzzes. 120-35 and Warwick were getting left far behind....Daisy Goodwin was turning into the star player. I quickly looked on Twitter at this point and Christodoulou's silence was being notice.

Wolmar gave Warwick their chance for some point's but they failed to score anything noteworthy and were still training. They would need a miraculous final ten minutes from here to win. 155-50 as the second picture ground kicked in. Warwick Christodoulou was heard again....but a wrong answer! What was going on! Too little to late when the next Warwick Christodoulou came. By this point it was well and truly over.

A real team effort all round from Trinity, the domination of Christodoulou simply did not occur whether it be a mixture of the question setting and the way Trinity played, but either way it was a fantastic performance all round. The final score ended with 235-60.

Therefore, your winners and champions of Christmas University Challenge 2011 are Trinity, not as I predicted.  Congratulations!

It has been a really enjoyable series, not toned down as much as other "Special" versions of notable quiz shows and indeed Christmas University Challenge has been watched by many people I know who would not dream of watching the main show. There was a worthy winner, some great quizzing entertainment and despite some odd scheduling I am sure the show has been a success and will return next year.

All that leaves me to say on this series of Christmas University Challenge is the phrase that is stuck in my head...

Warwick Christodoulou !

For those University Challenge fans the normal show returns as usual on Monday 2nd January. 

Celebrity Mastermind - Episode 1

Celebrity Mastermind - Episode 1

A new series of Celebrity Mastermind is a nice highlight to the festive season and this years run began tonight with the opening show. All the rules and format etc are the same as in the normal version but Celebrity Mastermind always tends to have far easier questions, in both the special subject and general knowledge. Still, I like many others I am sure always enjoy the Celebrity Mastermind series and with ten episodes in this series there is plenty to lap up.

Tonights Celebrity Mastermind contestants - 

Jay Rayner

OJ Borg

Simon Calder

Anthony Costa

After the jazzed up introductions featuring some posing celebrities, including OJ Borg in full Princess Leia attire, and the general introductions John Humphreys got the 2011/12 Celebrity Mastermind underway with Jay Rayner answering on Musicals of Stephen Sondheim. A good set of questions and some good knowledge shown gave Rayner 9 points.

OJ Borg stepped up next dressed as Princess Leia answering on the Star Wars original trilogy. I am a bit of a Star Wars fan and would have gotten the same score as OJ Borg, 10, on a very easy set of questions. I may be wrong but I think the subject of Star Wars has appeared in every single series of Celebrity Mastermind. Of course this set of questions is a classic example of how a specialist subject is severely toned down for the Celebrity Mastermind version as had this been the normal version the questions would have been much harder.

Simon Calder had chosen the History of Concorde, clearly knowing his planes and scored an impressive 12 points and my money at this point was on Calder to be the first Celebrity Mastermind.

Anthony Costa finished the first round off with Only Fools and Horses as his subject and he knew quite a few facts I didn't (the original name of the show etc) and got a slightly harder set than OJ Borg  but he held his own scoring 7 to keep him in contention.

First round scores - 

Simon Calder - 12
OJ Borg - 10
Jay Rayner - 9
Anthony Costa - 7


Anthony Costa began the first General Knowledge round of Celebrity Mastermind this year, Humphreys having a dig at Eurovision did not please this Eurovision fan and he brought up the tired political voting argument. The set of questions was very easy and very pop-culture orientated, with plenty of music in their to stop Costa looking daft. Definitely one of the easiest Celebrity Mastermind general knowledge sets I have seen scoring 8 points. Nothing learned from this round, really basic questions.

I was hoping that first set was a one off and Celebrity Mastermind would provide a better set of General Knowledge questions for Jay Rayner. He had a few harder questions in there but was feed about 10 points of easy fodder scoring 15 points to take his total to 24.

