WWTBAM Prep, Part 9 (13-Mar-2019 to 19-Mar-2019)
Notes taken while watching the UK edition of WWTBAM, March 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: 13-Mar-2019 to 19-Mar-2019. [6,563 words in this piece.]
OLD WHO: Sun 20-Jan-2019 11pm on Challenge, Denise Fowler 32k 20-1-00, David Guest 1k, Sarah Black 16k
[13/03/2019 22:48] Let’s see, that last episode took 38 minutes – more than usual
I thought there were 10 new contestants, including Denise Fowler from Essex, but these are the same NINE that appeared with Jan Garner in the previous episode on Challenge] /
Here’s the full list of people who wave at us: Jamie Phillips, Denise Fowler, DAVID GUEST, KEVIN MCGAFF, Peter Smith, Ollie Spranger, Julie Phillips, Nathan Williams, SARAH BLACK, Ian Riley
But here are the names on the board after fastest finger first: Jamie Phillips, Denise Fowler, TREVOR BRADY, Peter Smith, Ollie Spranger, Julie Phillips, Nathan Williams, SUSIE MELKI, Ian Riley
[Names in capitals only appear in one list, not both]
FFF: Start with EARLIEST, cartoons in order they were first shown on TV
CDAB gives us: Flintstones / Scooby-Doo, Where are you? / Simpsons / South Park
5/9 get it right / Denise Fowler is fastest in 6.60s
Lots of chat about Denise Fowler’s many jobs in the past, she wants enough money to go on holiday with Mel Gibson, and Des O’Connor for her mum / husband Chris and 2 kids are at home / wants enough money to pay the phone bill / Her mum Pam is in the audience / New Year Resolution: to get out of debt, they had to re-mortgage last year and had about 4k left (of debt I think she means)
[Asteroids are mainly between MARS and JUPITER]
1k: Town where Shakespeare was born is on (Avon)
2k: (Paper) is measured in reams
4k: (Chicago) is the US city known as ”The Windy City”
8k: The character Flashman appears in (Tom Brown’s Schoolboys) [50/50 also leaves her with Pride and Prejudice]
16k: Future ‘Monkee’ (Davy Jones) played Ena Sharples’ grandson in “Coronation Street” [Ask the Audience: 74% get it right]
Ah, and now she’s in a different top, so we’re onto a new episode from the original broadcasts
32k: A mudskipper is a (fish) / frog / mouse / flea [Hmm, “Coincidence Corner” time, this was on tonight’s “Eggheads”, just a few hours ago – this is the fish that can move on dry land]
Cheque shows 20-1-00
64k: Which of these films won a Best Picture Oscar: The Graduate / Citizen Kane / (Rocky) / A Streetcar Named Desire [Phone-A-Friend: he would guess at Citizen Kane, so does she]
Densie Fowler leaves with 32k
10 new contestants, but we haven’t been introduced to them / The names, after fastest finger first: Janet Ellison, Sue Coppard, David Guest, Roy Marshall, Christine Austin, Chris Hussey, Vik Manek, John Bedson, Sarah Black, Michael Howard
FFF: Tennis Grand Slam events in the order they are played during the calendar year
DBCA gives us: Australian Open / French / Wimbledon / US Open
That would be a PERFECT fastest finger first question, you know the answers before they come up
3/10 get it right, David Guest is fastest in 6.36s
Lots of chat: An accountant from ALFRETON in Derbyshire, his daughter Kim is in the audience, 3 other kids back home, and 2 grandkids Georgia and Harley
He would like to travel, including the Olympics in Sydney
[US department of DEFENSE is in the Pentagon]
1k: children’s TV programme that features Oscar the Grouch: (Sesame Street) / Teletubbies / Fireman Sam / Thomas the Tank Engine [Ask the Audience: 95% get it right]
REVISE: Thomas the Tank Engine, engines, names and colours
2k: (Rook) in chess is also called castle
4k: President of Save the Children Fund: Cherie Blair / Prince Michael of Kent / George Carey / Princess Anne [I assume it’s Anne, and it is]
REVISE: Royals and their roles, like Princess Anne Save the Children Fund, Scottish Rugby, BAFTA, the FA]
8k: F1 team that Jacques Villeneuve drove for when he won the World Championship: Williams / Benetton / Ferrari / McLaren [NOPE, no idea / He goes for WILLIAMS eventually, and that’s the right answer]
REVISE: F1 drivers and teams – I couldn’t even be sure of Lewis Hamilton, is it Ferrari? NOPE, 2021 season: Mercedes / And Max Verstappen drives for Red Bull / 2021 Ferrari drivers are: Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz
16k: First Labour leader to become prime minister (Ramsay MacDonald)
32k: Boy’s name derived from the Latin word meaning “Frenchman”: Paris / Homer / Norman / (Francis) [He doesn’t know / 50/50 gives him Norman and Francis / Phone-A-Friend: doesn’t know, but he would guess Norman / he’s gone for Norman, so he loses 15k]
David Guest leaves with 1k
FFF: Starting with the first, Prince Charles’s four Christian names in the correct order
I went wrong with ACDB: Charles Arthur Philip George
It should be ADCB for: Charles Philip Arthur George
Only 2/9 get it right, Sarah Black is fastest in 6.45s
REVISE: Correct order of royal names, CPAG is Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, I think that Prince Edward is EARL
This woman is from the Isle of Man and spent New Year’s Eve (Millennium Eve) in Times Square, MANY hours without being able to pee
1k: A young swan is a (cygnet)
2k: Sir Donald Bradman played (Cricket) [Ask the Audience: 87% get it right]
4k: An order of knighthood was founded after a medieval countess dropped a (garter) [50/50 leaves her with handkerchief too]
8k: Catatonia are from (Wales)
16k: Mountain chain running 870 miles down the whole of Italy: Alps / Pyrenees / Dolomites / Apennines [13/03/2019 23:24 Maybe it’s the lateness of the hour, but I’m only half-sure that it’s Apennines / Phone-A-Friend: NO Doubt it’s the Apennines]
REVISE: Mountains, where exactly are the Dolomites?
