Not sure if it was the most recent episode or not but the one we played on iPlayer last night included a shout out to Portmanmoor Road in Splott where apparently they film it.
I like Victoria Coren Mitchell but her delivery of the banter and patter is terrible. Endearing but terrible.
I absolutely fucking *adore* VC-M. I have never read anything she's written, or watched any telly she's been on, without feeling a little bit better about the world after doing so. I loved her "For Richer For Poorer" poker autobiography, and I love her Observer columns. Her OC banter is OK, and sometimes much better than that.
I've watched the last couple of episodes on iPlayer so I wasn't aware of this scheduling travesty. However I did wonder why an episode was being shown late on Friday evening. It was on this afternoon (Saturday) as well, wasn't it?
I mean why break up the partnership with University Challenge?
Mad.
Anyway there's a little extra game I like to play when watching OC. I listen to the theme tune, of course, to get in the mood; then, like any sane person, I mute the volume before VCM has a chance to speak. Then, I have to lip-read her and try to toggle the sound back on the instant before she says "On my right..."
Thirded. It was ridiculous that being able to answer that question depended on being able to name a hypothetical sequence of films.
And yes, it's patently bollocks that the programme has been moved from its happy home on Mondays as University Challenge's slightly warped and a touch unruly younger sibling, to a nothing Friday slot where it's allegedly and completely needlessly meant to be complementing QI instead.
Or, in Wales, Saturday, where it complements neither – Sport Wales kicks it out of even the Friday night slot that it has moved to in much of the rest of the UK, so it's 24 hours later again west of the Severn Bridge. At least, on regular BBC Two. The only small mercy is that it's still available in the Friday slot if you go to BBC Two HD.
Not overly impressed with Victoria Coren's comment on the (spoiler alert?) Martinique/Réunion/Brittany/Mayotte connecting group that they are administrative regions of France "even though only Brittany is actually in France, the others are abroad". Well no, by very definition they are all in France.
I wonder if the quality had dipped a bit. I'm not overly enamoured with this new format which seems to be given teams a second chance. In the first round I'm ok with it, but now we are further down the line, giving losing teams another go just seems to be stretching it on and on. And agree with the earlier comments, it feels totally out of place on a Friday night.
I bump this not to lament the fact that almost an entire series has passed without comment, but to note that on a recent episode (I binge watch them, so can't pinpoint when) the music round featured 'Up the Down Escalator' by the Chameleons as the first clue. Never mind five points, if anyone had got that I would have happily have seen them awarded the entire series on the spot.
Is that the band The Charlatans were obsessed by/ripped off as much as the Stone Roses?
Like The Cardiacs though, I’ve only heard of them.
Hmm the Charlatans would certainly have heard them but probably not a direct influence. More yer Slowdives and yer Catherine Wheels, and slightly later Interpol and Editors. Certainly an influence on early Wedding Present, while Echo and the Bunnymen followed a poppier parallel path to them.
I've been given the quiz book, or as they call it Th Ffcl Qz Bk. Not sure whether it will work in quiz book format. I'm not that much of a fan. Mrs Thistle tends to watch each week and she was nonplussed by the book.
I've been given the quiz book, or as they call it Th Ffcl Qz Bk. Not sure whether it will work in quiz book format. I'm not that much of a fan. Mrs Thistle tends to watch each week and she was nonplussed by the book.
That wouldn't have counted as it wouldn't fit the third clue. The sequences have to fit all the clues (even those that haven't been seen) otherwise you could get five points every time by coming up with a sequence that just had the first clue as it's starting point.
That's the key point. But also, there's no particular reason to start the trio, quartet etc. sequence at 3: you could have duo, say. Whereas the sequence of rectilinear plane figures has to start at triangle because it's impossible to have a closed rectilinear figure with two distinct sides.
Comment