It’s fair to say that a lot of our usual Belgian Mol chat has moved over to the Bother’s Bar Discord this year, for better or worse, but I don’t think you should miss this – RTV Warriors have done a follow-up interview with host of De Mol Gilles De Coster for their latest podcast. The first one a few years back was sensational – Gilles is the best – so I’m really looking forward to listening to this one.
In other news, congrats for this:
Why thank you! In my mind this one is actually better than the first, purely because we’re (I’m) a bit more focused and less excitable about speaking to him. Also helps that I knew the rough parameters of what we can get away with asking (free stuff – yes, unused twists – no) so could narrow down the questions a bit. All in all, a fab time speaking with him as always, and very excited to be going back to the finale next year.
Number One is twenty years old today. Holy moly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeXtYt7SZJQ
I’m sure I’ve spoken on here before about how the 13-year-old me would run from school in Hanwell to home in Ealing to catch this show. Of course, I was naive enough back then to also really like daytime The People Versus – *including* the Bong Game – and to quite like daytime Wipeout too, even with its slower pace and inferior graphics and theme tune compared to the primetime version…
I still think it’s a shame all these years later, however, that Number One only lasted one series. True, comparisons with Fifteen-to-One and the Weakest Link were all too inevitable, and true, the music wasn’t the greatest (I’ve never had issues with any of Augustin Bousfield’s soundtracks, but is it fair to say that he’s never *quite* composed one that’s on a par with anything by Ed Welch or the Strachans? Even his DOND soundtrack – and no-one needs reminding how big DOND was – isn’t one that lives particularly long in the memory).
But I think the one thing that hurt Number One more than anything else was the lengthy break it took for Ashes coverage: it aired almost every day from the end of May to mid-July, and then was off the air altogether until early September (with films in the 4pm slot on the days when Australia weren’t battering England). Presumably airing the series all in one go (with the champions’ final in early August) was not an option with FTO not returning until late September – but was it not possible to spread the series out so that it stayed on air throughout the summer, as of course Countdown did? It’s not beyond possibility that this lengthy absence meant that many had forgotten all about the show by the time it returned…
I’m fairly sure Krish hasn’t hosted another game show since, which is a shame. Obviously, he wasn’t William G or Twice Nightly, nor was he Robbo, Paxman, Magnus or Parsons – but he was perfectly capable in the role. “A Number One question now, this could change everything…”