A Question of Sport - UKGameshows A Question of Sport Bill Beaumont (2 programmes, 1996) Sue Barker (2 programmes in 1996, then 1997-) Jimmy Carr (Sport Relief special 2008) Jason Manford (A Question of Sport: Super Saturday) Co-hosts Phil Tufnell (2008-) There have also been several stand-in captains over the years. They have included: Bobby Moore; Bobby Charlton; John Barnes; Roger Black; Jonathan Davies; Will Carling; Sam Torrance; Matthew Pinsent; David Ginola; David Seaman; Michael Owen; Shane Warne; Jamie Redknapp; Ricky Hatton; Dennis Taylor and Gary Speed. Ally McCoist, John Parrott and Phil Tufnell were all also stand-in captains before becoming regulars.

Broadcast BBC1 North West (regional), 2 December 1968 (Pilot) BBC North West for BBC1, 5 January 1970 to present as A Question of Sport: Super Saturday BBC One, 21 June to 19 July 2014 (5 episodes in 1 series) Synopsis The eternal question: What Happens Next? This show has been going for years and years and years. And maybe longer than that. Past captains (well, Bill Beaumont anyway - and of course David Coleman) have hosted the show and it has been regular prime-time viewing. And yes, it's about sport. Each team is made up of three people, two famous sporting guests and a captain who is usually more portly. The traditional show invariably began with the Picture Round. 12 boxes each hide a picture of a famous sportsperson in an interesting pose (usually, Media Studies fans, a long shot but always an action shot). Each person would score two points if they got it correct, but if they don't know it's passed over to the opposition for a bonus. Every member of both teams gets a go. Generally there is two pictures for every sport represented by the team members that week.

A typical picture from the board. This, believe it or not, is Princess Anne - although Emlyn Hughes failed to recognise her (see 'Key Moments', below). Then comes the Specialised Subject round. Each person would get a collage of clips based on their sport, and they would be asked to name two specific people in it. The captains, however, would get a completely random selection of sports, being the captains and everything. Then comes the Home and Away round, a round devoted to everybody's third-favourite Australian soap. Ha, not really! Actually each guest in turn chooses to answer either a question on their own sport ("home") for one point or a general question ("away") for two. The team captains usually don't get the choice and have to take an "away" question. Mystery Personality next, and a short piece of film of a famous personality filmed from odd positions and situations. They are carefully filmed so as never to completely give away who they are (or not, as was the case when they decided to show a full facial shot of Katharine Merry). Two points for a correct answer and one point if they don't know and the opposition gets it. Then, it's What Happens Next?

A piece of film starts and at an inopportune moment it stops and the contestants need to guess... well, you get the idea. Usually with some outrageous (i.e.wrong) guesses, you can be sure that hilarity will ensue when it turns out that a little cat runs onto the pitch or somesuch. Every week. The One Minute Round, nine questions, nine points and sixty seconds. A nice mixture of trivia, picture questions and the famous "These three people all have surnames connected with snowball fighting" question. Completely random, completely pointless but good fun nonetheless. Finally, the Picture Round reprise, the six remaining pictures are taken one at a time a la Round One and the same points apply and at the end of the round, whoever wins, wins and whoever loses loses, predictably enough. For no particularly good reason except to annoy us, the 1998 season reordered the rounds, and dropped the One Minute Round in favour of an On the Buzzer end game that Ally McCoist tended to dominate (John Parrott was once so miffed by McCoist's constant luck in that round that he (Parrott) went to sit in the audience in protest).

Not a particularly inspired decision, but not a disaster either. The lighting technicians celebrate the festive season in their own inimitable fashion If you like sport, you'll probably like this and if you don't you probably won't. It's certainly pleasant enough, and in latter years (with the ever-popular They Think it's All Over breathing down its neck) the emphasis on the banter between players has been increased. Also, Sue Barker has introduced a certain glamour and middle-class street-cred that doddery David Coleman never really had. It should be said, however, that Coleman was an excellent host, always managing to keep a very good balance between the quiz itself and the general joviality of the show, especially with his own infectious enthusiasm (and his many colourful jumpers!) and many would have been sorry to see him go when he finally left the programme. In addition, later series have proved, and some themed specials (either tied to topical sporting events such as Euro 2000, or featuring TV commentators, referees, sport-loving comedians, that kind of thing) have buffed up the ingenuity somewhat.

By the following decade, A Question of Sport was going out at a family viewing time (7.30 on Friday, or Saturday teatime), and after the watershed during the week. The show played up physical comedy, team captains might answer questions while bouncing on a trampoline, or perform charades while running on a treadmill. Comedians and other non-sport entertainers occasionally appeared on the main show, and were given a full series in summer 2014. The Super Saturday shows were hosted by comedian Jason Manford, with the show's regular captains Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell. Most of the challenges had something to do with sport, but "learning to do handbrake turns" is a long way removed from the sedate picture board. You will have seen most of this before but, given the age of the show, it's not inconceivable that it invented most of it... Key moments Princess Anne joined the quiz for its 200th edition. The soon-to-be Princess Royal was qualified to know a bit about sport, being a former Olympic equestrian and BBC Sports Personality of the Year herself. Over 19 million people saw it, naturally enough the show's highest ever audience.

However, the ratings didn't last as Channel 4 launched a new series of Treasure Hunt the following week. The Princess Anne show came only 2 weeks after Emlyn Hughes had mistaken her for the jockey John Reid in a picture round (see under 'Synopsis', above). On the special edition, Hughes was desperately (but ultimately successfully) trying to restrain himself from patting Princess Anne on the back, something he normally did to all his guests with his usual boundless (not to say mindless) enthusiasm. Despite this, the Princess did threaten him with a severe handbagging at one point. Front row: David Coleman (host) with Anne, the Princess Royal. Back row: John Rutherford, Emlyn Hughes , Nigel Mansell, Bill Beaumont, Linford Christie. Another special edition of the show (albeit a shortened version) was featured in "Jim'll Fix It", probably also in 1987: the captains in question were once again Beaumont and Hughes.

