WWTBAM Prep, Part 24 (2-Jun-2019 to 4-Jun-2019)
Notes taken while watching the UK edition of WWTBAM, May 2019. New editions (2018 onwards, broadcast on ITV) are titled “NEW WHO:”, older editions are titled “WHO:” or “OLD WHO:” and were broadcast on Challenge; Celebrity editions, also broadcast on Challenge, are titled “SLEB WHO:”. Specific dates for these notes: 2-Jun-2019 to 4-Jun-2019 . [6,478 words in this piece.]
SLEB WHO: Sat 25-May-2019, 8.15pm on Challenge [repeated Sat 1-Jun-2019, 10pm]
[02/06/2019 00:34] It’s an unusual start time for a show on Challenge, and it’s the new format: 12 questions and 30-second time limits on early questions
1st pair: Paddy McGuinness and his wife Christine / she was a model, didn’t know who he was when they met, because he hadn’t done Take Me Out, only smaller bits of TV / Charities: BHF and breast cancer awareness
1k: (Matilda) musical based on Roald Dahl that won a record-breaking 7 Olivier Awards “last month” [they only get 15s for that one]
2k: Weathervanes are typically in the shape of (cockerel) [30s time limit for that one]
5k: Over 70% of the human brain is made up of (water) [30s time limit for that one / 50/50 leaves them with collagen too]
10k: “Saved by the bell” is derived from (Boxing)
20k: 3 letters that preceded the name of the Titanic: RNS WSL (RMS) USS [Ask the Audience, even though she knew it: 64% get it right]
50k: A recent announcement that this famous book would no longer be printed and would only be available in digital form: The Bible / Guinness Book of Records / Oxford English Dictionary / ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA [I’d go EB without too much hesitation there / they’re using Phone-A-Friend: we see pix, of CJ from “Eggheads”, Rory McGrath, Dave Lee legendary Bolton Wanderers midfielder, they’ve used CJ, he’s 100% on EB]
Ah, here are 2 twists: the 50k comprises 25k for charity and 25k in a pot for a lucky player at home, a Viewer Prize Pot / and now they can use the Switch option, to switch a question
75k: Welsh City known as Copperopolis to locals in 19th C when 90% of the world’s copper was smelted there: Cardiff / Bangor / SWANSEA / Newport [They’re using Switch on this one]
75k: Which of these birds does not denote a type of pedestrian crossing in the UK? Pelican / PENGUIN / Toucan / Puffin [She was confident about that, he didn’t know]
150k: Women Police Service was founded in 1914, but female officers were not integrated into the Metropolitan Police until: 1953 / 1963 / (1973) / 1983 [They didn’t risk it but thought it was 1973]
Paddy McGuinness and wife Christine leave with 75k
Couple 2: Eamonn Holmes again and Ruth Langford / together for 16 years, 10 year old son Jack, they only got married 2 years earlier
CLICK Sargent Northern Ireland homes & Alzheimer Society
1k: Wi-Fi (Hot spot) is a public place were Wi-Fi signal can be used
2k: Leona Lewis, Katie Melua and Jessie J are all alumni of (Brit) School, not Brat, Brains or Brawn
5k: Race won recently by NEPTUNE COLLONGES (Grand National) not America’s Cup, Boat Race or Bahrain F1 Grand Prix [That passed me by]
REVISE: NEPTUNE COLLONGES won the Grand National in 2012
10k: NOT the logo of one of the UK’s main political parties: Bird / Tree / (Lion) / Rose
20k: According to the Ordnance Survey, the geographic centre of mainland England is on LINDLEY HALL FARM in: Bedfordshire / Shropshire / (Leicestershire) / Oxfordshire [50/50 leaves Oxfordshire too [Phone-A-Friend: a producer on Sunrise, it would be a guess, but he runs out of time to say it / They go for Leicestershire]
REVISE: According to the Ordnance Survey, the geographic centre of mainland England is on LINDLEY HALL FARM in Leicestershire
50k: When cabbage is boiled, what gas is released giving an unpleasant smell: Ammonia / (Hydrogen Sulphide) / Nitrogen / Carbon Monoxide [Ask the Audience: 61% get it right]
75k: Writer NOT buried in Westminster Abbey: Charles Dickens / Rudyard Kipling / (William Shakespeare) / Geoffrey Chaucer [That’s handy for me, knowing exactly where Shakespeare is buried / they’ve used the SWITCH option, and would have gone for Chaucer]
REVISE: Artists, composers, writers, scientists buried at Westminster Abbey: Dickens, Kipling and Chaucer are
