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00:22MUSIC CONTINUES
00:22Thank you very much indeed.
00:23Hello, I'm Alexander Armstrong and a very warm welcome to Pointless,
00:26the show where obvious answers mean nothing
00:28and obscure answers mean everything.
00:30Let's meet today's players.
00:36And couple number one.
00:38Hi, I'm Bruce and this is my wife Steph
00:40and we're from Brig House in West Yorkshire.
00:42Couple number two.
00:43Hi, I'm Kieran, I'm from Crystal Palace.
00:45This is my friend Martin from Hackney.
00:47Couple number three.
00:48Hi, I'm Finn, I'm from Slough
00:49and this is my friend Abby, she's from Northumberland.
00:51And finally, couple number four.
00:53Hi, I'm Sammy, this is my son Theo and we're from Putney.
00:56And these are today's contestants.
00:59APPLAUSE
00:59Thank you very much, all of you.
01:01A very warm welcome to Pointless.
01:02It's terrific to have you all here.
01:03That just needs one more person for me to introduce.
01:06She's a comedian with an MSc in Forensic Science,
01:09which I discovered when I woke up from my pre-show nap,
01:12outlined with white chalk with a tag on my toe.
01:15For the last time, it is my Pointless friend, it's Ria Lina.
01:18APPLAUSE
01:20I must apologise, that was totally my fault,
01:23but you sleep like the dead, so...
01:24Well, there we are, there we are.
01:26It's a force of habit.
01:27It was nice to see the outline of my rest.
01:30It's kind of nice to, you know, get back into it,
01:32a little practice of the old skills.
01:34Yeah, absolutely.
01:34So, it's great to be back, thank you so much for having me.
01:36This is my final episode in this little jaunt,
01:40but it is also the final episode of Kieran and Martin.
01:43So, best of luck to you this time, hopefully third time lucky for you.
01:46But we have two coming back to us for their second shows,
01:48which is Bruce and Steph, hello again, and Finn and Abby.
01:51Best of luck today.
01:52But, big welcome to Theo and Sammy, for whom it's their first show.
01:56Thank you very much. Have a great one.
01:57Indeed.
01:58Now, Deanna and Jenny got through to the final last time
02:00and they won the jackpot.
02:02So, today's jackpot starts off back at £1,000.
02:06There we are.
02:06Right, if everyone's ready, let's play pointless.
02:14Just remember, at all times, it's the pair with the highest score
02:16at the end of each round that gets eliminated,
02:17so keep your scores low.
02:18That's all you have to remember.
02:20Best of luck to everybody.
02:21Our first category today is...
02:25..science.
02:26Can you all decide in your pairs who's going to go first,
02:28who's going to go second, and whoever's going first?
02:31Please step up to the podium.
02:35OK, let's find out what the question is.
02:38Here it comes.
02:38We gave 100 people 100 seconds to name as many chemical elements
02:44spelt using no more than six different letters
02:47as they could, Ria.
02:49We would like you to name any element of the periodic table
02:53whose name can be spelt with no more than six different letters.
02:57Letters can be repeated, so there can be more than six letters
03:00in total in the name, as long as there are no more than six
03:03different letters in the spelling.
03:05This is according to the latest periodic table published
03:08by the IU PAC as of May 2023.
03:12Very best of luck.
03:13There we are. Thank you very much indeed, Ria.
03:15Now then, oh, Steph, this is where you pay the price
03:18of being on the first podium.
03:20I did.
03:21Before we get down to that, though, we'd like to know more about you.
03:24Well, we spend a lot of our time buying and selling antiques,
03:31mostly silver, but occasionally we'll go out on a flying limb
03:36and buy something totally crazy, like a stuffed kestrel.
03:42Last week we bought at auction.
03:45Wow. A stuffed kestrel?
03:46Just because it was calling to you?
03:48Eating a dead bird. Hovering above you.
03:49It wasn't calling that much.
03:51So have you become terrific experts, then, since this started?
03:55Mainly in silver, yes. In silver?
03:57We can do the hallmarks. So you can read a hallmark?
03:59Yes.
03:59You go, oh, right, yes. Oh, it's Georgian.
