WWTBAM Prep, Part 4 (19-Feb-2019 to 22-Feb-2019)

Notes taken while watching the UK edition of WWTBAM, February 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. Specific dates for these notes: 19-Feb-2019 to 22-Feb-2019. [5,671 words in this piece.]

OLD WHO: Sun/ Mon 17/18-Feb-2019 on Challenge, midnight to 1am,

[19/02/2019 12:40] 25 minutes on this one on this Half Term Tuesday

Ed, a schoolboy doing his A-Levels

1k: (Peter Sellers) played Inspector Clouseau

2k: (Penelope Keith) appeared in “The Good Life” and “To the manor born”

4k: Boer War took place in (South Africa)

8k: (Alan Titchmarsh) TV gardener who wrote Mr Macgregor (50/50 left Geoff Hamilton and correct answer / Ask the Audience went 77% right answer)

REVISE: Alan Titchmarsh wrote Mr McGregor, revise other TV presenters and their novels – Fern Britton for instance, what has she written?

16k: Vermicelli means (little worms) [he used Phone-A-Friend who didn’t know and said with about 5s to go, “Let me think, let me think” / He went for “Little Threads”, so he lost 7k]

Ed, A-Level Student leaves with 1k

FFF: Distances, in order shortest first

CABD gives us: Fathom / Chain / Furlong / Mile

5/8 got it right, Patrick Lidierth fastest in 8.77s

(Buttons in Cinderella)

1k: (Boot) footwear and starting up a computer

2k: (Waldorf Salad) made from apple, celery, walnuts

REVISE: Waldorf and other salads – Waldorf has apple, celery, walnuts, but we knew that from “Fawlty Towers”

4k: Arthur Scargill associated with (Mining)

8k: NOT one of the Three Musketeers (Andros) Porthos Aramis Athos

REVISE: The Three Musketeers Porthos Aramis Athos [And I checked – d’Artagnan MEETS the 3 musketeers, all set in 17th C, he’s based on a real character] ANDROS is a Greek island

16k: Jeweller and designer Rene Lalique Born in Belgium Netherlands (France) Switzerland [He uses Ask the Audience, split with 3 answers in the 30s,  Belgium top on 38% – total guesses / Phone-A-Friend says 98% sure it’s France / 50/50 leaves Belgium and France]

REVISE: RENE Lalique, jeweller and designer, born in FRANCE

32k: Mossad is main intelligence service of (Israel)

64k: Part of French Mainland ruled by England 1347 to 1558 (Calais)

The cheque says 8-9-0, we can’t see the final digit, ah, we see it later: 8-9-00

125k: The volcano Mount St Helens is in this US state: (Washington) / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming

REVISE: Mount St Helens is in Washington, check other mountains (like the tallest one, in Alaska) and volcanoes (in Hawaii)

250k: “In which city was Handel’s Messiah first performed?” London / Vienna / Leipzig / (Dublin) [He thinks it’s London but doesn’t risk it]

Patrick Liederth leaves with 125k on 8-9-00

Revise: HANDEL, Messiah, Water Music, others, locations of first performances / Did he write Zadok the Priest? / Messiah first performed in DUBLIN

10 new contestants, including Adrian Pollock, who came back a few times before he was in the chair

FFF: From the south upwards, South American countries on the Pacific coast

ADBC gives us: Chile Peru Ecuador Colombia

[I got that wrong when the show was recording, got Ecuador and Colombia mixed up]

REVISE: countries through which the equator passes

2/10 got it right, Clive Thornley is fastest in 4.84s

1k: Wombles live in (Wimbledon Common)

2k: Japan’s most popular traditional spectator sport: football / baseball / (Sumo wrestling) / Kendo [50/50 left sumo and Kendo / I don’t like that question]

REVISE: Japan’s most popular traditional spectator sport: Sumo

4k: “Community Charge” levied by the Thatcher government = (Poll Tax)

8k: Jugular veins carry blood away from this part of the body (Head) [Ask the Audience 70% go right]

16k: New National Park in 1999: (New Forest) Forest of Dean / Epping Forest / Sherwood Forest [Phone-A-Friend has no idea / he doesn’t gamble]

Clive leaves with 8k

And that’s the end of that show / Another one bites the dust

OLD WHO: Mon 18-Feb-2019 on Challenge, 8-2-0 (we don’t see the final digit)