75k: In which country has the highest ever shade temperature of 58 centigrade been recorded: USA / Israel / (Libya) / Australia [I think that this fact has been re-classified, but it was Libya at the time / they’ve gone for USA so they leave with 50k]
Couple 3: James Cracknell and Bev Turner / they met on a TV show 10 years earlier, 3 kids Croyde Kiki and Trixie / the charity is Headway, families of people with brain injuries
1k: “This year is the 200th anniversary of the birth of which famous Charles?” Prince Charles / Charles Dance / Charlie Watts / (Charles Dickens)
2k: Country with the world’s largest percentage of redheads: (Scotland) / Egypt / Greece / Italy
5k: Politician with a previous career as a cruise ship singer in the 1960s: David Cameron / (Silvio Berlusconi) / Angela Merkel / Vladimir Putin [Ask the Audience: 51% get it right, 34% go for Merkel]
[02/06/2019 01:11] And that’s the end of the show, and I think it was repeated earlier tonight, at 10pm – certainly it ended the same way / Yup, it’s the same one
OLD WHO: Sat 1-Jun-2019 11pm, no date on cheque
[02/06/2019 01:12] “A new series” he says at the start
10 new contestants: Richard Collier, Maddy Evans, Jim Robertson, John Facey, Eleanor Shields, Jim Gwyther, Iain Scott, Gil Moreton, Peter Franks, Jim Cutler
FFF: Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals in the order they were first produced on the London stage
ABDC gives us: Starlight Express / Phantom of the Opera / Whistle down the wind / Woman in white
Whistle: 99 / Woman: 04
2/10 get it right, Maddy Evans is fastest in in 5.01s
From Widnes in CHESHIRE / Charity administrator for Garston Community Council for 6 years / 25 years as a librarian before that / 2 grown-up daughters, 4 grandchildren, a cousin in the audience / Her 2 grandsons were born autistic and she would like to set up a trust fund for them / for herself: a little bungalow
1k: (Fisherman’s Friend) strong lozenge made from menthol and eucalyptus
2k: (Wheat) is separated from the chaff, proverbially
4k: (Lonnie Donegan) is credit with creating skiffle music in Britain
8k: The People’s Liberation Army is the name for the armed forces of: CHINA / Cuba / Libya / Vietnam [Phone-A-Friend: Thinks it’s China and it is – I might have gone for Cuba]
REVISE: The People’s Liberation Army is the name for the armed forces of CHINA
[Questions about the autistic grandsons: they need accompaniment, “Kieran would run away if you let him, Morgan … is quite clever, does his jigsaws one way and then back again”]
16k: King who was under 1 year old when he ascended the throne: George IV / (Henry VI) / Charles I / Henry VIII
32k: Colour that does not appear on the flag of Romania: (White) / Red / Blue / Yellow [Ask the Audience: 46% get it right, 29% blue, 19% yellow / 50/50 leaves yellow too / she goes for it]
The cheque has the date entirely covered up by Tarrant’s thumb
64k: Famous occupation of Oscar Wilde’s father: SURGEON / Painter / MP / Priest [A leading ear and eye surgeon, apparently, that’s news to me]
REVISE: Oscar Wilde’s father was a leading ear and eye surgeon
FFF: 18th C quotation in order
DACB gives us: Let them eat cake
8/9 get it right, Jim Cutler is fastest in 2.50s
From St Ives in Cambridgeshire, works in the media / 27 years married to Jenny, 3 grown-up kids, the eldest is in the audience / would like to travel round India by train with his wife / with a big win he would buy a boat, as their house backs onto a river
1k: (Blade) piece of metal attached to the sole of a skating boot
2k: The tree that produces cocoa beans (Cacao)
4k: The INDUS River is on which continent (Asia) [is now the longest river in Pakistan]
8k: Pop singer related to Benny Hill: Britney Spears / Holly Valance / Dido / Sophie Ellis-Bextor [no idea / Ask the Audience: split something like 41% Sophie Ellis-Bextor, 42% Dido, 25% Holly / 50/50 leaves Holly and Sophie Ellis-Bextor / He goes for Sophie but it’s HOLLY]
Jim Cutler leaves with 1k
REVISE: HOLLY VALANCE is related to Benny Hill [Who would know that, and it was only an 8k question]
FFF: Start in North America, dogs in order of country of origin
CADB gives us: Chihuahua / Airedale / Dachshund / Chow Chow
3/8 get it right Richard Collier is fastest in 4.48s
A mortgage adviser from Teignmouth in Devon, was based in Leicester but saw too many people burn out on “fast city living” / took a cut in income and moved to the country / wife of 20 years, 3 kids, the oldest, 19, is in the audience
