'Only Connect' - an ode to knowledge for knowledge's sake
The show returns this evening for its 19th series with Victoria Coren Mitchell at the helm, but it still feels somewhat niche.
Only Connect returns to BBC Two this evening. The esoteric quiz show is one of those I feel most in my social orbit are likely watching, yet rarely seem to be. My bringing it up in conversation will more often than not elicit a blank stare, or else a groan. ‘It’s too hard!’ is often the accompanying complaint. To which I reply with almost manic enthusiasm: ‘that’s the whole point!’
Of the many joys of this programme is that one can go a whole episode without even being close to getting a question right and yet still be enthralled. Where’s the challenge in a ‘3 by 3’-style quiz with a question so easy that you shout the answer out, gleefully chiding contestants for their lack of knowledge from the comfort of your own armchair, only to be humbled as the following question comes along (more than likely concerning who won a tennis matche in the 1970s) and you find yourself stumped. That’s not much fun for anyone involved, and there’s little chance of that happening on Only Connect.
There’s been the odd occasion where I’ve found a kindred spirit who watches it and is as enthused by it as I am, but there’s probably a reason why I’ve yet to come across a Buzzfeed quiz asking ‘which Egyptian hieroglyph are you?’; as obsessed as I have been with the show for the last decade, it appears to remain rather niche. And yet, a cursory glance at the internet suggests that between 2-3 million tune in to watch it on a Monday night - well, where are you all?!
Look, I’m doing my best to spread the word. ‘It’ll be right up your street’, I insisted to one friend last year who’d never seen it, and with at whose home I was supposed to be enjoying a pre-dinner drink. It turns out that it wasn’t - and that was one of the more accessible Christmas specials. Mercifully, this friend hasn’t banned me from future social occasions.
Some friends have persevered, and I’ve been delighted to watch them as they’ve gotten their first question right, shocked by their own hitherto unknown ability to identify a series of random clues as obscure torture devices. The joy etched on their face is that which comes from something which feels like a real accomplishment (even if, with that particular category of question, I find myself slightly frightened by it).
With such success, however, comes a great burden; it isn’t always comfortable to be aware of all the random information you’ve collected in life, and which of it comes to mind most speedily. As much as I would love to tell you that my sole five-pointer to date was a question concerned with the highest of arts, I’m afraid that’s not the case. The clue in question - for a Connections round - was this:
‘1993: River Thames changes colour’
Have you got it yet? If not, I can tell you now that the answer was concerning the variations of ‘EastEnders opening titles’. The show, having begun in 1985, has changed its titles only sparingly since.
I think it might be the only time in my life when pride and mortification have been so purely entwined. What may have compounded my shame was that it was the only question in the episode that I even came close to being able to answer. I have to remind myself that there are episodes where I do rather better than that (and concerning knowledge I’m a little more content to possess).
Some might say that there’s little point in watching a quiz show where you’re unable to answer the questions, but I disagree - even in those episodes where questions and answers soar right over my head, I discover lots of interesting things. And anyway, even some of the boffins who end up going on as contestants will get to the end of the second round without having scored a single point - often to then mount a thrilling comeback in the Connecting Wall and/or Missing Vowels rounds.
Some might say that the knowledge contained within is too abstruse. That it’s not the right sort of knowledge, because it will never be useful in the real world - for jobs and economic growth, perhaps. But enough about Rishi Sunak.
Discovering random facts can be thrilling, and that’s why I think Only Connect has gathered such a loyal following. Knowledge for knowledge’s sake is a glorious thing, and this is a show which celebrates it. If you’ve not seen it before, tune in this evening - and don’t worry if you don’t get any of the connections; there’s always the missing vowels round at the end.