Question of Sport

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For the spin-off video game, see A Question of Sport (video game).

Question of Sport
Questionofsport new.jpeg
GenreSports quiz show
Created byNick Hunter
Presented by
Starring
Theme music composerRichie Close
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series51
No. of episodes1,318 (as of 18 February 2022)
Landmarks: 4 March 2013: 1,000th episode
Production
Executive producerGareth JM Edwards
ProducerDave Gymer
Production locationsdock10 studios (studios HQ1 and HQ2 on rotation)
Running time30 minutes
Production companiesBBC (1968–2015)
BBC Studios (2015–present)
DistributorBBC Studios
Release
Original networkBBC One
Picture format4:3 (1968–1998)
16:9 (1998–)
Audio formatMono (1968–1972)
Dolby Stereo (1973–1990)
Dolby Surround (1991–2002)
Dolby Digital (2003–2021)
Original release2 December 1968 (1968-12-02) (pilot)
5 January 1970 (1970-01-05) –
present
External links
Question of Sport
BBC Studios

Question of Sport (previously A Question of Sport) is a British television sports quiz show produced and broadcast by the BBC. It is the "world's longest running TV sports quiz".[1] Following a pilot episode in December 1968, broadcast only in the north of England, the series has run since 1970 (except 1973 and 1978) and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020. It is currently presented by Paddy McGuinness, with team captains Sam Quek and Ugo Monye.

History[]

First edition[]

The first edition of A Question of Sport was broadcast on 5 January 1970. Presenter David Vine was joined by captains Henry Cooper and Cliff Morgan. The teams were composed of George Best, Lillian Board, Tom Finney, and Ray Illingworth.

40th anniversary[]

On 8 January 2010, the BBC broadcast a 40th anniversary special. Joining Sue Barker, Matt Dawson, and Phil Tufnell, were Pat Cash, David Coulthard, Laura Davies, and Michael Johnson.

2012 Summer Olympics specials[]

Following the 2012 Summer Olympics, A Question of Sport aired two special editions featuring champions from the aforementioned Olympics.

Gold Medal Winners special[]

On 1 September 2012, Katherine Grainger and Jason Kenny were among the gold medal winners featured.

2012 Olympics special[]

On 29 September 2012, Tim Baillie, Jade Jones, Laura Kenny, Greg Rutherford, and Etienne Stott partook.

1,000th episode[]

On 4 March 2013, A Question of Sport marked its 1,000th episode. Each captain was joined by two former captains. Dawson was joined by Willie Carson and John Parrott, while Tufnell was joined by Bill Beaumont and Ally McCoist. Tufnell's team won.

2016 Summer Olympics specials[]

Shortly after the 2016 Summer Olympics, A Question of Sport held two special editions featuring champions from the above-mentioned Olympics.

The Olympic Champions special[]

On 7 September 2016, the Olympic Champions special featured gold medal winners, including Callum Skinner.

Gold Rush special[]

On 14 September 2016, for a Gold Rush special, A Question of Sport were joined by Maddie Hinch, Jason and Laura Kenny, and Sam Quek.

50th anniversary[]

A Question of Sport at 50[]

On 27 December 2019, the BBC aired a documentary that looked back on the programme's history. As well as looking back through the archives, A Question of Sport at 50 saw a number of sportspeople recount their memories, these included: Jessica Ennis-Hill, Colin Jackson, and Denise Lewis. Presenter Sue Barker and captains Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell also shared their experiences.

50 Not Out[]

On 3 January 2020, Sue Barker presented a 50th anniversary special. Matt Dawson captained a team composed of Laura Davies and Beth Tweddle, while Phil Tufnell led Ally McCoist and Martin Offiah. Dawson's team won, the 1,255th episode, by 19 points to 16.

Theme tune[]

There have been 4 theme tunes over the years. A theme was introduced in the mid-1980s and has been remixed and updated a few times since. The current mix was introduced on 3 September 2021.

Rounds[]

The rounds regularly played during series 48, include:[2]

Picture Board[]

Twelve numbered squares each reveal a sportsperson to be identified during this one minute round.

One Minute Round[]

Each team is asked nine questions in sixty seconds.

Sports Action[]

Contestants are asked questions about a montage of sporting action.

Observation Round[]

Sports action is shown and contestants are asked questions about details of what they have just seen, e.g. "What colour hat was a certain person wearing?" or "How many balls were there?"

Mystery Guest[]

Each team tries to identify a sportsperson in unfamiliar circumstances and using unconventional camera angles.

Home or Away[]

Each contestant can answer a one-point "home question" on the sport they participate or participated in or can answer an "away question" on a different sport for up to three points—away questions require three answers, a point per correct answer.

