There are 19 teams in the house tonight, the biggest field ever seen. The Prince of Wales is not a big pub and it’s like the Black Hole of Calcutta on evenings like this. The quizmaster faces a daunting task of marking furiously between rounds. He doesn’t do himself any favours by starting the quiz ten minutes late, and is forced to read out the questions in the style of a horse racing commentator.

We dominate in round one. We did this last time out as well, and we know the form: we will do really badly in round two and squander the five point lead. We all agree that this will be a difficult task, but we concentrate hard and manage to do it – after round two we’re in second. We’re impressed that we pulled this off and there are handshakes and congratulations all round.

Round three has a nice question about Harry Nilsson and Mama Cass – she died in his flat, as did Keith Moon, and everyone at the Prince of Wales knows this because every regular quiz setter seems to have asked this question. But who had hits in the 1990s with covers of their songs? That’s a bit more difficult, but I know my middle-of-the-road 90s chart successes. It was the Beautiful South, but despite this we drop another couple of points.

Furious arguments erupt in round four, and our answers are scribbled out so often that our sheet is more ink than paper when we hand it it. Purple quality streets – did they once contain hazelnuts and then brazil nuts, or the other way around? Jon and Bill Pertwee – did they co-star in Worzel Gummidge, Dad’s Army or Doctor Who? Ivan sneaks out for a cigarette to avoid getting involved in a fight, but ends up getting the casting vote when he comes back in. “Dad’s Army”, he says. Stu and I shout “no way!” and throw our arms up in disgust. “”OK, ok, Dr. Who”, he says. Oli and Pete shout “no way!” and throw their arms up in disgust. We put Worzel Gummidge.

It’s right, and we’ve snatched back first place. It’s our first win since 2008. We are overjoyed, but cold water is soon poured on our excessive celebrations when David tells us actually he mis-marked and we should have been second. We should probably feel a bit deflated by that, but we decide that even a false win is better than the miseries of fourth.