Quiz night

Monday night is “quiz night” on BBC2 and I’m a fan and follower.

There are three quiz programmes: Mastermind, Only Connect and University Challenge. Of course such programmes have the advantage of being so cheap to broadcast: the only major cost is the presenter. However, there is attraction for the viewer as quiz nights are not just popular on TV but at pub nights too.  There seems to be a competitiveness of knowledge.

The presenter is important and in some ways the difference between the three programmes mentioned.

Clive Myrie, presenting Mastermind, is kind but gushing on the pressures to which each of the contestants is subject as they sit alone answering questions in the famous black chair.

Victoria Coren on Only Connect uses the programme for her humour but the problem is she is not as funny as she thinks she  is.

Amar Rajan is genial and supportive and not as severe on contestants on University Challenge as his predecessor Jeremy Paxman.

Both Mastermind and University Challenge are now institutions, with the black chair in the former and the gong terminating the quiz in the latter passing into lore.

This tradition and longevity makes the viewer feel comfortable and might explain their enduring appeal.