[19/02/2019 14:18] 10 brand new contestants [19/02/2019 14:53] Hmm, that took me 35 minutes

FFF: Road distances from Manchester, in order from closest to furthest

BCAD gives us: Liverpool / Newcastle / Exeter / Penzance

In miles: 35 / 145 / 245 / 355

6/10 get it right, David Crossley is fastest, in 4.37s

An IT consultant from Berkshire / Disney and Pokemon with the kids constitute his social life

1k: Sian Lloyd is associated with (weather) on TV [He needed to Ask the Audience for this on, 82% got it right]

2k: The Gambia is in (Africa)

4k: (Dow Jones) is the New York Stock Exchange

Revise: Stock Exchange names and derivations

8k: What kind of animal is a LURCHER Rabbit / Bear / DOG / Fish

Revise: More Dogs, I didn’t know that a LURCHER Is a dog

16k: football team nicknamed The Railwaymen: Watford / York City / Crewe Alexandra / Stoke City [Hmm, not sure, I thought York before the answers came up, but is it Crewe? His Phone-A-Friend says 100% it’s Crewe / Yes I think that York are the Minster Men]

Revise: football nicknames / The Railwaymen are Crewe

Revise: Other nicknames, like Irish Counties (probably a very unlikely subject for quizzes)

Revise: US States nicknames, flowers, trees [19/02/2019 14:26 I did some last night, with that old book of flowers I have since I was 10, and with an old Children’s Atlas]

32k: (Charlie Chaplin) starred in The Great Dictator

The cheque says 8-2-0 (and we can’t see the final digit, again – and he doesn’t get another one]

64k: Common household item that contains a MAGNETRON microwave oven / television / kettle / vacuum cleaner [Not sure, either MW or TV, and I think it’s TV / So does he, but he’s wrong, and he didn’t use his 50/50

REVISE: MAGNETRON is in a microwave oven

David Crossley leaves with 32k

FFF: Best Picture Oscar winners, starting with the earliest

DCBA gives us: Tom Jones / The Godfather / Out of Africa / Braveheart

Only 1/9 got it right, Sheila McHale in 9.37s, now THAT is my kind of question

Another IT consultant, she’s from Weston-super-Mare, single and loves horses / She calls herself Mum to her horse Victor

Check: HAWK MOTH, it was in a low-money question as an option, just find out something about it [18/03/2021 16:52 It has been in a Connecting Wall recently on “Only Connect”, along with Gypsy and other Moths]

1k: (Jennifer Saunders) wrote Ab Fab

2k: NOT on the Asian mainland: Mongolia India China (Philippines)

4k: Crampon used in (Rock Climbing)

8k: NOT a member of The Who (Charlie Watts) [Ask the Audience, 73% right]

16k: Mike Leigh is best known as a (film director)

32k: RIPARIAN means situated or taking place along or near what: Railway / Glacier / Riverbank / Motorway [I think it’s riverbank [Phone-A-Friend says RIVERBANK, he’s sure]

REVISE: Riparian = on a RIVERBANK [Has also come up on “The Chase” at some point]

Again the cheque says 8-2-0 and we can’t see the final digit

64k: First person to fly across the English Channel: (Louis Bleriot) / Wilbur Wright / Amy Johnson / Charles Lindbergh

Revise: Flying pioneers, we had a question about them on “The 100k Drop”, Amy Johnson born in 19th C but Lindbergh and Howard Hughes were not / ALCOCK & BROWN were on an episode of Bullseye (yes, really) earlier this month, it was after an episode of “Who wants to be a millionaire?”, they were the first men to cross the Atlantic non-stop, in 1919

125k: Samuel Langhorne Clemens is better known as (Mark Twain) Groucho Marx / WC Fields / George Bernard Shaw

Revise: real names, for Groucho and WC Fields at least – and check WC initials

And now the cheque doesn’t even show the first digit of the year, just 8-2

250k: The most abundant metal in the earth’s CRUST: Silicon / Iron / Aluminium / Potassium [Good one, I think the crust is Aluminium, but the core is Iron / and no surprise 50/50 leaves those 2 answers / she’s not sure, thinks it’s iron and goes for it / It’s ALUMINIUM]

