Alice Walker writes:
“By way of introduction, I’ve been foreman of Poynton Jemmers Northwest Morris Dancers for more years than I care to remember, and I am also the 2022 Mastermind Champion!
“I love a quiz, and have contemplated applying for Mastermind for many years, so in spring last year I decided to go for it before I got too old! After online auditions I soon heard that I had been accepted for the show. I had a few weeks to prepare my first specialist subject and being a big fan of musical theatre I chose Rodgers & Hammerstein’s musicals. I was very lucky to win my heat by a single point over fellow contender Andrew Whiteley. Because of the social distancing rules that were in place, and also the speed with which the BBC ship you in and out of Belfast, there wasn’t much time for socialising with the other contenders. It was only when the heat was broadcast in September that I discovered on the grapevine that Andrew is a long-standing member of the Seven Champions Molly Dancers! As one of the highest scoring runners up, Andrew reappeared as a reserve for the semi-finals but sadly no-one dropped out so he did not get the chance to compete. Hopefully he will have another go in a few years’ time.
“My semi-final subject was the influential Victorian portrait photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. I was in the lead at the half way point, but my general knowledge round didn’t go too well and I tied for first place with another contender. I managed to edge a win, again by a single point, in a nail-biting tie-break.
“Each Mastermind finalist gets a little film or ‘VT’ made about them, and the producers pounced on my morris dancing connection, as a potential original and fun section. I had not planned to tell anyone that I had reached the final, but producer Brenda was so persuasive that I agreed to let the Jemmers into the secret so that they could be in the film. Those dancers and musicians who were not working or otherwise engaged came to my house on a wet Friday morning and danced on the patio for the camera. It’s a very small space but they managed to perform part of our Knutsford dance in truncated form, and wish me luck, and it looked great on the resulting VT which was shown during the final.
“At the point when the final was filmed I’d only seen a few of the heats, which was probably a good thing as all the finalists were extremely good quizzers. Some people thought that my specialist subject of the Peak District National Park might be too broad, but I’d done my homework and felt confident – with good reason as it turned out, as I scored a perfect 14 points and again found myself in first place. This meant I was last up in the general knowledge with a target of 27. The questions just seemed to fall my way, but when you are in that chair you have no idea of the score or how much time is left, so when Clive Myrie announced my score of 33 I was totally shocked.
“Just as surprising was the reaction after the final was broadcast. I expected maybe a paragraph in the local paper, but what I got was major coverage in the national press. Not only countless personal messages, including from people in the morris world who I haven’t seen for years, but also several radio interviews and an appearance on BBC Northwest Tonight. A highlight was being interviewed by Emma Barnett on Woman’s Hour who confessed she knew very little about morris dancing and promised to do some research!
“The Jemmers have been so supportive and proud of my Mastermind success and it’s been great to be able to use my 15 minutes of fame to shine a little light on our dancing.
by Alice Walker of Poynton Jemmers Northwest Morris Dancers of Poynton, Cheshire