Four sports-mad boys, apparently names pulled out of a hat, due to the sheer volume of kids who wrote in asking to appear on 'A Question of Sport', had the honour of occupying the hallowed guest-seats and the 'mini' show consisted of the complete Picture Board Round, with the One-Minute Round in between the two 'halves' of the former round. All four lads proved excellent, both in terms of sports knowledge and entertainment value, but none more so than one young man, who was on Hughes's team and sounded (possibly deliberately) like him, even asking for, "Number two, please, Dave", in exactly Hughes's squeaky tones. Naturally, the latter giggled even more than usual throughout the whole game - as did the rest of us. David Coleman often called Willie Carson and Bill Beaumont 'Wee Willie' and 'Big Bill' respectively - and very accurately, too! Apparently, the two captains once entered the studio at the start of a recording with Beaumont carrying Carson on his back.

On one show Ian Woosnam correctly identified the mystery guest (who was posing as an angler in an all-covering plastic mac) as fellow-golfer Greg Norman - because by a lucky chance he actually happened to have witnessed the film being shot in the grounds of the Gleneagles hotel! On another occasion, Bill Beaumont found it easy to recognise Doddie Weir (driving a bulldozer) in a 1996 Mystery Guest round, because Weir had been on the show only two weeks earlier, one of the shows that Beaumont hosted - surely that made it a bit too easy? On another occasion, Weir appeared in that round dressed as a Spice Girl - he was obviously game for a laugh. Probably the most dramatic Mystery Guest appearance was the one in which Jonathan Davies was bungee-jumping. Another memorable one was Norman Whiteside playing a would-be army recruit, who was taking a load of flak from the sergeant for being late and unshaven on parade - among other things. In addition, the motor racing driver Derek Bell appeared as a mystery guest, driving a bus somewhat erratically - obviously not a true representation of his driving-skills.

Several of the captains - and Sue Barker too - have appeared memorably in the Mystery Guest round. Barker once appeared dressed in an animal costume at a charity event and was mistaken for Ray Clements by one team and Alan Minter by the other! Bill Beaumont appeared in a kilt playing the bagpipes on another occasion and was mistaken for Geoff Capes. In addition, Gareth Edwards once appeared in a workshop, doing engineering work and Emlyn Hughes showed up in an optician's, having his eyes tested. Ally McCoist once failed to recognise himself in a mystery guest round in which the footage consisted of a montage of 4 previous Mystery Guests. Matt Dawson, Sue Barker and Phil Tufnell mark the show's 40th anniversary with a cake or two Several special editions had former captains return as guests. On one such programme, Ian Botham had Emlyn Hughes and Gareth Edwards on his team, while Bill Beaumont had Willie Carson and Brendan Foster.

At one point, when Hughes got something wrong, Botham observed scathingly, "No wonder you're on Sporting Triangles !" Harsh, maybe, but Botham had a point, since 'Sporting Triangles' was certainly not a patch on 'A Question of Sport'. Frankie Dettori once failed to deduce which sportsman's name is an anagram of "Trinket Ride Oaf". One of the best wrong answers ever was given by Andy Gray several years ago. The question was "It was first achieved in 1982, and the fastest time of 5 minutes 20 seconds was achieved in 1997. To what I am referring?". The correct answer is "147 break in snooker", but Andy Gray's clever (but sadly wrong) answer was "how long it takes all of the runners in the London Marathon to cross the start line"! Just before an edition of the show in the early 1990's, the BBC announcer amusingly stated, "BBC now stands for Botham, Beaumont, Coleman, as it's time for 'A Question of Sport!'" Very much a 'why didn't I think of that before?' moment.

Catchphrases "Home or away?" In the David Coleman era: "Hello, and welcome to 'A Question of Sport', in which (whichever captain, usually Bill Beaumont) is leading by eight programmes to five" "...And...you....are...right!" "Goes to the other side" "Well, let's have a look if you're right" "Hope you enjoyed the programme - we'll be back next week, same time, same place, 8.30, BBC1 - see you then." (Emlyn Hughes, in his trademark squeaky voice): "Number two please, Dave!" "We think, Dave...!" "Oh, well done, mate!" followed by the obligatory pat on the back for the guest concerned. Inventor Nick Hunter, also the first producer. Theme music There has been at least three pieces of music, to our reckoning. The very first which no one remembers is called Tio Pepe. Then there was the bouncy "A Question of Sport, bom bom bom bom". Now it's a fairly anonymous piece of keyboard janging music which has got remixed several times, including samba of all things. The latterday theme is by Richie Close.

The current mix is by Andrew Harris. Trivia The captains on the very first show were Henry Cooper and Cliff Morgan and the guests were Lillian Board, Tom Finney, George Best and Ray Illingworth. The host was David Vine. Captains, guests and questionmaster on set for the first edition in 1970. Vine, Cooper and Morgan revealed on 'A Question of Sport - The Golden Years', mentioned below, that in those very early days of the show, they were informed by the producer that they were 'guests in people's living rooms' and must therefore dress the part, ie suits and ties. This was certainly the case in most of the early shows, although some of the surviving editions do show the captains wearing open-necked shirts, so maybe the restrictions were not always enforced. However, one thing they were allowed to do at that time was to smoke, which of course would be completely out of the question today.

When David Coleman took over the show in 1979, his brief was apparently to 'loosen and lighten the show up', which of course he did in his inimitable style - and the dress-code certainly became more relaxed during his tenure, albeit with suits and ties still being worn up until the mid-80's, but by no means all the time. Once again, it shows that things have changed considerably - formal attire is virtually unheard of in the programme's current incarnation. Surprisingly, Bill Beaumont hosted the programme in David Coleman's absence for 2 editions in 1996, and Will Carling stood in as team captain. The show was as enjoyable as ever, but, on the whole, Bill was better as a captain - his voice wasn't quite right for the hosting role. Sue Barker had also hosted the programme in Coleman's absence around Christmas 1996, which was almost certainly the main reason why she succeeded him from the next series onwards. In addition, Coleman had had quite a long period of absence around early 1989, and, during this time, David Vine returned to host the programme.

