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'''A Question of Sport''' is a long-running BBC quiz show which started on 5 January 1970 and continues to this day.
It involves two teams of sports stars answering questions on their own and other sports. Each team has a resident captain, each of whom is joined by two stars of world sport.
Having run almost uninterrupted since 1970, the show is now Britain's longest continuously-running game show. As of 6 May 2007 there have been 796 shows.

Contents

Presenters and team members

Quiz format

Spin-offs

Other information

External links

Presenters and team members

The show was hosted by David Vine until 1978, and then from 1979 until 1997 was anchored by veteran BBC commentator David Coleman. Since his retirement, the show has been hosted by ex-tennis star Sue Barker, who once served as a mystery guest in 1982 when she was dressed in a skunk costume and was identified as a man by both teams by mistake.
Many team captains have enjoyed stints on the show down the years, including:

★ Jockeys Willie Carson (1982-83) and Frankie Dettori (2002-04)

★ Rugby union players Bill Beaumont (1982-96), Gareth Edwards (1979-81), Matt Dawson (2004-) and Cliff Morgan (1970-75)

★ Footballers Bobby Moore (1974), Bobby Charlton (1974/75), Emlyn Hughes (1979-81 and 1984-88), Neil Ruddock (2004), Ally McCoist (1996-2007), Michael Owen (2004) and David Seaman (2004)

★ Cricketers Ian Botham (1988-96) and Fred Trueman (1976)

★ Boxer Henry Cooper (1970-77)

★ Athlete Brendan Foster (1977)

★ Snooker player John Parrott (1996-2002)
Of these, Cooper, Charlton, Moore, Hughes, Beaumont, Carson, Botham, Parrott, McCoist, Ruddock, Dettori, Owen and Dawson were still active participants in their sport while appearing in the show. The others had retired. Ex-footballer Ally McCoist and rugby star Matt Dawson were the most recent team captains. McCoist has now left this role, as he is assistant manager at Rangers. His last show was aired on May 18 2007.
Sports stars often say they know they have 'made it' when they are invited to appear on ''A Question Of Sport''. The sports personality with most guest appearances is Steve Davis, who has appeared 18 times.
In 1987, Princess Anne appeared as a guest on the team captained by Emlyn Hughes, just weeks after the ex-footballer had embarrassed himself by claiming a photo of her on a horse was jockey John Reid. It was the first time a member of the royal family had appeared on a television quiz show. Anne's daughter Zara Phillips also appeared on the show twice in 2006, the latter for a Sport Relief edition.

Quiz format

The rounds played include:

★ Picture Board - numbered squares reveal sports person for contestant to identify

★ Action Round - contestants are asked questions about a montage of sporting action

★ What Happened Next? - sports footage is halted at optimum moment and teams are asked what occurred thereafter (often an answer of amusement)

★ 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?", "How many balls can you see in the following clip?". The footage for the latter question will be of many different events and all show balls, or whatever item has been asked

★ Mystery Guest - teams have to identify a sports star in unfamiliar circumstances and with unconventional camera angles

★ Home Or Away - contestants can answer a question on their own sport for one point ("home"), or a question on any sport for two points ("away")

★ Captain's Challenge - The captains have a contest in different feats

★ One Minute Round - teams are asked nine questions in 60 seconds

★ On The Buzzer - teams answer questions at quickfire pace (this was only introduced in later years - in the Vine and Coleman eras, the show would end with the remaining six Picture Board questions)

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:

★ ''A Question of News'', presented by Richard Baker, 1972.

★ ''A Question of Entertainment'', Tom O'Connor, 1988.

★ ''A Question of Pop'', Jamie Theakston, 2000-1.

★ ''A Question of TV'', Gaby Roslin, 2001.
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 March 16th, 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''.

Other information

★ In 1988 an ''A Question of Sport'' computer game was made for various systems.

★ The show inspired a comedy game show, ''They Think It's All Over''.

External links

★ ''A Question of Sport'' at bbc.co.uk

★ (complete list of episodes)

★ UK Gameshows Page: ''A Question of Sport''