OJ Borg was next with another easy set but with only 11 he lost his second place. That meant Simon Calder, who I expected to have a better general knowledge than the rest of the contestants, needed only 13 to win. He had the hardest set of all but still managed to get 14 and took the first Celebrity Mastermind episode.

Enjoyable opening edition of the Celebrity Mastermind series but the general knowledge questions did seem to be way easier than even last years series. Good, family teatime viewing though.

Final Score  -


Simon Calder - 26
Jay Rayner - 24
OJ Borg - 21
Anthony Costa - 15

Christmas University Challenge - Semi Final 2

Christmas University Challenge - Semi Final 2

Magdalen, Oxford vs Trinity, Cambridge

Magdalen, Oxford

Luke Johnson

Sarah Healey

Alan Hollinghurst

Harry Mount

Vs

Trinity, Cambridge

Robin Bhattacharyya

Daisy Goodwin

John Lllyod

Edwin Stourton

Christmas University Challenge continued with a close looking semi final. After Warwick had breezed into the final last night the winner of this contest will face an uphill struggle in the grand final to be air tonight (Tuesday). Either way as with all the episodes of Christmas University Challenge this would prove to be very interesting!

Magdalen were probably narrow favourites going into the contest and backed this up by taking an early lead and when Sarah Healey buzzed in for a second time, giving the team a great set of questions on Shakespeare’s Sonnet, which Alan Hollinghurst lapped up to give the team a 40 point lead early on. Mount buzzed in to keep the momentum going for Magdalen and backed up with another string of correct answers they were beginning to move away and towards the Christmas University Challenge final!

Robin Bhattacharyya gave Trinity a chance gaining questions on publishing houses but only one correct answer but lost points when Bhattacharyya buzzed in with a wrong answer, soon remedying himself with a buzz. A fantastic picture round on old English translations of novel titles proved very tricky but two great answers were brining Trinity back. 60-25 Magdalen lead.

Bhattacharyya was in full flow by this point and gave his team control again with a strong buzz followed up by a couple of correct answers to continue the comeback.  Stourton recognised the information given about the Council of Europe. A few incorrect answers wither way and Magdalen were left with a 55-50 lead.

Robin Bhattacharyya was proving the star man and his buzz but his team in control moving to a 70-55 lead. Magdalen were very quiet until Hollinghurst recognised Elgar within 2 seconds to give them the music bonuses and one correct answer brought the semi final level at 70-70. Sarah Healey popped up for the first time in a while to give Magdalen a narrow lead but it was wide open. One of the tightest episodes of the whole run of Christmas University Challenge.

Goodwin knew that Bingo was a region of Japan to give Trinity the lead 95-75. A lot of teams seem to have come unstuck on art rounds in this series but Daisy Goodwins buzz gave Trinity a chance to show their knowledge of the subject launching into a maximum score round. 120-75 and the momentum was with Trinity.

Mount knew a questions on the Cheltenham Gold Cup to give his side a chance to get close to Trinity going into the final 5 minutes with the score 120-105. Robin Bhattacharyya was back though to recognise Uzebekistan as the only country ending in stand to be surrounded by others ending in stan. Some good answers gave Trinity a 40 point lead late on that could prove crucial in the path to the Christmas University Challenge final. Robin Bhattacharyya proved his worth again and his buzz that lead to questions on Scrabble values of capital cities looked likely to have secured it for Trinity.

Game over Trinity had a 160-105 victory. Robin Bhattacharyya was the vital player in the victory but being up against Warwick in the final and the might of Dasiy Christodoulou might prove too much.

Either way its been a fun series of Christmas University Challenge thus far and the final should prove very interesting indeed.

Brain of Britain - Round 1 - Match 7

Brain of Britain - Round 1 - Match 7

Brain of Britain continues on with the seventh match of the first round on the path to crowning the 2012 champion. Even though it was Boxing Day Radio 4 still aired the show in its usual time slot and this week’s contenders on Brain of Britain were....

