Rochdale’s Eco-Warriors take on the Inquisitors for a place in the Only Connect quarter-finals

Photo: BBC

Jonathan Kershaw, Brett Bostock and Peter Barlow - the Eco-Warriors

Rochdale's Eco-Warriors are set to take on the Inquisitors for a place in the quarter-finals of Only Connect on Monday 5 February.

All three members of the team – Jonathan Kershaw, Brett Bostock and Peter Barlow – are ‘quiz whizzes’, and between them they have played in different leagues across the district for over 20 years, such as JW Lees Summer League, Rochdale and District Quiz League, Blue Pitts Raiders, Blue Pitts Rovers and Healey Hotel.

Speaking of the upcoming show, Peter said: "I think every team we've faced has been pretty good, but I really enjoyed this round; they were good opponents."

The trio made their Only Connect screen debut in August when they saw off competition from the Escapologists, and returned in October to face the Snake Charmers.

• https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/138/community-news/113526/rochdales-ecowarriors-through-to-second-round-of-only-connect
• https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/138/community-news/111950/jonathan-kershaw-brett-bostock-and-peter-barlow-to-feature-on-only-connect-on-friday

Speaking of the second round, Jonathan said: “Personally, I found it was more exhausting to watch than it was to record. Thank heavens for my pet subject appearing in the missing vowels round - mind you, my first thought on seeing it was, ‘if I don't get these, Iwill never hear the end of it.’ We also needed the Snake Charmers to drop a couple of points too. We were very lucky and I hope it made great television viewing.”

The Eco-Warriors got off to a rocky start with one point after the first round to their opponents’ three, before falling behind by seven points in the second round. After round three, the Eco-Warriors closed the gap slightly with 12 points, before pipping the Snake Charmers to the post by a single point, winning with 17 points.

Team captain Brett, from Littleborough, is no stranger to television quiz shows, having appeared on shows like 15-1 since the mid-90s. He believes he has reached more grand finals of 15-1 over the years than any other contestant, having appeared in five.

Peter, a local government officer from Littleborough, has been quizzing for about 25 years. He has also appeared on 15-1 and reached the semi-finals of Brain of Britain.

However, for Jonathan, 48, from Castleton, Only Connect marked a new experience. Previously he had sat in the audience for the recording of University Challenge: The Professionals and gone through the ‘games-test’ phase of the short-lived Britain’s Brightest with other individuals from local quiz leagues.

They had applied for the show five times and auditioned three.

Originally airing on BBC Four, Only Connect moved to BBC Two in 2014. Hosted by Victoria Coren Mitchell, the show features two teams of three people competing in four rounds of tough gameplay, to find connections between seemingly unrelated clues.

Watch the Eco-Warriors take on the Inquisitors at 8.00pm on BBC Two on Monday 5 February.