Current host, Sue Barker Alongside a BBC video release in 1999, 30 Years of A Question of Sport, a one-hour documentary to celebrate its 35th anniversary was made - A Question of Sport - The Golden Years. It was dedicated to Emlyn Hughes, aka 'Crazy Horse', who died in 2004. Originally, the programme was recorded in an old Methodist church in Dickinson Road, Manchester - then the BBC's North West studios. Production was moved to New Broadcasting House in Oxford Road in 1975. Since Studio A at Oxford Road was mothballed, production was shared between BBC Television Centre, London and Granada's 3SixtyMedia facilities at Quay Street, Manchester. It moved to the Media City facilities at Salford around 2011. Certain other websites (you know the ones we mean...) have suggested that there was a full series in the North West in 1969, but our own original research has yet to turn up any evidence for this. As far as we can tell, there was just a pilot at the end of 1968 and then no more until the national series at the start of 1970.

Special editions, titled A Question of Sport Relief, have been a regular feature of the biennial Sport Relief telethons since 2002. Stephen Fry presented the first three but had to pull out of the 2008 edition after breaking his arm on a filming trip in Brazil, and was replaced by Jimmy Carr . Speaking of charity telethons, BBC Scotland staged their own A Question of Scotland for Children in Need 2008, with Jackie Bird hosting and various Scottish "celebs" making up the teams. It was a bit of a damp squib as it turned out that none of the panellists knew much about sport, or indeed about Scotland. To mark the programme's 40th anniversary in 2010, the show embarked on a UK tour, taking in theatres and arenas in 15 towns and cities. Following its success, a second UK tour took place in 2011, stopping off in 17 towns and cities. Lostshows.com tells us that 97 episodes from the first 25 series have been wiped from the archives.

These are the episodes that survive: Series 4: Episodes 2 & 11-12 Series 5: Episodes 1-2 & 8 Series 7: Episode 8 Series 8: Episodes 1-5, 7-11 & 13 Series 9: Episodes 1-2, 4-7 & 9-11 Series 10: All 12 episodes Series 11: All 13 episodes Series 12: Episodes 1, 4-6 & 8-11 Series 13: Episodes 1-8, 10-11 & 13-14 Series 14: Episodes 1-5, 7, 9-12 & 14-15 Series 15: All 20 episodes Series 16: All 21 episodes Series 17: Episodes 1-16 & 18-21 Series 18: All 24 episodes Series 19-21 & 24: All 26 episodes Series 22: Episodes 1-7, 9, 12-22 & 2

4-25 Series 23: Episodes 1-2, 4-5 & 7-28 Series 25: Episodes 1-18 & 20-27 Merchandise BBC Sport - Question of Sport - The history of the show The history of the show Three with the answers: Vine, Coleman, Barker.

A Question of Sport will celebrate its 40th birthday in January 2010 making it the longest running TV quiz show in the UK and possibly the world. Some of the biggest names in British and International sport have appeared on the programme since its early days. In four decades the show has only had three presenters. Here is a potted history of some of the captains, hosts, and stars that have helped to make the show a favourite. The early days The first A Question of Sport aired on 5th January 1970 and was hosted by David Vine. The first team captains were boxer Henry Cooper and Wales rugby union star Cliff Morgan. They were joined by George Best, Ray Illingworth, Lillian Board, and Tom Finney. The Seventies Clockwise from top left: Cliff Morgan and Henry Cooper, Henry Cooper and Brendan Foster. The first change of captaincy occurred in 1977 when Olympic medallist Brendan Foster replaced Cliff Morgan. David Vine hosted the show for five series before moving on to present late-night snooker and Ski Sunday. David Vine was replaced by the sports presenter and commentator, David Coleman.

Further changes were made to the team in 1979 as former Liverpool and England star Emlyn Hughes and Welsh rugby hero Gareth Edwards became the new captains. The Eighties Carson's cackles Emlyn and Gareth were the captains for the next three years until 1982. Then, former England rugby union captain Bill Beaumont teamed up with jockey Willie Carson whose distinctive laugh quickly became a trademark. In 1984 Emlyn returned as captain and battled Bill for the next five series. Emlyn's picture board gaffe Princess Anne appeared on the show in 1987 only a week after Emlyn mistook her for a male jockey on the pictureboard! Cricketing icon Ian Botham joined the show in 1989 taking over from Emlyn and the show had two of the most competitive captains in its history. Bill saved by the bell Bill and Beefy became a staple throughout the Nineties running in tandem for eight series. Bill generally had the upper hand and was helped by a very controversial moment. When the pair finally left Bill had clocked up a then record 319 appearances on the show.

The Nineties Clockwise from top left: Bill Beaumont and Ian Botham, John Parrott and Ally McCoist. In 1996 it was all change. Scotland and Rangers striker Ally McCoist and former snooker world champion John Parrott became the new captains. David Coleman was in charge for Ally and John's first series. But he retired from the show in May 1997 to be replaced by current host Sue Barker. Ally and John were soon up to no good, mainly at Sue's expense. The Noughties Clockwise from top left: Frankie Dettori, John Parrott, Ally McCoist and Matt Dawson. In 2002 John vacated his seat and Ally and Sue were joined by jockey Frankie Dettori who was a bit better at racing horses than he was at quizzes! With Frankie's continuing success in the saddle he decided to give up the captaincy in 2004 to be replaced by one of England's successful Rugby World Cup winners, Matt Dawson. Frankie's anagram disaster On 18th May 2007 Ally, due to his commitments at Rangers, made his last appearance as a team captain on the show.

