Masterteam
Masterteam was a BBC television and radio quiz show, devised by the team which made Mastermind. The show was devised by Dave Ross at the BBC Quiz Unit.
The television show was originally broadcast on BBC One for three series between 21 October 1985 and 20 December 1987 and was presented by Angela Rippon. The programme lasted for half an hour. Each series lasted for nine weeks comprising a total of 45 shows encompassing 135 shows in total. Two teams of three players from the same geographical area played 5 rounds in the following order;
Team Challenge (1), In The Spotlight (1), In A Spin, In The Spotlight (2), Team Challenge (2).
The Team Challenge round was questions on the buzzer and lasted for 60 seconds with two points for a correct answer. An incorrect answer from an interrupted question gave one point to the opposing team and allowed them to answer the question in full for the second point. The team that led at the end of round were allowed to pick a member of the opposing team to answer questions on their chosen subject from a selection of six in Round 2 called In The Spotlight.
Again two points for a correct answer. The other team then returned the favour. Then third round lasted 30 seconds and was called In A Spin where the computer selected three letters at random from which the teams had to make the longest word they could with the letters in the same order within the word. The longest word gained 5 points for the team. The fourth round was the same as the second with the person who answered questions in Round 2 excluded. The final round was the same as the first.
The team with the most points won the game, and then went on to a play a new team. Any team winning two games reached Bronze Medal status, three games Silver Medal status and four games Gold Medal status after which they were retired. These teams were entered onto a leaderboard with the highest eight scoring teams returning for the knockout stages from Quarter-Final onwards. These later stages incorporated an additional round, entitled 'It's All Yours', in which the teams would have a minute to answer as many questions as they could by means of conferring and answering via their captains. This round would be played twice per show, in between the 'Team Challenge' and 'Spotlight' rounds.
The show came to an end after the third series, being replaced by in its timeslot by Australian soap opera, Neighbours. The questions were supplied by Burns and Porter Associates.
Teams
The three series of Masterteam were won by the following teams;
- 1985 : Warrington Sports Club
- 1986 : The Antrim Coasters
- 1987 : Carrick Plus One
Some of the other teams that took part had the following names...
- The Blackpool Illuminaries
- The Blyth Battlers
- The Civil Servants
- The Farnham Hoofers
- The Garbologists
- The Good Guessers
- The Griffin Grapplers
- The Honourable Members
- The Humberside Planners
- The Isleworth Chancers
- The Magic Roundabout
- The Master Cutlers
- The Old Lads
- The Peripatetic Pedagogues
- The Quidnuncs
- Ron's Raiders
- Swavesey Radsoc
Many of the teams were named after the occupations of their members or had some link to their local area. The Honourable Members for example consisted of three MP's including Austin Mitchell.[1] The Old Lads team consisted of 3 men from Oldham. The Quidnuncs team from Avon was notable as it contained serial quizzer Daphne Fowler.[2]
TV series guide
- Series 1: 45x25' first aired 21 October 1985 – 20 December 1985
- Series 2: 45x25' first aired 20 October 1986 – 19 December 1986
- Series 3: 45x25' first aired 19 October 1987 – 20 December 1987
Radio series
With a view to the British love of trivia and pub quizzes, Masterteam is an amateur contest between teams of three people from British or Irish cities or counties. Teams can be established or formed just for the contest. It is noticeable that a number of teams have members on the 'professional' quiz-team circuit, who make their living through appearing on British game shows.
Over the course of the contest teams play four league matches, and the team with the highest aggregate score go on to the final.
Catchphrases
- "Let's meet them. They are..." (introducing teams)
- "Let's play." (Angela's cue to start a Team Challenge)
- "It's still yours." (when, during a Spotlight Round, Angela got interrupted by the end buzzer)
- "I must have an answer!"
- "(insert letter) is the first letter of the sequence and must be the first letter of your word." (during the In A Spin round)
