James takes to the hotseat

From the archive, first published Wednesday 15th Mar 2006.

The black chair, the spotlight, the ominous theme tune and quick-fire questions all sounds pretty terrifying, but not for one 11-year-old.

James Bartlett, of Haverfordwest, recently took the hotseat to face Junior Mastermind presenter John Humphrys.

James beat thousands of other children from around the UK to come third in the televised competition with his chosen subject of Marvel comic book heroes.

James said: "On the day I felt pretty calm. It was strange to see myself on TV though. I was more nervous about that than actually doing the show.

"Most of the questions were really hard.

"John Humphrys met us before the show to say hello which really helped our nerves.

"My next ambition is to get on the adult Mastermind."

Presenter John Humphrys said: "It's the classic Mastermind formula, but taking their place in the hotseat are some of the UK's brightest children.

"We didn't make the questions easier - they struck me as really tough - but the children did brilliantly. They are remarkably cool under pressure."

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