I was watching the new series of A Question of Sport the other night, partly because there wasn’t much else on and partly because I quite like the show that is almost as old as I am. It was first aired regionally in 1968 and became a regular fixture on the BBC from 1970. It’s Britain’s longest continuously running game show.
Through my childhood and formative years I watched team captains come and go, my favourites were the pairing of Emlyn Hughes/Bill Beaumont and John Parrott/ Ally Mc Coist. But over the years the common thread through the team captains is that they are all men, not only that but more often than not the contestants are all men too, with only a handful of women.
Now I’m no raving, hairy arm-pitted feminist but I think the producers of the show should make more of an effort to include more of our many fantastic sportswomen. They have more than enough to choose from, especially from our plethora of Olympians.
Of course the the regular female on the show is Sue Barker who has been fabulous in the host’s chair since 1997 and does a fantastic job keeping all those men in line and under control.
Carole Gardiner
back to life 