He had clocked up a record busting 363 appearances. After a brief spell of guest captains, former England cricketer Phil Tufnell was made the permanent replacement for Ally in February 2008 and only the 14th full time team captain. Question of Sport - Ally's best bits To celebrate A Question of Sport¿s 40th birthday in 2010, we will be giving you the chance to nominate your favourite clips and share your memories of the show throughout 2009, so watch this space! Bookmark with: David Coleman : definition of David Coleman and synonyms of David Coleman (English) 9.2 Video clips Early life Born of Irish heritage (his immediate family hailed from County Cork ), Coleman was a keen amateur runner. He attended a grammar school in Cheshire and competed as a schoolboy middle distance runner. In 1949, he won the Manchester Mile as a member of Stockport Harriers, the only non-international runner to do so. He competed in the English National Cross-Country Championships for Manchester Athletic Club in 1952 (116th, 3rd team) and 1953 (118).

He ran 440 yards for Staffordshire and injury eventually caused him to give up competitive running. He later became president of the Wolverhampton & Bilston Athletics Club . He worked as a reporter for the Stockport Express , and during military service worked for the British Army Newspaper Unit . Part of his time in National Service was carried out in Kenya . He joined Kemsley Newspapers after demobilisation and at twenty two became editor of the Cheshire County Express . He didn't attend the 1952 Olympic trials because of hamstring injuries. Instead he approached the BBC to see if they would like any help with athletics coverage. Although he did not have an audition, the BBC asked him to cover Roger Bannister at Bradford City Police Sports. The following year he began freelance radio work in Manchester. BBC In 1954 Coleman moved to Birmingham and joined the BBC as a news assistant and sports editor. His first television appearance was on Sportsview , coincidentally on the day that Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile . In November 1955, he was appointed Sports Editor for the BBC's Midlands Region.

Grandstand In October 1958, the BBC's Head of Sport Peter Dimmock recruited Coleman to be the presenter of the new Saturday afternoon sports programme Grandstand . He continued as the regular presenter until 1968. He also presented the BBC's Sports Review of the Year from 1961, and Sportsnight with Coleman (1968–1972) – which included an interview with the then Conservative Party leader, Ted Heath , on his famous triumph in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race – as well as other special sporting events such as the Grand National . He even covered the return of The Beatles from the United States and the 1959 General Election for the BBC from the Press Association headquarters. As well as a presenter, Coleman was also a sports commentator. He presented and/or commentated on 11 Olympic Games from Rome 1960 to Sydney 2000 , as well as eight Commonwealth Games . He covered six World Cups as a commentator, including the finals of 1974 and 1978 and a seventh (1982) as a presenter.

Football He was the BBC's senior football commentator for several years from 1971; he commentated on the World Cup Final in 1974 and 1978, the European Cup Final in 1973 and 1975 and the FA Cup final from 1972 to 1976 inclusive, although he missed the 1977 game because he was in a legal dispute with the BBC, allowing John Motson to make his FA Cup final debut. Coleman returned for the 1978 final before Motson took over the following year. Coleman's last live football commentary was the England v Scotland game in the 1979 Home International Championship , although he continued to work at football matches as a secondary commentator until October 1981, his last game being a midweek League Cup game between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United . Athletics In 1968, at the Mexico Olympics Coleman was recorded at 200 words per minute while commentating on David Hemery 's win in the 400m Hurdles. After the finish he could only identify the first two and famously exclaimed: Who cares who's third?

The bronze medal winner turned out to be another Briton, John Sherwood . Out of respect for Sherwood, most subsequent showings of the race have dubbed the line out.[ citation needed ] He also had to commentate on a Greek athlete called Papagiorgiopoulos and a Madagascan athlete called Jean-Louis Ravelomanatsoa in adjacent lanes in the 100m. Coleman's inability to 'read' a race remained entirely unsullied by experience to the end of his long commentating career. The phenomenon was clearly spotted by satirists of the '80s and '90s, who portrayed him as constantly surprised by mundane happenings at athletic events. Clive James wrote that the difference between commentating and 'colemantating' is that a commentator says something you may wish to remember; a colemantator says something you try to forget. [1] In 1972, he broadcast for several hours during the siege at the Munich Olympics as well as the memorial service days later. Coleman concentrated on athletics commentary from 1984.

He also hosted the sports quiz show A Question Of Sport for 18 years from 1979–1997, striking up a strong rapport with captains such as Emlyn Hughes , Ian Botham , Willie Carson and Bill Beaumont . Although he hosted the vast majority of the shows, he was occasionally absent and stand-in hosts were drafted in. The former host David Vine returned to the show in 1989 when Coleman was ill, Bill Beaumont hosted two editions in 1996, while Will Carling temporarily replaced Beaumont as team captain, and Sue Barker hosted two editions later that year, which may well have led to her eventually taking over the host's role permanently. Recognition In the 1992 New Year's Honours List, he was awarded the OBE for services to broadcasting. He was also given the Judges' Award For Sport in the 1996 Royal Television Society Awards. Retirement Coleman retired from broadcasting after the 2000 Summer Olympics , the moment BBC Sport became a separate division of the BBC. In December 2000, he was presented with the Olympic Order by then- IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch in recognition of his services to the Olympic ideals.

He retired, requesting no fanfare or recognition by the BBC, despite working for the corporation for over 40 years. [2] The BBC later broadcast a programme entitled "The Quite Remarkable David Coleman" to celebrate his life, which was aired just after his 85th birthday in May 2011. [3] Folklore He is affectionately known for his on-air gaffes. He is so adept at spouting clichés , mispronouncing names, and generally making senseless comments, that the satirical magazine Private Eye named its sports bloopers column Colemanballs – a word conceived by Coleman himself – in his honour. [4] The gaffe that started it all off, a description of the Cuban 400m and 800m gold medalist, Alberto Juantorena who "just opened his legs wide and showed us all his class"" was actually said not by Coleman but his colleague Ron Pickering .[ citation needed ] Coleman was mentioned in the Trailer sketch of the Monty Python's Flying Circus episode Archaeology Today where the voice-over by Eric Idle states at the end of the sketch showing Coleman with ... And for those of you who don't like television there's David Coleman.