Sheila McHale has just lost 93k and goes home with 32k

FFF: Countries in alphabetical order

DCBA gives us: Ecuador Egypt Eritrea Ethiopia

5/8 got it right, Malcolm Knight is fastest in 7.95s

Malcolm Knight is a THEATRICAL AGENT FROM CHISWICK, he’s there with his stepson Danny / He’s been a milkman and an actor, was in his first film aged 6 months with Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart

He was one of the blond-haired kids in Village of the damned, was also in To Sir with Love

1k (Watched pot) never boils

2k: Barnet in rhyming slang = (Hair)

4k: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington DC is address of (White House)

8k: (Princess Anne) became MRS TIMOTHY LAURENCE in 1992

Revise: Royal wedding dates and years 12/12/92 was Princess Anne Wedding #2, Mrs Timothy Laurence

16k: Taiwan is off the coast of India / (China) / Malaysia / Vietnam [I assume it’s China but could be wrong / He’s gone China]

Revise: Malaysia

32k: Percussion instrument gets its name from the Spanish for CHESTNUT: (Castanets) Marimba Xylophone Celesta [Phone-A-Friend isn’t sure, but it must be surely / 50.50 leaves Marimba and castanets / Ask the Audience goes 88% castanets / he goes for it]

And that’s the end of the show, before we even see the cheque for 32k

Revise: Percussion instruments, what exactly is a Celesta or a marimba

First Sainsbury’s Local was in HAMMERSMITH

OLD WHO: From Challenge in January, 16-11-00, 18-11-00

[20/02/2019 23:12] No subtitles on this one, shame

64k: (Fabian Society) closely linked to Labour Party, advocates gradual social reform within the law (NOT 1922 Committee, Chiltern Hundreds, Steering Committee)

She’s gone wrong, with 1922 Committee, Jane Rider (I think he says) leaves with 32k

10 new contestants including Judith Keppel

FFF: vegetables in order of letters in their names, starting with fewest

DACB: Carrot Parsnip Artichoke Cauliflower

9/10 got it right, but Judith Keppel isn’t listed: that’s weird / And nor is Paulette Newby – they’ve put up a different board of names compared to the names they’ve just shown us for the 10 new contestants

Darren Symonds is fastest in 4.34s

I think I’ve seen this one but maybe don’t have notes about it / he’s an electrician from Cambridge

300 quid: He uses Ask the Audience to confirm that a poop deck is on a ship / 88% get it right

1k: as American as (apple pie) [He uses 50/50 and is left with this and Blueberry muffin / before that he thought it was Cotton Candy]

2k: Shane Lynch, Mikey Graham and Keith Duffy are members of (Boyzone)

4k: Zebedee’s catchphrase in Magic roundabout (Time for bed) [He uses Phone-A-Friend for this, she’s only 45% sure of the right answer]

8k: The autobiography Managing my life: Ruud Gullitt (Alex Ferguson) Terry Venables / Kevin Keegan

Revise: Big football autobiographies, like Beckham, Rooney and Ferguson / Keegan, Bobby Robson, Wenger / Managing my life was by Alex Ferguson

16k: Carisbrooke Castle is on an island (Isle of Wight)

He leaves with 8k

FFF: people in order of when they first went into space

BCDA gives us: Yuri Gagarin / John Glenn / Neil Armstrong / Helen Sharman

61/62/66/91

Again, there’s no Judith Keppel on the list, or Paulette Newby – they did something odd there with the people they introduced us to, and then the list of names they show afterwards

3/9 got it right, Rowland Hughes is fastest in 7.34s

He’s from Swanage in Dorset, 4 sons / He works for a lighting company

1k: (Summer Pudding) is made from a casing of bread filled with raspberries, redcurrants and other fruits (not Spring, autumn or winter pudding)

2k: Phil and Gary (Neville) footballers

4k: 2nd highest mountain in the world (K2)

8k: Isambard Kingdom Brunel famous in (engineering)

Revise: Engineers, we’ve had questions about Telford and Brunel, check out aircraft engineers too, like Whittle and jet engines, and WW2 fighter craft, and canal builders

16k: (USA) held its bicentennial celebrations in 1976 [He’s used 50/50 and been left with Australia and USA]

32k: An Embroidery stitch: Lazy Daisy / Lazy Susan / Lazy Bones / Lazy Eye [I think it’s Daisy, but I’d have to Ask the Audience, like he has / 66% go Daisy, the right answer]

Revise: embroidery, sewing, what is a LAZY DAISY?