04:01Definitely Georgian. Yes.
04:02And you got to know your silver makers.
04:04You do. We've got a book. A book.
04:07Very good. It's very good to have a book.
04:08Yes, we need a book.
04:10Well, good for you, Steph.
04:11What are you going to go for?
04:13Chemical elements spelt using no more than six letters.
04:18Cobalt. Cobalt.
04:20Says Steph.
04:22Shall we see how many of our 100 people said cobalt?
04:26Cobalt is right.
04:30Down and down it goes. This is good.
04:32This is very good indeed.
04:33Down to go to five, Steph.
04:34Terrific starts of the round and indeed the show.
04:37What a brilliant answer.
04:38Cobalt, of course, has been used for centuries
04:40to give that blue colour to glazes and ceramics.
04:43And it has even been detected in glass in Pompeian ruins.
04:47So that's how long it's been used.
04:48That's how long it's been around.
04:50And also how well it survives.
04:51Hardy.
04:52Durable, you might say.
04:53Elemental.
04:54There you are.
04:55Thank you very much indeed, Ria.
04:56Now, Kieran, welcome back for the third show.
04:59We must know more about you.
05:01It's our last chance to hear.
05:02So, my name's Kieran.
05:03I'm from London, from Curtis Palace.
05:05I'm also a bit of a gamer as well.
05:07I like to game.
05:07I actually studied video game design at university.
05:10Oh, wow.
05:10So, that's work.
05:11So, if anyone comes in and you're just gaming, you go...
05:15It was a struggle, of course.
05:16I changed to do graphic design, which is what I do now.
05:18Yeah.
05:18But it was a really interesting course,
05:19and I love gaming in my spare time.
05:21Very good indeed.
05:22Kieran, how are you liking our chemical elements round?
05:26Not great, to be honest.
05:28Yeah, really hard.
05:29Yeah.
05:30Carbon.
05:31Carbon.
05:32Yeah.
05:33Carbon.
05:33Why not?
05:34Shall we see how many of our 100 said carbon?
05:39Well, it certainly uses six letters.
05:43Six letters in it, each one different.
05:45There we are.
05:4527 for carbon.
05:48Hugely important for all those carbon-based life forms.
05:50Of course, the isotope carbon-12 is actually the standard relative
05:54to which the atomic weights of all other elements are measured.
05:58So...
05:58Oh, look, suddenly I see you're...
06:00You are coming quite literally into your element here.
06:03This is...
06:04Of course, this is your...
06:06This is bread and butter to you.
06:07I am enjoying this round.
06:08I won't deny it.
06:09I'm enjoying this round.
06:11OK, thank you very much indeed.
06:12Now then, Finn, welcome back.
06:14Hello.
06:15You were a golden couple last time.
06:16You were outstanding, you and Abi, last time.
06:19Anyway, tell us more about yourself.
06:20Yeah, so, as I said, I studied photography at university.
06:24So, second year, very, very stressful.
06:27So, a lot of what I've been doing now is just working on photography
06:29projects at the moment.
06:30And this is largely practical, then?
06:32Yeah, a lot of practical stuff.
06:33There's the essay stuff, but practical is more fun.
06:35So, you...
06:36What kind of photography?
06:37I mean, there's a lot to study there, clearly.
06:39Yeah.
06:39You must be learning all kinds of different methods of photography.
06:42Yeah, there's a lot of different ones.
06:43I mean, the main thing is when you get to uni,
06:44they just want you to experiment.
06:45Yeah.
06:46And just try and do that.
06:47Just have fun, really.
06:48Just in the studio.
06:49I've been doing a lot of stuff with, like, the body.
06:51I've been, like, morphing my body in, like, weird ways,
06:53like balloons and stuff, which has been exciting.
06:56But, yeah, it's fun.
06:57Good.
06:57Sounds fascinating.
06:58Finn, what about chemistry?
07:00Chemistry, of course, comes into photography.
07:02Yeah, it does.
07:03I have an answer, and it's quite risky, though.
07:06And if I get it wrong, Abby's going to hate me
07:07and my science teacher's going to hate me.
07:09I'm going to say neon.
07:11Neon?
