A Tayside man has set his sights on becoming one of TV’s Eggheads after being crowned Brain of Britain champion.
Mike Clark, 54, from Montrose, beat 47 hopefuls from across the UK to win the Radio 4 quiz game and take the title.
Mr Clark, who was born in Forfar and brought up in Brechin, won the silver salver in front of an audience of several hundred at the BBC Radio Theatre in London.
The quiz addict said he has been overwhelmed by the response since the programme aired on Monday night and now wants to make it his career.
He told The Courier: “I’ve done interviews with the newspapers, I got on Scotland Tonight on STV, I’ve done a photo shoot and my name was mentioned on the radio.
“It’s been pretty overwhelming but then I think you have to expect that if you win Brain of Britain – you don’t need to look for publicity; it comes looking for you.
“I’ve been on quiz shows before and I’ve wanted to do this for a while but I’d been drinking too much.
“Last year I just quit and thought: ‘There’s too much I need to do’ and one of those things was to get the Brain of Britain application form in – and the rest is history.”
Mr Clark previously made the semi-final of Mastermind twice in 1990 and 2011 and got to the final of last year’s Fifteen to One.
He said he was so determined to win Brain of Britain that he didn’t accept the fact that he could lose – a feeling he described as “kind of weird”.
He out-scored Jane Cooper from Edinburgh, Ian Fennell from Kidderminster and John Webley from Southampton to take the title.
Mr Clark said: “I’ve been interested in general knowledge and quizzes all my life but it was a lack of confidence that stopped me applying for these things sooner than I did.
“It’s only the last couple of years that I realised I could go on and win these things and it’s great to put Angus on the map.”
Mr Clark said there is “no such thing as useless information” because “if you can win £1 million on a quiz show from it then it is not useless”.
He said a wealth of knowledge gathered over the years was the secret to his success.
His mum Evelyn has the silver salver her son won proudly displayed in her home in Brechin where Mr Clark attended the academy.
Mr Clark, who is unemployed, has done voluntary work for Oxfam and is currently a driver for Voluntary Action Angus in Arbroath.
He’s enjoyed putting something back but hopes being reigning Brain of Britain might get him the job of his dreams.
He said: “I’d like for something to come out of it whether it was setting quizzes for a newspaper or becoming an Egghead.
“It would be a dream to become one of the Eggheads – I’m told I came across quite well on my TV interview so there might be a career in that for me.
“I appeared on the show previously and I’m sure being Brain of Britain would be a good enough qualification to get the job!”
Some Brain of Britain champions have gone on to enjoy their own broadcasting careers, with 1965 winner Bob Crampsey becoming a well-loved sports broadcaster in Scotland.