[He uses Ask the Audience on 200 quid, 97% confirm that the (sofa) is the piece of furniture most associated with GMTV]
1k: Tapestry is created using (weaving) not painting, waxing or sculpture
[He was in the City too, and talks about fund managers in their mid-30s who looked like they were in their mid-50s]
2k: opposite of Extinct: (Extant)
[02/06/2019 01:44] And that’s the end / Next show is at 1:01 on this recording, starts with chat about Bali and the friendly people / That’ll do, it’s time for bed [Notes for the next shows are on Monday 3 June]
OLD WHO: Challenge 2-Jun-2019, 11pm, is a repeat from 5-Feb-2019 [Also on 16/17-Feb-2019], some repeated notes here
[03/06/2019 12:47] I have gone through it, and updated the notes from February, with names of contestants and so on
[06/02/2019 07:31] NOBODY gets to 32k, so we don’t see a cheque to tell us the date
Contestants: John Robinson, Barrey Kelley, Jean Wyatt, Sylvia Jenkins, Jim Crow, Barbara Goodwin, Terry Yeomans, Jenny Mason, Andy Clark, Gary Riley
FFF: Boxers in order they won Olympic gold
ACBD gives us: Cassius Clay / Joe Frazier / George Foreman / Lennox Lewis
60 / 64 / 68 / 88
3/10 right Terry Yeomans is fastest in 5.74s
A school finance officer from Birmingham / His wife Lynne is in the audience / four things he always wanted to do: Parachute jump, Concorde trip, a cowboy in Wyoming for 2 weeks, and this is the 4th / He’s taken up Scottish dancing / Would like to buy a golf course for women only
1k: (Lorraine Kelly) is a breakfast TV presenter, not Carole Smillie, Jilly Goolden or Charlie Dimmock [He used Ask the Audience and 95% got it right]
2k: Bouquet is smell of (wine)
4k: Norman Bates features in (Psycho)
8k: (32) teeth in a complete adult set
16k: Edith Cavell WW1 Heroine was a (nurse) [50/50 on this one, left him with nurse and nun]
32k: An extinct animal: Quasar / Qualm / Quango / (Quagga)
He uses Phone-A-Friend who doesn’t know, contestant thinks it’s D Quagga but doesn’t risk it and goes home with 16k
Revise: Quagga and other extinct animals
FFF: Stages of preparing and serving a roast chicken:
DBAC gives us: Remove giblets / Stuff / Roast / Carve
5 right, Andy Clark in 5.27s, Systems Analyst from Reading, wants to pay off his student debts
1k: Panatella is a (Cigar)
[Ah, a jump to a different day – he’s wearing a different shirt, there wasn’t a break or anything]
2k: An arachnid has (8) legs
4k: Roald Amundsen, first man to reach South Pole: (Norwegian) [He went 50/50, was left with Dutch and Norwegian, then used Phone-A-Friend and got the right answer]
8k: (Gordon Banks) was England goalkeeper in 1966 World Cup Final
16k: Musician ROSTROPROVICH most associated with: violin / flute / guitar / cello [I think it’s violin, but would have to use a lifeline here] [He uses Ask the Audience, 45% violin, 36% cello, and it’s CELLO]
Revise: Rostropovich, other cello players, other musicians
10 new contestants: Ian Tomlinson, Jill Howard, Rob Stenning, Tim Veal, Steve Devlin, Danny Winter-Hall, Rob Street, Nichola Thorpe, Brian Moore, Steve Webb
FFF: The title of a 1939 film
DACB gives us: Gone With The Wind
6 right, Jill Howard in 4.89s was fastest
Computer analyst from St Albans, into water-skiing, likes DAWSONS CREEK and Hollyoaks
[Revise: Dawson’s Creek and other such shows]
500 quid: kd lang is a (singer) [She uses Ask the Audience, 89% right there)
1k: Furthest north of these countries: (Iceland) India Indonesia Israel
2k: guppy is a (fish)
4k: ceramic is made from (clay) plastic glass paper
8k: Lambeth Conference meets every 10 years: (Anglican Bishops) [She’s gone for Pearly Kings and Queens, and leaves with 1k]
[06/02/2019 07:53] 50 minutes into the show, in 22 minutes, time to wake Jacob now
[06/02/2019 08:22] And now back for the last 10 minutes
FFF: Authors in the order they were first published
ABDC gives us: Daniel Defoe / Walter Scott / Ernest Hemingway / Salman Rushdie
3 right, STEVE DEVLIN fastest 6.04s – I remember this guy from the time, he got to a 1m pound question and didn’t risk it, the one about Theodore Roosevelt and the Bull Moose Party
Currently unemployed, has done a lot of shovelling in a sewer / wants to be one of the idle rich rather than one of the idle poor / had come to the show 18 months earlier but was so scared that he headed back home again
