Road rules4 mins ago
Was The Mastermind Job Advertised?
35 Answers
I wonder what the requirements were. "Ability to read essential" That's about it. What other requirements could there be? Perhaps in these times it would be helpful if the applicant were a member of the BAMELGBTQ+ community. Stammerers need not apply. Must be free for one hour 31 times each year. Plus a few more for Celebrity Mastermind. What is Clive Myrie being paid for this onerous, responsible and difficult job?
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.“ It's a lot more difficult that the experts limake it look.”
Absolutely.
Particularly with Mastermind where presumably have to read the questions at a certain speed, and you must never mess it up of course - all because of the time limit.
Anyway, a miserable old git continues: I’m not keen on the post-Magnusson Mastermind. Dumbed-down topics, and half a minute of questions per round sacrificed so we can have the inevitable couple of minutes at the end listening to the winner say something not particularly interesting.
How the lady who managed 3 points on “Gloucestershire”, followed by fluffing her “gimme” at the start of the GK round got on there I’ll never know.
Absolutely.
Particularly with Mastermind where presumably have to read the questions at a certain speed, and you must never mess it up of course - all because of the time limit.
Anyway, a miserable old git continues: I’m not keen on the post-Magnusson Mastermind. Dumbed-down topics, and half a minute of questions per round sacrificed so we can have the inevitable couple of minutes at the end listening to the winner say something not particularly interesting.
How the lady who managed 3 points on “Gloucestershire”, followed by fluffing her “gimme” at the start of the GK round got on there I’ll never know.
My “question” was intended rhetorically. I don't really want to know how much Mr Myrie will be paid. I was commenting, I hope sarcastically, on the amount of time on the news given over to the announcement that Mr Myrie would be taking over the chair (not THE chair) from Mr Humphrys. In my post at #15 I wished Mr Myrie good luck. I have no objection to his getting the job. If every question-reader stays in post for 18 years as John Humphrys did, it will take several centuries before the BBC will be able to cover the full range of diversity that seems to be so desirable these days. ToraToraTora commented that the job is a lot more difficult than the experts make it look. Well, I don't know about “a lot”; perhaps it's a bit more difficult than it looks. But the question-reader does not write the questions. That's the difficult bit. I would bet that, before the show, he will get a sight of the questions and be advised if there are any long words that he might stumble over. Grumpy01 hoped he was not detecting bias. I hope so too, certainly not on my part. I have no criticism of the choice of Clive Myrie as the next question-reader. After 15 years of Magnus Magnusson and 18 years of John Humphrys, one might have wished for a female presenter, but you can't expect to get BAMELGBTQ+ in one person.
Ichkeria agreed with ToraToraTora and went on to suggest that reading the questions at a certain speed was a requirement I had perhaps not considered. I would expect that this is taken care of when the questions are set. I would presume that the length of the questions is equalised over, say, five questions so that every contestant gets the chance to answer the same number of questions in the given time. I have noticed that, if the contestant gives a wrong answer, Humphrys will give the correct answer, whereas, if the contestant says “Pass”, Humphrys will go to the next question. So it is quicker to pass, rather than to guess, though it can count against the contestant in the event of a tie. I wish I had written what Mozz71 wrote: What do any of the questions put in the OP matter? "Man gets new role in company he already works for" isn't a big deal. He said in two lines what it took me six to say. John Humphrys was getting over £600,000 for the Today programme and Mastermind before he took a pay cut. I would not begrudge him £200,000 for the Today programme. He is a very good interviewer, and it is a very difficult job. High salaries are often related to the Prime Minister's pay grade and television celebrities do seem to be paid fantastic sums. But £200,000 is about five times the average UK full-time salary and more than the PM. I don't think that reading questions written by somebody else on Mastermind is worth anywhere near as much.
Ichkeria agreed with ToraToraTora and went on to suggest that reading the questions at a certain speed was a requirement I had perhaps not considered. I would expect that this is taken care of when the questions are set. I would presume that the length of the questions is equalised over, say, five questions so that every contestant gets the chance to answer the same number of questions in the given time. I have noticed that, if the contestant gives a wrong answer, Humphrys will give the correct answer, whereas, if the contestant says “Pass”, Humphrys will go to the next question. So it is quicker to pass, rather than to guess, though it can count against the contestant in the event of a tie. I wish I had written what Mozz71 wrote: What do any of the questions put in the OP matter? "Man gets new role in company he already works for" isn't a big deal. He said in two lines what it took me six to say. John Humphrys was getting over £600,000 for the Today programme and Mastermind before he took a pay cut. I would not begrudge him £200,000 for the Today programme. He is a very good interviewer, and it is a very difficult job. High salaries are often related to the Prime Minister's pay grade and television celebrities do seem to be paid fantastic sums. But £200,000 is about five times the average UK full-time salary and more than the PM. I don't think that reading questions written by somebody else on Mastermind is worth anywhere near as much.
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