Today, I watched
the filming of two episodes of the BBC1 game show Pointless.
I was struck by how relaxed the shoot was. It was a world of difference from my previous game
show experience, when I attended a recording of the Paul Daniels-fronted Nineties quiz
Wipeout (I've never been starved for entertainment). That
programme was filmed in a much larger studio at Television Centre (today’s was shot in Elstree) - and consequently felt like a much bigger deal.
Conversely, today's shoot was relatively low-key. I’m not saying that Armstrong and Osman were blasé about the job in hand (except for then,
when I just said it). They were just completely in control of proceedings. It was like
watching a well-oiled machine. A well-oiled
machine that intersperses dry one-liners with trivia.
(I'm not sure what would be the purpose of this appliance.)
The hardest thing
was refraining from playing along out loud. This is perfectly acceptable at home; less so when you’re sitting front-centre in the audience, in
the direct line of sight of both the presenters and contestants.
I didn’t do too
badly in my mind, if I do say so myself. I managed to get three pointless
answers: one in a round about Beatles songs, another in a round about Oasis, and one about 1984 (the year, not the novel).
I also scored seven points with the
British Grand Prix-winner Jackie Stewart. You'd almost be fooled for thinking that I know stuff.
I didn’t score so
well when the cameras were turned on the audience for a few reaction
shots. There was nothing natural about my performance.
(It's not as if I earn my living as an actor.)
I even briefly
held a Pointless trophy. They’re tiny: about the size of two Crystal Maze crystals if they'd been melted into one.
That was apparently the most universal scale I could come up with.
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| A David's-eye-view of the studio. |