Sunday, January 7, 2007

Magnus Magnusson

I was sorry to hear the sad news of Magnus Magnusson. He always struck me as an enormously decent gentleman. As Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC, commented, he was "one of the defining faces and voices of the BBC".

My wife and I were very privileged to be at, I think I am right in saying, the last recording of Mastermind presented by Magnus Magnusson. It was at Blenheim Palace. He carried out the whole thing with infinite patience and good humour.

He will, of course, be remembered for his catchphrase, which needs no repeating here. (I will remember him more for the way he used to say "Correct" in a very, clipped Scottish way.) But, of course, he was a journalist and broadcaster with a much wider hinterland than just a quiz show, albeit a very challenging and dignified one.

2 comments:

  1. Hello again. That's rather sad, for some strange reason. I had actually been coming round here to comment on the UKIP hypocrisy post (which caught my eye the other day), but then saw this.

    Oddly enough, his clipped pronounciation of the word "correct" is what I used to like to hear, too - if my showboating father wasn't shouting the wrong answers and drowning it out.

    And you're right - he just exuded decency. I think his origins were Icelandic or something, weren't they? It matters little, I suppose, because we Scots always felt him to be one of our own. A good man, I think.

    Anyway, see you around.

    Kind regards etc

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  2. Nice to hear from you again TPE. Yes, he was Icelandic and retained that nationality throughout his life. But obviously he was Scottishified through living there. Would welcome a comment on teh UKIP post!

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