Buzzer Round[]

The teams play head-to-head, answering as many questions as possible in a minute.

Sprint Finish[]

The captains have sixty seconds to act out up to ten sporting terms for the remaining members of the team to guess.

Presenters and captains[]

Current presenter and captains[]

The current presenter is Paddy McGuinness, taking over in 2021. The current captains, also coming in 2021, are Ugo Monye and Sam Quek. Ugo Monye is a former rugby union international, winning 14 caps for England. He played club rugby for Harlequins and also played for the British & Irish Lions. Sam Quek is a former field hockey international, who won gold as part of the Great Britain women's national field hockey team at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Quek is the first female team captain on A Question of Sport.[3]

Former presenters[]

The 1968 pilot episode, broadcast only in the north of England, was hosted by Stuart Hall.[4] The first series was broadcast nationally from January 1970, with David Vine at the helm for the first seven series. David Coleman succeeded Vine—remaining as presenter until 1997.[5] Vine returned to the series as a guest host in 1989, presenting the final five episodes of series 18 in Coleman's absence.[6][7][8][9][10] Sue Barker presented A Question of Sport from 1997 until 2021. Sue Barker won the 1976 French Open tennis tournament and reached a World Ranking of 3.[11][12]

Former captains[]

A Question of Sport's first captains were boxer Henry Cooper and rugby union player Cliff Morgan. Over the history of the show, some captains have had long tenures, these include: rugby union player Bill Beaumont making 319 appearances and footballer Ally McCoist making 363 appearances.[5][13]

Former captains, include:

4 rugby union players:
Bill Beaumont (1982–1996), Matt Dawson (2004–2021), Gareth Edwards (1979–1982), and Cliff Morgan (1970–1975)

3 cricketers:
Ian Botham (1988–1996), Fred Trueman (1976) and Phil Tufnell (2008–2021)

2 jockeys:
Willie Carson (1982–1984) and Frankie Dettori (2002–2004)

2 footballers:
Emlyn Hughes (1979–1982, 1984–1988) and Ally McCoist (1996–2007)

1 boxer:
Henry Cooper (1970-1977) and (1979)

1 long-distance runner:
Brendan Foster (1977–1979)

1 snooker player:
John Parrott (1996–2002)

Guest captains[]

Over the years there have been several guest captains standing in for one of the regulars when they have other commitments. Following Ally McCoist's departure, several guests, including Phil Tufnell, sat in the captain's chair before Tufnell was eventually selected as McCoist's permanent replacement:

Notable moments[]

Transmissions[]

Series Start date End date Episodes
Pilot 2 December 1968 1
1 5 January 1970[19] 18 May 1970[20] 20[20]
2 11 January 1971[21] 5 April 1971[22] 13[22]
3 20 March 1972[23] 19 June 1972[24] 14[24]
4 8 January 1974[25] 2 April 1974[26] 13[26]
5 10 July 1975[27] 28 August 1975[28] 8[28]
6 3 May 1976[29] 21 June 1976[30] 8[30]
7 18 April 1977[31] 6 June 1977[32] 8[32]
8 8 January 1979[33] 2 April 1979[34] 13[34]
9 7 January 1980[35] 18 March 1980[36] 11[36]
10 27 February 1981[37] 15 May 1981[38] 12[38]
11 5 January 1982[39] 30 March 1982[40] 13[40]
12 12 January 1983[41] 30 March 1983[42] 11[42]
13 29 December 1983[43] 8 May 1984[44] 14[44]
14 31 December 1984[45] 11 April 1985[46] 15[46]
15 5 December 1985[47] 1 May 1986[48] 20[48]
16 11 December 1986[49] 14 May 1987[50] 21[50]
17 3 December 1987[51] 26 April 1988[52] 21[52]
18 25 October 1988[53] 11 April 1989[54] 24[54]
19 24 October 1989[55] 1 May 1990[56] 26[56]
20 23 October 1990[57] 23 April 1991[58] 26[58]
21 15 October 1991[59] 21 April 1992[60] 26[60]
22 27 October 1992[61] 20 April 1993[62] 26[62]
23 19 October 1993[63] 30 May 1994[64] 28[64]
24 11 October 1994[65] 2 May 1995[66] 26[66]
25 20 October 1995[67] 3 May 1996[68] 27[68]
26 1 October 1996 30 May 1997 29
27 7 October 1997 1 May 1998 26
28 4 November 1998 21 June 1999 27
29 6 September 1999 2 July 2000 30
30 16 October 2000 21 May 2001 32
31 5 September 2001 24 July 2002 29
32 18 October 2002 15 August 2003 31
33 3 October 2003 13 August 2004 42
34 17 September 2004 15 July 2005 41
35 10 September 2005 8 September 2006 27
36 15 September 2006 18 May 2007 34
37 15 September 2007 11 June 2008 36
38 5 September 2008 12 June 2009 42
39 2 October 2009 27 August 2010 35
40 29 November 2010 1 August 2011 36
41 8 August 2011 20 August 2012 35
42 1 September 2012 31 July 2013 36
43 21 October 2013 13 August 2014 30
44 20 August 2014 15 July 2015 31
45 12 August 2015 5 August 2016 36
46 24 August 2016 31 May 2017 36
47 16 August 2017 23 May 2018 35
48 18 July 2018 12 April 2019 36
49 21 June 2019 29 May 2020 36
50 5 June 2020 28 May 2021 36
51 3 September 2021 2022 36