The cheque shows 16-11-00

64k: Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel prizes was (Swedish)

[It looks like a new show, shirt and hair are slightly different, but the shirts are both blue]

125k: Earl Grey, after whom the tea was named, held this official post: (British Prime Minister) Viceroy of India / Ambassador to China / Lord Mayor of London [He’s using Phone-A-Friend / who has no idea and they’re out of time]

He takes the money, Rowland Hughes leaves with 64k, on 18-11-00 – a different date on the cheque to the one for 32k

FFF: words in order in a John Le Carre novel [I think that this same question was used in a later edition of the show]

CBAD gives us: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

It’s 10 new contestants, but we weren’t introduced to them, or maybe this is the list of people we WERE introduced to before Darren Symonds

8/10 get it right, Paulette Newby is fastest in 3.87s

She’s from Southampton, has a 6 month old at home /

1k: Classic TV cop show Starsky and (Hutch)

2k: Longest of these Olympic events (Marathon) 20km walk 10,000 meters steeplechase

4k: (Toto) was Dorothy’s dog in “The Wizard of Oz”

[20/02/2019 23:44 That’s the end of that show]

OLD WHO: From Challenge in Jan-2019, from 20-11-00, Judith Keppel up to 500k

[20/02/2019 23:45] On with the next one, same recording on the hard drive

8k: Garden tool with “tines” (fork)

16k: (Horse racing) is the “sport of kings” [She used 50/50 and was left with polo as well]

32k: The Mojave Desert is in (USA) Mexico Tunisia Australia [She’s using Phone-A-Friend / he says 75% USA / Ask the Audience: 51% say USA / She says she’s going to play, changes her mind, finally she’s taking the money]

Paulette Newby leaves with 16k

FFF: Books of the Bible in alphabetical order

BCAD gives us: Ecclesiastes Esther Exodus Ezra

4/9 got it right, Judith Keppel’s name is there as the 2nd fastest in 9.52s but Dave Chapman is fastest in 9.50s – wow, just 0.02s between them

From Leeds, warehouse man, started a law degree but didn’t finish it

500 quid: Part of the body shares its name with an orange (navel) [He uses Ask the Audience for this]

1k: NOT a sparkling wine (Rioja) Asti Cava champagne [He used Phone-A-Friend]

2k: Playwright (Tennessee) Williams

4k: Dalai Lama is leader of (Buddhism)

8k: Word associated with Archimedes (Eureka)

16k: Day of the Jackal, plot to kill (General de Gaulle)

32k: Composer whose Orchestral music includes 6 Brandenburg Concertos (Bach) Berlioz Beethoven Brahms [50/50 leaves him with Bach and Beethoven / “After that start, Chris I’m going to have to bottle it” I think he said – no subtitles on this recording / he bails out]

Dave Chapman leaves with 16k

FFF: British Prime Ministers in order

DACB gives us: Winston Churchill / Anthony Eden / Harold Macmillan / Alec Douglas-Home

1/8 got it right, just Judith Keppel in 8.00s, again that is MY kind of fastest finger first question

Do I need to see this again?

I’ll record every question

100 quid: As sick as a (parrot)

200 quid: Legal document (will)

300 quid: Bond film The Man with the (Golden Gun)

500 quid: fruit and word that means something superior or desirable (plum)

1k: A sport where 2 teams pull at opposite ends of a rope (Tug of War)

2k: A cowboy puts his chaps (on his legs)

4k: Zodiac sign not represented by an animal that grows horns: Taurus Capricon (Aquarius) Aries

8k: Sherpas and Gurkhas are native to (Nepal) Russia Ecuador Morocco

16k: Tony Blair was born in England / Northern Ireland / (Scotland) / Wales [Ask the Audience: 53% Scotland]

[And Tarrant AGAIN does the Twilight Zone noise]

And he gives her a kiss on the cheek after that question, and it must be the end of the original broadcast because she’s wearing a different top for the next question, with no chat in between, no “Welcome back to last night’s contestant” or anything like that / different necklace too, a thicker one than the previous day

32k: “A long walk to freedom” is the autobiography of Ranulph Fiennes / Mother Teresa / (Nelson Mandela) / Mikhail Gorbachev

The cheque shows 20-11-00

64k: Duffel coats are named after a town in which country: (Belgium) / Holland / Germany / Austria [50/50 leaves her with Belgium and Holland]