Lizzy Brighton

Peter Brown

Angus Douglas

Colin Kidd

The first round opened with some tough questions including one on the name of the woman who voices the speaking clock!  Colin Kidd had managed to take four points giving him the lead. Into the second round and Lizzy Brighton came back strong with a hat trick of correct answers including a question on Five Children and It that had my mind racing. Peter's question in this round was very interesting and I had no idea the Blue Peter Annual had been discontinued after being published every year since 1965. Lizzy Brighton stole a point with an answer on racing author Dick Francis and when Colin Kidd failed to answer his question it placed her into a joint lead with everyone bar Peter Brown on 4 points. Shaping up to be a very very close round of Brain of Britain!

Another question in the next round on Children's TV/Literature (a lot of those this week!) and one on the standing of MIB initials which seemed to be obvious to be Men in Black, but was. Odd to see a plug on Brain of Britain for the new Men in Black Movie. Lizzy Brighton and Colin Kidd had moved into the lead with 5 by this point, Angus Douglas being one behind and Peter Brown yet to score but as always with Brain of Britain it could so easily turn around with one strong round.

A musical piece on Nyman had everyone stumped and by the midway stage Colin Kidd was leading the Brain of Britain heat.

A favourite section of mine on the show, beat the brains, was on a musical theme with a question failed on The Archers theme but a redemption in the follow up. Well done to Keith Ferris for beating the brains!

Back to the contest, Angus picked up on Lizzys wrong answer and Peter Brown eventually got off the mark picking up a superb hat trick of right answers. As always with Brain of Britain if you get a good run of questions it can change your entire game. I have known really great quizzers come unstuck on this show simply because the questions another player get favour them much more. Plus in the half an hour format it is hard to catch someone who picks up a strong lead in Brain of Britain.

Angus Douglas had now opened up a three point lead but it was still open to anyone. No one was really taking control or showing a likelihood to win. Peter Brown continued his late scoring run with a steal from Lizzy.

Angus was only one point ahead by the end of the round and it seemed to be shaping up to be a battle between himself and Colin Kidd. Indeed, with steals by both early on in the round they managed to move further away. Angus Douglas lost out to Colin Kidd on his questions placing the scores back to level pegging and correctly answering his own question gave Kidd a one point lead. A two horse race on Brain of Britain was well and truly on!

Scoring was very slow in the latter rounds and it really was up in the air with either Colin or Angus looking like the favourites to take the victory. But it was Angus who held onto the lead by the narrowest of margins and advances to the next round of Brain of Britain 2012! Well done.

Results

Angus Douglas - 12

Colin Kidd - 11

Lizzy Brighton - 7

Peter Brown - 4

Celebrity Mastermind - Starts Tonight!

Celebrity Mastermind starts tonight!

Not only are the BBC airing the final of the enjoyable Christmas University Challenge tonight but the new run of Celebrity Mastermind starts. Of course with this being a celebrity version the questions tend to be very dumbed down but I always enjoy the series. Ill be covering as usual on The Quiz Addict. Tonights episode goes out at 5.35pm on BBC one in the start of a ten episode run. 

Its a bit all over the schedules so you can find all the information here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008pc8h/broadcasts/upcoming

Christmas University Challenge - Semi Final 1

This was the episode of Christmas University Challenge that aired on Christmas Day...a very odd choice of slot but nevertheless I managed to settle down to watch it with the family. I wont do a full report suffice to say that this was a total whitewash by Warwick with Daisy Chrisdoloulou in a n ear enough one woman show to take the victory. I cannot see any other outcome other than Warwick running away with victory in Tuesday's final of Christmas University Challenge!

Interview with Kevin Ashman

A rare interview with one of the finest quiz players around, Kevin Ashman of Eggheads fame. Worth a watch for anyone interested!

Merry Christmas to all!

Well its Christmas Eve tomorrow and my Christmas break from work has well and truly started. In fact this evening I shall be killing a few brain cells with a festive night out with workmates. I just want to say to all my readers, casual viewers and friends......a huge Merry Christmas. I hope you have a great time over the festive period with plenty of laughs and smiles. All the best!

