January 2020

A Question Of Sport 50th Anniversary

Filmed at dock10, this year the iconic quiz show, A Question Of Sport, turns 50 and is now the longest continuously-running quiz show on British TV. Here are some great ‘A Question Of Sport’ Facts and figures.

• The very first episode was broadcast on 5 January 1970. David Vine hosted the show and the team captains were Henry Cooper and Cliff Morgan. The studio guests were George Best, Ray Illingworth, Lillian Board and Tom Finney
• The series has only had three hosts during the past 50 years: David Vine, who hosted the first five series, David Coleman who presented the show from 1979 to 1997 and current presenter Sue Barker
• Former Tennis champion Sue Barker is the longest serving presenter, having joined in 1997. By the end of this current series Sue Barker will have hosted over 800 shows - a comfortable record
• Rugby World Cup winner Matt Dawson joined the show in 2004. By the end of this current series Matt Dawson will have recorded over 540 shows as team captain
• Former England cricketer Phil Tufnell became the 14th permanent team captain in 2008 and by the end of this current series will have recorded over 430 shows
• During the past 50 years the official team captains have been Henry Cooper, Cliff Morgan, Fred Trueman, Brendan Foster, Gareth Edwards, Emlyn Hughes, Bill Beaumont, Willie Carson, Ian Botham, Ally McCoist, John Parrott, Frankie Dettori, Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell
• There have been several guest captains when regulars have had other commitments. These have included Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton, Will Carling, Mary Peters, Jamie Redknapp, Shane Warne, Ricky Hatton and Greg Rutherford
• Over 3,000 different sports stars have appeared on the programme since it began including Jessica Ennis Hill, Chris Hoy, Anthony Joshua, Sebastian Coe, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Michael Owen, Alastair Cook, Martina Navratilova and Evander Holyfield
• One of the most famous guest appearances was HRH, Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, who was a guest on the 200th episode in February 1987, attracting an audience of 19m viewers
• Shortly before HRH Princess Anne appeared, team captain Emlyn Hughes had failed to recognise her in the Pictureboard round, thinking she was jockey John Reid!
• Past A Question Of Sport guests have won over 300 Olympic gold medals between them
• Over 50 winners of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year have appeared on the show
• The 50th anniversary special is the 1,255th episode of the programme
• Rounds that have been used on the show since the first series are the Pictureboard, Mystery Guest and Home Or Away?
• The lowest ever points total scored by a team was four points. This dubious honour fell to Matt’s team in 2011
• One of the most memorable funny moments was when former team captain Ally McCoist failed to recognise himself in a clip
• One of the programme’s most daring stunts was when team captains Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell had a go at wing-walking and had to answer their questions whilst strapped to the wing of a plane!
• Prior to working as a presenter on the show, Sue Barker filmed a few mystery guest videos including one dressed as a skunk in Tommy Cooper’s car!

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