Colin Hogg: Uni mind game is back ... clever that

Otago University were just too good for Waikato, in the brain and wardrobe departments. Photo / Prime

University Challenge welcome despite quizmaster lacking fizz.

Back from an age when television perhaps cared a little more for the state of our brains comes University Challenge, a show none of us ever expected to see screening in these times in these parts again.

It's a full 25 years since the last cry of "fingers on buttons" for the dear old "starter for 10" segment. Back then the quizmaster was the late Peter Sinclair, an old hepcat who always seemed a tad zesty for a serious quiz show like University Challenge.

There are no such problems with the newly revived series, which launched on Prime last Saturday at 11 in the morning, a cruel time for a show that might just blossom in a more family-friendly slot.

The new quizmaster, Tom Conroy, is no hepcat. Instead, he's the sort of chap who gets the questions out of the way leaving barely a trace of personality in their wake, but that's ok on a show like this.

Well it is until our version of Stephen Fry comes along to raise the game - and that's unlikely.

It's Conroy, the quizmaster, who bought the rights to revive the show for New Zealand and screened this new series of 31 episodes first on his Invercargill-based TV channel Cue before passing it on for Prime to kindly bring it to the rest of the country.

In Saturday's first episode the Otago University team creamed Waikato, who were dressed in what looked like matching anoraks for the occasion, which may well have led to their resounding 255-115 defeat.

Looking like that, I'm not sure I could have answered a question about which legendary Arthurian island was also a suburb in Upper Hutt or one that required the answer "usury". The Otago team wisely chose casual wear.

But all that and the lack of a personality host aside, it was a rare and interesting experience witnessing brains being exercised on national television, even if it was morning teatime.

On the other hand, if it's something a little more in the brain-free zone you're after for your viewing pleasure, Monday marked the return of Piha Rescue (TV One, 8pm).

In the foamy opening episode there was "mayhem at the Raglan bar", though that turned out to be a bit less exciting than it sounded, the bar being the bumpy bit off the coast near Raglan rather than a pub full of brawling surfies.

That might have been a bit more entertaining than a half hour filled with overplayed rescues of fallen kite surfers and lifesavers playing nurse to swimmers with minor jellyfish stings.

Though they did appear to be a better class of swimmer. When it came to applying vinegar to their stings, going by the bottle shape, they favoured a balsamic.

But the show was as thin as sunscreen, with far too much drama being made of far too little. Not only that, there were so many lifesavers dashing about that a quiet splash would have been out of the question - for fear you might be accidently rescued.

Still, it all looked terrific and very foamy indeed, thanks to the cameras on rescuers' helmets, giving Piha Rescue a remarkable lurching feel.

Sufferers of seasickness should approach with caution.