32k: BROIL In an American recipe book means (GRILL IT) in Britain
Sarah Black leaves with 16k
OLD WHO: Wed 13-Mar-2019 on Challenge, 10pm, another couples special
[13/03/2019 23:45] I’ll carry on, try and get through this one in 30 minutes – the subtitles are on
10 new couples
FFF: Starting with SMALLEST in area, US States in order
DCBA gives us: Rhode Island / Florida / California / Alaska
5/10 get it right, John & Karen fastest in 7.02s
From Cornwall, he’s a cop, she’s a psychology student, 2 kids, they can’t remember how they met
1k: A Joanna in Cockney Rhyming Slang is a (piano)
2k: Westlife and (Mariah Carey) had a UK #1 in September 2000
4k: Athlete CATHY FREEMAN is (Australian)
8k: A woman would (wear) a twinset
16k: TROWBRIDGE is in (Wiltshire) [I only know that from quiz shows / Ask the Audience: 52% Wilts, 34% Shropshire. 11% Berkshire]
32k: Mythical creatures with snakes for hair: Harpies / (Gorgons) / Centaurs / Dryads [Again, maybe it’s the late hour and watching lots of people who aren’t sure about stuff, but I’m pretty sure it’s Gorgons / Phone-A-Friend: 90% sure it’s Gorgons]
REVISE: Harpies, Dryads, Gorgons
Cheque reads: John Hannaford, 4-1-01
64k: Opera “Peter Grimes” was composed by (Benjamin Britten) [She thinks it’s Elgar / 50/50 leaves them with Britten and Ralph Vaughan Williams] / they guess right]
125k: They bayonet is believed to be named after a town in which country: Italy / Germany / France / Spain [I’d guess France – especially as Belgium didn’t come up / they argue for a while and then go for France, the right answer]
250k: VANILLA pods, used in cooking, are fruits containing the seeds of which tropical flower: Lily / Sweet pea / Honeysuckle / (Orchid) [They argue about this for A Long Time because she wants to go for Orchid and he doesn’t]
John and Karen leave with 125k, but she does not seem happy / I’m glad I watched that on fast-forward with subtitles on
FFF: Starting with the EARLIEST, aircraft in chronological order
BDAC gives us: Zeppelin / Spitfire / Boeing 707 / Concorde
1900 / 36 / 54 / 69
8/9 get it right, Rob & Corinne fastest in 6.10s
Rob & Corinne Sawyer, married for 5 years, she’s French – she looks much more chic than him, he is a business development manager
[Between the 300 and 500 questions there’s a change of clothes, so this must be the next show from the original broadcasts]
1k: (Sleeping) can go before bag, partner and sickness to make common phrases
2k: (Three men and a baby) starred Ted Danson, Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg
4k: Elgin Marbles were removed from the (Parthenon) in the early 19th C, not the Colosseum, Arc de Triomphe or Statue of Liberty
8k: Shakespearean character says “Once more unto the breach dear friends” (Henry V) [50/50 leaves Henry IV and V / he dithers, and finally goes for Henry V]
[14/03/2019 00:16] And that’s the end of the show, 31 minutes of my time
SLEB WHO: Wed/ Thu 13/14-Mar-2019, Katherine Jenkins & Gabby Logan, Annabel Croft & Pat Cash
[14/03/2019 08:29] Katherine Jenkins (for British Forces Foundation) and Gabby Logan (SPARKS research for children’s diseases – neuroblastoma is the cancer that kills most U-5s, only a 30% survival rate compared to 90% for leukaemia, because of research]
1k: Not a root vegetable: (Kale) / parsnip / carrot / swede
2k: Won a BAFTA as Randy Robinson in the 2008 film The Wrestler (Mickey Rourke)
5k: Robert Peston is a journalist on (Business)
10k: Author who shares his name with the CAPTAIN of HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar (Thomas Hardy) NOT Dickens, Orwell or Greene [Phone-A-Friend: Lord Ashcroft, supporter of the British Forces Foundation = he’s the Belize-based man who the Tories ennobled, and he wrote the unauthorized Cameron biog “Call me Dave”]
20k: In 2008, became the 25th to score 100 first-class centuries: Strauss / Trescothick / Robert Key / (Mark Ramprakash) [Ask the Audience: 45% Ramps, 27% Strauss, 22% Trescothick / They talk about doing 50/50, and know that it would come up Tresco and Ramps – Tarrant says, “It IS random” and Gabby says, “Yeah right, I’ve seen this show” / 50/50 gives Ramps and Strauss, they get it right eventually]
50k: Pretty Green clothing label launched in 2009: Neil Tennant / (Liam Gallagher) / Jarvis Cocker / Chris Martin [Gabby knows that Liam has launched a label but can’t see why it would be called Pretty Green / they don’t know, no lifelines left, they take the money]
Gabby Logan and Katherine Jenkins leave with 20k
Next pair: Annabel Croft and Pat Cash, she’s playing for Centrepoint, him for Orchid
[14/03/2019 09:07] And at that point Word took an age to save this file – it’s probably a sign, as there are over 300,000 words in it, it’s time for a new one perhaps. I started to make notes in Excel instead, because that hadn’t frozen.