She takes a while before going for it

125k: Complete this stage instruction in Shakespeare’s “A Winter’s Tale”: Exit pursued by a Tiger Clown (Bear) Dog [She doesn’t know, and uses Phone-A-Friend / Jilly is 100% sure it’s bear / BLESS YOU says Judith Keppel]

250k: The young of which creature is known as a squab: Salmon Horse (Pigeon) Octopus

REVISE: The young of a salmon, octopus and so on

It’s still 20-11-00

500k: Who is the patron saint of Spain? (Saint James) / Saint John / Saint Benedict / Saint Peter

[21/02/2019 00:22] I’m watching this in real time – it takes so much longer than the other way – and it’s probably all on YouTube anyway

Tarrant has got up to give her a hug / She says she’s been lucky, he says “You haven’t, you’ve been absolutely brilliant” and that’s the end of that show on Challenge

And now it’s deleted / There is ONE 3-hour recording left, and whatever was on tonight, and that’s it / I have seen and noted every episode from Challenge for the last few weeks

OLD WHO: Tue 19-Feb-2011 on Challenge, from 10-2-01, Malcolm Knight from Chiswick again

[21/02/2019 19:09] It’s Malcolm Knight from Chiswick again, here’s his 64k question

64k: Which of these is not a plant? Old Man’s Beard / Lady’s slipper / MAIDEN’S BREATH / mother-in-law’s tongue [He went for Old Man’s Breath, and I might have too, it was between that and MB, he leaves with 32k]

REVISE: More about plants: Old Man’s Beard / Lady’s slipper / mother-in-law’s tongue / MAIDEN’S BREATH / There was a question about one of these NOT being a plant, but they’re all listed as plants by Wikipedia / I don’t understand

Malcolm Knight leaves with 32k, cheque says 10-2-0 and the final digit is obscured

10 new contestants: Stewart Crawford, Jason Board, Janice Mynott, Phil Freakley, Mike Tankard, Colin Fry, Nick Everest, Sue Coles, John Taylor, Charles Walton

FFF: Atlantic Island groups from North to south

BDAC gives us: Faeroes / Azores / Canaries / Falklands

Only 1 gets it right, Charles Walton in 6.75s

A freelance copywriter from Market Harborough in Leicestershire / A spreadsheet of Phone-A-Friends

300 quid: Trojan, Wolf, Lightning regularly appeared in (Gladiators)

1k: Sport sometimes known as The Turf (Horse racing) [Ask the Audience: 72% get it right]

2k: Lilliput features in (Gulliver’s Travels)

4k: Hillary Clinton Nov 2000 elected Senator for (New York)

8k: Botany Bay is in (Australia)

16k: (Julius Caesar) is associated with the phrase veni vidi vici

32k: Mariachi bands music tradition in: Cuba Brazil (Mexico) Trinidad [50.50 leaves him with Cuba and Mexico]

We finally see the date: the cheque says 10-2-01

64k: Thomas Telford famous in (engineering)

125k: Who starred in the 1944 film musical “Up in arms” Bob Hope / Bing Crosby / Fred Astaire / Danny Kaye [Never heard of it / he uses Phone-A-Friend, it’s DANNY KAYE, and I looked up all his movies back in 2017]

He leaves with 64k

Revise: Danny Kaye movies, specifically UP IN ARMS, also Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire

FFF: Prison-based films and TV series in the order they were first seen

CBAD gives us: Jailhouse Rock / The Great Escape / Porridge / Prisoner Cell Block H

3/9 got it right, Sue Coles in 7.82s is fastest

A housewife from Plymouth

Revise: Prison dramas, Prisoner Cell Block H, Orange is the new black

1k: (Crease) is part of a cricket pitch

[21/02/2019 19:26 We’re about 32m into the show, I’ll have to leave it there for a while.]

[21/02/2019 22:25] Back again for the last 26 minutes

2k: (Cress) commonly grown with mustard as a salad ingredient

4k: (South Africa) African country with a coastline on Atlantic and Indian Oceans

8k: (George Clooney) starred in 2000 film The Perfect Storm [Ask the Audience: 90% know it]

16k: (Isosceles) adjective referring to a triangle with 2 sides of equal length

32k: The Big Sleep and Farewell my lovely written by (Raymond Chandler)

REVISE: Eric Ambler, what did he write?

