DAPPER, ARCHIVE-DIPPING return to BBC1 for a rejuvenated BRUCIE, part of a two-pronged reconquest of Auntie, the other – STRICTLY COME DANCING – to prove more durable than this sadly one-series jamboree of Forsychology. Still, it was fun while it lasted: our man twirled and twinkled his way round a shiny-floored studio comprising giant TV sets a la SATURDAY NIGHT CLIVE, grilling members of the public with general knowledge questions asked not by himself but – brilliantly – by hosts and hostesses from the Beeb’s vaults. “Let’s release those quizmasters!” Brucie would cry, and a pixellated parade of everyone from Henry Kelly to Cuddly Ken to Angie Rippon would materialise on the towers of tellies, bearing a tasty nugget of riddle-based archivery. Brucie catchphrase quotient was respectfully high: “Do you want to try for cash, or build up your stash?” “Did you enjoy that round? Well, let’s do it again!” “Where I go, my Bonuses go!” and of course the programme title itself. There was even a dash of melodramatics – “Confirm!” – whenever Bruce instructed the clips to disclose the answer to a “guess who?” question. The show’s regrettably short shelf-life can either be explained by a) Brucie’s unwillingness to interrupt his golf on two non-consecutive occasions each year or b) the commissioning of The One Show.