And of course there'll be sport. But now for something completely different – sport. Personal life He is married to Barbara and they have six children. Anne, Dean, David, Mandy, Michael and Samantha. His daughter Anne was a British Ladies Show Jumping champion. Quotes In the 1974 FA Cup Final , he said that Newcastle United 's defence had been stripped naked by Liverpool and that " Toshack's leg was just not long enough". " Linford Christie has a habit of pulling it out when it matters the most". " Dave Wottle has completely misjudged this race... And here comes Wottle!" "And for those of you watching on black-and-white sets, Everton are wearing the blue shirts." "Britain's Olympic Gold medallist..... Daley Cathlon ." "The Dutch manager told them in the dressing gown at half-time" See also Learn and talk about David Coleman, BBC sports presenters and reporters, British association football commentators, English broadcasters, English game show hosts Children 6 David Robert Coleman OBE (26 April 1926 – 21 December 2013) was an British sports commentator and TV presenter who worked for the BBC for 46 years.

He covered eleven Summer Olympic Games from 1960 to 2000 and six football World Cups . [1] Coleman presented some of the BBC's leading sporting programmes, including Grandstand and Sportsnight , and was the host of A Question of Sport for 18 years. He retired from the BBC in 2000. Later that year he became the first broadcaster to receive the Olympic Order award, in recognition of his contribution to the Olympic movement. [2] Contents Early life[ edit ] Born in Alderley Edge , Cheshire , of Irish heritage (his immediate family hailed from County Cork ), Coleman was a keen amateur runner. He competed as a schoolboy middle distance runner. In 1949, Coleman won the Manchester Mile as a member of Stockport Harriers, the only non-international runner to do so. He competed in the English National Cross-Country Championships for Manchester Athletic Club in 1952 (116th, 3rd team) and 1953 (118). He ran 440 yards (¼ mile) for Staffordshire .

Injury eventually caused him to give up competitive running, and he later became president of the Wolverhampton & Bilston Athletics Club . Coleman worked as a reporter for the Stockport Express , and during military service in the Royal Corps of Signals he worked for the British Army Newspaper Unit. [1] Part of his time in national service was in Kenya. He joined Kemsley Newspapers after demobilisation and at 22 became editor of the Cheshire County Express. He did not attend the 1952 Olympic trials because of hamstring injuries. Instead he approached the BBC to see if they would like any help with athletics coverage. Although he did not have an audition, the BBC asked him to cover Roger Bannister at Bradford City Police Sports. The following year he began freelance radio work in Manchester. BBC[ edit ] In 1954 Coleman moved to Birmingham and joined the BBC as a news assistant and sports editor. His first television appearance was on 'Sportsview, coincidentally on the day that Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile . In November 1955, he was appointed Sports Editor for the BBC's Midlands Region.

Grandstand[ edit ] In October 1958, the BBC's Head of Sport Peter Dimmock recruited Coleman to be the presenter of the new Saturday afternoon sports programme Grandstand . He continued as the regular presenter until 1968. He also presented the BBC Sports Personality of the Year from 1961, and Sportsnight from 1968 to 1972 as well as other special sporting events such as the Grand National . He even covered the return of The Beatles from the United States and the 1959 General Election for the BBC from the Press Association headquarters. As well as a presenter, Coleman was also a sports commentator. He presented and/or commentated on 11 Olympic Games from Rome 1960 to Sydney 2000 , as well as eight Commonwealth Games . He covered six World Cups as a commentator, including the finals of 1974 and 1978 and a seventh ( 1982 ) as a presenter.

Football[ edit ] Coleman was the BBC's senior football commentator for several years from 1971; he commentated on the World Cup Final in 1974 and 1978, the European Cup Final in 1973 and 1975 and the FA Cup final from 1972 to 1976 inclusive, although he missed the 1977 game because he was in a legal dispute with the BBC, allowing John Motson to make his FA Cup final debut. Coleman returned for the 1978 final before Motson took over the following year. Coleman's last live football commentary was the England v Scotland game in the 1979 Home International Championship , although he continued to work at football matches as a secondary commentator until October 1981, his last game being a midweek League Cup game between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United .

Coleman's statements during match commentary could either amuse or annoy football supporters, for example his peremptory reaction to a goal by shouting: "One–nil!" In the 1974 FA Cup Final , he told everyone without any apparent semblance of irony that " Toshack's leg was just not long enough" (Toshack had marginally failed to make contact with a pass across the Newcastle goalmouth and would have scored if he could have deflected the ball towards the open goal); later on, Coleman summarised Newcastle United 's performance by saying that they had been "stripped naked" by Liverpool . [3] Athletics[ edit ] In 1968, at the Mexico Olympics Coleman was recorded at 200 words per minute while commentating on David Hemery 's win in the 400m Hurdles. After the finish he could only identify the first two and famously exclaimed: "Who cares who's third?" The bronze medal winner turned out to be another Briton, John Sherwood . Out of respect for Sherwood, most subsequent showings of the race have dubbed the line out.

Coleman's inability to 'read' a race, as when he completely misinterpreted Dave Wottle 's tactics ("And Wottle is out of this race!") in the 800 metres final at the 1972 Olympics, remained entirely unsullied by experience to the end of his long commentating career. The phenomenon was clearly spotted by satirists of the '80s and '90s, who portrayed him as constantly surprised by mundane happenings at athletic events. Clive James wrote that the difference between commentating and 'colemantating' is that a commentator says something you may wish to remember; a colemantator says something you try to forget. However, Coleman's ability to generate excitement through his commentary was widely praised. In 1972, he showed he could also convey sombre dignity when he broadcast for several hours during the siege at the Munich Olympics as well as the memorial service days later. Coleman concentrated on athletics commentary from 1984.

