Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Just heard that Magnus Magnusson has died.

Does anyone remember when they filmed Mastermind at CH (Horsham)? Must have been 1986/87.

Obviously I wasn't there, but I remember seeing it, as I told my son while watching his obituary on the News tononght.

A great loss.

Magnus had at least one other link with CH: as a boy he attended the Edinburgh Academy (and was head pupil, if I recall rightly) while its Rector (= Headmaster) was Clarence 'George' Seaman (ThA, BaB 1920-27, Headmaster 1955-70, Governor). One of the many books he later published was a history of the school, The Clacken and the Slate, in which (again, IIRC) he wrote of Seaman with gratitude.

Vonny wrote:Does anyone remember when they filmed Mastermind at CH (Horsham)? Must have been 1986/87.

Completely passed me by. Did they film it in the theatre?

cj wrote:

Vonny wrote:Does anyone remember when they filmed Mastermind at CH (Horsham)? Must have been 1986/87.

Completely passed me by. Did they film it in the theatre?

Can't believe you missed that!!! Yes, they filmed it in the theatre.

Vonny wrote:Just heard that Magnus Magnusson has died.

Does anyone remember when they filmed Mastermind at CH (Horsham)? Must have been 1986/87.

Remember it well as I worked on it. turned out the reason they came to CH was a strike by BBC technicians meant they couldn't go to another venue. I and other pupils were effectively scab workers and not even a paid ones. Still got to meet Magnus who was very friendly.

I think they'd been before.

Also worked on an edition of Any Questions that came around the same time. As well as the obligatory Songs of Praise / Highway etc.

adlop wrote:turned out the reason they came to CH was a strike by BBC technicians meant they couldn't go to another venue.

I didn't know that.

adlop wrote:Also worked on an edition of Any Questions that came around the same time.

I remember that as well - I was in the audience for that one too!

What on earth could I have been doing that I can't remember these momentous occasions? Probably lots of prep ... *cough* ... I have only a vague recollection of Songs of Praise at CH - I was involved with one of those programmes in 1979/80 from Sandwich in Kent, which is imprinted more firmly on my mind.

They certainly did Songs of Praise in the mid 90's as well...

I remember having to process in and out of the chapel with choir 4 or 5 times as they wanted to get the shots right!

cj wrote:What on earth could I have been doing that I can't remember these momentous occasions? Probably lots of prep ... *cough* ...

Whereas I probably went to these recordings to get out of prep!

Vonny wrote:Just heard that Magnus Magnusson has died.

Does anyone remember when they filmed Mastermind at CH (Horsham)? Must have been 1986/87.

There were two quarter-finals of Mastermind filmed in the Theatre on 5th November 1980 (I still have my ticket!).
Fred Housego, the London Cabbie who subsequently went on to win that year's final, was one of the contestants. I remember that he got quite tense when the mechanical score-board got stuck and they had to reshoot a couple of questions.
As there were two shows recorded in one evening, for subsequent broadcast in two sequentrial weeks, the audience had to move to new seats in the interval - and remove all Remembrance Week poppies etc.
I was involved in the theatre lighting crew at the time, and got a reciprocal visit to BBC TV centre out of it.

I am sure there was a later one as well. I was not in Britain in 1980, and I think I saw one from CH during the late 80s when we lived in London.

Katharine wrote:I am sure there was a later one as well. I was not in Britain in 1980, and I think I saw one from CH during the late 80s when we lived in London.

There was - that was the one I saw being filmed.

Remember it well. I remember chatting with some of the BBC technicians, and being told that I shouldn't point the lens of my camera (I was a bit of a photography nerd) at the lenses of theirs, or something awful would happen to the equipment. Obviously he was winding me up!

And I remember being in the audience and noticing that the back of the famous chair was quite scruffy.

I was delighted when somone's specialist subject was the novels of Arthur C Clarke (I was a science fiction nerd too).


Anyway - the theatre was very important as part of my education in all kinds of ways. What a fabulous luxury for a school to have!

Oh - it can't have been 86/87 because I had left by then. Unless they came more than once, of course. Oh - I see someone has already said 1980 - yes, that's about right.