The final of Mastermind on takes place on BBC 2 on Monday, April 11 and there's a Welsh contestant competing who hasn't dropped a wrong answer on his specialist subjects during his last two appearances on the show. Pontypool quiz-lover Anthony Fish will be competing against five other contestants for the coveted TV quiz title.
In his previous rounds, Anthony,43, who is a community safety officer, previously scored the perfect round, getting all his answers correct for both his semi-final heats on 20th-Century Heavyweight Boxing Championship Fights and Hitchcock Films of the 1950s. And during the show, Mastermind host Clive Myrie described his semi-final score as a “colossal 14”.
His final specialist subject will be the British sitcom Open All Hours, which starred Ronnie Barker and David Jason and ran for 12 years from 1973, so he had a lot of revision to do ahead of the nerve-wracking final. Anthony, who's part of the Welsh team, Tim Gyda I on the Online Quiz League, will sit down and watch the pre-recorded final along with wife Emma and their 11-year-old twins Harry and Thomas. During the recording, he received a wonderful surprise from the Mastermind team - a letter of good luck from David Jason himself.
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"I have to say [filming Mastermind] was the most nervous I've been in my life," said the dad-of-two, who got into quizzing after watching quiz shows with his parents when he was around the same age his sons are now. "I picked Open All Hours, I love all the old sitcoms of the 1970s and '80s. And yeah, I had a bit of a surprise when the crew came to film, a signed letter off David Jason. I've got that up, it's a treasured possession, it was unbelievable. He's one of my favourite characters of all-time."
Anthony, who has also been on 15-to One and Radio 4's Brain of Britain, said that his sons differ when it comes to sharing his passion for quizzing, with Thomas getting into the hobby by helping his dad by reading questions from books. "But they were a little bit shocked seeing me on TV and about being on there themselves," Anthony added.
And about sitting in the iconic black chair - Anthony says it's the pinnacle for all quizzers. "There are tougher quizzes on TV, I'm not going to lie," he adds. "Like Unversity Challenge, but for an individual, Mastermind is the pinnacle of quizzing. It's been on for 50 years. You see the chair, you see the studio and you've been watching it all this time, it's a surreal experience. And when you sit in the chair you think 'here we go, I can't get out of it now.'
"I can't tell you how nervous I was, it was just like, you know, getting married and doing your driving test on the same day, which is just absolutely terrifying. But you know, brilliant at the same time."
Find out how Anthony does on Mastermind on Monday, April 11 at 8pm on BBC2. For more TV stories, click here.
