Thanks Marc - I was booked to appear as DC guest for w/c 21 Dec but had a call from Damian to say the show was taking a Christmas/New Year break so I have been put on hold indefinitelyMarc Meakin wrote:I rather like Mr Corby, senior.James Robinson wrote:It'd be interesting if you booked Chris, becuase everyone hates him.D Eadie wrote:JG is the same as every other guest, in that he's not universally popular, but we've never had a guest who is and never will, unless of course we book Raymond, as everyone loves him, apparently.
Of course we all have different opinions about what makes a good or bad guest in DC but I happened to be at the recordings when Jon Gaunt first appeared and one of the production team asked me what I thought of him. I said I didn't think he was a "Countdown person". "What does that mean?" was the retort. Well, having given it some thought, I think an ideal guest should:
(a) Understand that they have a big advantage over the contestants by having Susie alongside with a dictionary so not try and belittle ordinary contestants by saying things like, "Well we can beat that - we have a seven" or even worse, "There were loads of sevens there..." However it is appropriate that when someone like Kirk is playing to be jubilant if he is beaten - so it's knowing the difference.
(b) Be entertaining in their piece to camera so as to get a few laughs - not to use the minutes as a tirade against their pet hate of the moment;
(c) Interact with the players as much as possible - don't ignore them;
(d) When DC is involved after a round do not pretend that you have got all the words and give Susie the credit as often as possible.
When you take a universally popular guest like Dr Phil Hammond, I think he fulfils all of the above - Jon Gaunt does not.