OK, so, we learned earlier this evening that Only Connect will be returning on August 29th. But STILL no word on UC's return; the earliest we can expect it now is August 8th. Any later than that, and I'll become almost certain that the (other) reason for this late start is that TPTB have finally gotten rid of the extended quarter-final stage. We shall wait and see though; in the meantime, our retrospective of the series from ten years ago continues, with both of the 'blog reader' teams making their first QF appearances...
Match 26, Preliminary Quarter-Final 2: U.C.L. vs Bangor (11th February 2013)
Ah yes, this episode. A most
fascinating match this, but also one that generated a great deal of ‘controversy’
in the dead tree press. Bangor quickly proved that win over Durham was no fluke
as our man Adam took the first two starters of the game; U.C.L. did get a
starter, but a penalty gave Bangor possession back, and a run on the buzzer plus
two further pens from their opponents meant they’d soon built up a 100-0 lead.
But U.C.L. then started slowly
chipping away at that deficit, and, by the second picture round, had taken the
lead. Bangor did take that picture round to take the lead back, but U.C.L. now
had the bit between their teeth, and, in the final minutes, pulled away into the
distance. But instead of talking about that, all anyone was talking about was
an unfortunate incident when Mr Tyszczuk Smith erroneously offered ‘William I’
instead of William III, and Paxo duly exclaimed “NO! WILLIAM I?!” as Mr TS
nervously apologised. Got at least one article in the dead tree press that
incident did, even though it was rather tame compared to some of the outbursts
Paxo had had at the time (the previous week’s Inspector Clouseau one for one). It's a shame this incident, and the OTT reaction to it, has gotten in the way of, what was actually, one of the best shows of the series (here's a mini-article I wrote about the affair at the time). U.C.L.'s late sprint saw them win 190-125.
Match 27, Preliminary Quarter-Final 3: Pembroke vs St George's (18th February 2013)
This should’ve been a close match
on paper, between two strong teams both of whom had looked decent in their
first two matches. On the day, however, St George’s quickly ran out into the
lead and, while Pembroke were never that far behind, they never looked like
being able to catch up. Neither side did that well on the bonuses all night,
but, as I remarked at the time, they did seem a bit tougher than usual.
All in all, this was probably one
of the least memorable matches of the series, a decidedly meh affair. Minor
highlight came when Pembroke were struggling with a bonus set on bone
structures, and Paxo remarked that St George’s would know all these answers!
Another bonus round, given to St George’s, gave mention to Chris Mullin’s ‘A
Very British Coup’, which has come back into prominence in the years since following
Jeremy Corbyn’s becoming Labour leader. St George’s won the game 195-105, but,
despite this impressive showing, this would sadly be as good as it got for them…
Match 28, Preliminary Quarter-Final 4: New College vs King's (25th February 2013)
The final preliminary match saw
our man Jim take the first starter of the game, but New College got the upper hand
on the buzzers after that and pulled away into a lead they never looked like
relinquishing, though, again, a rather hit and miss showing on the bonuses
meant they never got insurmountably out of sight until late on. King’s
eventually got going again when Jim took the music starter; I remember Adam
expressing jealousy at the time that King’s seemed to always get classical
starters that Jim could get, while Bangor always got non-classical ones he
couldn’t! More on that next time…
It wasn’t until King’s lost five
when Mr Gallant went one generation too late and offered ‘Kim Jong Il’ instead
of ‘Kim Il Sung’ that New College pulled totally out of realistic sight. A late
rally from King’s, including a pretty good buzz from Jim on ‘the Incas’, saw
them reach three figures, but the gap was just a bit too big for them to pull
back. New College won the game 165-125.
So, another three shows in the bag; another three next week, plus a look back at a long forgotten CITV show that is finally getting some recognition 19 years after being treated so poorly by the network. And, hopefully, some more news on the returns of Quizzy Mondays. See you next week then...
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