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Quiz man Ian Speed in the famous chair |
Accountant faces the music in the black chair
Town Hall number cruncher quizzed on Mastermind
BY day, he crunches numbers in the deepest darkest recesses of the Town Hall, but by night he’s a quizzing genius.
Islington Council accountant Ian Speed wowed thousands of viewers with his extensive knowledge of the 1980s indie music scene when he appeared on Mastermind.
Mr Speed, an accountant for Islington’s children’s service department, appeared on the hit BBC2 television programme on October 30.
During the show, which was filmed in Manchester and saw him challenge three other contestants, he chose “indie bands of the 1980s” as his specialist topic before competing in a general knowledge round.
Mr Speed first began entering TV quiz shows 10 years ago when the pub quiz team of which he was a member for four years was disbanded.
He has taken part in a number of quiz shows including The People Versus, Brainteaser and 1 vs 100.
Mr Speed said: “I got into quizzes because I’ve always been quite good at general knowledge. I’d recommend that anybody who wants to get involved should keep reading newspapers as general knowledge is very important.”
He added: “The quizzes have proved useful in my professional life because it trains your brain to recall facts and figures about people, so that definitely helps in my line of work.”
After what he describes as a “respectable rather than brilliant performance”, Mr Speed ended the show in third place, and although he didn’t receive a formal prize, was treated to a buffet.
He also managed to speak to the show’s presenter John Humphreys whom he describes as “really down to earth”.
Mr Speed plans to enter a number of other competitions in the future including A Question of Genius along with the new series of The National Lottery: 1 vs 100.
He is also entitled to re-enter Mastermind in two years’ time. |
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