1k: (Arabic) Official language spoken in all North African countries
2k: SOME SUNNY DAY 2009 autobiography of (Vera Lynn)
5k: DFW is the airport code for an airport in (Texas) [Dallas Fort Worth, and Cash talks about a song “All my ex’s live in Texas]
10k: Tithes were taxes that supported (The Church) [50/50 left them with The Press and The Church]
20k: Yogurt is produced by (Fermentation) not Distillation or dehydration
50k: A traditional form of Chinese medicine: (Cupping) Saucering / Dishing / Plating
100k: “We rob banks” is a famous line is this film: (Bonnie and Clyde) / The Italian Job / The Thomas Crown Affair / The Heist [Ask the audience: 64% Bonnie]
Both cheques so far have had the ENTIRE date covered by Tarrant’s thumb, and later the FINAL one shows no date at all
150k: The name of the dog in JKJ’s Three Men in a Boat: (Montmorency), came to me just before the answers came up]
[Phone-a-Friend: Sean Holden, historian, husband of one of Annabel’s oldest friends, has survived leukaemia, he thinks it’s Montmorency and they go for it]
Revise: the K in Jerome K Jerome [It’s KLAPKA]
[14/03/2019 09:13] And that’s the end of the show
SLEB WHO: Emmerdale special, 12-Mar-2019 on Challenge
[16/03/2019 10:34] This is the oldest episode from Challenge for me to watch, and I’ll LEARN about “Emmerdale” from this one. By this stage, over 6m quid has been raised for charities
Couple 1: Natasha Wylde and Faye Lamb, or Amanda Donohoe and Kim Thomson
Both went to Central, Amanda is millionaire businesswoman Wylde in the show, she’s playing for the Stroke Association / KIM was in Brush Strokes as KARL HOWMAN’S wise-cracking girlfriend, and is playing for Kidscape
1k: Sevilla football club are based in (Spain)
2k: A double Act: JK and Josh / Joel / Jimbo / Junior [Never heard of this, nor have they / Ask the Audience: 54% Joel, 37% Junior / Joel rings a kind of bell for me / It is JOEL]
Revise: JK and JOEL, who are they? Sam and Mark, Dick and Dom, and remember to look up that Sandi T show Number 73, or whatever it was called
5k: Who is driven around in a black Cadillac nicknamed “the Beast” Queen Elizabeth II / Pope Benedict XVI / Vladimar Putin / (Barack Obama)
10k: Title role in 2009 film “Young Victoria” Emma Thompson / (Emily Blunt) / Keira Knightley / Kate Winslet
REVISE: ALL those recent films about Victoria and other royals
20k: Which book features the line “There nothing … half so much worth doing as messing about in boats”? Three men in a boat / Wind in the willows / Swallows and Amazons / Tale of Peter Rabbit [Not sure, I think it’s 3 men and a boat / but I’m wrong: 50/50 leaves Wind and Swallows / Phone-A-Friend thinks it’s Swallows / This takes a LONG time: they go back and forth, go for WIND and then when they give the final answer, we go for a break, that was over 10 minutes of real time, but 2-3 minutes of my time / It’s “Wind in the Willows”]
REVISE: Wind in the willows quotes, also Peter Pan, Alice [I have read Peter Pan and both Alice books since 2019, it’s helped a bit]
50k: Landmark that is closest to the Equator: Mount Rushmore / Gobi Desert / Suez Canal / Ayers Rock [Either Gobi or Suez, and I’d go Suez / Wow, it’s AYERS ROCK – is Australia that close to the Equator?]
