Child genius -which bright spark decided to put it on on a Tuesday???

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Anyone watching?

Well done Thomas

I just thought it was out of character from what we've been shown previously!

Anyway...

Well done Thomas -he's really deserved it since the first week

Well done Thomas, he worked his arse off and thoroughly deserved to win.

What a lovely boy. Mum should be very proud of herself.

I only watched tonight's episode but thought it was sweet when he covered his eyes to work out the sum - he actually looked like a wee boy all of a sudden. And it was nice that he checked sasha was okay

I felt quite choked when his first reaction was to check she was ok. Well done Thomas, very much deserved.

Go Thomas! What an amazing boy! True genius, not just hot-housed, for once.

Well done, Thomas, a well deserved win. Lovely little speech at the end - a really nice child.

Sasha was amazing too. And what a twist! She wasn't even shown! Best series ever! No weirdness!

What did you get? What did you get? What did you get? I GOT 24!!!

Not very pleasant. He knew he'd nailed it: no need to be gloaty little so and so.

Ffs, original, he is a 12 year old boy( or whatever he is. If I'm wrong, he's younger than 12). Ffs. I'm an adult and I'd be boasting if I achieved what he did. But he wasn't actually boasting. English people don't like people being proud of what they have achieved.

The original. Why so bitter? Ffs!

Sasha seemed like a sweet girl

Original I would be boasting too .

I only watched the last 3 or 4 episodes but it was clear Thomas was gifted. He really grew on me I thought it was great that he came over as a truly happy boy - not hot-housed or solitary, as sometimes seems to be suggested in publicised stories of super-gifted children. His reactions were naturally childlike yet he was mature and sensitive to the
others feelings at the same time. All the kids were competitive and would have reacted to getting 24 points in the same way. Also (edited TV I know) it was Sasha who sort of challenged him before the last stage.
Well done to all of them. (I loved Jack!)

Honestly, for a site aimed at parents you would think some PPs had never met a child in their life! I think Thomas is very humble in relation to his age and what he has achieved. I am sure the PPs criticising would have reacted to doing so well too when they were children, not just sat there po-faced reading the newspaper.

Quite clearly Thomas had it in the bag from the beginning. And the show had to be edited in such a way as to pretend that any other child had a glimmer of a chance. The final head to head Thomas trounced Sasha but they still tried to make it look as though she might steal it at the last second.
I thought Thomas was great. Even his ability to stand in front of a large audience and make a decent speech was wonderful. I found Sasha a little 'trying' and had a rather superior attitude (she might need to read up on what feminism actually is if her retort about boys being idiots is what she bases it on).

But, given that Sasha's retort was in direct response to

a) the boys telling Thomas to win it 'for the boys' and
b) Thomas telling her 'of course I am going to win, I beat you by nine points in your best round!'

I don't blame her for coming to the temporary conclusion that boys were idiots!

And yes, of course Thomas should be proud of himself, and his beams were understandable. But I do think most boys of secondary age would have avoided the 'what did you get' being quite so obviously show-offy. When Sasha said 'yeah, you beat me' and looked down at her book, he still kept on, and I thought it was a bit much.

Certainly if either of mine had been behaving like that, or if I had at 12, I'd hope someone would have tactfully suggesting toning it down a bit and not risking coming across as quite so vainglorious and smug to what were, after all, mainly younger children.

No, Sasha said boys were idiots when her mum was being interviewed and they were saying she hadn't mixed with boys since primary school. I mean, I get her but she was superior. And Thomas was just Thomas I think, caught up in all the excitement.
I would still hand on heart say that I would never let a child of mine be judged in that public way though.

What interests me is how people would react if Sasha had behaved in exactly the way Thomas did. (Bouncy, asking other children persistently about their lower scores, disturbing people during memory tests which involved concentration, seen dominating the conversation/talking over his siblings.)

Would they think a bouncy, dominating, inconsiderate Sasha was just naturally excited and lovely?

Oh, you're right Turning - sorry. I was probably distracted by the other context of the other boys ganging up on her, and Thomas telling her how much better than her he was: I did feel for her at that point, and she was clearly close to tears pretty much throughout the head-to-head, which made me feel sorry for her generally.

One thing I wondered: obviously they get academics to set the special-subject questions, but I wonder how they factor in the length of the questions, and the answers, and the possibility that you could interrupt and guess correctly what the rest of the question would be, or whether you might be fed a red herring? But then you'd need someone who was an expert in all the special subjects to ensure absolute parity.... minefield.

No, TooTypical - I wouldn't, and I think that's a good point.

Sasha is 'superior' for saying boys are idiots; Thomas is 'just Thomas'....

in secondary school when I hand back tests, that's exactly what it's like. A flurry of "what did you get?" and bouncing around being pleased with themselves if they did well.

Didn't we see the girls 'ganging together' saying a girl was going to win earlier episodes? I don't think the 'boys are going to win' was down to Thomas. I think there was a competition between the sexes going on from early on.