Mastermind Champion 2014

Congratulations to Clive Dunning on winning the Mastermind Final on Friday.

A very tight final indeed and a great 60 minutes of quizzing on TV. The unusual scoring after the first round left it open to anyone, but with the strongest GK performance and the fewest passes Clive took the title. It's been another great series with plenty of big names and close contests and roll on next year. Any readers thinking of having a go?

Mastermind Grand Final Preview

Mastermind Grand Final - Friday 25th April - BBC 2 - 7.30pm

It's that time of year again when 6 contestants line up to be crowned the Mastermind Champion 2014. This year sees a stellar line up for the final as ever!

Competing for the crown are - 

Brian Chesney

Daniel Adler

Roderick Cromar

Clive Dunning

Michael McPartland

Hamish Cameron

In the mix are two North-East quizzers Clive Dunning and Michael McPartland. Clive was a Brain of Britain contender last year and has sailed through the final. Both he and Michael are regulars on the national GP circuit and looking at the results of some of the event's they have both competed at there is not much to choose between the two. The biased, North-East proud, part of me will be rooting for these two!

Hamish Cameron and Roderick Cromar I have quizzed against on numerous occasions from what I remember. Both very nice fellas indeed and top top quizzers. Hamish has been in the Semi Final a record number of times if my sources are correct and again both bring bags of experience to the table. The Scottish pairing will post solid scores no doubt and again its difficult to choose between them.

To myself, Brian and Daniel are the unknown quantities. This of course doesn't count for anything and at this stage it was very hard to call a favourite. 

Either way, one of the nice aspects of being involved in all sorts of quizzing (nationally, locally etc) is to see familiar faces pop up across the board and tonight's final should be a cracker.

Quiz shows you would like to see again...

With classic Fifteen to One and Only Connect both being given the repeats treatment by Challenge and Dave....which other shows would you like to see re-broadcast?

I was rather disappointed when the BBC suddenly cancelled the runs of Classic Mastermind it was showing in the mid afternoon week day spot. From what I remember they took it off in the middle of a series too. Without seeing the ratings I can only imagine this was the case. I hope it returns in some form, and perhaps not just the rebooted version either!

Fifteen to One repeats would always have been top of my list, but I would love to be able to see Are You An Egghead? all over again. The first twice round I didn't know, or know of, many of the contestants so seeing the full run through again would be fun......and the fact I missed a lot of it first time round.

It would also be nice to see the BBC repeat Brain of Britain on the Radio 4 Extra channel. The station is pretty much, as far as I gather, 100% repeats any way so why not shove a few episode of the quiz on!

Any other shows you would like to get the repeat treatment?

Dave to show Only Connect

Dave have bought the early series of Only Connect I discovered today and hence they will be showing the full run of Series 1 in the coming weeks. Watch this space!

Fifteen to One

Recent shows have seen tremendous runs from Gary Grant and Mark Grant to reach the final which is shaping up to be something of a battle of quizzing heavyweights. You may remember Mark Grant as this years Brain of Britain and Gary Grant of course won Mastermind a few years back. Through into the mix former Brain of Britain Iwan Thomas and you have something of a formidable line up with plenty still to come.

Fast becoming one of the best quizzes on TV I hope to see this run for a long time all over again!

Twitter...

Just a quick reminder that the Twitter feed is now up and running under the name @quizaddictblog. Daily questions being posted at present include some samples from the upcoming Quiz Addict Quizzers Book which I am hoping to have out soon!

Old Fifteen to One/New Fifteen to One

As the new series is now in full flow, Challenge TV have picked up the old series and are promising to start broadcasting from Episode 1 "Very Soon". I very much look forward to this. With The Chase also currently being repeated on Challenge there is a richness of TV quizzing around at present to get stuck into!

Pub Quiz Machine Guide: The Chase

Pub Quiz Machine Guide: The Chase

It was only a matter of time before ITV's tea time hit quiz show The Chase started to emerge on Pub Quiz Machines in one form or another. Sure enough in the past year The Chase has cropped up on the machines adorning pubs across the land and it happens to be rather good!

The premise of the game is pretty much the same as the show. 25p is awarded for each cash builder question (obviously multiple choice on the machines) with time speeded up when you get one wrong. Typically a good player will earn between £1.75-£2.50 max in this round, perhaps a little more if the "stoppers" don't crop up.

The game then carries on to the chase itself. You are pitted against a Chaser from the show (complete with a range of an almighty 3 facial expressions each!) and when you have decided on your offer its go go go! The offers tend to be fair with it not unknown that £10.00 or more crops up as the higher offer.

The major difference from the show is the final round in which The Chaser answers first and you chase the target with the chaser pushing you back. You can earn boosts and such like but usually the target is fair and the questions pitched at a level that always ensure you are close even without winning.

In all I found the Pub Quiz Machine Version of The Chase to be one of the better games around. Its much fairer, diverse with a range of games involved and you also get more bang for you buck as you are guaranteed a good number of questions. There seem to be a lot less "stoppers" too. I have also found it much more profitable with a good few wins near the £10 mark and my profit margin on this must be much higher than some of the other games. In fact this may be the only of the Pub Quiz Machine games I may be in profit in!

Worth a look next time you are in the pub!

Only Connect is back!

Only Connect returns on Monday night for its final series on BBC 4 before it moves across to BBC 2. A familiar face may indeed crop up on this series...(I was in Cardiff back in November last year :) ). I'll post a recap of my day filming the show nearer the time. Regardless, its good to have this back!