Cheque says 10-2- with no year visible

64k Who referred to the wind of change in a 1960 speech to the South Africa parliament: (Harold Macmillan) Winston Churchill / Anthony Eden / Alec Douglas-Home [Tougher options than usual, but it’s come up a few times / Phone-A-Friend didn’t know but she goes right]

And Tarrant has stood up to give her a kiss on the cheek

We see the cheque in full this time:

10-2-01

125k: “Poor Wandrin’ One” is a song from which Gilbert and Sullivan operetta? Ruddigore / THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE / HMS Pinafore / Iolanthe

She doesn’t know, Sue Coles leaves with 64k on 10-2-01

REVISE: Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, plots and songs, at least these 4: Ruddigore / THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE / HMS Pinafore / Iolanthe / “Poor Wandrin’ One” is in PIRATES OF PENZANCE

FFF: Leaders of Soviet Union or Russia in order

DBCA gives us: Nicholas II / Lenin / Stalin / Gorbachev

6/8 get it right, Stewart Crawford is fastest in 5.55s

A business project manager from Bristol

1k: Alistair Cooke’s long-running radio series Letter from (America)

He’s in a different shirt now, red rather than blue, so this must have been broadcast on a different night to the previous questions

2k: St Etienne is in (France) [Ask the Audience: over 70% got it right]

4k: What type of creature is a ‘thresher’? SHARK / Squirrel / Snake / Scorpion [I didn’t know, might have guessed / he knew / Two years later, I have heard of Thresher sharks a few more times since these notes were originally made]

Revise: Sharks and whales

8k: Comedian knighted in 2000 New Year’s Honours List: Ronnie Barker / NORMAN WISDOM / Charlie Drake / Mike Reid [It was 50/50 for me, with Barker and Wisdom / and that’s what his 50/50 gave him]

And that’s the end of the show / I’ll carry on with the next one

Revise: comedians who have been knighted: not many, up to Lenny Henry / I found a BBC article from then (writing from memory here) TONY ROBINSON has one, Wisdom and HARRY SECOMBE In 1981

OLD WHO: Wed 20-Feb-2011 on Challenge, from 10-2-01 [repeated Sun 30-Jun-2019, 11pm]

[21/02/2019 22:43] Carrying on with the next one

It’s still Stewart Crawford in a red shirt, and his 16k question

16k: The governing body of British horseracing: National Horse League / Racing Association / BRITISH HORSERACING BOARD / Racecourse League [3 in a row I wasn’t sure of and I might have gone for Racing Association / he’s using Phone-A-Friend who has no idea / He takes the money]

Stewart Crawford leaves with 8k

Revise: Horse-racing body, governing bodies of sports and initials

10 new contestants: Peter Tungate, John Saull, Sig Newbigging, Howard Brooks, Ken Krober, Bob Pountney, Geoff Lewis, Ian Davies, Carolyn Lysons, John Bolus

FFF: Works of literature in the order they were written

CBAD gives us: Twelfth Night / Treasure Island / Tess of the D’Urbervilles / Toad of Toad Hall

Not much in it for B and A, 1883 & 1891, D was 1929

3/10 get it right, Howard Brooks is fastest in 8.98s

A vehicle delivery driver from Oldham, wife and 2 kids

[500 quid: Curly Watts in “Coronation Street”, real first name is (Norman)]

1k: Ramekin is a (cooking dish)

2k: F in FBI = (Federal)

4k: Prince Philip born in (1920s) [Ask the Audience 50% give correct answer] He was born in 1921

8k: Authorized Version of the Bible is named after (James I)

16k: The World’s Longest River: Nile / Amazon [It’s either or, I’m sure that both lay claim to this / He got those two on 50/50, and used Phone-A-Friend who says NILE]

32k: Sequel to Thomas Harris’s “Silence of the Lambs” (Hannibal)

The cheque is dated 12-2, year not visible, but it’s 12-2-01

64k: Approximately what proportion of the 206 bones in the human skeleton are contained in the hands and feet? One-quarter / One-third / (ONE-HALF) / Two-thirds [I think it’s 1/3 or 1/2 / He’s gone 2/3 so he’s out / that works out at an average of 25 bones per hand or foot]

