Ian Pickering

Many thanks go to Ian Pickering for the information on this page.

I don't consider myself one of the greats of 15 to 1. What I've achieved so far is a fair reflection of my abilities i.e. good enough to win a normal programme and maybe reach the grand final on a good day but not good enough to be a series champion or top of the finals board.

When I watch people like Bill McKaig or Daphne Fowler I find myself thinking like everyone else "How did they know that?".

I had appeared on TV before doing 15 to 1. Me and my friend Geoff Thomas were series champions on BBC2's "Today's The Day" in 1996. This made me a lot less nervous about doing 15 to 1 although I still made a few mistakes on my first appearance e.g. buzzing in too quickly in the final round which I luckily got away with and was able to learn from.

One thing that surprised me about 15 to 1 was how smooth running it was compared with Today's The Day where we constantly had to re-do things. What you see on 15 to 1 is more or less exactly what happened in real time with scarcely any pauses or retakes being necessary.

The few retakes that are done are for technical reasons or because someone has given an alternative answer that needs to be checked. I have never known William G. to fluff a question. He is remarkably good at his job.

My girlfriend's grandmother Isobel is 85 years old and loves 15 to 1. When I told her I was going on 15 to 1 she told me to wear something bright so she could see me as she is almost blind. Hence the red shirt that I always wear. It's become my lucky charm and I only ever wear it on the show. It never leaves the wardrobe at any other time in case the magic wears off!

You tend to remember the questions you get wrong rather than the ones you know. My most embarrassing wrong answer was the one that sat me down in my first appearance - "Name two footballers who have been knighted?". I said Bobby Charlton straight away and then for reasons best known to myself followed up not with Stanley Mathews or Alf Ramsey but Billy Wright. I could only agree with William G. who said that Billy certainly should have been knighted. It was embarrassing because I consider myself a football expert and it's the only time I've had stick from my friends after being on the show.

After scoring 92 the first time I hit my stride and got 192 the second time which was one answer short of a Grand Final place although I was there as a reserve to watch the tremendous battle between Nick Terry and Bill McKaig. The third time I scored 212 and made it to the final in my own right. In the final I was quite pleased to be one of the last five standing although ironically, after some inspired guessing earlier on, the question that knocked me out was one I should have known. The name of that Ernest Hemingway novel wouldn't come, however and I said "For whom the Bell Tolls" instead of "A Farewell to Arms".

After that I fully expected to be knocked out on my next appearance but instead everything went astonishingly well until the very end when I found myself the last survivor with two lives intact which I promptly blew for a miserable score of 52. It's always nice to win though and I've won myself another go.

My pet hate when watching the show is people who won't guess. If you're asked "of which African country is such and such the capital" then Tanzania or Sierra Leone stands a better chance of being right than "I don't know". I'm always glad when people like that are on my show though! I've always guessed judiciously. On the last show I did I didn't know that Henry VIII was the first King of England to call himself the King of Ireland but it seemed a good bet.

Bill McKaig is a real star. The most charismatic contestant I've met. He is a garrulous guy and full of stories. The night before the Grand Final he held court in the hotel bar until 1 a.m. My only disappointment about the second final I went to is that he wasn't there. I'd love to have met him again.

Nick Terry is a really nice man and not at all big time. The last time I saw him he was fully expecting to be knocked out sooner or later and predicted that Daphne Fowler would be the next long running champion.