See you in the new year!

Christmas University Challenge - Round 1 - Match 4

Christmas University Challenge - Round 1 - Match 4

Warwick vs Sheffield

Warwick

David Jean

Davey Christodoulou

Christian Wolmar

Carla Mendonca

vs

Sheffield

Graham Stringer

Faye Simpson

Georgi Ergatoudis

Stuart Palmer

The series of Christmas University Challenge continued with the fourth heat in the first round. Both teams were aware of the need to score at least 130 to make the final (Manchester’s score of 125 from the first Christmas University Challenge episode remains the lowest scoring winner so far). With a Radio 1 controller and MP Sheffield had quite a varied team and I was hoping for a nice close contest.

Christodoulou got the first buzz for Warwick who managed to get  two bonuses and move to an early lead and Christodoulou again buzzed with a Shaksepeare answer followed by some excellent team work to grab all bonuses. 45-0 after only moments.

And guess what? Christodoulou nabbed an opening hat trick with the most impressive start to a show in this run of Christmas University Challenge. She was instrumental in nearly every answer the team gave and showed a huge breadth of knowledge to pummel Sheffield into the ground in the opening minute racing to a stunning  65-0 lead. Sheffield finally got going with a buzz from Ergatoudis  but failed to capitalise.

Christodoulou made a few mistakes, perhaps getting over confident from her early success but came back with a correct buzz on Jupiter to retake control. An enjoyable round on postage stamps followed by the end of which Warwick opened up a 85-15 lead and looking well on course to smashing the required mark of 130.

A music round covering pop bands named after books/authors saw Warwick reach a 110-30 lead and by the time Christodoulou had yet another strong buzz, their place in the Christmas University Challenge semi-final guaranteed as they moved to a 130-30 lead.

Paxman even began to lose his rag when Sheffield failed to buzz in following two failures by Warwick. With Christodoulou in such form and team captain Wolmar cutting in with some excellent points, it really was a case of men against boys and Sheffield were well out of their depth. They looked slightly embarrassed but there was little they could do. They simply got caught out by a far better team who had a fantastic evening.

The score ended up with Warwick getting the highest total of Christmas University Challenge thus far with a very impressive victory of 225-50!

Christodoulou remained in great form throughout, commanding the team despite her not actually being the captain and with her in this sort of form this will be THE team to beat. Another fantastic episode of Christmas University Challenge and a front runner has definitely emerged.

For anyone following the show it might be worth noting that there is no episode of Christmas University Challenge being shown tomorrow (Friday 23^rd December) but instead the show returns for its fifth and final first round hear on Christmas Eve at 4.45pm.

Christmas University Challenge - Round 1 - Match 3

Christmas University Challenge- Round 1 Match 3

Magdalan, Oxford vs University College London

University College London

Lucy Jones

Trevor Lock

Fiona Armstrong

Michael White

vs

Magdalan, Oxford

Luke Johnson

Sarah Healey

Alan Hollinghurst

Harry Mount

The enjoyable series of Christmas University Challenge continued last night with the third match of the first round. Just a reminder that the Christmas Series of University Challenge is different to the normal show in the sense that they are having five first round matches with the four winners scoring the highest going to the semi finals.

Sarah Healey came to the show with University Challenge experience having won the show on a previous occasion but it was UCL who managed to score first but failed to make the most of their control, not the first or last time on the night that they would do so. Trevor Lock did have some humorous answers though and lightened the mood, even raising a smile from Jeremy Paxman. 

The game remained tight early on with some very gettable questions for all, a trademark of Christmas University Challenge with the questions tending to get tougher latter. I am glad David Clark over at Life After Mastermind agrees with me on that the questions are far easier but of a much much higher standard than other celebrity specials. 

