Behind the scenes of a television quiz show

Earlier this year three members of Malvern u3a, Pam, Elizabeth and Aidan, applied successfully to appear on the TV quiz show Only Connect. The team discuss the experience and some behind the scenes secrets of the programme.

What is Only Connect?

People who enjoy quizzes will already know that you have to avoid any social commitments on Monday evenings, as that is quiz night on BBC 2. Mastermind, Only Connect and University Challenge follow each other. It is chaired by Victoria Coren Mitchell, and each episode features two teams of three. There are four rounds in which you have to make connections between seemingly unrelated items.

• In the first round you are given up to four clues and have to find the connection between them. The less clues you need, the more points you score
• In the second you are given up to three clues and have to identify what would come fourth in the sequence.
• The third is a wall of sixteen words that have to be sorted into four groups.
• The final round is a buzzer round against the other team to identify a phrase with its vowels removed e.g. MSS NG VWL S.

Applying to be on the programme

In late 2023 the three of us discovered we had a shared interest in this programme and decided to apply. Although it was only a few days before the deadline for applications, we contacted the programme and started the application process.

Our first test was to complete some sample questions at home. We had to fill in some personal information including the classic ‘which three words best describe you?’ We also had to come up with a suggested team name. After bouncing a few ideas around, we settled on ‘The Third Agers’.

We were invited to a Zoom audition in January. That took place with a casting unit running through more questions, this time under exam conditions to see how we interacted as a team. We couldn’t answer everything but had positive feedback.

After a few weeks on tenterhooks we received a call saying we had made the final selection - cue email with subject title of ‘OMG!!!!’ 

Preparing for the first episode

We were given recording dates we had to be available for and advice on what we could and could not wear. These instructions included ‘please avoid any clothing with logos, any visible branding or motifs, fine stripes, small checks, block white or block black’.

We each had to provide ten interesting facts about ourselves to introduce each of us at the start of the programme. We then started to practise quizzes together, looking at past episodes and working our way through two Only Connect paperbacks. Unlike something like Mastermind, Only Connect isn’t the sort of quiz you can revise facts for. But you can think about strategies for tackling each type of question.

The competition starts with sixteen teams. The first block of filming is spread over four days with four teams being present on each day. It’s not a straight knockout - every team is guaranteed at least two matches no matter whether they win or lose their first game.

Filming

When we arrived at the Cardiff studios for filming in May, we met many different people including the other three teams who would be competing that day. One team had applied as individuals and had only met in person for the first time the day before. There was a Scottish team who were very involved in politics, and ourselves, clearly the oldest there, but, according to Victoria, not the oldest team to ever appear on the programme.

The whole filming process was fascinating - we had no idea there were so many people involved. There were question setters, lighting and sound engineers, many camera operators, a floor manager, and others whose role was behind the scene - perhaps 40-50 people all there just for our show. We had a lady help with make-up and a techie fit us with microphones. Just before our first game we were taken onto set and given precise instructions on how to sit, where to look etc.

Victoria was charming, generous and very friendly and funny. The first time she came onto set, she immediately looked over to us and said something like ‘University of the Third Age - an excellent institution I thoroughly approve of! - definitely going to ask you about that’. Before the filming started, she gave both teams some excellent advice along the lines of ‘Try not to rush, the whole thing will go by really quickly and remember to enjoy yourselves’.

You can watch the Third Agers in action on BBC iPlayer and our next episode is on Monday 28 October.