1k: (Garage) music is energetic (not shed or conservatory)
2k: Honeycomb is (Hexagonal)
And that’s it, just up to 2k, so I assume that tonight’s show will show him getting to that million pound question
OLD WHO: Challenge Sun/ Mon 2/3-Jun-2019, 11pm, repeat of Challenge 6-Feb-2019, Steve Devlin from 18-1-2001, Debbie Allen 20-1-2001
4k: (Hansard) is a record of Parliamentary proceedings
8k: Bjorn Borg is (Swedish) [He uses Ask the Audience for this, 90% get it]
16k: (Kismet) means Destiny
32k: Salop was (Shropshire) between 1974 and 1980
64k: (Mortimer) was the original name of Mickey Mouse
125k: (Formic acid) causes irritation from nettle or ant sting [other options: Folic, Ascorbic, Oxalic]
Revise: Oxalic acid
250k: Charles Dickens novel features sisters Charity and Mercy Pecksniff (Martin Chuzzlewit) [Other options: Hard Times, Bleak House, David Copperfield] He uses Phone-A-Friend, who doesn’t give an answer, um-hhh when the time runs out [He goes 50/50, is left with David C as well as Chuzzle – I know it from the BBC series]
500k: WHICH FAMOUS AIRCRAFT WAS DESIGNED BY REGINALD MITCHELL? Camel Lancaster Comet SPITFIRE, he knew it, I didn’t
Cheque shows 20-1-01
Revise: Planes and designers Camel Lancaster Comet Spitfire / REGINALD MITCHELL designed the Spitfire
1m: “In 1912, former US President Theodore Roosevelt was a candidate for which political party?” Bull Moose / Bull Dog / Bull Elephant / Bull Frog
He doesn’t risk it / Steve Devlin leaves with 500k
[07/02/2019 20:23] To be continued, but I have notes about that 1m question now
[07/02/2019 21:03] And back again
10 new contestants: Chris Lea, Avril Block, Pete Woodbine, Dick Sargent, John Hickey, Paul Nolan, Sheila Hood, Patrick Lappin, Debbie Allen, Lesley Wilson
FFF: TV programmes in order of the number appearing in their titles:
CABD gives us: One foot in the grave / Three of a kind / Babylon 5 / Blake’s 7
9/10 of the new contestants got it right, Debbie Allen fastest in 5.48s
Team leader of a billing department from Redditch Worcestershire, sister Jo is in the audience, partner John and 2 kids are at home / shouts at the TV when she’s at home, criticizes contestants for using their lifelines in the wrong order
1k: Jury will (retire) to consider a verdict
2k: (Manifesto) issued before an election
4k: marlin: Bird (fish) insect reptile
8k: Dusty Bin was a feature of (3-2-1)
16k: Who escaped from the Isle of Skye aided by Flora MacDonald? Mary Queen of Scots / Robert the Bruce / BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE / Rob Roy [She’s using Ask the Audience, 68% Bonnie Prince Charlie, and they’re right]
32k: Year Queen Elizabeth II was born 1918 1922 (1926) 1932 [She goes 50/50 and is left with 1926 & 1932 and goes right for 1926]
64k: Line of latitude approximately 23 degrees 30 minutes north: Arctic Circle Equator / Tropic of Capricorn / Tropic of Cancer [I reckon it’s the Arctic Circle, she’s using Phone-A-Friend who says it’s Tropic of Cancer, and he’s right]
Cheque shows: 20-1-01
REVISE: Lines of Latitude: Equator = 0 / Tropic of Cancer = 23 degrees 30 minutes NORTH / Tropic of Capricorn = 23 degrees 30 minutes SOUTH / Arctic Circle = 66.5 degrees North / Antarctic Circle = 66.5 degrees South
London = 51 d 31 m 51,32N [Latitude] and 0 Longitude
125k: Which of these is a book of the Bible Song of Samuel / (Song of Solomon) / Song of Saul / Song of Samson [Wow, that’s an easy one for 125k, for me]
She doesn’t risk it, thinks it’s B, leaves with 64k
FFF: Wombles in alphabetical order
ADBC gives us: Bungo Orinoco Tomsk Wellington
Revise: Names of Wombles, I don’t recognize Bungo in this list: Bungo Orinoco Tomsk Wellington
Only 4/9 got it right, Paul Nolan in 6.96 is fastest
A facilities manager from Heald Green in Cheshire / Elizabeth his wife / He met her when she was working as a taxi driver, she was a fare / His answer to the question about what to do with 1m: he would go to Portugal for a week with Camilla Parker Bowles “because she would keep her mouth shut”
1k: (Grim Reaper) is personification of death
OLD WHO: Mon 3-Jun-2019 1am on Challenge, a repeat from Thu 7-Feb-2019, Paul Nolan returns, 20-1-01
[03/06/2019 13:03] And a third hour from last night, and notes posted elsewhere (written a few months earlier), and updated, are here:
[23/02/2019 00:13] So, this was just 2 weeks ago but I have seen a LOT of WHO since then.