Oxford raced to a 70-50 lead but no team was taking control and wasting bonus points with a lot of wrong answers on the buzzers. Magdalan managed to get some grip on the game as they moved passed the 100 mark and at this point, with a very quiet few minutes from UCL, it was always going to be Magdalan. It was merely a matter of time before they won but the big question was whether they would reach the mark to give them qualification for the final.

And in the last few moments Magdalan secured their passage into the semi final with a score of 130-85. A good contest, a heck of a lot of wasted points though. I can't see this team winning Christmas University Challenge but you never know...........

Sale of the Century! - Daphne from Eggheads

Catching old quiz shows that were long before my time is something of a passion of mine. For anyone my age (mid-20's....yes 26 is still mid!) Sale of the Century is one such show which has never been on the air in my adult lifetime to be the best of my knowledge but it seems a lot of the quiz big hitters...Kevin Ashman etc...tackled the show back in the day.

For anyone interested here is Eggheads Daphne Fowler in her appearance on the show....Well worth watching with a cuppa!

She also went to Australia and appeared on their version!

Christmas University Challenge - Round 1 - Match 2

Christmas University Challenge - Round 1 - Match 2

Durham vs Edinburgh

Durham

Carolina Atkins

James Wilby

Richard Adams

Minete Walters

vs

Edinburgh

Kirtsy Mcabe

David Steele

Sally Magnusson

George Mcgavin

Well, there has to be a bit of bias for me in this edition of Christmas University Challenge as a Durham graduate and even though I was not aware any of Durham team had actually been to Durham!

And Durham got off to a good start landing some good buzzes and following it up with excellent bonus points and an all round team contribution. Christmas University Challenge seems to have slightly less time for answering questions with longer introductions to the players so getting a good lead early on can be vital.

Durham could not hold onto the lead however and never really got going again as Edinburugh stretched and stretched the lead, again taking longer over questions than they would be allowed on a normal edition of University Challenge. 

Edinburgh were by far and away the strongest team though and had reached the 100 mark before long. With a  score of 135-60 it was a very one sided affair in the end with Edinburugh guaranteeing their place in the Semi Finals. They will be difficult to beat in this series of Christmas University Challenge and are the strongest all round team so far.

Tonight's (Wednesday 21st December) episode airs slightly earlier at 7pm on BBC 2 and sees Magdalene Oxford take on University College London. So far Christmas University Challenge is shaping up to be a very entertaining series!

Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? Live Special

Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? Live Special

This aired on Monday Night but due to it clashing with the Only Connect vs University Challenge special I ended up recording it.

I used to love Who Wants To Be a Millionaire and it was the first quiz show I got hooked on when I was younger. It used to be essential family viewing and I have happy memories of the four of us huddled round the tv together every time Who Wants To Be a Millionaire was on.

I was looking forward to the Who Wants To Be a Millionaire Live Special on ITV but in the end I did not enjoy it very much at all. First and foremost the celebrities were hardly the most exciting.....Amir Khan and Jason Manford were very dull indeed, Cardle and Kemp not much better and everyone else equally as dull.

Not only that but the questions were poor, way too easy and with obvious answers, some of the laziest question setting I have seen on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire.

Of course it was for charity, they kept viewers hooked with a competition and they raised I only wish a proper series of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire would return in 2012, as these Celeb specials are getting very tiresome. 

The Quiz Addict wins a LAMMY

Over at Mastermind winner David Clark's superb Life After Mastermind blog, he gives out LAMMY awards as a fun end to a year of blogging. I have been in touch with David many times over the course of the year via email and the blog certainly provided me with the inspiration to start The Quiz Addict. His LAMMY award nominations and winners can be found HERE

The Quiz Addict has won an award for the best new quiz blog which I am very happy with!

Only Connect vs University Challenge

Only Connect vs University Challenge Special

The next step in my night in front of the TV with lashings of quiz shows was on BBC Four with the Only Connect vs University Challenge Special. I have no idea if this is a repeat but I have a feeling it was. Either way it was not advertised as a repeat and the first time I had seen it……University Challenges 2010 winning team from Cambridge took on the most successful Only Connect team “The Crossworders”.

