by Kate Matthews

Barry Jones became a celebrity contestant in Pick a Box between 1960 and 1968, wowing audiences with his encyclopedic knowledge and clocking up 209 episodes and a small fortune in money and prizes. Jones would later become a member of both state and federal parliament and a long-running federal Science Minister for the Labor Government (1983–90).

Jones has an endearingly earnest presence on the show and a tendency to provide rather more information than is required. From this segment we can see he has already developed a reputation for arguing with his host when he thinks an answer is wrong. Dyer takes advantage of this and the audience’s familiarity with Jones to get a few laughs.