AMANDA and KIM leave with 20k
REVISE: Where exactly is the Gobi Desert? And note that AYERS ROCK is closer to the Equator than that or Gobi, or Suez Canal
Couple 2: Maisie Wylde (Amanda’s onscreen daughter) and Ryan Lamb (Kim’s onscreen son), otherwise ALICE COULTHARD and JAMES SUTTON
She was in The Cement Garden, read English at Liverpool, worked in an orphanage in Peru, playing for Everychild / HE was in Hollyoaks as John Paul McQueen, playing for When you wish upon a star
1k: (David Hasslehoff) is popularly known as The Hoff
2k: A football club that ends in United: York / (Torquay) / Bradford / Stoke
5k: Rolltop is a type of (Desk) [Ask the Audience: 88% get it right]
10k: Pop group featured in “Jersey Boys” (Four Seasons) [She thinks it’s Four Seasons, they go 50/50, and are left with them and Jackson 5]
20k: HUDSON RIVER forms part of the border between New York and which state: Connecticut / (New Jersey) / Pennsylvania / Vermont [Good question, kind of obvious, but I had to think about]
50k: Internet site founded by PERRE OMIDYAR: Google / eBay / Amazon / Friends Reunited [By elimination, it’s EBAY / Phone-A-Friend: his dad, he doesn’t know it, “I haven’t got a clue to be honest with you” / they don’t risk it]
ALICE and JAMES leave with 20k
REVISE: founders of Web companies: PERRE OMIDYAR founded eBay
SLEB WHO: Challenge Sat 16-Mar-2019
[17/03/2019 08:22] It’s Jim Davidson and Leah Christensen back again
8k: In Victorian England a Fingersmith was a (Pickpocket) [All 3 lifelines used here, first Phone-A-Friend who didn’t know, then 50/50 leaves Postman and pickpocket, and finally Ask the Audience around 70% went for it]
16k: CHRISTINE TRUMAN lost to Angela Mortimer in the all-British Ladies’ Final at Wimbledon in 1961, not Virginia Wade, Sue Barker or Ann Jones, who I thought it was [Davidson went quickly, for Wade, they lose 7k]
Jim and Leah leave with 1k
Next couple: Dr Neil Fox and Simon Cowell, when he was known just for Pop Idol by the look of it / Tarrant keeps going on about “Teletubbies” among Cowell’s other successes / Fox is playing for the hospice where his dad died, Cowell for Battersea Dogs Home
1k: In early radio recordings coconut shells used to make sound effect of horses’ hooves
2k: (America) a song from “Westside Story”, not Panama and other countries
4k: El Dorado, a legendary kingdom of enormous wealth on this continent (South America)
8k: Bresaola is a form of (beef) [they don’t know, Phone-A-Friend is sure]
16k: Which of these women is most associated with the Hundred Years’ War: Edith Cavell / (Joan of Arc) / Florence Nightingale / Cleopatra [Ask the Audience: 52% get it right, they go for it]
32k: Who famously lived in CLOUD HILLS in Dorset: Winston Churchill / Rudyard Kipling / John Constable / TE LAWRENCE [50/50: Kipling and Lawrence, they go Lawrence and they’re right]
Revise: Homes of TE Lawrence, Kipling, Thomas Hardy, Churchill, Constable , Turner
64k: Scored a series-clinching drop goal in the British Lions 1997 tour of South Africa: Will Carling / Rory Underwood / JEREMY GUSCOTT / Rob Andrew [I’d have gone Rob Andrew all day long, so have they, they leave with 32k]
Cowell and Fox leave with 32k
Next couple: Paul O’ Grady and Lesley GARRETT, he’s playing for the JOHN ASPINALL foundation, the zoo in Kent (check) that looks after animals and releases them back into the wild, she’s playing for the NSPCC, a place in her home town of Doncaster
1k: Author known as RLS: (Stevenson), not Shakespeare, Sheridan and so on
2k: First name of the queen’s nephew Lord Linley (David)
4k: In the 1933 film King Kong is taken to (New York)
8k: TV personality co-wrote Starlight Express and Phantom (Richard Stilgoe) NOT Gyles Brandreth / Alan Coren / Frank Muir
She keeps singing a teeny bit when she gets excited
[17/03/2019 08:47] And that’s the end of the show
OLD WHO: Sat/Sun 16/17Mar 11pm, midnight, are both REPEATS, notes elsewhere
Yup, from MALCOLM KNIGHT’S 64k question about MAIDEN’S BREATH through to Richard Scott, the civil engineer married to an Egyptian, episode starts and ends are the same as those on 21/02/2019
SLEB WHO: Challenge Sun 17-Mar-2019, O’Grady and Garrett
[18/03/2019 08:23] We’re back where we were, Paul O’Grady and Lesley Garrett