Spin-offs[]

The A Question of Sport format has been applied to various other areas of knowledge. The following spin-off series were all made by the BBC:

Series Start date End date Episodes
1 19 April 1971 24 May 1971 6
Series Start date End date Episodes
1 24 April 1988 28 August 1988 18
  • A Question of Pop, presented by Jamie Theakston, 2000–01 which used the same graphics and set as the Sport version but different colours. Noddy Holder (Tony Hadley in episode 1) and Suggs were the team captains
Series Start date End date Episodes
3 January 2000[69] 1
1 8 April 2000 3 June 2000 9
28 December 2000[70] 1
2 28 April 2001 28 July 2001 12
Series Start date End date Episodes
1 5 July 2001 29 August 2001 8

Roslin also hosted a one-off special, A Question of EastEnders, in 2000. Another one-off special, "A Question of Comedy" was to have been aired on 16 March 2007 as a part of Comic Relief 2007, but after a scandal involving contestant Jade Goody it was replaced with a special edition of Top Gear.

A Question of Spit was a short segment aired in 1988 as part of the inaugural Red Nose Day telethon, featuring Daley Thompson, Barry McGuigan and Mike Gatting forming a team, with their opponents being their own Spitting Image puppets, captained by an Emlyn Hughes puppet. The quiz was hosted by the Spitting Image puppet of David Coleman, with the real Coleman and the puppet Steve Davis also making an appearance.

On 21 March 2012, One Media Radio's Final Whistle produced a one off end of year special entitled, Final Quizzle: Final Whistle does A Question of Sport. Presented by Barry Landy, the show featured two teams consisting of Stuart Hodge, Rory Wilde, Phil Peacock, Steve Sanders, Ben Mouncer and Lewis Davies and included rounds such as 'Tiger's Eighteen Holes' and 'Whelan or Fortune'.

In November 2012, One Media Radio's Head of Sport Edmund Doc Crosthwaite confirmed that Final Quizzle would return for a one off Christmas special on 12 December 2012.

A Question of Sport Relief is a special version of the show usually presented by a guest presenter on Sport Relief night since 2002. The 2002, 2004 and 2006 versions were hosted by Stephen Fry. 2008's version was hosted by Jimmy Carr after Fry had to pull out having broken his arm.

BBC One Scotland aired a one-off A Question of Scotland as part of Children in Need 2008, with Jackie Bird as quizmaster.

The CBBC programme Dick and Dom in da Bungalow made a parody called A Question of Muck as part of the creamy muck muck grand finale game.

The CBBC programme The Saturday Show did a segment called A Question of Busted featuring the pop band Busted answering questions about themselves it was presented by Fearne Cotton who in each segment was dressed as Sue Barker.

In popular culture[]

The What Happened Next? round was spoofed in an episode of A Bit of Fry & Laurie as David Coleman (Fry) asks Emlyn Hughes (Laurie) to guess what happened after the action stopped in the previous sketch. The host's refusal to confirm whether the given answer is correct then leads into another round of the game, with the question of what happened following the original What Happened Next? sketch.

The show was one of many British TV shows reinterpreted by Chanel 9, a recurring sketch on The Fast Show, where it was titled Questo Sporta and featured the mystery guest round.

References[]

  1. ^ "A Question of Sport".
  2. ^ "BBC One - Question of Sport - Episode guide". BBC.
  3. ^ "Paddy McGuinness replaces Sue Barker as A Question of Sport host". BBC News.
  4. ^ "Profile: Stuart Hall". BBC News. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  5. ^ a b "The history of the show". 23 November 2008 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
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  7. ^ "A Question of Sport: 21 March 1989". BBC Genome. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
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  14. ^ "A Question of Sport in the 1980s". the Guardian. 7 October 2013.
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  20. ^ a b "A Question of Sport World Cup Edition". The Radio Times. 28 May 1970. p. 23. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
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External links[]

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