Magnus Magnusson 1929-2007

Britain’s favourite quizmaster has died at the age of 77. I once held a door open for Magnus Magnusson. As I recall he didn’t say ‘thanks’. It was at the BBC studios in Glasgow in about 1989. I had gone to see the recording of a sitcom pilot.

Norman Lovett, had written his own series I, Lovett where he starred as an eccentric inventor. In the pilot there was a sequence where he appeared on Mastermind. Hence Magnus Magnusson’s involvement. The series was made 4 years after the pilot aired.

Nowadays there’s no end of gameshows and quizzes with moronic presenters and contestants, but along with Bamber Gascoigne, Magnus Magnusson set the benchmark for gameshow presenting. Presenters that you actually felt could answer the questions they were asking.

I noted a few years ago that Chris Tarrant adopted something Magnus Magnusson once said when asked if some questions on Mastermind were too easy for certain contestants. “It’s only easy if you know it.”