Howard Brooks 32k on 12-2-01

FFF: Comedians in the order they were born

DBCA gives us: Oliver Hardy / Bob Hope / Steve Martin / Jim Carrey

1892 / 1903 / 1945 / 1962

6/9 got it right, Carolyn Lysons is fastest in 6.84s

A single mum from London, 3 kids / Her dad is in the audience

1k: According to the saying, a sleepy child goes “up the wooden hill” to which county: Berkshire (Bedfordshire) Hampshire Leicestershire [Ask the Audience: 81% get it]

2k: (Janitor) Used in North America to mean caretaker or doorkeeper of a building

4k: New French wine released annually on the THIRD THURSDAY in NOVEMBER (Beaujolais)

8k: Madagascar is in the (Indian) Ocean [She’s gone Pacific and she loses 3k]

Carolyn Lysons leaves with 1k

FFF: Events in order

BDAC gives us: End of Hundred Years War / Mayflower sets sail / Death of Beethoven / First test-tube baby born

1453 / 1620 / 1827 / 1980

3/8 get it right, John Bolus is fastest in 10.72s

From Paignton in Devon, a variety of jobs including welder and shellfish processor, wife in the audience, 20-month old Dion at home / Now he’s a pleasure boat driver

1k: Pacifier = North American term for a (dummy)

2k: Huey Lewis and the (News) 80s band

4k:What kind of insect is a locust: Fly Wasp Beetle (Grasshopper)

8k: The story of Noah’s Ark is told in this book of the Bible: (Genesis) Leviticus Proverbs Psalms [Ask the Audience: 76% go right]

16k: (Neapolitan) is a native of Naples [He uses 50/50 and is left with Naplesian as well, which he thought it might be / he uses Phone-A-Friend

32k: Aslan in CS Lewis’s Narnia books is a (lion) Sheep Goat Snake [He doesn’t know and he takes the 16k]

John Bolus leaves with 16k

After the ad-break we have 10 new contestants, but we are not introduced to them – it only becomes clear after the fastest finger first

FFF: TV villains in order of first screen appearance

CADB gives us: Daleks / Dick Dastardly / Terry Duckworth / Dirty Den

1963 / 1969 / 1983 / 1985

Only 2/10 get it right, Richard Scott is fastest in 5.96s

A civil engineer from Middlesbrough, his Egyptian wife Jehan is in the audience – he met her while working out there

Just 2 questions and that’s the end of the show

“Who wants to be a millionaire?” CREDITS: Devised by David Briggs / Steve Knight / Mike Whitehill

Music: Keith Strachan / Matthew Strachan

TTP: a few questions from 20-2-2019

I am recording the odd episode to see what is on question setters’ minds, flicking through as quickly as possible and not watching the counters dropping onto the machine

Glasgow is 45 miles from Edinburgh / Keep Smiling through is Vera Lynn’s autobiography / Robert NESTA Marley / Graham Norton has an Agony Uncle column in the Daily Telegraph, Ask Graham

QUENTIN BLAKE designed cover for James Blake 2016 album The Colour in Anything / Fanny Simonsen was caddy to Nick Faldo for 4/6 of his majors / LYNN BENFIELD is Alan Partridge’s assistant

Rebel Wilson plays Fat Amy in Pitch Perfect films / Russian space station MIR launched 1980s / 1994-99 Mandela President of South Africa

MAINE is the only US state that shares a border with just one other state / In his poem THYRSIS the poet MATTHEW ARNOLD described university city as having “dreaming spires” (Oxford) / “Insomnia Café”, “Six of One” and “Across the Hall” were alternative titles considered for US sitcom: (Friends) / 2017 Jacinda Ahern became world’s youngest leader as PM of (New Zealand)

Greek mythology, first woman created by the gods (Pandora) / River going through Norwich: (Wensum) not Severn or Thames / BOLD AS BRASS autobiography of former Dragons Den investor: (Hilary) Devey / Rachel Elnaugh / Kelly Hoppen [I’ve only heard of the first of those, and it’s pronounced de-VAY] / (Arabic) became 6th official language of UN in 1973 not Korean or Polish / 1904 British physicist JJ Thomson proposed “Plum Pudding Model” to explain the structure of: universe (atom) human brain / Cassata served as (dessert) [=Neapolitan ice cream with dried fruit and nuts]

[21/02/2019 23:47] Okay, that’s all done, and I’ll do another “Who wants to be a millionaire?” after a quick stretch

