How Quizzing Became Cool

By | November 30, 2016

BBC4, 9pm

I’m sorry I’m completely out of the loop right now, there’s a documentary on quizzing tonight (which I thought was on Thursday for some reason).  Blurb:

We all love a good quiz. So here’s a question – when did ordinary contestants turn into the pro-quizzers of today? Giving the answers are Victoria Coren Mitchell, Judith Keppel, Chris Tarrant, Mark Labbett, Nicholas Parsons and many more. Narrated by Ben Miller.

Although I still find it quite hard to square cool with nerds but there we are.

This is followed by the film Starter for Ten. 

7 thoughts on “How Quizzing Became Cool

  1. Brig Bother Post author

    This was very jolly if not especially revelatory. My fave bit was probably the clip of Paul Sinha on Weakest Link and Mark Labbett looking about 12 on University Challenge.

    Reply
  2. CeleTheRef

    First news from Avanti Un Altro!
    Some characters have left the show 🙁

    the Alien is OUT
    the Ciociara is IN
    the Mad Scientist is OUT

    Reply
  3. peter todd

    Brilliant show. BBC4 needs to do more of these shows.

    It was watched by 463.4K (over night ratings)

    Reply
  4. Brig Bother Post author

    I can’t really say I’ve watched much of this series of Hive Minds really but something rather incredulous happens in the Grand Final tonight which I shan’t spoil, thanks to Alex to alerting me to it.

    Reply
  5. Andrew 'Kesh' Sullivan

    Found this last night, an English-language pilot of a show called The Exception, hosted by Greg Scott. See what you think:

    Reply
  6. Brett Linforth

    I watched this documentary last night on iPlayer and I really enjoyed it. The choice of talking heads was relevant and exemplary and I especially enjoyed the opening ten minutes which dealt with the quizzes of old. Plus, any show featuring an out of character Shaun Wallace and the gorgeous Victoria Coren Mitchell talking about why they love quizzing gets a thumbs up from me. It was also interesting to get an insight into the minds and motivation of seasoned quizzers like Labbett, Ashman and Sinha to get a little more understanding as to what drives them. Plus, Fred Housego seems like a really nice bloke!

    Reply

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