Other[ edit ] Coleman also hosted sports quiz show A Question Of Sport for 18 years from 1979 to 1997, striking up a strong rapport with captains such as Emlyn Hughes , Ian Botham , Willie Carson and Bill Beaumont . Although he hosted the vast majority of the shows, he was occasionally absent and stand-in hosts were drafted in. Former host David Vine returned to the show in 1989 when Coleman was ill, Bill Beaumont hosted two editions in 1996, while Will Carling temporarily replaced Beaumont as team captain, and Sue Barker hosted two editions later that year. In 1993, Coleman hosted the Children's Royal Variety Performance alongside comedian Billy Pearce . In the show which had an Indiana Jones -style story called "Adventure of a Lifetime", Coleman played the narrator and Billy Jones' friend David while Pearce played Billy Jones. Coleman also accompanied pop group Take That during their performance of their song " A Million Love Songs " in the show. On 6 July 2005, Coleman was at Trafalgar Square in London for the announcement of the host city of the 2012 Summer Olympics which was won by London.

7 years later, Coleman took part in the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony at the Olympic Stadium on 12 August 2012. On 11 November, Coleman co-hosted the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards alongside model Heidi Klum and rapper Ludacris . Recognition[ edit ] In the 1992 New Year's Honours List, Coleman was awarded the OBE for services to broadcasting. He was also given the Judges' Award For Sport in the 1996 Royal Television Society Awards. Retirement[ edit ] Coleman retired from broadcasting after the 2000 Summer Olympics . In December 2000, he was presented with the Olympic Order by then- IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch in recognition of his services to the Olympic ideals. He retired, requesting no fanfare or recognition by the BBC, despite working for the corporation for over 40 years. [4] The BBC later broadcast a programme entitled The Quite Remarkable David Coleman to celebrate Coleman's life, which was aired just after his 85th birthday in May 2011.

[5] Death[ edit ] Coleman died on 21 December 2013, at his home in Berkshire after a short illness. [2] [6] [7] Personal life[ edit ] Coleman and his wife Barbara had six children. His daughter Anne was a British ladies' show jumping champion. [2] Folklore[ edit ] Coleman was affectionately known for his on-air gaffes. He was so adept at spouting clichés and mispronouncing names that the satirical magazine Private Eye named its sports bloopers column Colemanballs – a word conceived by Coleman himself – in his honour. [8] In the opening segment of the "Archaeology Today" episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus , Eric Idle announces the upcoming roster of BBC programming and states, "For those of you who don't like television, there's David Coleman." EN Wikipedia URL A Question of Sport is a long-running BBC sports quiz show that has been airing since 2 December 1968 with over 1,000 episodes. It involves two teams of sports stars answering questions on their own and other sports. Each team has a resident captain, each of whom is joined by two stars of the sports world.

Having run almost uninterrupted since 1970, the show is now Britain's longest running quiz show with 1000 episodes (as of 4 March 2013). [2] On 8 January 2010 episode No. 885 was a celebration episode of A Question of Sport's 40th birthday (Series 39, episode 13). The teams in the 1,000th episode, which aired on 4 March 2013 (Series 42, episode 17) and was won by Phil Tufnell , were made up of current and former captains and comprised Bill Beaumont and Ally McCoist on Phil Tufnell 's team and John Parrott and Willie Carson on Matt Dawson 's team. [3] [4] [5] [6] Quiz format Picture Board – numbered squares reveal sports person for contestant to identify Action Round – contestants are asked questions about a montage of sporting action What Happened Next?

– sports footage is halted at optimum moment and teams are asked what occurred thereafter (often an answer of amusement) Observation Round – sports action is shown and contestants are asked questions about details of what they have just seen, e.g. "What colour hat was a certain person wearing?" or "How many balls can you see in the following clip?" The footage for the latter question will be of many different events and all show balls, or whatever item has been asked Mystery Guest – teams have to identify a sports star in unfamiliar circumstances and with unconventional camera angles. (For many years, the backing music for this item was Johnny Nash 's 1972 song "There Are More Questions Than Answers". [7] ) Home or Away – contestants can answer a question on their own sport for one point ('home'), or a question on any sport for two points ("away"). Team captains always receive "away" questions. Captain's Challenge – the captains have a contest in different feats.

One Minute Round – teams are asked nine questions in 60 seconds On the Buzzer – teams answer questions at quickfire pace (this was only introduced in later years – in the Vine and Coleman eras, the show would end with the remaining six Picture Board questions) Presenters and team members The show was hosted regionally in the North of England by Stuart Hall from 1968, then nationally by David Vine from 1970 to 1977, and then from 1979 until 1997 was anchored by veteran BBC sports commentator David Coleman , although Vine returned for part of one series in 1989 when illness forced Coleman to temporarily stand down from hosting duties. Coleman was also unavailable for two shows in 1996, so one of the team captains, Bill Beaumont , sat in as host (the only team captain to host the programme), while the rugby star Will Carling took Beaumont's place as captain. In Coleman's final series as host, ex- tennis star Sue Barker stood-in for a couple of shows including one at Christmas, a role that she continued after Coleman's retirement.

Many team captains have enjoyed stints on the show down the years, including: Over the years there have been several guest captains standing in for one of the regulars when they have other commitments. Following Ally McCoist's departure, several guests, including Phil Tufnell, sat in the captain's chair before Tuffers was eventually selected as McCoist's permanent replacement: Robbie Savage , footballer (2014) Greg Rutherford , track and field athlete (2015) Of these Barnes, Cooper, Charlton, Moore, Hughes, Beaumont, Carson, Botham, Parrott, McCoist, Dettori, Owen, Rutherford, Speed and Dawson were still active participants in their sport while appearing in the show. The others had retired. Sports stars often say they know they have 'made it' when they are invited to appear on A Question Of Sport. The sports personality with most guest appearances is Steve Davis , who has appeared 18 times. There was also embarrassment for the show's hostess, Sue Barker , many years before she took on the role of the show's presenter.

