In the Dark

I was saddened this morning to hear of the death at the age of 87 of Bamber Gascoigne who was best known as the original presenter of University Challenge. He was an excellent quizmaster, not least because he actually seemed to know the answers to the questions (rather than just reading them from the cards like his successor Jeremy Paxman did) and often supplied extra pieces of information off his own bat.

Though he cut a stern figure whenever anybody transgressed e.g. the “no conferring” rule, he always seem to be generous in his praise and people who took part in the show say he was very gentle with the contestants who were often very nervous.

I never met Bamber Gascoigne in the flesh, although I attended the same college (Magdalene College, Cambridge) as he did when he was an undergraduate (though not at the same time) and I’m sure he was around at some dinners and other events while I was there.

I used to watch University Challenge a lot when I was at school. It’s sad to have to say goodbye to yet another figure from the era.

Rest in Peace Bamber Gascoigne (1935-2022)

This entry was posted on February 8, 2022 at 6:34 pm and is filed under Biographical, Television with tags Bamber Gascoigne, Cambridge, Magdalene College, University Challenge. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.