WITH the second lockdown just around the corner and the news all sport and social activities would be shutdown, Paul and I were feeling more than a little deflated knowing our biggest pastime would not be going ahead – no rugby for the foreseeable future, writes Max Clark.

This was when we received a phone call from a lovely woman at the BBC on behalf of Pointless.

With the new restrictions being put in place some of the contestants had to cancel for the filming of the next week’s shows, and dad and I being from Reading meant we were a car’s journey away and fairly flexible in terms of availability.

We had applied a few weeks beforehand and had gone through a Zoom audition, but weren’t really confident of being selected for the show.

Of course, we both agreed and when they asked us to come down and film they also asked us to bring five different outfits which would align with the BBC’s dress code.

Now as I’m sure most if not all of you reading this have met Paul at one time or another you
may be able to see a problem here – that being that 90 per cent of clothing owned in the Clark household has a Rams’ logo on it!

So, at this point we are down a lot of clothing, a bad start, but recoverable.

The day comes, we pack up our clothes jump in the car and head towards the glitz and glam of the Elstree studios.

On arrival we had all the necessary Covid checks and were shown to our own dressing room.

Due to filming taking place in a Covid world we had minimal contact with other guests on the show.

The producers behind the scenes were fantastic, and kept us updated with what was going to happen and provided us with an ample stream of coffee (as if what we needed was more adrenaline).

The first few hours were a long old wait, this was because we were needed to hang around until a show we could fit in to became available, the idea being Pointless didn’t want to fill a show with the same dynamics, in our case a father-son team.

We passed the time mainly by watching TV which was provided and listening into other gameshows being filmed in the same studios – overall not too much excitement as of yet.

Finally the waiting was over, we had the go-ahead to get ready.

Both Paul and I had picked questionable shirts to bring along and thought wearing them both at the same time might cause complaints for the crimes against fashion so we took it in turns to show off bright shirts. (I would like to add that my shirt was not questionable, it was the best quality M&S - Paul)

We sat down, got ourselves mic’d up and had our hair and makeup sorted. (Max took much longer on hair and make-up than me).

The lights check was complete and we were placed on our podium.

Presenters Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman came through and introduced themselves before the filming and showed they were just as approachable off screen as on.

With that the first show began, and it ran as smoothly as you see on screen – maybe five minutes between each round as they prepare the podiums.

This first show was not our strongest showing, but a very enjoyable one in which we both discovered it is better to take risks than play it safe.

After going out in the second round we were escorted back to the waiting room, not knowing if the couple who went all the way had won the grand prize.

This was also the final show of the day so we were asked to come back and film our next two episodes the next day.

So we packed up and headed home and prepared ourselves for the next two shows. (How can St Kitts be allowed to be a correct answer?)

To watch the episode, click here

Find out how the Clarks got on in their later efforts tomorrow!