When she appeared as the Mystery Guest, captain Willie Carson incorrectly guessed that she was boxing champion Alan Minter , while the opposing captain, Bill Beaumont , thought she was footballer Ray Clemence . In 1987, Princess Anne appeared as a guest on Emlyn Hughes' team, just weeks after the ex-footballer had embarrassed himself by claiming a photo of her on a horse was jockey John Reid . The show achieved A Question of Sport's highest ever ratings of approximately 19 million viewers. It was the first time a member of the royal family had appeared on a television quiz show. Anne's daughter Zara Phillips also appeared on the show twice in 2006, the latter for a Sport Relief edition. However, Hughes's embarrassment would not be as bad as Ally McCoist or Shane Warne in 2007. During the part of the show called Mystery Guest (see Quiz Format), it was McCoist's turn and he failed to realise it was his own boss at Rangers , Walter Smith , who was disguised. Also, in the 700th edition of the show, a compilation of Mystery Guests was shown as a special round.

Here McCoist also failed to recognise himself as a showjumper from a clip some years previous. As for Warne, when the opposing team incorrectly guessed Venus Williams as the sports star shown, the answer was Serena Williams but Warne thought differently and thought it was Roger Federer , despite the two being different colours and gender. Another embarrassing moment for a team captain happened in 2003, when during the Home or Away round where the captains had to guess an anagram, and Frankie Dettori could not recognize his name. When this question was passed over to Ally McCoist, McCoist did not answer verbally but climbed onto the desk in front of him and copied Dettori's famous flying dismount. Transmissions TBC TBC 97 episodes (mainly ones from Series 1–25) were wiped from the BBC archives.

The episodes that survived in the archives are: [6] Series 4: Episodes 2 & 11–12 Series 5: Episodes 1–2 & 8 Series 7: Episode 8 Series 8: Episodes 1–5, 7–11 & 13 Series 9: Episodes 1–2, 4–7 & 9–11 Series 10: All 12 episodes Series 11: All 13 episodes Series 12: Episodes 1, 4–6 & 8–11 Series 13: Episodes 1–8, 10–11 & 13–14 Series 14: Episodes 1–5, 7, 9–12 & 14–15 Series 15: All 20 episodes Series 16: All 21 episodes Series 17: Episodes 1–16 & 18–21 Series 18: All 24 episodes Series 19–21 & 24: All 26 episodes Series 22: Episodes 1–7, 9, 12–

22 & 24–25 Series 23: Episodes 1–2, 4–5 & 7–28 Series 25: Episodes 1–18 & 20–27 Spin-offs The A Question of Sport format has been applied to various other areas of knowledge.

The following spin-off series were all made by the BBC: A Question of Sport: Super Saturday with Jason Manford in 2014 on BBC One Roslin also hosted a one-off special, A Question of EastEnders , in 2000. Another one-off special, "A Question of Comedy" was to have been aired on 16 March 2007 as a part of Comic Relief 2007 , but after a scandal involving contestant Jade Goody it was replaced with a special edition of Top Gear . A Question of Spit was a short segment aired in 1988 as part of the inaugural Red Nose Day telethon, featuring Daley Thompson , Barry McGuigan and Mike Gatting forming a team, with their opponents being their own Spitting Image puppets, captained by an Emlyn Hughes puppet. The quiz was hosted by the Spitting Image puppet of David Coleman, with the real Coleman and the puppet Steve Davis also making an appearance. On 21 March 2012, One Media Radio's Final Whistle produced a one off end of year special entitled, Final Quizzle: Final Whistle does A Question of Sport.

Presented by Barry Landy, the show featured two teams consisting of Stuart Hodge, Rory Wilde, Phil Peacock, Steve Sanders, Ben Mouncer and Lewis Davies and included rounds such as 'Tiger's Eighteen Holes' and 'Whelan or Fortune'. In November 2012, One Media Radio's Head of Sport Edmund Doc Crosthwaite confirmed that Final Quizzle would return for a one off Christmas special on 12 December 2012. A Question of Sport Relief is a special version of the show usually presented by a guest presenter on Sport Relief night since 2002. The 2002, 2004 & 2006 versions were hosted by Stephen Fry . 2008's version was hosted by Jimmy Carr after Fry had to pull out having broken his arm. BBC One Scotland aired a one-off A Question of Scotland as part of Children in Need 2008 , with Jackie Bird as quizmaster. The CBBC programme Dick and Dom In Da Bungalow made a parody called A Question of Muck as part of the creamy muck muck grand finale game.

The CBBC programme The Saturday Show did a segment called A Question of Busted featuring the pop band Busted answering questions about themselves it was presented by Fearne Cotton who in each segment was dressed as Sue Barker. In popular culture The What Happened Next? round was spoofed in an episode of A Bit of Fry & Laurie as David Coleman (Fry) asks Emlyn Hughes (Laurie) to guess what happened after the action stopped in the previous sketch. The host's refusal to confirm whether the given answer is correct then leads into another round of the game, with the question of what happened following the original What Happened Next? sketch. The show was one of many British TV shows reinterpreted by Chanel 9, a recurring sketch on The Fast Show , where it was titled Questo Sporta and featured the mystery guest round. a question of sport : definition of a question of sport and synonyms of a question of sport (English) Website A Question of Sport is a long-running BBC quiz show which started on 2 December 1968 and continues to this day. It is currently recorded at the Studios, "Media City", the UK .

It has been recorded in Manchester since the programme's inception at various studios including Dickenson Road Studios and then the Granada Studios and New Broadcasting House . It involves two teams of sports stars answering questions on their own and other sports. Each team has a resident captain, each of whom is joined by two stars of the sports world. Having run almost uninterrupted since 1970, the show is now Britain's longest continuously-running game show with 942 episodes (as of 26 September 2011). [1] On 8 January 2010 episode No. 885 was a celebration episode of AQoS's 40th birthday (Series 39, episode 13). Contents 7 External links Presenters and team members The show was hosted by Stuart Hall in its regional format from 1968 to 1969, then nationally by David Vine from 1970 to 1978, and then from 1979 until 1997 was anchored by veteran BBC sports commentator David Coleman , although Vine returned for part of one series in 1989 when illness forced Coleman to temporarily stand down from hosting duties.