16k: CAMPANULA is the Latin name for which flower: Blue Poppy / Buttercup / Busy Lizzie / (Bellflower)
32k: Nationality of golfer MIKE WEIR who won the 2003 US Masters title: Australian / Canadian / Irish / Scottish [Phone-A-Friend: pretty sure he’s CANADIAN, and he is]
Cheque shows 25-12 clearly, thumb is over the year, but it’s just about readable when they grab it off Tarrant: 03
64k: Sir John Vanbrugh was famous as an architect and what else: Doctor / (Playwright) / Bishop / Politician [Lots of chat showing that they don’t know about this, they go 50/50 and choose doctor instead of Playwright, and they don’t use their 50/50
Next couple: Julie Hesmondhalgh (Tarrant pronounces it Hesmond-HALJ) and her old schoolfriend Connie Hyde, they’re both actresses: Hayley Cropper in “Coronation Street” and PC Cathy Bradford in The Bill (described as “mad, manipulative, a barefaced liar with a habit of hitting people”)
CRY (cardiac risk in the Young) and Maundy Relief in Accrington, the latter is a very small charity in ACCRINGTON where Julie is from / CRY-Madeleine Mulcahy Memorial Trust, next door neighbours girl who died aged 2 and a half, research into heart problems for kids
1k: (Official receiver) appointed to manage the estate of a company or person declared bankrupt
2k: (Oral) is a spoken examination
4k: Daughter born to the Earl and Countess of Wessex in November 2003: Anne / Louise / Caroline / Victoria [So, this was JUST before the show was broadcast / I think it’s Louise / Ask the Audience: 90% go Louise, and that’s right / Tarrant tells us it’s: Lady Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten-Windsor]
8k: FALIRAKI is a popular tourist resort on this Greek island: Rhodes / Corfu / Crete / Naxos [Phone-A-Friend: Connie’s father-in-law Brian, a pathologist, he’s never heard of it, can’t help them / 50/50 leaves Rhodes and Crete / It’s RHODES
REVISE: Greek islands and resorts / FALIRAKI is in RHODES / where is Lindos? It’s also on RHODES, in the SOUTH Aegean]
16k: Show me the money is a line from this Tom Cruise film: (Jerry Maguire)
32k: Complete this quotation by Jonathan Swift: He was a bold man that first an: Aubergine / (Oyster) / Eel / Ugli Fruit [I would have gone Egg if it had been there, but it’s Oyster / they don’t risk it]
Julie and Connie leave with 16k
Next couple: Fern Britton and Philip Schofield
Him: The Chase Children’s Hospice Service / Her: Age Concern England
500 quid: The Body Zone was a feature of this UK tourist attraction: (Millennium Dome)
1k: From Rags to Richie: an autobiography by (Shane Richie)
2k: In 2003, completed 7 marathons in 7 days: (Ranulph Fiennes), not Paula Radcliffe, Ian Botham or Richard Branson
4k: Serge Gainsbourg and (Jane Birkin) 1969 hit Je t’aime … moi non plus
8k: FROGMORE, where Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are buried: Balmoral / Sandringham / Isle of Wight / WINDSOR [I was pretty sure it was Windsor, they knew it without any chat]
16k: Swede DAG HAMMARSKJOLD was secretary-general of: Commonwealth / (United Nations) / Red Cross / NATO [Phone-A-Friend: Alistair says United Nations, definitely, and he knew he was killed in an air crash / I wouldn’t have known this in 2003, have only learnt it in last 2 years / I think their Phone-A-Friend might have been Alistair Burnet – Tarrant says that he would have reported on the plane crash back in his News at 10 days]
32k: Starred Burt Lancaster: Circus of Horrors / (Trapeze) / Tightrope / Sawdust and Tinsel
[18/03/2019 08:55] They’ve got to 32k, and that’s the end of the show before we even see the cheque / How did that take 32 minutes?
WHO: Sun 17-Mar-2019, 11pm is a repeat
[18/03/2019 08:55] Ann Stanley from RUGELEY in Staffordshire, looks familiar, I must have notes on this somewhere, yes I do, from just a week ago
WHO: Sun/ Mon 17/18-Mar-2019 midnight and 1am, 8-10-00, 9-10-00
[18/03/2019 09:08] Okay, so I just spent 13 minutes checking that the last episode is noted fully
I have a few notes from the END Of this show, live on 9-Dec-2018, about Alice Keppel, the mistress of Edward VII but not about the first 45 minutes, so I’ll need to note it at some point. And the 1am show starts with only ONE contestant getting the NATO Phonetic Alphabet fastest finger first, and I don’t have notes on this one.
