I’m the Ms Marple of TV quizzes: Historian Lucy Worsley reveals why she’ll be channelling the Christie sleuth as she takes the helm of a devilishly tricky new TV competition
- British historian Lucy Worsley’s quiz show, Puzzling, airs on June 21 on Channel 5
- READ MORE: Alison Hammond lands a huge new TV role after BBC cancelled plans to reboot quiz show with the presenter
True, it’s not quite Strictly Come Dancing, with all its high kicks and sequins. But Lucy Worsley’s new show is still managing to fulfil her desire for lights, cameras… and a little showing off.
The acclaimed historian is switching gears as host of the new primetime series Puzzling, a 13-part competition which will probe contestants on everything from maths skills to visual intelligence and lateral thinking.
The Channel 5 series is in the same high-end cerebral ballpark as BBC2’s Only Connect, with a trophy as the prize on offer for the winner rather than large amounts of cash. But it’s still quite a change from presenting documentaries about Mozart, the Romanov dynasty in Russia and the Tudors.
‘I’m definitely outside my comfort zone,’ says Lucy. ‘When Channel 5 asked me if I would like to try this new thing, I was aware I’d be playing against type. Presenting a series like this is a whole new world for me, you have to be on it all the time. It’s very intense.’
To help her transition, Lucy has decided she’ll be playing a character when she steps on to the podium at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, west London, to host the new show – Agatha Christie’s famous detective Miss Marple.
Lucy Worsley is all clued up for her new quiz show Puzzling, starting Wednesday 21 June on Channel 5
Lucy with the late Len Goodman who was a judge on Dancing With the Stars. The pair worked together on the TV programme Dancing Cheek to Cheek: An Intimate History of Dance, which first aired in 2014
‘Miss Marple stands for intelligence, learning and excelling with a friendly face,’ says Lucy. ‘She is the person who springs to mind when I’m asked how I want to present myself in life, not just on television.’
Each episode of Puzzling features two teams of three who have to score as many points as possible over five initial rounds. The first, In Other Words, will test the contestants’ language skills, and then Pressure Points will gauge their ability to carry out calculations.
Rule Breakers deals with lateral thinking, Picture This covers visual intelligence and Memory Bank is a brain-achingly difficult recall test.
The three members of the winning team then take on each other in the final round, Divide And Conquer. The aim is to become a top-scoring winner and go into the Grand Final, with a chance to be crowned Ultimate Puzzler.
Lucy says she’s attempted the challenges herself when the cameras haven’t been rolling and, despite a first-class honours degree in Ancient and Modern History from Oxford University, didn’t do brilliantly. ‘I’d give myself a B minus, in terms of my skill as a puzzler,’ she says.
She’s clearly no slouch, though. ‘Last year I was a contestant on Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel and it gave me a taste for the whole business of quizzing and puzzling. I didn’t win on The Wheel – I came second to the Reverend Richard Coles, which was respectable because he’s a very brainy chap – but had a wonderful time with Michael and was keen to be involved in another quiz.’
She also credits the late Strictly judge Len Goodman, with whom she made a series on the history of dance for the BBC in 2014, with inspiring her to expand her horizons on television.
‘Len showed me what you need to be a good host of a TV entertainment show, and definitely encouraged me in what I am doing now. During filming, he would drive me around in his Jaguar with cream leather seats, although we weren’t allowed to talk because we had to listen to the golf on the radio.’
Each episode of Puzzling is made up of five rounds. The first, In Other Words, will test the contestants’ language skills, and then Pressure Points will gauge their ability to carry out calculations. Rule Breakers deals with lateral thinking, Picture This covers visual intelligence and Memory Bank is a brain-achingly difficult recall test
‘Len was in his element doing the dances, I obviously wasn’t. I would have to stay up all night memorising the moves and he totally wouldn’t. I’d be sitting nervously in my dressing room, shaking with fear. He’d come in and say, “Come on, Luce, me old sausage, let’s give it some razzle-dazzle.”’
Taking part in Strictly herself has never been an option – for one very good reason, as Lucy explains. ‘I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked to do it but it always has to be a no because I signed a pre-nuptial agreement stating that I wouldn’t.
‘My husband was worried about me running off with my dance partner, thought the love of sequins was regrettable and generally felt the idea of me being on the show was to be discouraged. But the pre-nuptial agreement didn’t say anything about me not hosting a quiz show such as Puzzling…’
Lucy is also joint chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces, a charity that manages some of Britain’s unoccupied royal palaces – including Hampton Court and the Tower of London – and makes it clear which she regards as her more important role.
She talks about her television work being ‘a nice, extra-curricular hobby’ and how she’s ‘larking about on TV’ when she’s not doing her day job. But that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t relish the chance to film more Puzzling if a second series was commissioned.
‘I’ve enjoyed it,’ says Lucy, ‘My husband knows that there’s a part of me that’s always hankered after being in a studio show with lights and laughter, and it’s also true that I have a secret pantomime dame side to my nature.
‘Basically I’m a show-off, and Puzzling lets me be exactly that.’
GET PUZZLING
Now try some questions from Puzzling, Lucy’s new quiz show that aims to test every part of your brain!
1. Fastforest Waterproofcoat is a synonym of which famous rock band?
2. Which one of these is the rulebreaker? Clue: gumshoes.
a) Farewell, My Lovely
b) The Big Sleep
c) The Maltese Falcon
d) The Long Goodbye
3. This is an anagram of which prime minister? Iredails.
4. Can you name this animal whose letters have been shifted one place in the alphabet? Hjsbggf.
5. Which word fits in the gap? Channel ___ Vision.
6. Which word is the rulebreaker? Clue: direction.
a) Straw b) Stink
c) Stops d) Story
7. Which horse is the rulebreaker?
a) Red Rum
b) Ballabriggs
c) Nijinsky
d) Minella Times
8. Who is the rulebreaker? Clue: companions.
a) Emily b) Elizabeth
c) Carol d) Rachel
9. For which novel is this a synonym? Considerable Presumptions.
10. Use words synonymous with these to reveal the name of a novel: Fauna Croft.
Answers: 1 Fleetwood Mac; 2 c – the detective is Sam Spade, in the other books it’s Philip Marlowe; 3 Disraeli; 4 Giraffe; 5 Tunnel; 6 d – the others all make another word when written backwards; 7 c – Nijinsky won the Epsom Derby, the others won the Grand National; 8 b – Elizabeth dated Ross in sitcom Friends, the others married him; 9 Great Expectations; 10 Animal Farm.
- Puzzling begins Wednesday 21 June, 8pm, Channel 5. Also stream on My5.
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