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Re: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (was: What have you learned from Jam?)

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Dean BedfordMay 23, 2009
 

 
On Sunday, May 24, 2009, at 03:30 AM, Clitheroe Kid wrote:

>
>
> Dean, I'd be interested in your thoughts on a question that puzzled me
> in
> those days. So far as you know, were the panellists ever given advance
> notice of the subjects?
>
> You've mentioned the episode in which Kenneth talks about Marcus
> Aurelius
> Antoninus. When I heard first that one, it did occur to me to wonder
> whether
> Kenneth had known in advance that this would be one of the subjects.
>
> Although he was well known for being the most erudite member of the
> panel,
> to know so much about a fairly obscure historical figure seemed
> unlikely,
> unless he was aware that the subject was going to come up.

Cymro has answered this really. As he says, Kenneth talks in the diaries
about researching subjects in the week before a recording and David
Hatch also said once when talking about the show that Kenneth used to
ring him or Ian Messiter the week before the recording and demand a list
of subjects so he wouldn't look foolish. Hatch said Kenneth was the only
one who did this regularly and as a result he did end up with the
obscure subjects. He said Kenneth was only shown subjects where he was
starting the round.

The issue was raised in the press a few years ago and the then producer
Claire Jones said the current panellists could see a full list of
subjects before the show. Most did look at it when they arrived for a
recording say an hour before. Not all did - one exception was Clement
Freud who declared that he had always played the game off-the-cuff and
that was that. But even he has been seen to bring notes on to stage in
recent years apparently so perhaps he too used to sneak a peek on
occasions.

Of course both Hatch and Jones went on to say that it's the banter
between the panellists and the fun they have playing off each other that
is the highlight of the show, and the real test of a panellist.

 
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