Fifteen to One- Show 2

Congratulations to Dave McBryan on victory in last nights episode of the revamped Fifteen to One. A very tight contest throughout but a much deserved win. I attended Dave's superb pub quiz in The Barony pub in Edinburgh last year which I would highly recommend and quizzed against him the Brunton Shield Event last year too so I was rooting for the familiar-ish face.

Nice to see Nick Reed pop up too, a TQA reader. Hopefully he will fair better in one of his other attempts!

Fifteen to One

Fifteen to One returned to our screens on Saturday. Despite being advertised for a Monday return I assume that Channel 4 were hoping for a mass carry on audience from the Grand National as Sandy Toksvig fronted the first episode of the rebirth of Fifteen to One in that slot. The show now runs for 60 minutes and is run in the same format as the William G Stewart Era.

So is it good to have Fifteen to One back?

I think the main idea here is that it was very unlikely that the remake was ever going to recapture the original. It was more of a case of how close could it get to being a top notch tea time quiz show. The answer? Pretty close!

It will take time to settle in but the over riding impression I got from the firs episode of Fifteen to One was it was too long. The first 25 minutes, including 2 add breaks, dragged with 90% of the questions being chestnuts. The other 10% were "stoppers"...hard questions thrown into the mix which made you feel a tad sorry for the contestants lumbered with the toughies.

The show certainly became more engrossing in the second half and the final battle between the three contestants was very fun indeed. Fifteen to One in the 60 minute format suddenly shoots to life after 30 minutes. That is not to say there aren't plenty of questions as there are and the talk with contestants isn't overly long. You still could easily chop another 15 minutes off this without loosing any questions or quality.

In all I was fairly happy with the show and will stick with Fifteen to One of course as there were plenty of questions I didn't know and also gained some new areas to explore in my revision. My one worry is that this will be lost when running against the current big hitters of The Chase and Pointless but hopefully not! Where else could it be scheduled though? 6-7pm to run against a ratings-falling Eggheads? That would make more sense to me!

Finally, one of the plus points of this show is going to be seeing the masses of folk from the quiz world who have applied. Already one show one Nic Mortimer stormed to an impressive victory showing not only great knowledge but also great game playing. Anthony Fish was a little hard done by but the game is there to be won and Nic very much deserved his Fifteen to One to win. Fingers cross that he makes the final!

Let's see what the next few weeks brings.....

The 3rd Degree

The new series of The 3rd Degree airs tomorrow on Radio 4 for a six episode run. I quite enjoy this quiz show which is a little different to the norm. Perhaps the weakest of the 4 main quizzes on Radio 4 but still worth a listen if you have never tried it before!

Round Britain Quiz/Counterpoint

For anyone wondering the upcoming series of Counterpoint on BBC Radio 4 has been cancelled. I know only because I made an application and was told my the production team that they have decided to delay the series, for perhaps obvious reasons, and will air Round Britain Quiz in its place. I had been doing quite a lot of revision for this and was very hopeful of making it onto the show so I am very much hoping for a speedy resolution and a speedy return to the airwaves for the show.

Fifteen to One

As many of you already may know Fifteen to One is back on our screens this weekend with a 20 episode run. There are a lot of good quizzers and famous faces (from the quizzing world) taking part so I am very much looking forward to this. The extension to 60 minutes has concerned a few people but I am sure all will be grand and hopefully it will be successful enough for another series to be commissioned! I don't see why not.....

Channel 4 set launch date for Fifteen To One return

March 26, 2014 No Comments BroadcastingDoug Lambert

Legendary quiz show Fifteen To One will return to Channel 4 this April.

The series, produced by Remedy Productions for the broadcaster, sees the pressure back on as the fifteen contestants hope they’re the fastest with the answers to become the last one standing. The new series follows a one-off special last year as part of Channel 4′s 80s night. The general public version of the show is to be hosted by Sandi Toksvig.

“I’m thrilled to be taking up the mantle of hosting Fifteen To One. It is a legendary quiz show with tough questions. I’m glad I’ll be asking not answering. I’m also delighted to be back at Channel 4.” - Sandi Toksvig

The great British public applied in droves to participate in the cult quiz known for its tough questions and demanding nerves of steel from its players. Thousands up and down the land applied to take part, including some very dedicated former contestants who had appeared in the original show. Some of the former contestants, who in many cases have been waiting for more than a decade to return, go head to head with fresh-faced hopefuls all in a bid to become the Fifteen to One Grand Final Winner and take home £40k

Twenty episodes are to air in the new daytime run of hour long episodes. The cash prize is brand new to the show but that’s not the only difference. The new generation of Fifteen To One will also herald some other key changes; Each player will now be given three chances to reach the final round of a show therefore getting the opportunity to appear on a maximum of three shows throughout the week. This allows for both Sandi to form relationships with contestants and for viewers at home to really champion their favourites.

Each hour long episode showcases Sandi’s camaraderie with the contenders as well as her firm but fair hosting style. Throughout the show, she will also offer up her near boundless knowledge on the topics that arise. - Channel 4

Played over three rounds, the Fifteen To One contestants simply have to avoid elimination. To do that they not only have to answer questions correctly but must also decide which of their opponents to nominate putting them under the question spotlight. There will also be four prime time Celebrity Fifteen To One specials hosted by Adam Hills who presented the previous special in 2013.

The original Fifteen to One was presented by former ATV producer William G Stewart from 1988 to 2003. The new run will kick off Saturday 5th April at 5:30pm and continues weekdays at 4:30pm starting Monday 7th April.