When Masterminds Had All The Answers

A guest post by Margaret Ashworth

As many readers know, the BBC is extremely reluctant to let you see earlier programmes made with our money. If you search for almost any old show you can think of, you will get a message saying it is not available. So I was surprised to find that the first Mastermind final, from 1972, is available to view - but only for just another week, or so. You can see it here or below on YouTube.

We have long sensed that Mastermind has been on a steady decline and this programme confirms it in spades.

The 1972 presenter is Magnus Magnusson and he addresses the three lady contestants (two lecturers and a housewife) as Mrs [Surname]. Their specialist subjects are vast: History of Music 1550-1900, 20^th century English Literature and International Relations, 1919-1939. Sample general knowledge question: Who wrote ‘pieces noires’ and ‘pieces roses’? Answer: Jean Anouilh (given at once). The trophy is presented by a BBC bigwig, the then Director of Programmes David Attenborough, to applause from a studio audience.

What a contrast with the contemporary Mastermind, presented by Clive Myrie, for whom the expression ‘pleased with himself’ might have been devised. He begins each show with a toe-curling homily about the nerve-racking experience of sitting in the black chair.

And at the end we are subjected to a cringeworthy interview with the winner, who describes MasterChef-style how the victory will change his or her life.

Here is a recent episode chosen at random.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002sw63/mastermind-202526-episode-26

The specialist subjects are the American singer Jeff Buckley, football manager Rafael Benitez, Andy Warhol and the Routemaster bus. The contestants are a housewife/carer, a ‘commercial elite operator’, a ‘visitor welcome assistant’ and a ‘volunteer and trustee’. Sample general knowledge question: What word for a style of long narrow heel on a shoe, sometimes called a spike heel, is also the name for a type of long, narrow dagger? I won’t insult your intelligence by giving the answer. The producers of the asinine Tipping Point would have rejected it as too easy. Scores range from 15 to 20.

At the end of the final of each series the trophy is handed over by Myrie to the thin applause of the other contestants as there is no audience.

The series has run for 54 years, just a little less than my working life. It is hard to comprehend how far standards of knowledge have fallen in this time, and with the advent of search engines and AI the rate will surely accelerate.

It all reminds me a bit of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s much-derided remarks about ‘known unknowns’ etc. If we don’t know what we don’t know, how can we ask the right questions?

Margaret Ashworth is a retired national newspaper journalist.
She runs the Subbing Clinic in a hopeless attempt to keep up standards, and is one half of the Ashworth & Ashworth Substack.