2k: In which city is the TV sitcom ‘The Royle Family’ set? Manchester / London / Birmingham / Liverpool [I had to think about that, but I’m pretty sure it’s MANCHESTER / he uses Ask the Audience and 72% go Manchester]
4k: (Beirut) is the capital of Lebanon
8k: Love me for a reason was a 1970s #1 for The Osmonds [He’s gone 50/50 and been left with The Nolans too / he uses Phone-A-Friend, 90% sure of the right answer]
16k: Surname of Lucrezia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI: Giorgioni / Medicia / Ponto / (Borgia) [He doesn’t know and doesn’t risk it]
Paul Nolan leaves with 8k
8 contestants left
FFF: The words of a Sherlock Holmes story
ACDB gives us: A study in scarlet
Only 3/8 get it right, Chris Lea is fastest in 4.30s
He’s a musician from up north / I think I’ve seen this, and maybe made notes from here onwards / Let’s see when we get to 1k / A rock musician, was a busker throughout Europe, including a whole day in Paris without collecting anything / He would like to make a good album, have a recording studio
1k: Black widow is a (spider)
2k: “The Weatherfield One” while in prison in “Coronation Street” was (Deirdre)
4k: The Jungfrau mountain is in: France / Switzerland / Netherlands / Italy [Must be SWITZERLAND with those options, and it is]
8k: A whiter shade of pale (Procul Harum) #1
16k: Umberto II was last king of: (Italy) France Spain Germany
32k: The family that look after Paddington Bear: Joneses Bakers (Browns) Smiths [Ask the Audience: 95% get it right]
Cheque says Chris Lea 32k 20-1-01 I think
64k: Citius Altius Fortius is the Latin motto for: Royal marines / Olympic Movement / European Union / United Nations [I’m pretty sure it’s the OLYMPICS, probably from flicking through this before / he uses Phone-A-Friend He’s 100% it’s Olympics, and it is ]
125k: “In Disney’s ‘Snow White’, which dwarf was completely bald?” Bashful / Sleepy / (Dopey) / Happy [50/50 leaves him with Bashful and Dopey / He knows that Dopey can’t grow a beard, but goes for Bashful anyway and loses 32k]
Chris Lea leaves with 32k
10 new contestants, including David Stainer and Andrew Packman, who both get a turn; Full list: Richard Marshall, David Stainer, Karen Mathews, Andy Hargreaves, Barry Campbell, Michael Briggs, Bryan Williams, Andrew Packman, Colin Hughes, David Hicks
FFF: Wedding anniversaries in order
DBCA gives us: Cotton Tin Pearl Sapphire
1 / 10 / 30 / 45
3/10 get it right, Andrew Packman is fastest in 5.59s
A retail manager from Peterborough / Partner Natalie in the audience, grandma and 18 month old son at home / Last week he won a rump steak in the weekly meat raffle / He would spend money on a wedding, it would have cost 3k, she got pregnant, they had the baby / they would go to the West Indies and get married on a beach
1k: NOT a type of fabric: Taffeta (Tapioca) Tarlatan Tweed
REVISE: Types of fabric, Taffeta, Tarlatan, Tweed / Tarlatan = a “thin, open-weave muslin fabric used for stiffening ball dresses”
2k: Trolls are ugly creatures from (Scandinavian) mythology
4k: A RUSSIAN BLUE is this kind of pet: Budgerigar / Rabbit / Cat / Hamster [50/50 leaves Budgerigar and Cat / It’s CAT]
Revise: Russian Blue and other cats
8k: singer nicknamed the Little Sparrow (Edith Piaf)
16k: Winchester was the capital of which Anglo-Saxon kingdom? Mercia / Northumbria / Kent / (Wessex) [He’s very sure it’s Kent, including answering back to Chris Tarrant, who says, “Is Winchester in Kent?” His response: “It was the last time I looked.”]
Andrew Packman leaves with 1k
Tarrant says that it’s been difficult to give money away tonight
FFF: Bands in the order they had UK #1s
CDAB gives us: Monkees / Mud / Madness / Manic Street Preachers
7/9 get it right, David Stainer is fastest in 4.80s
He’s a law student from Guildford, his dad is in the audience / he was in the “University Challenge” final in April 1999 and lost to Open University
[03/06/2019 13:12 Watching the recording from last night, the box cut out after the 200 quid question, I’ll re-record it but don’t think that there’s anything I haven’t already seen]
1k: Sven Goran Eriksson is (Swedish)
2k: (Berlin) Reichstag parliament building burnt down in 1933
4k: (Martha’s Vineyard) is a Massachusetts island
And that’s the end of that show / There are a few questions missing from this chap, I have the 32k question further back so I’m missing the 8k and 16k
[03/06/2019 15:01] I’ve just checked, and that’s the end of the show this time round too
[24/02/2019 22:44] There were 3 episodes last night and ONE of them had the missing 2 questions – it’s the only bit of all these shows that hadn’t come up before:
8k: Which of these artists has spent most weeks in UK singles chart (Elton John) Bowie / Shaking Stevens / Tom Jones [Not straightforward that one, and he used 50/50 to be left with Elton John and Bowie]
16k: “Coronation Street” characters who was run over by a tram: (Alan Bradley) Des Barnes / Samir Rachid / Brian Tilsley [Tarrant went through the other deaths: Des killed by drug dealers / Samir mysteriously died near the canal / Brian stabbed outside a nightclub]
Here’s the exact question: “Which “Coronation Street” character died when he was knocked down by a Black pool tram?” Brian Tilsley / Des Barnes / Samir Rachid / Alan Bradley [Ask the Audience: 90% went for Alan Bradley]
REVISE: soap opera deaths, Des Barnes, Samir, Brian Tilsley / “EastEnders” deaths and names
[23/02/2019 00:54] I have been diligent in the last fortnight working through these episodes from Challenge, well over 18 hours’ worth
OLD WHO: Sat/Sun 1/2-Jun-2019 midnight, no cheques [repeated Tue 18-Jun-2019, 10pm]
