BBC 2 TV 'Mastermind'

The place to post anything DW-related
Cibator
Level4
Level4
Posts: 92
Joined: Thu 4 Sep, 2008 11:27:30
Location: New Zealand

Post by Cibator »

Darren, I think we're likely to have a bit of trouble here. For one thing, Mastermind hasn't screened in NZ since 1991. All its production staff have long since retired or moved on to other things, and the broadcasting company itself has been reorganised several times, to the point of unrecognisability. After all that, I very much doubt if the programme's records have survived, in any official shape anyway. Quiz shows are of little account altogether in NZ these days. University Challenge also came off after 1991. The official reason was that TVNZ needed to devote huge resources to bringing us coverage of the Barcelona Olympics, but that may just have been an excuse to dump some shows that were perceived as "not consistent with our mission statement" or some such drivel.

But: even having said all that, I can think of one or two possible lines of attack. The first thing is to identify the contestant concerned and the year they appeared. That's going to involve a trip to Wellington Central Library and their bound reference copies of the NZ Listener, our main TV/radio listings publication. (The Listener often - but not always - helpfully printed the names of the contestants, their home towns, and their specialist subjects.) I don't know when that visit can happen - my wife is disabled and can't be left on her own for too long at a time. But I'll do what I can, when I can.

Once we have a name, and provided it's not too commonplace, I can try the electoral rolls to see if an address can be obtained for making contact. Just realise, though, that it's 30 years on, they might not be around any more, and if female, they might have married/remarried and changed their name. And would they have even bothered to retain any info about the questions ... We can only cross our fingers (several pairs of 'em!).
Fas est et ab hoste doceri
Darren
Level5
Level5
Posts: 247
Joined: Tue 8 Dec, 2009 20:12:43
Location: Yorkshire, UK

Post by Darren »

Hmmmmmmm..........

That seems to be a lot of work with little guarantee of success. I had it easier - in the UK there is the Mastermind Club for Mastermind contestants. That is how I contacted Gavin Fuller. I take there isn't a similar club in New Zealand.

You never know, the New Zealand Listener archived TV listings may end up online one day in a similar way to the recent BBC Radio Times Genome project.

Just in case I end up at some point in Wellington Central Library, can you remember which channel Mastermind was shown on, any particular day of the week, a particular time? For example, in the UK in the 1980s Mastermind was always on BBC1 on Sunday night, in the early evening.
Last edited by Darren on Fri 16 Jan, 2015 21:48:44, edited 1 time in total.
Regards,

Darren.
Cibator
Level4
Level4
Posts: 92
Joined: Thu 4 Sep, 2008 11:27:30
Location: New Zealand

Post by Cibator »

Darren wrote:I take there isn't a similar club in New Zealand.
You take it correctly. The show has never been quite such a big deal out here, especially in its final years.
Darren wrote:Just in case I end up at some point in Wellington Central Library, can you remember which channel Mastermind was shown on, any particular day of the week, a particular time? For example, in the UK in the 1980s Mastermind was always on BBC1 on Sunday night, in the early evening.
There were only the two channels in NZ at the time (TV One, usually regarded as the more highbrow of the two, and a second one which went by a series of names). Both were arms of the state-owned broadcaster. Mastermind was usually on TV One, but I seem to recall it being on the second channel for one season at least! As in the UK, it was generally an early-evening affair, but the day of the week and time of the year were both very much moveable feasts. My final was recorded and transmitted in September: the so-called 1979 final actually went out in January 1980! It all depended on what other shows it was fitting around, when their seasons began and ended, etc.
Fas est et ab hoste doceri
Locked

Return to “General Topics”