SO, TWO hours of shows from last night to make notes on, both of which I have caught parts of before, back before I knew that I was going to transcribe the questions so fully
[18/03/2019 12:25] Back to try and get through the midnight show, 10 new contestants
FFF: Start at north, compass points in clockwise order
ABDC gives us: Northeast Southeast Southwest Northwest
4/10 get it right, John Ward is fastest in 8.34s
A music teacher from Gateshead, his wife is in the audience
1k: (En suite) French phrase describing a bathroom directly attached to a bedroom
2k: BELLAMY’S address in Upstairs Downstairs: 32 Windsor Gardens / (165 Eaton Place) / 221b Baker Street / 23 Railway Cuttings [By elimination there: the rest are Paddington, Sherlock Holmes, Tony Hancock / he knew the last 2, he’s gone 50/50 and, surprise surprise, he’s been left with the first 2 / Ask the Audience: 65% get it right]
REVISE: fictional addresses, 165 EATON PLACE is the Bellamy’s in Upstairs Downstairs / 32 Windsor Gardens is Paddington / 221b Baker Street is Sherlock Holmes / 23 Railway Cuttings is Tony Hancock
4k: (Saints) is the nickname of Southampton FC
8k Alderney is in the (Channel Islands) not Scilly Isles, Outer Hebrides or Shetlands
16k: Horologist makes (clocks)
32k: Best-selling book Fatherland written by: Andy McNab / (Robert Harris) / Jack Higgins / Ken Follett
REVISE: Books by Andy McNab / (Robert Harris) / Jack Higgins / Ken Follett [Phone-A-Friend doesn’t know / he doesn’t risk it]
John Ward leaves with 16k
FFF: Start with LARGEST, playing surfaces in order of maximum area
ACBD gives us: Polo pitch / football pitch / ice hockey rink / squash court
5/9 get it right, Jeremy Fewster is fastest in 4.88s
An air traffic assistant in Egham in Surrey, his fiancée is in the audience, 2 cats at home / an ex-Goth, big Sisters of Mercy fan
1k: Hell’s Angels most associated with this form of transport (motorbikes)
2k: 1980 hit I could be so good for you (Dennis Waterman) not Gary Webster, George Cole or John Thaw [Ask the Audience: 88% get it right]
4k: Battle of Balaclava fought during (Crimean War)
8k: Lebanon is on this continent (Asia)
16k: JAMES Boswell best known for his biography of (Samuel Johnson) not Swift, Pepys or Defoe [Phone-A-Friend: Thinks it’s Johnson, not 100% sure]
16k: In the Bible, who was visited by the Queen of Sheba: David / (Solomon) / John the Baptist / Abraham [50/50 leaves David as well, but he gambles on Solomon, because he didn’t know]
Cheque shows us 8-10-00
64k: Entertainer known as “The Cheeky Chappie”: Max Wall / Charlie Chester / George Formby / Max Miller [Miller or Chester, I’d go for Miller / He goes for Chester, but it’s MAX MILLER]
REVISE: Music hall and early radio stars, You lucky people and all that / The Cheeky Chappie was Max Miller
Jeremy Fewster leaves with 32k
FFF: Barbara Taylor Bradford novels in the order they were first published
I went wrong with DBCA: A woman of substance / To be the best / Hold the dream / Angel
NOPE, it’s DCBA, which gives us: A woman of substance / Hold the Dream / To be the best / Angel
1979 / 1985 / 1988 / 1993
2/8 get it right, John McCormick is fastest in 5.97s
A production operator from Liverpool / his brother is there, and they’re Liverpool fans
1k: Henry Cooper is associated with (Boxing)
2k: Kumquat is a (fruit)
4k: Buxton is in (Derbyshire)
8k: On a musical score PRESTO means: (Quick) Loud / Getting quieter / Very slowly [Ask the Audience: 85% get it right]
16k: A novel by Oliver Goldsmith: (The Vicar of Wakefield) [He saw it in his book of literature on the way to the studio, got as far as G]
32k: Strasbourg is in (France) [50/50 leaves him with Germany too / Phone-A-Friend: ]
Cheque shows 9-10-00, but I didn’t notice a change of clothes – there probably was one /
Mrs Keppel was the mistress of which king: Charles II / James II / George IV / Edward VII [Would I have got this? I’d have probably gone for Charles II but I know now that it’s Ed VII, and I have a note from OVER 3 MONTHS ago to revise royal mistresses / he goes George IV]
John McCormick leaves with 32k
[18/03/2019 12:56] That’s the end of the show, and my 3-hour recording; 29 minutes to see around 45 minutes of quizzing, and make all these notes, 733 words.
