mostly david ephgrave

I barely took part in my usual Monday evening tweet-along-to-University-Challenge-athon this evening for a couple of reasons: (1) because I’ve grown a little bored of the show if I’m honest, and (2) I’m feeling a bit less childish of late. I read an article a few weeks back, written from the perspective of a few contestants who’ve appeared on the game show and weren’t prepared for the virtual onslaught they received online as a result of this, literally in a virtual sense. The article was mostly written from the point of view of women who felt the way they looked took priority over their actual abilities, which is something I don’t believe I’m guilty of, yet it still made me think. I’d like to hope what I do is never seen as an attack; I’m not seeking these people out directly and copying them in to my feedback, and the sort of thing I write is meant to be harmless and comedic, but it’s so easy to cross a line so that's no longer the case. This...

All that needed to be said about tonight’s University Challenge was summed up in my first tweet of the evening: “Well…Regan’s a twat.” Queen's - Belfast Vs. Birmingham (26.09.16) Admittedly, it wasn't very subtle, but then neither was Regan’s get-up. He chose to make his début on the show dressed as a gimp. To be fair, he’s not the first; there have been many unfortunately-garbed contestants on the programme before this evening’s episode and there’ll be many to come. He was just in the invidious position of being the most eye-catchingly attired of the night, though he brought this attention on himself and therefore only has himself to blame. Still, what right have I to judge? You should have seen how ridiculous I looked at his age; I went to my drama school's graduation ball as a First Year in a pair of black and grey stripy flares; I didn’t even have the era as an alibi: it was the Nineties, not the Sixties. Regan-bashing to on...

For me, no Monday would be complete without a spot of Twitter bitching about the teams competing in that night's University Challenge. It’s my least appealing characteristic, second to the features sprouting from the front side of my head. I’d been unable to luxuriate in my predilection for student-contestant unpleasantness for few weeks, due to BBC2 airing a handful of Celebrity UC specials; those quasi-famous participants weren’t good fodder. This week, I was back with a vengeance. See below for Monday's posts; they weren't big or clever. 8:08pm: Queen's Belfast's Mallon could kill you with one look. 8:09pm: Paxman, channelling Alan Partridge. # Moribund 8:10pm: Clegg and Russell look like children dressed as the middle-aged. 8:11pm: Sowood nearly burst while saying "Pulsar". 8:13pm: Mallon drank from the wrong grail in The Last Crusade. 8:15pm: Bon Jovi? BON JOVI?! ...