Daphne du Maurier as a Celebrity Mastermind Specialist Subject
We are always happy when Daphne du Maurier gets a mention or pops up in an unexpected place, and yesterday (20th January 2025) was no exception when television, radio presenter and actress Kirsten O'Brien was one of the four celebrities taking part in BBC2's Celebrity Mastermind, and her specialist subject was The Life of Daphne du Maurier.
Kirsten O'Brien
Kirsten did really well, getting eight of her ten specialist questions right and then had a successful general knowledge round, winning the whole show with a final score of 17 points and only one pass.
Well done, Kirsten, what an excellent choice of specialist subject!
However, this is not the first time Daphne du Maurier has been a specialist subject on Mastermind. Way back on 1st January 2008, actress and impressionist Jan Ravens, best known for her work on Spitting Image and Dead Ringers, was the second woman to win Celebrity Mastermind, the first being Edwina Curry (23rd June 2004), and the first celebrity to choose The Life of Daphne du Maurier as her specialist subject. The following May, she attended the Daphne du Maurier Festival of Arts and Literature in Fowey, appearing twice, when she gave a talk about her time on Celebrity Mastermind and then entertained an evening audience with her wonderful impressions.
On Monday, 28th February 2022, the main Mastermind series included a specialist subject round on Daphne du Maurier. On this occasion, Lucy Westall chose The Short Stories of Daphne du Maurier as her specialist subject in the semi-final rounds of the competition. She did exceptionally well, gaining a total score of 25, and just missed a place in the final by one point.
This ongoing interest in Daphne du Maurier, her life and her work shows us again how relevant her writing is and how popular she remains today.