The format was the same, and only getting into Only Connect at the latter half of the previous series that is how I was hoping it would be. Quiz fans will know Ian Bayley as Mastermind champion. I really feared for the chances of the University Challenge side.

The University Challenge team were holding their own early on, taking no time at all to get sued to proceedings in the Only Connect format. The Crossworders did take a 5-3 lead after round one in what Victoria Coren labelled as the toughest quiz ever seen on Tv.

Round 2 was a struggle for both teams early on and a great answer from Mark Grant on rulers of Texas placed the Only Connect Crossworders further in the lead but Cambridge were staying in there with some brilliant Maths and then scoring well on a tough section.  David Stainer even baffled his team mates by getting the next set to give a 10-7 lead before moving onto the highlight of the show………..The Wall.

Crossworders went first and being the Only Connect veterans I fully expected a solid performance and they stormed into the Wall getting two links very quickly before you would have thought they even had time to read them. Brilliant stuff. With over half the time left the solved the Wall with all links and 3 connections an excellent showing.

University Challenge winners Cambridge strode up to the wall for the first time and started really well getting a connection straight away. A very tough wall was looking to get the better of the team with only the one grouping and no real ideas coming from anyone. There was 3 points for the connections which left the University Challenge team 17-11.

For some reason the next round is always the one I am best at with the missing vowels. This was a tough round with the equal to 42 bunch particularly gruesomely hard. It was too tough for the University Challenge team to make the headway they needed and the Only Connect, the undefeated Only Connect veteran should I saw, won 22-17. A respectable showing by the University Challenge team and another enjoyable edition of Only Connect.

University Challenge - Quarter Final 1

University Challenge - Quarter Final 1 - Manchester vs University College London

After a great series so far, and the start of the Christmas specials, the 2011/2012 series of University Challenge gets serious as it reaches a complicated Quarter Final stage. Two teams who have been impressive so far went head to head and something had to give.

UCL made the better start slightly ahead over the first few minutes with some strong buzzes from Andrews. The buzz on Voltarie followed by some strong answers on Art gave them a bit of breathing space as they took a 30 point lead. Mckenna got the next buzz, and a telling off from Paxman, for Manchester but as so many times during the night they failed to capitalise which in the long run looked like it could cost them dearly.

But as ever in University Challenge one clever buzz with a strong set of answers can change the tide of the game and Manchester soon found themselves almost level with a close contest now starting to shape up.

UCL Karran wasted many buzzes during the night with wrong answers and again had allowed Manchester in who this time took the lead for the first time in the contest at around the half way mark. Manchester were benefiting from over eager buzzing on the UCL side and despite failing to make the most of it by not picking up the bonuses they could have had a much greater lead.

It wasn’t long before a buzz by Cook for UCL levelled the scores but UCL Karran again made a mistake by not listening to the question. Karran managed to remedy himself with a key buzz in the music round followed by two answers putting UCL 80-55 ahead. Cook again buzzed in with a correct answer at a key time, turning into the star man for the team, and Karran secured some additional bonus points to move UCL further ahead. A very quiet Machester desk were beginning to slip away.

But at a key point just as always seems to happen in University Challenge, a series of buzzes followed by a barrage of points saw Manchester show some great team work to bring themselves within sight. Manchester seemed to playing much better as a team with a wider contribution from all. 100-95 to UCL with under 8 minutes left and it was well and truly game on.

But step up Cook, when the team was at risk of loosing its lead another buzz with a correct answer slowed down the Manchester momentum and restored a 20 point lead. Picture round followed and UCL Cook again came in with an answer, followed by Karran UCL were taking control at a vital stage. It really was the Cook and Karran show who seemed to be finishing Manchester off between them. Very little came throughout from the other two team members but nevertheless a 50 point lead with only minutes to go and UCL looked solid for their first win of the University Challenge Quarter Final stage.

