The first series of Mastermind went on air in 1972 when part-time
lecturer Nancy Wilkinson became the first ever Mastermind champion.
Since then nearly 1,500 adult contestants have sat in that famous black
chair to pit their wits against the clock and each other, answering
questions on their chosen specialist subjects.
But in Junior Mastermind, which starts at the end of August on 麻豆官网首页入口
ONE, it's the turn of the children to face questions from quizmaster
John Humphrys to see who will be the first Junior Mastermind
champion.
Junior Mastermind will work in the same way as the regular series
and each of the children, who are all 10 or 11 years old, will answer
questions on their specialist subject followed by two minutes of general
knowledge questions.
The contestants surprised John with their choice of subjects and the
standard of the questions.
"The range of subjects was extraordinary," explains John. "I thought
they would all want to choose Harry Potter but actually only one person
did.
"The subjects range from Queen Victoria to frogs to James Bond
villains to Van Gogh, every bit as challenging and varied as the adult
choices.
"What it showed was the extraordinarily wide range of interests
11 year olds have and how much they read, far more that I would have
thought.
"When I was asked to do the series I had expected all sorts of problems.
When I first saw the questions I thought they were far too hard and
it would be embarrassing because the children wouldn't be able to answer
them.
"I thought we should make the questions easier but the production
told me I was talking nonsense and they were, as usual, right.
"Right from the very first set of questions I could see how wrong
I was, the kids were brilliant."
Over 250 schools from all corners of the UK applied for information
on Junior Mastermind and the children who made it through to the heats
come from a variety of schools around the country and from a wide range
of backgrounds.
"Most of the children were amazingly grown-up about the whole experience,"
said John. "I found it interesting that only a few of the children came
from private schools proving that we do have some very good state schools
after all!
"And although we have more boys than girls taking part in the
series, we had some surprises on that front but I can't give the result
away!"
For many of the children it was their first experience of being in
a television studio although they all took part in full auditions to
gauge how they would cope in front of the cameras.
"I was afraid that the children would be intimidated by the whole experience,"
said John. "But although one or two were a little overwhelmed they all
coped amazingly.
"I was gob smacked by their intelligence. The scores in the specialist
rounds were much higher on average than the adult version of Mastermind,
it was extraordinary.
"I can't give too much away but I think viewers will be staggered
at some of the scores."
For John, who also presents the Today programme on Radio 4, he had
to adapt his interviewing technique from his usual quota of politicians
on Today to the 11-year-old contestants on Junior Mastermind but as
a dad of a four year old son he found that no problem.
"You can't exactly go for the jugular when you're interviewing someone
whose feet don't even touch the floor!" laughs John.
"Although they gave as good as they got and I was ticked off on several
occasions for getting things wrong or making assumptions that I shouldn't!
"One of my main worries was how to talk to an 11-year-old child
about their lives and careers when they've scarcely begun but they all
had something interesting to say and what really surprised me was how
many of them had already decided what they wanted to do with their lives."
And the careers that some of the children had in mind weren't necessarily
what one might expect explains John: "In one programme there was a girl
who wants to be the Chancellor of the Exchequer and she was very specific
about that! And another child also wanted to go into politics.
"These children want to change the world which is how they should
be and they certainly haven't heard of political cynicism!"
Mastermind was revived in 2003 after a break of six years with John
Humphrys replacing Magnus Magnusson as the quizmaster.
In those 30 years since that first episode of Mastermind there have
been a wide range of subjects from the life and works of Gilbert & Sullivan
and the history of Coronation Street in the original series to the life
and music of Sir Paul McCartney and Western Eurpoe in the Dark Ages
in the current series, transmitting on Monday evenings on 麻豆官网首页入口 TWO.
Not every subject that contestants choose is accepted by the Mastermind
production team who must research each subject to ensure that there
is enough depth to sufficiently test the intelligence of the contestant.
This same research applies to Junior Mastermind where the subjects
chosen have been just as varied and include the life and career of Sachin
Tendulkar, Vincent Van Gogh and the Alex Rider novels.
This wide variety of subjects must surely be part of the long-lasting
appeal of Mastermind.
John offers his own thoughts on the popularity of the series: "I think
it's just the perfect television format - the way the tension is built
up as the contenders walk across to the chair in silence and the way
the camera never leaves their face as they struggle to answer the questions.
"Obviously it isn't the chance to win a million pounds, winning
contestants still get the same glass bowl that's been handed out since
the first show.
"I think the other appeal is that people know what to expect from the
series as the format hasn't really changed since 1972 and that's an
enormous strength.
"Although the format might be predictable the outcome never is!
I can never tell who will do well and who will struggle.
"Someone might score brilliantly in the specialist round and then
fall to pieces in the general knowledge round.
"I always get it wrong when I try to predict the winner so I won't
even try and predict who will win Junior Mastermind, the competition
is far too strong!"
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