Those of you who know me know that I have a ‘minor’ (cough) addiction for British game shows, which I regularly devour on YouTube.
My latest thing is Only Connect, which is presented by David Mitchell’s wife Victoria Coren Mitchell.
Ordinarily, I couldn’t care less who Mitchell is married to. Showbiz gossip is boring and I only care what the presenter achieves in front of the camera, as opposed to behind it.
But in this case, I have to confess to getting a good giggle out of it whenever I remember about this relationship.
Mitchell comes across as such a meek, amiable person – supremely witty and intelligent, of course, but also the kind who would rather slap himself in the face than be forced into a confrontation. You know, just like most Brits.
His wife, on the other hand, seems like the exact opposite, with a very assertive personality. Both David and Victoria are blessed with very dry, cutting humour. The difference between them seems to be that David uses it on himself, while Victoria uses it on others.
It always makes me wonder about the balance of power there, not that it’s any of my business, of course.
But back to the show itself. Unlike my usual choices, this one is not about the light humour and funny replies that characterise others British shows I follow, such as Would I Lie to You and Q.I., which I adore.
The latter are all about having fun. Getting the answers correct is really not the point – in Would I Lie to You, being right pretty much depends on chance, while in Q. I. being ‘quite interesting’ (as per the title) is more important than being right.
The killer aspect is made even more interesting thanks to Victoria’s comebacks
Not so Only Connect. The idea is to get it right. Sadly, more often than not, you won’t, which will make you feel quite stupid in the process.
But that’s perfectly fine, as most of the participating teams are likely to also not get it, and anyway, being made to feel stupid is good motivation for ceasing to be thus.
On to the game itself, which sounds deceptively simple. All you need to do is find the one common element that connect a series of items, pictures, songs or words that you are presented with.
Typically, the connections are anything but obvious, and even if there seems to be a connection that leaps to the eye, chances are that it’s not it and that there is something even more obscure that connects them.
In short, it’s a killer of a game. The killer aspect is made even more interesting thanks to Victoria’s comebacks.
Another element which makes this show different to the likes of the other is the fact that it’s not filmed with a live audience. You would think that this makes no difference to the final product, and yet it does.
All shows rely a lot on the presenters’ charisma and witty one-liners – in the previous two shows, these are generally greeted by laughter from the live audience (no canned laughter for the Brits, thank you). In Victoria’s case, no matter how witty she is, her jokes are greeted by silence, which can be a tad weird.
Only Connect kicked off in 2008 on BBC 4 and all episodes are available on YouTube.
Given the rate at which I’m devouring them, I expect to have to find yet another new show pretty soon, in which case I will keep you updated.
ramona.depares@timesofmalta.com