Fifteen to One

Now the series is settled down and back with us on what seems a like a permanent basis, what are people making of the reboot? (There are currently 2 series just about in the can as well as casting for the one after that!)

This series has started to raise some questions from me and I notice a lot of negativity in certain quarters about the show. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy it on the whole and I am glad it is back but I can't help feeling there are some flaws with this present series that are hindering my enjoyment. (And before anyone says it, yes I would rather it was on screen in this format than not at all!)

I still think its too long, there are times when I watch it and certain points it feels like a chore. With three advert breaks (unskippable on All4 which is where I watch it) it drags on a little and does not have that all appealing pace the old show used to have. When the chit chat starts to go longer you know early eliminations are coming (this series has varied between about 80 questions a show all the way up to 110) and it does detract from the fun of watching.

Now there are some cracking questions that have came out of this series and generally I don't have a problem with them but there is one major annoyance and that is the "jump". There seems to be no balance in the sets and either you get the easier questions that occur on the first and second pass which seems to take forever, or then when they decide they need to eliminate people the questions become impossibly hard and thus quite a dull show to watch. (After the 10th time of seeing the same person nominate over and over it stops being funny!).

I also would like to see the rule on not allowing previous contestants back on scrapped after the next series so that we can start seeing some top quizzers on the show again as, without meaning to sound offensive, the standard has fallen dramatically in this series on the whole.

What do other people think?

Buzzer Quiz #2

The second round of the Lightspeed event from the weekend. Some cracking questions and super close buzzing in this one (showing how hard this event is to win). I had no chance here and despite knowing most of the answers, not being fast enough (actually not even being close to fast enough) makes it very tough to score.

Perfect example was the Agent Orange question were I was convinced I was second to buzz in (hence the expectant look at Steve next to me hoping he would fail!).....Turns out I was far from it.

Very fun to play....Theres going to be another 12 or so of these so I will keep on posting them up

New Chaser

An error over at ITV revealed, earlier than I think they intended, that Jenny Ryan is joining the Chase team.

Best of Luck to Jenny and I am sure more will emerge once her debut approaches (October is the rumour)

Buzzing at the Weekend

I spent my Saturday afternoon in a pub in the middle of Halifax with some fantastic quizzers playing a a very enjoyable buzzer quiz. I will post the videos taken from the event up over the next few days where you can see some top quizzers in action.

My form varies wildly..

Round 1

Light Speed Quiz

To go with the post I made yesterday about the upcoming Lightspeed quiz events here are some videos of the last event to give you a flavour of what is in store...

Light Speed Quiz Event - July 2015 - Halifax

I am planning on heading down to this and have competed in a number of Lightspeed Quiz events before and always enjoy them.

Here is the blurb from the LSQ Website -

Light Speed Individual Open Buzzer Quiz 2015

Round Four - Halifax

Saturday July 25^th, 1 PM 'till 6

Dirty Dick's Food & Ale Emporium,

1 Clare Road Halifax
HX1 2HX

Telephone 07887 510354
My telephone is 07462 272 552

There will be results up from Stockton ASAP, but I thought I'd flag up July's Tourney, especially as I've moved it from the scheduled date of the 19th (my birthday and Open last round) to 25^th

Dirty Dick's is only about three hundred yards up the hill from the station, and given how fantastic Liverpool and Stockton have been, Sod's law says this is going to be garbage, nevertheless... Mark Laycock and Steve Rhodes are gunning for a home win and to bring bragging rights back to Yorkshire, and in that I will endevour to smooth their path! It will be SUPER AWESOME. There will be a Special with a trophy entitled "50 Answers Containing the Names of Oscar Winning Films"

If you fancy bringing the family they can always go to Eureka, The National Children's Museum, that is right next to the railway station, where they can pretend they are in a kitchen or a bank. Personally I found it a little patronising and right on, if you know what I mean.

Entry fees

£5 + a set of questions. Book and Internet is fine, bespoke is even better

All monies go into the prize fund

Sunderland Quiz League

We are currently between seasons at the Sunderland Quiz League and are always on the lookout for new players and teams. The league is friendly and competitive with a whole host of nice venues. Teams from Sunderland City Centre, Penshaw, Ashbrooke and Newbottle are amongst the players so whether you are a solo player looking to join a current team or perhaps looking to enter a team of your own pop me an email to fully234@hotmail.com and I will put you in touch with the league administrator.

Well worth a look if you are local....I put it off for years and wished I would have joined earlier.

Hive Minds

Hive Minds - BBC Four

Did anyone catch the new BBC Four show "Hive Minds" last night? If so, what are your thoughts? It airs Tuesday nights at 8.30pm and is of course available on the iplayer. Episode 1 featured two formidable teams include Mastermind 2015 Champion Marianne Fairthorne and Rob Hannah who has appeared on numerous (and runs this excellent site).

For me, Hive Minds is an easy show to sum up......brilliant to play, not so great to watch. The whole idea, if you haven't seen the show, is all about finding words within a Hive....in essence word searches. But a clue will be given and there may be traps etc and of course its all against the timer. This makes for a game that looks incredibly fun to play and there is no doubt about it that this would make an excellent app or facebook style game.

However, as a TV Show I am not sure it actually works very well. Watching other people find words is not particularity fun and I for one was just itching for a go myself. I will probably stick with the show in the short term but I think it needs some serious work to get it up to something close to a must-see show. It is rather frustrating to watch at home when all the answers are running through your head and not only is the grid rather small but the fact 3 other people are playing on it.

Disappointing as I had heard good things about this show, mainly from the players, which sort of sums up my original point....I would love to go on this at some point, but can't see myself playing catch up if I miss it as I do with other shows.

Fifteen to One Returns

Tucked away at 3pm on the Channel 4 schedules yesterday was the return of Fifteen to One. Despite leaving The News quiz to set up her own political party Sandi Toksvig is still in command  and there has been no changes made from the last series.

Actually, I though yesterdays episode was rather slow paced with fewer than normal questions asked in the middle section. They didn't seem particularity harder than usual so I am not sure whether the contestants were having a bad day or it was just one of those things.

I still think 30 minutes, under the old system, is ideal for this show. Currently, although its very enjoyable, it is too long, which isn't too bad in the first few episodes but when it becomes a daily event having to wait for 4OD (or All 4 as its now called) adverts to pass then it becomes annoying.

Either way I cannot dispute the question quality in yesterdays show and if that continues, with some big quiz names coming this series too, I can see it being a very enjoyable series indeed.

Are people still enjoying the rebirth of the show? I would love to know what people think...

New Eggheads App

There seems to have been a new Eggheads app released on the Itunes store this week, and for Android devices too. I downloaded it at the weekend and its quite enjoyable with a nice mix of questions and it replicates the show well.....too well in some cases as its rather slow paced. If you have the patience to play it then is well worth your time!

Quiz Shows Return

I have been keeping an eye on the schedules for some time for the return of the major quiz shows currently in between series and it seems that 3 of them all return the same day.

Monday 13th July sees the return of Fifteen to One, University Challenge and Only Connect for brand new series. I won't be booking anything for Mondays from now on....:)