My second tv gameshow experience was "One To Win". I had graduated from a BBC daytime show to Channel 5 late-night slot. OTW, now sadly defunct, was a resurrection of the popular 80s/early 90s daytime quiz - Going For Gold. Alas no Henry Kelly when I appeared on the show, nor the massed ranks of sundry Europeans.
Fancying my chances against Hans from Dusseldorf and Inga from Sweden, I applied for the show. It was only when I arrived at the studio that I found out that the international element of the show had been dropped and that all of my fellow contestants had English as their mother tongue too. Unless that is you count Trevor from Liverpool, who had a unique take on the English language.
Like most shows of this ilk, each day features approx 5 different recordings, and I was scheduled for the first show of the day - winner stays on.
Round 1 - show 1. 4 contestants 10 points needed to qualify for the next round. Only 3 qualify for the next round. Once you answer a question correctly you are given the next category and can choose whether the question is worth 1,2 or 3 points. I was nervous and was beaten to the buzzer on the first few questions. The spectre of first round elimination was sitting on my shoulder and was weighing very heavily. The next question: "Which Scottish snooker player lost in the final of this years....." BUZZ. I knew the answer, I had watched the match. "Mick McManus" I said as quickly as I could, relieved coursed through my veins and I relaxed. "Incorrect" said Robin Houston, the host. I was stunned then realised what I had done. Mick McManus was a wrestler from the Big Daddy era - I had meant to say Alan Mcmanus. What crazy short circuit in my wiring had caused that cock up? Nonetheless I was now more relaxed. I answered the next 4 questions and was the first player to qualify for round two.
Round 2 - Four in a row. You pick a category and have to try to string together 4 correct answers. A wrong answer sends you back to zero. No problems here. I cruised through the first 4 questions and was into the final.
Round 3 - the Final. You need to get 21 points. The person 'in control' can choose whether to play or pass. There then proceeds a long question in the form: who am I? , What am I? What place? What event?
As the question progresses more clues are given but the points diminish. Also the chance to buzz in alternates, and with each switch of control the available points reduce. With me? Well perhaps this screen grab from Going For Gold might help. I'm not in the pic, but saddos might recognise Daphne Fowler - Quiz Show Queen.
So anyway I was up against a very nice woman from Birmingham. It was nip and tuck, and we got to 20 points each - real nail biting stuff. I had control and the category was America. "Which event in 1773..." BUZZ "Boston Tea Party." I knew that the date preceeded the American War of Independence but not by much. It was a guess but fortune favours the brave. "Correct". I'd won. Blimey it was tese and exhilarating. I was £200 better off (you play for big stakes on C5) and my poor opponent was given Microsoft Encarta despite not having a pc.
Well I was confident as anything now. I breezed through the next show and added another £200 to my kitty. In the third show I was even better - I beat my opponent in the final 21-0. By this point it was mid-afternoon and I was starting to wilt. 3 shows under studio lights and my addrenelin had been pumping for hours. Between the 3rd and the 4th shows I overheard production staff discussing whether I could be beaten. I felt on top of the world. Of course when you are on top of the world there is only one way to go.
The 4th show began and I was running on Red Bull and nothing else. Nonetheless I got through to the final albeit as the 2nd qualifier. I was playing against a nice oap with lousy dress sense. He was a bird watcher although I didn't realise that until I watched the show later. It was mentioned in the matey chat between the host and my opponent, but I was either so confident or so out of it that I missed that point.
I started ok, but was under tough pressure. It was neck and neck and then I started floundering. "Which fast food chain.." BUZZ "KFC" incorrect. Control passed to my opponent. As an OAP he wasn't a fan of fast food. He took an age to buzz and then BUZZ "Wimpy". Incorrect, control passed back to me. Could I think of another fast food outlet? Could I heck! "McDonalds" Pigging McDonalds - how the hell could I not get that? And yet my brain was frozen, I knew I knew it, but I couldn't fish it out. In my time I have come up with answers that I didn't even know I knew, and yet on this occasion I couldn't even guess that a fast food outlet might be Mcdonalds.
I still had control, the next category was birds. I was on 18 points my opponent on 17. I figured that as I only needed 3 points I could safely pass control over and would get the 3 pts needed. Of course I had missed the crucial point that my opponent was a bird watcher. He duly buzzed in very quickly to steal the 4 pts and the game.
Deflated I congratulated him, I felt like a party balloon 3 daysw after a party, all shrivelled and pathetic. Nontheless I was £600 better off, and had a copy of Microsoft Encarta as well. Of course as I didn't have a pc either it was a white elephant. To this day I still have that boxed Encarta as a reminder of an enjoyable but gruelling day. A 3 game winning streak - still my best game show run.
