Saturday 5 January 2013

Sleb Mastermind - Show 10

All good thing must come to an end, and so too has Sleb Mastermind for another year. Who were our last four metaphorical lambs to the slaughter ? Actually I say this, but there’s been precious little slaughter this year, and that’s probably for the best. The first of tonight’s contenders, then , was Cheryl Baker. Extremely chirpy and chipper throughout the whole show,Cheryl was answering on James Taylor. Not that brilliantly answering, if truth be told, and only a good run of three answers in the last four questions saved he from the lowest specialist score of the series. As it was, I thought that her 6 points would make it difficult for her to be much higher than 4th in this show. Never mind, she was enjoying herself. I can’t criticize, since I only managed 4 myself.

Tim Bentinck, or the 12th Earl of Portland to give him the title that John informed us he is entitled to, is an actor who plays David Archer on long running radio soap The Archers. Never been a listener myself, but I know enough people who wouldn’t miss it, so you won’t hear me saying a word against it. His specialist subject was A.A.Milne and Winnie the Pooh, and there were enough more difficult questions to ensure that I only scored 8, which made Tim’s clear round of 11 all the more impressive.

From what John said I gather that Mark Thompson is a presenter on Stargazing Live. I’m afraid I’m not familiar with this. Still, he was answering questions on Coffee. I had half a mind that this was going to be like Milton Jones’ round on potatoes from earlier in the series. Well, it was and it wasn’t. Questions were wide ranging, but not as tenuous as those in Milton Jones’ round, nor quite so stultifyingly easy. Still, I managed 10 which is one more than Mark himself managed.

Actor Guy Henry, probably best known for his role in perennial hospital bore “Casualty” answered on Peter O’Toole, and his 10 was quite a bit better than my 7. It was nice to hear the Noel Cowerd “Florence of Arabia” crack again though. That 10 put him handily placed to challenge for the final win of this run.

Cheryl’s round had all the ingredients necessary for a train wreck – a celeb who had not scored well in the first round, who was obviously just here for the experience and to have a bit of fun. It’s to her credit that it didn’t actually become one. She took a while to get started, and there were a few too many comments of the “It’s you know – thingy” variety for my enjoyment, but none the less she managed a respectable 12. Unfortunately she then went and blotted her copy book during Mark Thompson’s round. The poor fellow struggled, and he was asked a question to which the answer was ‘goujons’. I don’t know what Cheryl said, but she said something which made Mark turn round and laughingly say “Shut up Cheryl” I know that it’s the sleb show, and that it’s not supposed to be anything like as serious as the regular show, but talking during a fellow contender’s round is something you just don’t do. Alright, Mark wasn’t going to win, but he still deserved to be allowed to concentrate on his round . As it was his score of 8 meant that he finished on 17, 1 point behind Cheryl herself.

At least a little more decorum returned for Guy Henry’s round. He produced a decent run of correct answers to post a total of 24. The upshot of this was that the target of 14 for Tim to win outright was enough to make it interesting. The buzzer went and the last question was being asked. Now, this was interesting. If Tim answered it correctly, then he had equaled Guy’s GK score, and would win outright. If he answered it wrongly, then he would equal Guy’s total, with one less pass, and would win. If he passed, though, we would be in a tie break situation. Well, he did answer it correctly, and that was enough for the win.

The Details

Cheryl Baker HeadfirstJames Taylor6 – 112 - 418 - 5
Tim BentinckThe National Autistic SocietyA.A.Milne and Winnie the Pooh11 - 014 - 225 - 2
Mark ThompsonReach for a StarCoffee9 – 38 - 717 - 10
Guy HenryVoluntary Service OverseasPeter O’Toole10 - 114 - 224 – 3

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