[03/06/2019 15:45] Richard Collier returns with some chat about Bali and friendly people
4k: In physics, an atmosphere is a unit of: Light (Pressure) Heat Speed
8k: (Neil) Member of The Young Ones who had a UK hit in 1984 with Hole in my shoe [Phone-A-Friend: thinks it’s Neil / 50/50 leaves Rick as well, he goes for Neil after a while]
16k: PL Travers, author Mary Poppins, was born in: South Africa / Canada / (Australia) / America [I only know this because of “Saving Mr Banks”, wouldn’t have known it back then / He was going to go for South Africa, Tarrant gave it a load of chat / he changed his mind, decided to take the money]
Richard Collier leaves with 8k
10 new contestants: Paddy Moore, Fiona Bishop, Simon Atkinson, Phil Duffy, Rachael Henry, Alun Powell, Damien Bishop, Bob Matthew, Peter Scott, Damian Flanagan
FFF: Starting in the north, creatures in order of their normal geographical habitat
BCAD gives us: Arctic wolf / Orang-utan / Wombat / King Penguin
5/10 get it right, Phil Duffy is fastest in 4.30s
Civil servant from St Helens / Works in the Job Centre there, has done for 16 years / 2nd wife Elizabeth in the audience, they’ve only been married 3 years / She wants a new BMW / Grown-up son and daughter from his first marriage, he can’t drive and is always cadging lifts, so they’d like him to get a chauffeur
[300 quid, he uses Ask the Audience to confirm that Orville, Keith Harris’s friend, is green, 96% get it right]
1k: Forfar is in (Scotland)
CHECK: derivation of the word Charabanc
2k: A plant with pink flowers: London Bridge / London Eye / London Pride / London Marathon [Tough one, I think it’s PRIDE, and it is]
REVISE: London Pride is a plant with pink flowers, and a song by Noel Coward, sung by Vera Lynn: “London Pride has been handed down to us / London Pride is a flower that’s free”
4k: “Preston” is a member of this band: Kaiser Chiefs / The Magic Numbers / (The Ordinary Boys) / The Darkness [Very 2006 kind of question there]
REVISE: Preston from The Ordinary Boys was married to Chantelle Houghton for a year (2006-7) after they met on Big Brother / He has songwriting credits since 2010 for, among others, Cher, Olly Murs, Liam Payne, HRVY / Full name: Samuel Dylan Murray Preston
8k: KEEMUN is a Chinese variety of: Rice / Sauce / TEA / Wine [Never heard of this one either / Phone-A-Friend: she thinks it’s tea, thinks she’s seen it written down somewhere]
REVISE: KEEMUN is a Chinese variety of tea
[Keen snooker player, he once beat both Alex Higgins and John Spencer, but they both gave him a 60-point start]
16k: Opera singer who is the subject of a book by Norma Major: Janet Baker / Kiri Te Kanawa / Nellie Melba / Joan Sutherland [Blimey, 3 out of 4 I didn’t know, I’d have guessed Baker, but 50/50 leaves Kiri and Joan / It’s JOAN SUTHERLAND, which I would have got from those 2 / He loses 7k / August 2021: This seemed like a straightforward question today, this piece of information must have stuck since 2019]
[03/06/2019 16:02] I’m 39 minutes into this 3-hour recording, time to stop
[03/06/2019 21:49] Back again to finish this show
FFF: Starting in Essex, airports in clockwise order around London
DABC gives us: Stansted / Gatwick / Heathrow / Luton
4/9 get it right, Damian Flanagan is fastest in 4.15
From Belfast, a team manager for a call centre / he wants to go back to university and train to be a primary teacher / Maureen, partner for 4 years, is in the audience
1k: Moselle is a (wine) [Ask the Audience: 79% get it right]
[7 month old boy, the couple stay at her mum’s and sometimes weekends at his mum’s]
2k: “La Dolce Vita” comes from (Italian)
4k: character who died during the devastating “Emmerdale” storm on New Year’s Eve 2003: Zoe / TRICIA / Viv / Steph [He knew it, I had no idea]
REVISE: Soap storyline: TRICIA died during the devastating “Emmerdale” storm on New Year’s Eve 2003
8k: Welsh rugby union player who became the BBC’s Head of Outside Broadcasts: Gareth Edwards / Cliff Morgan / Phil Bennett / Barry John [I think it’s Morgan, no idea otherwise / Phone-A-Friend: doesn’t know, might guess at Barry John / 50/50 leaves Morgan and Bennett / he hums and ha’s and eventually goes for Morgan, the correct answer]
REVISE: Welsh rugby union player who became the BBC’s Head of Outside Broadcasts: Cliff Morgan
[03/06/2019 22:00] And that’s the end of the show
OLD WHO: Sun 2-Jun-2019 1am, no dates, probably around 2006 [repeated Wed 19-Jun-2019, 10pm]
[03/06/2019 22:03] Damian Flanagan returns on 8k
16k: Jamestown is the only port of which island: Tristan da Cunha / St Helena / Ascension Island / South Georgia [No idea, he takes the money / ST HELENA is the right answer, never heard of that]
Damian Flanagan leaves with 8k
REVISE: Jamestown is the only port of the island of St Helena [That’s a tough 16k question]
10 new contestants, but we don’t see them wave at us: Karl Hopkinson, Steve Goodham, James Mulley, Peter Szalapaj, Deborah Key, Keith Pointon, Adrian Eddolls, Karen Copley, Michael Lillico, Mark Jeary
FFF: British forests in order north to south
ABCD gives us: Balmoral / Sherwood / Epping / New
7/10 get it right, Michael Lillico is fastest in 3.14s
From Blyth in Northumberland / A rubbish collector, recently divorced after 17 years married, his ex-wife Julie is in the audience as his chief supporter, 2 boys of 8 and 11 / Would go to America to do the Disney thing with the kids / He doesn’t swim, he has a phobia of fish
1k: Don’t Cha was a 2005 #1 for (Pussycat Dolls), not Guinea Pig Barbies, Hamster Furbies, or something like that
2k: Phrase at the end of Warner Brothers cartoons: (That’s all folks!)