Coleman was also unavailable for two shows in 1996, so one of the team captains, Bill Beaumont , sat in as host (the only team captain ever to host the programme), while the rugby star Will Carling took Beaumont's place as captain and in Coleman's final series as host, ex- tennis star Sue Barker stood-in for a couple of shows including one at Christmas, a role that she continued after Coleman's retirement. Many team captains have enjoyed stints on the show down the years, including: Team A Gary Speed , Footballer (2008) Of these, Cooper, Charlton, Moore, Hughes, Beaumont, Carson, Botham, Parrott, McCoist, Dettori, Owen, Speed and Dawson were still active participants in their sport while appearing in the show. The others had retired. Sports stars often say they know they have 'made it' when they are invited to appear on A Question Of Sport. The sports personality with most guest appearances is Steve Davis , who has appeared 18 times. There was also embarrassment for the show's hostess, Sue Barker , many years before she took on the role of the show's presenter.

When she appeared as the Mystery Guest, captain Willie Carson incorrectly guessed that she was boxing champion Alan Minter , while the opposing captain, Bill Beaumont , thought she was footballer Ray Clemence . In 1987, Princess Anne appeared as a guest on Emlyn Hughes' team, just weeks after the ex-footballer had embarrassed himself by claiming a photo of her on a horse was jockey John Reid . The show achieved A Question of Sport's highest ever ratings of approximately 19 million viewers. It was the first time a member of the royal family had appeared on a television quiz show. Anne's daughter Zara Phillips also appeared on the show twice in 2006, the latter for a Sport Relief edition. However Hughes' embarrassment would not be as bad as Ally McCoist or Shane Warne in 2007. During the part of the show called Mystery Guest (see Quiz Format), it was McCoist's turn and he failed to realise it was his own boss at Rangers , Walter Smith , who was disguised. Also, in the 700th edition of the show, a compilation of Mystery Guests was shown as a special round.

Here McCoist also failed to recognise himself as a showjumper from a clip some years previous. As for Warne, when the opposing team incorrectly guessed Venus Williams as the sports star shown, the answer was obviously Serena Williams but Warne thought differently and thought it was Roger Federer , despite the two having different skin tone and being of a different gender. Another embarrassing moment for a team captain happened in 2003, when during the Home or Away round where the captains had to guess an anagram, and Frankie Dettori could not recognize his name. Quiz format Picture Board - numbered squares reveal sports person for contestant to identify Action Round - contestants are asked questions about a montage of sporting action What Happened Next? - sports footage is halted at optimum moment and teams are asked what occurred thereafter (often an answer of amusement) Observation Round - sports action is shown and contestants are asked questions about details of what they have just seen, e.g. "What colour hat was a certain person wearing?", "How many balls can you see in the following clip?".

The footage for the latter question will be of many different events and all show balls, or whatever item has been asked Mystery Guest - teams have to identify a sports star in unfamiliar circumstances and with unconventional camera angles Home Or Away - contestants can answer a question on their own sport for one point ('home'), or a question on any sport for two points ('away'). Team captains always receive 'away' questions. Captain's Challenge - The captains have a contest in different feats One Minute Round - teams are asked nine questions in 60 seconds On The Buzzer - teams answer questions at quickfire pace (this was only introduced in later years - in the Vine and Coleman eras, the show would end with the remaining six Picture Board questions) Series run Episode 2. Episode 1 not broadcast Spin-offs The A Question of Sport format has been applied to various other areas of knowledge. The following spin-off series were all made by the BBC: A Question of News, presented by Richard Baker , 1972 A Question of Entertainment, Tom O'Connor , 1988 A Question of Pop, Jamie Theakston , 2000–01 which used the same graphics and set as the Sport version but different colours.

Noddy Holder and Suggs were the team captains A Question of TV, Gaby Roslin , 2001 Roslin also hosted a one-off special, A Question of EastEnders , in 2000. Another one-off special, "A Question of Comedy" was to have been aired on 16 March 2007 as a part of Comic Relief 2007 , but after a scandal involving contestant Jade Goody it was replaced with a special edition of Top Gear . A Question of Spit was a short segment aired in 1988 as part of the inaugural Red Nose Day telethon, featuring Daley Thompson , Barry McGuigan and Mike Gatting forming a team, with their opponents being their own Spitting Image puppets, captained by an Emlyn Hughes puppet. The quiz was hosted by the Spitting Image puppet of David Coleman, with the real Coleman and the puppet Steve Davis also making an appearance. A Question of Sport Relief is a special version of the show usually presented by a guest presenter on Sport Relief night since 2002. The 2002, 2004 & 2006 versions were hosted by Stephen Fry .

2008's version was hosted by Jimmy Carr after Fry had to pull out having broken his arm. BBC One Scotland aired a one-off A Question of Scotland as part of Children in Need 2008 , with Jackie Bird as quizmaster. The CBBC programme Dick and Dom In Da Bungalow made a parody called A Question of Muck as part of the creamy muck muck grand finale game. The CBBC programme The Saturday Show did a segment called A Question of Busted featuring the pop band Busted answering questions about themselves it was presented by Fearne Cotton who in each segment was dressed as Sue Barker. In popular culture The What Happened Next? round was spoofed in an episode of A Bit of Fry & Laurie as David Coleman (Fry) asks Emlyn Hughes (Laurie) to guess what happened after the action stopped in the previous sketch. The host's refusal to confirm whether the given answer is correct then leads into another round of the game, with the question of what happened following the original What Happened Next? sketch.

The show was one of many British TV shows reinterpreted by Chanel 9, a recurring sketch on The Fast Show , where it was titled Questo Sporta and featured the mystery guest round. Link to the video on YouTube References

Question: David Vine, David Coleman and Sue Barker have all hosted which BBC television quiz show?
Answer: A Question of Sport