WHO: Mon 18-Mar-2019 1am on Challenge, 15-10-00
[18/03/2019 15:28] I flicked through it earlier, while eating lunch, and now here are some notes
FFF: Boys’ names “in the order they occur in the phonetic alphabet”
BADC gives us: Charlie Oscar Romeo Victor
1/9 gets it right, Ian Hodgetts in 9.79s
A care manager from KINGS HEATH in Birmingham, his mum is in the audience, and he’d pay off his parents’ mortgage with 16k / He’s a big fan of Travis
1k: Little House (on the prairie) was an American TV series
2k: (The Lizard) peninsula in the SW Cornwall [Ask the Audience: 92% get it right]
4k: Sir Edwin Landseer’s painting “The Monarch of the Glen” is a portrait of a (deer) [Phone-A-Friend knows it]
8k: Headingley cricket ground is in (Leeds) [50/50 gives him Manchester s well, he doesn’t risk it]
Ian Hodgetts goes home with 4k / There was a subtle change of clothes there during his questions – from a t-shirt to v-neck jumper nearly the same colour
10 new contestants, including KEVIN SQUELCH
FFF: Start with smallest, diameters of these heavenly bodies in order
CABD gives us: Moon / Earth / Jupiter / Sun
8/10 get it right Richard Nichols is fastest in 5.05s
Health & Safety Officer from Market Harborough / wife Paula in the audience, 3 kids at home / Most people call him ‘Enry because he used to box and had a good left hook
1k: Mull and Skye are part of this island group (Hebrides) Balearics / Canaries / Falklands [Easy because of the other options]
REVISE: And I know I’ve written this before for revision: Island groups / MULL and SKYE are in the Hebrides
2k: (Apples and pears) means stairs in Cockney Rhyming Slang
4k: Shallots and Scallions are (onions) not beans, potatoes or cabbages [Ask the Audience: 94% get it]
8k: Tennis star who appeared in Octopussy with Roger Moore (Vijay Armritraj) [Phone-A-Friend knows it]
16k: LORD SNOOTY regularly appeared in this comic for over 50 years: Dandy / Beano [That’s what 50/50 left him with, and it’s the BEANO / he doesn’t risk it]
Richard Nichols leaves with 8k
REVISE: Dandy and Beano characters – it’s USUALLY Beano, but check out who was in Dandy / Lord Snooty was in Beano, Desperate Dan was in Dandy
FFF: Clint Eastwood films in order
ADCB gives us: A fistful of dollars / Dirty Harry / Firefox / In the line of fire
64 / 71 / 82 / 93
4/9 get it right, John Bullivent is fastest in 6.77s
An IT recruitment consultant from TUTBURY in Staffordshire / wife Karen is there / Their son John is at home with his aunt
1k: A roofed platform along the outside of a house, level with the ground floor: (veranda) not attic, scullery or cellar [And Tarrant tells us it comes from PORTUGUESE for railing / I thought it was Indian, like shampoo, jungle and bungalow]
2k: Kim Philby famous in the 1960s as a (spy)
4k: Saint (Catherine) associated with a wheel
8k: 1988 Olympics held in (Seoul) [50/50 leaves him with LA and the right answer, he goes right]
16k: Tomb of the “Unknown Warrior” is in (Westminster Cathedral)
32k: According to the proverb, the month that comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb: (March) Ask the Audience: 66% get it right]
Cheque says 15-10 and he’s covering the year first, then we see it’s 15-10-00
64k: In the Bible (Egypt) was struck by 10 plagues including Locusts and Frogs
125k: Great-grandson of Queen Victoria, Albert Duke of York, became which British King: Ed VII / George V / Ed VIII / (George VI) [When I was flicking through this earlier, I didn’t twig that it was DUKE OF YORK, and that makes it easy-peasy: it’s all in the question this time / Ed VIII would have been Prince of Wales / Phone-A-Friend is fairly sure it’s George VI/ he goes for it]
250k: “Devil’s coach-horse” is an insect: Wasp BEETLE Termite Mayfly [I didn’t know, so remember it: “Devil’s Coach Horse” is a BEETLE]
John Bullivent leaves with 125k
REVISE: insects, “Devil’s Coach Horse” is a BEETLE
10 new contestants, but we weren’t introduced to them, includes Bav Patel, Daren De Grucy, Mick Jordan, Alan Sweeney
FFF: Start with shortest lived, animals in order of average lifespan
CADB gives us: hamster / dog / horse / elephant
In years: 2 / 12 / 20-25 / 60-70
9/10 get it right, Jean Thomson is fastest in 5.58s
A civil servant from Newcastle, a single mum / her friend Margaret is in the audience
1k: (Titanic) 1997 film starring Kate Winslet
2k: (Fort Knox) US government’s gold bullion depository and military location
4k: (Plum) has a variety named after Queen Victoria
[18/03/2019 16:01] And that’s it
OLD WHO: Fri 15-Mar-2019 on Challenge, missed start, but now it’s complete
[19/03/2019 07:31] Couples, missed the start of this one, here’s a woman in a purple dress / But now, [14/04/2019 22:21] I have seen the rest, repeated Sun 14-Apr-2019 at 3am/ We’re back with Lin and Ste on 64k
64k: Bakewell, Edale and Castleton lie in which National Park: Lake District / North York Moors / Northumberland / Peak District [They’ve gone North York Moors but it’s PEAK DISTRICT]
Lin and Ste leave with 32k
Cheque reads Lin Morris 15-3-01
FFF: Woody Allen films in order of release
BDAC gives us: Sleeper / Annie Hall / Hannah and her Sisters / Bullets over Broadway
4/8 get it right, David & Meriel fastest in 9.02s