4k: Canadian part of the Niagara Falls is called: Horseshoe Falls / Gumshoe Falls / Hotshoe Falls / Flatshoe Falls (HORSESHOE FALLS, I thought so, but don’t remember hearing this]
REVISE: Canadian part of the Niagara Falls is called Horseshoe Falls
8k: In Dad’s Army ARP Warden Hodges often called Captain Mainwaring (Napoleon) not Hitler, Wellington or Nelson [Ask the Audience: 65% get it right, 21% go for Hitler]
16k: “Up up and away” was the slogan used by this airline: BOAC / TWA / Laker Airways / Pan Am [I think it’s Pan Am / Phone-A-Friend: no help at all, didn’t even give an answer / 50/50 leaves BOAC and TWA, so that’s my guess out of the window / It’s TWA]
REVISE: “Up up and away” was the slogan used by TWA airline
32k: A small sword or dagger worn by Sikh men as a symbol of religious authority: Kowloon / (Kirpan) / Kapok / Kepi [He eliminates the others and goes for Kirpan]
No date on the cheque
64k: Poet buried in an upright position in Westminster Abbey: WH Auden / John Keats / William Blake / Ben Jonson [He goes for Blake, I’d go for Jonson / I don’t think Blake is buried there, or Keats, and I’m not sure Auden is buried there either / It is Ben Jonson]
REVISE: Ben Jonson is the poet buried upright in Westminster Abbey / Apparently he died in poverty in 1637 and they could only afford a small space for him / WH Auden is buried in AUSTRIA / Keats is buried in Rome / William Blake is buried in Bunhill Fields
10 new contestants: Conor Symington, Maria Broughton, Don Cook, Tom Saunders, Steve Gee, Paddy Moore, Phil Smith, Roderick Kennedy, Mick Dolan, Steve King
FFF: North to south, foods in order of the country they are associated with
DBCA gives us: Smorgasbord / Goulash / Paella / Biltong
4/10 get it right, Phil Smith is fastest in 4.78s
From Ely in Cambridgeshire / a retired IT Consultant / training to be a magistrate, to keep his brain active / married for 18 years, between them 5 grown-up children and 5 grandchildren / Keeps fit, going skiing every winter /
1k: Most likely to stay in a “safe house”: (Spy) not teacher, banker, whatever
2k: TV hotel “Fawlty Towers” was located in: (Devon) / Kent / Suffolk / Lincolnshire
4k: MACKENZIE MURRAY, born in 2005, is the daughter of which author: Kathy Lette / Zadie Smith / JK Rowling / Esther Freud [No idea / Phone-A-Friend: his wife, thinks it’s Rowling / 50/50 leaves Rowling and Esther Freud / He goes for JKR and it’s the right answer]
REVISE: Celebrity children, MACKENZIE MURRAY is the daughter of JK Rowling / This piece of information is still unfamiliar in August 2021, and it was a 4k question on WWTBAM
8k: Belgian tennis player: (Justine Henin-Hardenne) not Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Martina Hingis
16k: Crazy Horse in the name of this musician’s regular backing band: (Neil Young) / Tom Petty / Brian Wilson / Lou Reed [Ask the Audience: 54% get it right, quite impressed by that]
32k: A film based on a novel by CS Forester: The Italian Job / The Odessa File / (The African Queen) / The Maltese Falcon [He doesn’t risk it]
Phil Smith leaves with 16k
[03/06/2019 22:36] And that’s the end of that one
OLD WHO: Sun 2-Jun-2019 2am, no dates [repeated Thu 20-Jun, 10pm]
[03/06/2019 22:41] On with the next one, Conor Symington and co from the last show are still there
FFF: Start in Britain, work east, football clubs in geographical order
BDCA gives us: Everton / PSG / Lazio / Dynamo Kiev
4/9 get it right, Conor Symington is fastest in 3.08s
From Belfast, works for the Environment Agency / His boss John is in the audience with him / His wife is at home, heavily pregnant with baby #2
1k: Occupation of a commissioner for oaths: (Solicitor)
2k: Books by REGINALD HILL, the crime-solving partner of Dalziel is (Pascoe)
[He’s responsible for planning for environmental disasters like oil spills, and also for prosecuting pollution in rivers]