As soon as the lead was opened and a failed buzz from Manchester occurred the writing was on the wall. At 165-95 there was no way back especially the way Karran and Cook were combining.  Cook himself had two late buzzes to secure the bonuses were with UCL and soon the lead expanded and expanded and Manchester were beaten with sadly no hope of coming through ending up being defeated 195-125.

Karran and Cook from UCL seem like two very able quizzers with a broad knowledge…..UCL could go a long way if Karran can cut out the buzzing when he doesn’t know. Manchester  wasted a lot of points on not knowing the bonus rounds and will always struggle if they fail in this way, but you get the feeling that they will still provide a stiff test for any team they face in the near future. UCL are looking like key front runners though.

I have checked the Tv guide and cannot see the next University Challenge Quarter Final so it must be scheduled for 2012. Either way its been a great series so far and the sooner the better.

With Brain of Britain and the Christmas University Challenge already today, and with Only Connect vs University Challenge and the Millionaire special to come it is turning into a fun night in front of the box.

Christmas University Challenge - Round 1 - Match 1

Christmas University Challenge - Round 1 - Match 1

Well, its that time of year again for the Christmas University Challenge series. The first part in what shaped up to be a fun quizzing night on Tv. When it comes to Christmas University Challenge this time around we have eight episodes to look forward to with  the final next Tuesday. The only day the University Challenge special is not showing is for some reason on Friday. There are some episodes in prime slots on Xmas Day and Boxing Day.

There will be five first round heats with the highest scoring 4 winners making it through to the final. This first round match started with the following line ups -

York

Chris Dye

Zoe Lyons

Steve Richards

Richard Hollingham

VS.

Manchester

Tom Bloxham

Liv Boeree

Waldimir Janusczak

Steve Hewlett

”I think you have had long enough to look at this” – It may be Xmas but Paxman is not toning it down. Faced with media figures and celebrities Paxman laid down the law early on and even though the odd smile came later on in the show he was still his usual self throughout, the way we like it.

The questions as usual have been quite dumbed down, although still challenging. Not to the extent of the way The Chase has dumbed down its celebrity version, but still noticeably easier than the normal University Challenge series.

York got of to a great start heading to a 65-0 lead and remained comfortably ahead for the duration of the first third of the contest. Paxman bellowed to stop conferring but didn’t seem to hurry York up who were taking some time to answer….certainly wouldn’t get away with that long on the standard series.

Some enjoyable question setting early on with translated Shakespeare titles, Jane Austen etc and with a string of wrong answers and failures to capitalise on bonuses the scores began to close down and Manchester went on a solid run with Janusczak scoring some pretty good points. With ten minutes to go the scores were down to 80-65 to York.

By this point Manchester were in full stride and Janusczak was belting out points like there was no tomorrow and after a perfect round on Art Manchester were 25 points ahead and York needed to pull their fingers out. They responded well taking the next set and narrowing the score to 105-95 shaping up for a frantic final 3 minutes.

York resumed the lead but Manchester soon had it back and again Janusczak was leading from the front edging to a 125-110 lead. It was still anybodies game and when Lyons headed in with a solid buzz it ensured it was going to be one of the closest games in the Christmas University Challenge I have ever seen. A real exciting ending to the first episode.

The gong went and Manchester had sealed it with 125-120, it could have went either way but Manchester and in particular Janusczak just about deserved the win. Whether it is enough to see Manchester into the Semi Final’s we will have to wait and see tomorrow.

Either way a great start to the series, possibly BBC deciding to air this one first in order to attract viewer ship. I am slightly disappointed they are running this on Xmas Day itself as surely the week between Xmas and new year would have more ideal, btu never mind, Im looking forward to more.

Next episode airs Tuesday 20th December - BBC 2 - 7.30pm - Durham vs Edinburgh