Civil engineer and Learning Support Assistant from Haverfordwest Pembrokeshire / 4 kids at home / They will pay son Matthew’s student loan if he stops his house looking like landfill / Her fancy: Ken Barlow, his: Lulu, “to make an interesting foursome” / She was his first girlfriend, he was her first boyfriend, they’ve been married for 35 years
[And this is where I came in]
1k: (Pipers) and drummers are the musicians in the 12 Days of Christmas
2k: Henna is used to (dye hair)
4k: (St Elmo’s) Fire is the electrical discharge seen around ships and church spires during storms
8k: Dudley is in the (West Midlands)
16k: Starred as Ivanhoe in the 1950s TV series: Michael Caine / Sean Connery / David Niven / (Roger Moore) [Phone-A-Friend: 75% sure]
[I think I have notes about this already, but it’s quicker just to carry on than try and find them]
32k: Women’s singles title at Australian Open in 2001: JENNIFER CAPRIATI not Venus, Martina Hingis or Lindsay Davenport [They don’t risk it / Ask the Audience goes 38% Jen and 35% Venus, and 50/50 leaves them with those two as well]
Mariel and Dave leave with 16k
10 new couples
FFF: Sums in order
DCAB gives us: 4-4 / 3/3 / 1+1 / 2×2
5/10 get it right, Jason and Julia are fastest in 10.00s
He’s a computer programmer, she’s a statistician / From Harlow in Essex
1k: standard and table are types of a common household object (lamp)
2k: Mia Farrow and Diane Keaton are most associated with (Woody Allen) [Ask the Audience: 90% get it right]
4k: a fledgling is the young of a (bird)
8k: LCD stands for (liquid crystal display)
16k: SPLIT is in (Croatia) [Phone-A-Friend: he’s sure, and then says he’s 50% sure]
32k: JK Rowling: first names are (Joanne Kathleen) [50/50 also leaves Jenny Katherine, they hum and ha / they don’t risk it]
Jason and Julia leave with 16k
REVISE: author initials: JK Rolwing is Joanne KATHLEEN
FFF: Disney films in order of release
DBCA gives us: The Jungle Book / The Aristocats / The Little Mermaid / The Lion King
Only 2/9 get it right, Steve and Lorraine are fastest in 6.80s
A sales director and childminder from Reading in Berkshire
1k: (Colliery) is a coal mine, not bunker, well, or something else obvious
2k: Nicky Campbell and John Leslie have both presented this TV game show: Going for Gold / Family Fortunes / The Golden Shot / (Wheel of Fortune) [Ask the Audience: 85% get it right]
4k: Essential item in sport of abseiling: Camera / Bicycle / (Rope) / Torch
8k: (Calf) is a young elephant
REVISE: names for young animals, calfs and foals, elephants are calves, and male and female types – male whale, female whale, that kind of thing
16k: In medical terms the suffix “ectomy” means Inflammation of / (Surgical removal of) / Study of / Fear of
Steve and Lorraine
[19/03/2019 07:50] Great, just in time, now on with the day
SLEB WHO: Challenge, Chris Evans & Terry Wogan (1k), 2 Nolans (50k)
[19/03/2019 13:04] I flicked through it earlier, in about 10 minutes, and don’t really need to go through it in detail / Evans: Chase Hospice, Wogan: Children in Need [It always surprises me that the dictionary in Word doesn’t recognize Wogan as a word]
1k: Angel of the North geographically closest to (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) not Preston or other such options
2k: Pudding made from suet: Bread and butter pudding / (Spotted Dick) / Queen of puddings / Apple Charlotte
5k: Men’s singles winner 2009: (Roger Federer) not Nadal, Hewitt or Djokovic [They take a LONG time to decide on that one]
10k: Barack Obama was born in (Hawaii) [Wogan goes for Georgia, thinks he was born there but LIVED in Hawaii]
Chris & Terry leave with 1k
Next couple: Coleen and Maureen, two of the Nolan Sisters
Coleen: Sara’s Hope Foundation / Maureen: Niemann-Pick Disease Group UK
NOTE: BERNIE Nolan is the sister who died
1k: Name most associated with the “big top”: John Mills / BERTRAM MILLS / Freddie Mills / Gordon Mills [NEVER heard of him, toughest 1k question yet
2k: A plumb line would be most useful for (hanging wallpaper) not reading a book or baking a cake [Ask the Audience: 91% get it right]
5k: In 2008 JODIE PRENGER won a TV talent contest for a role in (Oliver)
10k: Fictional character with parrot called POLYNESIA: Worzel Gummidge / Noddy / (Dr Dolittle) / Willy Wonka
20k: Runnymede is in (Surrey) not Norfolk, Cornwall, Cumbria [If Berkshire had been an option I might not have been so sure]
50k: TORTUGA ISLAND is in which sea: Mediterranean / Red / CARIBBEAN / South China [Never heard of it / Phone-A-Friend is a geography teacher, thinks it might be Caribbean / then runs out of time / 50/50 leaves South China as well / They go for it / Tarrant gets up, stands behind them, gives them a hug and then gives them the good news]
REVISE: Islands and seas, TORTUGA island is in CARIBBEAN / Baltic island of FALSTER is owned by DENMARK
75k: The name of the First Lord of the Admiralty in Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta HMS Pinafore: Sir Richard Cholmondley / Sir Despard Murgatroyd / Dir Joseph Porter / Sir Bailey Barre [No idea, they go for Cholmondley, but it’s SIR JOSEPH PORTER
REVISE: Gilbert and Sullivan again, SIR JOSEPH PORTER is the First Lord of the Admiralty in Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta HMS Pinafore]
[19/03/2019 13:30] Great, another one down
The Compartments 