4k: YAKITORI dish would be served in a (Japanese) restaurant, not Moroccan, Portuguese or Lebanese
8k: (Sian Phillips) was once married to Peter O’Toole [Ask the Audience: 42% get it right, 32% go Susan Hampshire, 16% Nanette Newman, 10% Prunella Scales]
[Her second husband, and they were married 1959-79]
16k: NOT a Nobel Prize category: (Biology) / Chemistry / Physics / Medicine [50/50 leaves him with Biology and Medicine, no surprise, because he knows about Chemistry and Physics / Phone-A-Friend: he knows it’s Biology]
32k: In 1541 HERNANDO DE SOTO led the first group of Europeans to see which river: Ganges / Niger / Mississippi / Amazon [I’m pretty sure it’s the Mississippi, they’d have seen the Amazon before that / He thinks it’s Amazon but doesn’t risk it / It is MISSISSIPPI]
REVISE: In 1541 HERNANDO DE SOTO led the first group of Europeans to see the Mississippi River
Conor Symington leaves with 16k
10 new contestants: Chris Curtis, Kim Shaw, Phil Acklam, Dave Clinton, Phil Ashman, Mike Hawes, Anne Grace, Stephen Gamble, Chris Morgan, Paul Tapson
FFF: Start with earliest, literary works in the order they are set historically
CADB gives us: The Iliad / “Gone with the wind” / “The Great Gatsby” / 1984
5/10 get it right, Chris Curtis is fastest in 3.39s
A cop from Bicester in Oxfordshire / Has been in the force for 23 years, once found a missing girl, and married her older sister, Sue / They have a 7 year old daughter / His good friend Mike is in the audience / daughter wants to go to Disneyland Paris / He wants to get his car through the MOT test
1k: You are most likely to see Geysers in (Iceland) Italy India Israel
2k: Piece of music played first if a British driver won a F1 race (God Save the Queen)
[He’s a custody sergeant, looks after people who are under arrest]
4k: (ENSA) provided entertainment to the troops in WW2, not ISA, NASA or MENSA
REVISE: What does ENSA stand for: army entertainment corps Entertainments National Service Association
8k: Christopher Trace was an early presenter of (Blue Peter) / Panorama / Come Dancing / Pot Black [He was taken to the Blue Peter studio for his 6th birthday – his dad worked at the BBC – and it was just after Trace had left / The First male presenter of the show, which started in 1958]
16k: Oldest university in the United States: (Harvard) Princeton / William and Mary / Yale [50/50 leaves William and Mary too / Phone-A-Friend: 100% sure it’s Harvard] [Founded 1636]
32k: Who wrote the line “Oh what a tangled web we weave”: Charles Dickens / Sir Walter Scott / William Shakespeare / Christopher Marlowe [I think it’s Shakespeare, but don’t know what play / Ask the Audience: 54% Shakespeare, 24% Dickens / Oh, it’s SIR WALTER SCOTT / he’s lost 15k]
Chris Curtis leaves with 1k
REVISE: “Oh what a tangled web we we weave”: is a quote from Sir Walter Scott; where, exactly? MARMION, a tale of Flodden Field, a poem first published in 1808
FFF: From north to south, people in order of the part of the world they traditionally inhabit
BACD gives us: Lapps / Apaches / Masai / Zulus
1/9 gets it right, Mike Hawes in 6.26s
From Braintree in Essex / recently been made a buyer for a major motor company after spending many years in their pension department / Married to Judy, a nurse, for over 30 years, 2 grown-up children, one of them in the audience
[03/06/2019 23:11] And the show ends with the 300 quid question, about Billy No Mates, Mike Hawes in the chair
OLD WHO: Mon 3-Jun-2019 10pm on Challenge is a repeat of Sat 18-May-2019 11pm, 24-06-06, 64k, 1k (loses 7k), 1k (loses 15k)
[03/06/2019 23:49] No need for notes on this one
OLD WHO: Tue 4-Jun-2019 10pm on Challenge is a repeat Sat/ Sun 18/19-May-2019, midnight, on Challenge, 1-7-06
[04/06/2019 22:25] The notes start further elsewhere, with these details: [20/05/2019 21:35] Andy Freeman is back after his 500 quid fisheye question / It should end with Paul Hopkins leaving with 64k
The Compartments 