Memo to TV bosses: Please keep ‘A Question of Sport’ as it is – Telegraph.co.uk

Giving the show’s high priestess, Sue Barker, her P45 would be like sacking the Archbishop of Canterbury because only OAPs took any notice of his Christmas Day sermon – which, come to think of it…

Well, I have a message for the professors of demography, with such longevity and so little change beyond the premise of two resident team captains, a pair of sporting guests each and questions we can all have a stab at: QS should have a preservation order slapped on it.

It is a live cultural reference point. Look at any series and it will give you a flavour of the fashions (hair, clothes – particularly jumpers – and sporting physiques) of the day. In 1991, Jonathan Davies, for example, looked like a lithe whippet, not the  incredible hulks who have followed him down the fly-half route.

In my family,  if winning the Grand National was our Everest, getting on A Question of Sport was walking on the moon; the ultimate in sporting recognition. My first taste was with my sister Gee, the darling of National Hunt in the 1980s, who took me along while wearing what might be described as the ‘big hair’ favoured by pop stars such as Bonnie Tyler at the time.

To get guests relaxed and giggly, the drink flowed  in the green room. Indeed, in a previous show they had Paul Gascoigne in. Gazza insisted he was on the wagon so they gave him a pint of Advocaat and told him it was orange juice. He was in flying form for the show.

Gee did little to add to the family honours in scholarship. To the question: “What sporting event last year started in Belgium, went round France and lasted three weeks?” she answered: “Is it yachting?”