I got the distinct impression during this show last night that someone in the commissioning unit at the BBC might have been ploughing through a whole mailbag full of programme suggestions and, in despair of ever finding anything by his/her deadline, decided this idea about revisiting ex-University Challenge winners would do.

It’s not that it was totally un-entertaining; there were many amusing moments, but I just kept coming back to the question of, why? It could probably have worked on winners from any popular game show from way-back-when, such as Sale of the Century. Actually, it would’ve been quite interesting to see if Jean from Cheshire ended up keeping hold of her canteen of cutlery or vacuum cleaner.

I guess the one thing that gave this show any relevance at all is that everyone on it was of superior intellect, and in that regard, it was quite interesting to note that having a super computer for a brain doesn’t necessarily mean you’re automatically going to qualify for a life less ordinary. Read more & comment »