You may not have sat down to watch the Test the Nation until 9.10pm on Saturday night but for those of us involved in the show the day began rather earlier. "Don’t be early, don’t be late" was the warning from the production company so at a quarter to four on the dot I presented myself at the studios, along with my colleagues from Â鶹ԼÅÄ local radio stations up and down the country. We queued rather unceremoniously to be 'checked in', watched all the time by 'gofers' with clipboards who were there to make sure all went according to plan and then began the long wait - killing time until we were called for our studio briefing ("no smoking, no swearing" etc). Thankfully the ballroom dancers provided some light and rather colourful relief as they arrived already dressed in their glorious costumes, though that made our black Â鶹ԼÅÄ t-shirts look all the more bland (they should have been claret - a mix-up at the printers apparently!). Frenzy
 | | Anna Murby |
After some light refreshments and a great deal of excited and nervous chatter in the green room (including fraternising with members of the opposition) we were finally taken through to the studio and shown how the answer-selecting equipment was going to work. Then came one of the best parts of the day for me - the warm-up man who cracked a number of unrepeatable jokes (usually at the expense of the receptionists) and he whipped us up into an applauding frenzy before the real stars of the show were ushered in - Ann Robinson and Phillip Schofield - for a quick rehearsal. Then - SHOW TIME! Looking back, I suppose I felt nervous during the first few questions but despite cameras floating around the studio and a floor manager rushing around encouraging us to clap in all the right places, it was very easy to forget we were on live TV. The most exciting bit was during the second half when, between each section, Phillip announced which was the leading team; thankfully we led from the beginning but right up to the last round we were worried that the surgeons might overtake us. Good cause | "The most exciting bit was between each section when Phillip announced which was the leading team; thankfully we led from the beginning..." | | Anna Murby |
I don't know which was more disappointing for them - that they came third behind the celebrities or that they were forced to wear their scrubs! It was fantastic day, if rather long and, of course, it was a very clever way for the Â鶹ԼÅÄ to get the audience thinking about the RaW campaign; if the show has helped just one person get back into education to improve their literacy skills, then it's served a very good purpose. Oh - and I also appear to have made a contribution to the show which you may have heard; I couldn’t (and still don’t) believe that the apostrophe answer was correct and my involuntary cry of 'no' was picked up by the studio microphones. Thankfully, while Ann was aware that the objection had come from my team, she didn’t single me out for a blast of her infamous wrath! I've had quite a few people support me since, including an English teacher whom I hold in high esteem…so can I up my score by one? | 
