The West goes Clueless

Sunday saw the first episode of BBC Radio Bristol / BBC Somerset's joint Clueless outing, the first such effort of a Treasure Hunt style programme in the west country (aside from BBC Wiltshire's truly awful pilot Treasure Quest a few years ago). I am planning to put together a comprehensive round up of all the Treasure Hunt games that are going on around the country on BBC locals, but in the mean time here are my thoughts on Clueless West.

Host Richard Lewis is a man at ease with most things. His Sunday morning show has been a very relaxed and amiable affair for many years now. Whilst he never sounded flustered with the new format (which does feel somewhat as though it has been foist upon him), there were a few odd junctures which are hopefully only a transitional factor - two interviews with people unrelated to the rest of the show were shoe-horned in. Perhaps these were booked prior to the decision of the new format being adopted...?

The layout of the main Treasure Hunt part of the show is similar to that of the Three Counties / Northamptonshire offering hosted by Jonathan Vernon-Smith on a Saturday morning where two clue hunters are following two sets of clues on a single programme. This evolved from the previous incarnation where JVS took care solely of Northants and a separate programme happened on 3CR. As a man familiar and well rehearsed with the format, JVS has morphed fairly successfully in to presenting the double hunt. Attempting to start a new show from scratch using the double hunt approach was always going to sound messy from the offset and the Clueless West offering did so.

The cluesetter and adversary character on Clueless West is played by "The Farmers Wife", who is only briefly on air to give out clues or drop the odd hint. Compared to the higher profile roles of BBC Sheffield's Cluemaster or BBC WM's Voice, this feels like a bit of a lost opportunity. The Farmers Wife is most similar in tone to BBC Norfolk's Questmaster. Although i think this is a bit of a low key role for somebody who should be more pivotal to the show, it is better than the unheard adversary Les from 3CR/Northants, BBC Radio York's Keeper from Finders Keepers or the taped inserts on Lincolnshire's Pirate Gold.

The clues got noticeably simpler as the two hunts went on, having provided a moderate challenge on clues one and two, the later Bristol clues were very simple and perhaps indicated the lack of feasibility in reaching the final destination. Staging such a show around Bristol is never going to be an easy task given the city's geographical layout and incessant traffic problems. I do wonder if the format would be better being simplified to one hunt which encompasses both areas.

The competition between the two regions was played up fairly well and a feature i've not come across before was introduced to put a "Roadblock" and associated ten minute penalty in the way of the opposing team. I think ten minutes might be over-egging the penalty somewhat, especially given how many sub three minute wins and losses can be found on other shows.

In terms of staff, cluehunters James Hanson (Somerset) and Sasha Bigwood (Bristol) did a reasonable job. Hanson sounds more at ease with the format, perhaps helped by travelling around the rural Somerset Levels rather than Bristol. I've never cared for Sasha Bigwood since she presented a request show on Radio Bristol many years ago which was one of the most consistently awful things ever on British radio. Her voice reacts with me like fingernails down a blackboard, thus trying to be subjective about her performance is difficult.

The soundscaping of the start of the show was put together nicely and the grandstand finish and associated tension bed were fairly well put together until the walls of Shepton Mallet prison put paid to the connection between cluehunter Hanson and the studio.

Overall, the format will take time to bed in properly and hopefully a few tweaks will be made (most notably the unrelated telephone interviews - surely meeting these people is what the hunts are there for?), but it does show some promise. Richard Lewis is a solid host, although i have concerns there may be some aggravation at having lost his previous open format. If the whole lot can be drawn together more tightly, it could become a solid staple of the schedules around the west country.