Frosty Knickers loses
Bradley Walsh has come a long way since Coronation Street. Ten years ago, he was factory boss Danny Baldwin. Now, he’s quiz boss for ITV and appears on a whole slew of reality programmes. Being a spontaneous host is better than learning lines.
The Chase (TV One, Monday to Friday), is into its ninth season and commands millions of viewers in Commonwealth countries. And until the questions dry up or ‘‘Frosty Knickers’’ warms her underwear in the microwave, it has a promising future.
The Chase doesn’t require the bells and whistles of an Academy Award ceremony. It needs the right format and the right people doing their thing. The questions must be brief, topical and quirky. Remember how cumbersome Mastermind was last year when Peter Williams had verbal diarrhoea asking each question?
The Chase on Wednesday featured Nathan, a contestant who was a quizmaster himself. By the time he appeared, he’d swallowed three encyclopaedias, Wikipedia and last week’s race card, but suffered from a human condition called choking.
When he had a moment to think, Nathan was a talking dictionary on steroids but, in the final flurry of quick fire questions in two minutes, he and Mark, the other successful contestant, stumbled through to 14 answers.
You could see Frosty Knickers adjusting the room temperature to minus Celsius, but then she flustered. In an epic demonstration of panic, she only managed eight answers. Through six pushbacks, Mark and Nathan won and took home £6500 each.
It’s a historic and enjoyable occasion when Anne Hegerty and Mark Labbett lose. The Chase is richer when the inmates run the asylum.
Bradley Walsh is a genial host and supports contestants in their desire to beat the chaser.
His meltdowns are legendary, but is he a changed man? When the subject was Are You Being Served and one of the contestants had to choose between Betty, Fanny and one other as Mrs Slocombe’s first name, Bradley remained impassive. What!
He was handed a royal flush, but his poker face didn’t change.
Jack Taylor (Vibe, Tuesdays) is one of those characters who warms on you too, but it takes him most of the two-hour episode to heat the room.
Jack (Iain Glen) is a gumshoe who’s engaged by Detective Kate Noonan to solve crimes that Irish police can’t. When John Willis is found crucified, Jack suspects the deranged Mitchell family.
His nose for trouble is accurate. Gail Noonan is a piece of work, with multiple personalities.
She kills off her dad and brother on her way to finding John’s brother Rory, who she believes killed her mother in a car crash.
Gail is the sort of daughter you keep out of the family album. When Jack discovers Rory has also been crucified – a copycat murder – he suspects Gail has repeated Easter. But no, the culprit with the centurion complex is the husband of Rory’s girlfriend, out for revenge.
The plot is like our underground wastewater pipes. It goes everywhere but, if Jack has no table manners, he can solve crime. Iain Glen is the sort of actor who can play Jack Reacher but, until Hollywood finds him, he’s ideal as a gruff, world-weary,