First time on radio....

Every Bank Holiday Monday, Alan Robson hosts a bumper quiz on his radio show up here in the north east. Alan makes constant claims about how it’s the most listened to local radio show in England etc etc, whether that’s true or not I severely doubt, but nevertheless it is very popular.

I have tried twice before to get on the show with no luck. It is as simple as phoning up and getting through but with what seems like a tiny switchboard this is harder than it sounds. So last night I tried from the start time at 10pm and was expecting a night stuck on hold but after about 20 minutes I managed to get on. There was a short wait whilst the other contestants had their turns. Surprisingly I was a little nervous!

The quiz works in a very simple way. You answer questions, get one wrong and you are out. There are spot prizes and a prize for the overall winner. It’s a 4 hour marathon with hardly any gaps so I would not like to guess how many people take part. It contains gimmicks suck as theme tunes (which I will come back to) and “sing the next line” type questions to keep people interested.

I had been doing well prior to my turn and racked up a few 8-9 questions runs but there was always the odd once to catch me out. Anyway, my turn came soon enough. I had a horrible feeling I was going to get a theme tune which so far had been obscure.

First question was an easy gimmie to settle me in. As soon as he uttered the next words “Here’s a tv theme” I was worried and sure enough I could not even hazard a guess at it. It turned out to be the theme tune to thirtysomething, a show which I know nothing about and have only ever seen listed in the tv guides. Shame. I was a bit disappointed as the next few questions would have seen me rattle up many more points but I was beaten by a tv theme. I wasn’t too disappointed at this in hindsight, rather be beat on a tv theme than a question but would still have like to rack up more points.

I did not make it until 2am to find the winning score, sleep after a bank holiday weekend was much more important.