OLD WHO: Thu 21-Feb-2019 on Challenge, 17-02-01, possibly 16-02 as well

[21/02/2019 23:50] Okay, one more before bed, the latest episode

1k: (Strangers) on a train, Hitchcock movie [Ask the Audience, 91% right]

2k: (Roald Dahl) wrote “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”

4k: A la Florentine will include (spinach) [He uses Phone-A-Friend, his dad, who doesn’t know / 50/50 leaves carrot and spinach / he eventually goes for spinach]

8k: If someone “took the King’s shilling” he would follow this profession: (Soldier)

16k: Played James Herriot in TV series All Creature Great and Small: Robert Hardy / Peter Davison / John McGlynn / Christopher Timothy [I think it’s Christopher Timothy – never saw a minute of this, but I recall, at school, someone saying that Peter Davison was Tristram in the show, when he was cast as “Dr Who” / It IS Christopher Timothy]

Revise: All creatures great and small, TV show and books / locations, actors, names of other volumes like “It shouldn’t happen to a vet”, James Herriot real name, is he still alive?

32k: “The Iliad” was originally written in (Greek) Latin Arabic French

Richard Scott leaves with 16k

FFF: Flags in order of number of colours in them, starting with fewest

ACDB gives us: Libya / Switzerland / UK / South Africa

Ah, back when Libya was just one colour (green)

Only 1/9 got it right: Tim Whelan in 9.47s

A management accountant from Crewe / he’s there with his mum, to win enough for a trip on the Orient Express / he’s into ice cream

1k: Matthew (Perry) plays Chandler Bing, not Broderick, McConaughey or Modine [Ask the Audience, 89%]

2k: (Milky Coffee) is known as a latte, not sweet tea / hot chocolate / fizzy water [Phone-A-Friend is 99% certain of it / I think he might know it these days, but in 2001 not many people were drinking lattes]

4k: Prefix meaning false: Multi (Pseudo) Hyper Anthro

8k: Sweeney Todd was a (barber) [He’s gone 50/50 and farmer is the other option)

16k: Singer born Bernard Jewry: (Alvin Stardust) / David Bowie / Elton John / Cliff Richard

32k: Animal that is the emblem of the Republican Party in the USA: Bison / Rhinoceros / Hippopotamus / Elephant [I think it’s elephant, he’s not going to risk it / It is ELEPHANT]

Tim Whelan leaves with 16k

REVISE: US party facts, Democrats and Republicans, GOP, Bull Moose, elephants

FFF: Ships in the order they were built

BDAC gives us: Mary Rose / Mayflower / Victory / Titanic

Only 1/8 got it right, Simon Wardill in 8.63s

A chartered surveyor from Epsom in Surrey

1k: Who plays Deirdre in “Coronation Street”: Helen Worth / Barbara Knox / Liz Dawn / (Anne Kirkbride) [Ask the Audience: 84% get it right / That’s probably the first time I’ve typed those names]

Revise: NEWER “Coronation Street” names, I’d be okay on anyone up to about 1999 / what about Fiz and Tyrone and all those other newer characters?

2k: Kiri Te Kanawa was born in (New Zealand)

4k: A in UEFA stands for (Associations) Union of European Football Associations

8k: Which is a crustacean: Squid Toucan (Lobster) Otter

16k: Dim Sum is from this cuisine: Mexican Thai Indonesian (Chinese)

Okay, the show is running on, but he’s just switched from a green shirt to a purple one, so it must have been a different show when originally broadcast

32k: John Galliano is a famous name in: architecture / ballet / cookery / (Fashion) [50/50 leaves him with cookery as well / Phone-A-Friend is 100% sure it’s fashion]

The cheque shows 17-2-no year, but it must be 17-2-01

64k: A White dwarf is a: mushroom / Gerbil / cocktail / (star)

125k: River Danube rises in which country: Switzerland / Germany / Austria / Hungary [I’m pretty sure it’s Germany, it’s come up before / he thinks it’s Austria but he takes the money / It IS Germany]

Simon Wardill leaves with 64k

Revise: where rivers rise, Danube, Rhine, Main, big European rivers, Dnieper, Don, Vistula, Loire, top 10 rivers entirely in Europe or that pass through Europe

10 brand new contestants

FFF: Keys on a keyboard, top to bottom

BADC gives us: Q A Z Space bar

Only 3 got it right, Michelle Simmonds is fastest in 7.91s

[22/02/2019 00:22] And that’s the end of the show