07:12Yeah.
07:12Says Finn.
07:13Shall we see what happens when we say neon?
07:17Neon is right.
07:24Very well done indeed, Finn.
07:26I think your science teacher and Abby liked it, I think,
07:29on the evidence of that.
07:30Yes, well done.
07:33The first ever neon advertising sign, though,
07:35was installed in a French barber shop in 1912.
07:39Wow.
07:39But I can't tell you what it said.
07:41I don't know what it...
07:41Oh, you better not.
07:42Why, was it rude?
07:43I don't know.
07:44No, I genuinely...
07:45I don't know if it just sort of went...
07:46Oh, I see.
07:46Get your hair cut here.
07:47Oh, I see.
07:48Like as a prototype, Tracey Emin.
07:50Bruce, would you know?
07:52As a barber?
07:52No.
07:53Barbicide.
07:54My shop won't open, then.
07:55No.
07:56No, no, I wasn't suggesting that.
07:57I do apologise.
07:57Let's just make that perfect complaint.
07:59Sorry.
08:00There we are.
08:01Maybe you inherited the sign.
08:03I don't know.
08:03Thank you very much indeed.
08:05Now then, Sammy, welcome to Pointless.
08:07Wonderful to have you here from Putney.
08:09Yes.
08:10Tell us all about yourself, Sammy.
08:11I'm a compliance manager in the school,
08:13and in my spare time I love mountain walking.
08:16Splendid.
08:16Where have been your favourite mountains?
08:18I think Pyrenees are the prettiest mountains I've been to,
08:21but I've been to most mountains in the world and made the children do the three peaks when they were
08:26much younger.
08:27Good.
08:27Do you think they like mountain climbing and mountain walking as much as you do?
08:31Or do you think maybe...
08:32I mean, there's a slightly pained look on Theo's face.
08:34Well, the problem was that we did Snowdon last and it was pouring with rain.
08:40Oh, no.
08:40But because we'd done the other two we were committed.
08:42You had to.
08:42So it was miserable.
08:43Do you have to do it in a set time then?
08:44Well, we didn't do the 24 hours.
08:46OK.
08:47We did one day per mountain.
08:48Fair enough.
08:50Fair enough.
08:51Now, Sammy, what are you going to go for?
08:52I'm going to go for Sulfur.
08:55Sulfur.
08:56Says Sammy, should we see how many of our 100 said Sulfur?
09:02Sulfur.
09:02Which, of course, we now spell slightly differently.
09:06Reducing our letter usage there.
09:08Down to go for seven.
09:09Very well done.
09:09Lovely score for Sulfur.
09:12Nicely done.
09:13For a moment I panicked there because, of course, there's two different ways to spell Sulfur.
09:16And I went, but if it's with a PH.
09:18But actually, it works both ways.
09:19Either way, it's still spelt with no more than six different letters.
09:23So it's a great answer either way.
09:24Well done.
09:24There we are.
09:25Thank you very much indeed, Ria.
09:26We are halfway through the round.
09:27Let's have a quick look at those scores.
09:28Five, Steph.
09:29The best score of the pass.
09:30So Steph and Bruce looking terrific.
09:32Then we travel from there to seven, which is where we find Sammy and Theo.
09:35From there to eight, where we find Finn and Abby.
09:37And from there to 27.
09:39Suddenly quite a high score there.
09:40Kieran and Martin.
09:41Martin, let's see if we can find a really lovely low scoring answer.
09:45Good luck with that.
09:45We're going to come back down the line now.
09:47Will the second players please step up to the podium?
09:54Theo, welcome to Pointless.
09:56Great to have you here.
09:56Tell us all about yourself.
09:57So, I'm in my second year studying maths at university.
10:00Are you enjoying it?
10:01It's a lot of work, but...
10:03It's a lot of work.
10:04But fun.
10:05Good stuff.
10:05And what do you like getting up to when the maths is done?
10:08I do running in my spare time.
10:10Very good.
10:11Long distance running or just a bit of running?
10:14I did a half marathon.
10:15Yeah, that's a long distance.
10:17Now, Theo, you are on seven.
10:19We are looking, even at this early stage of the pass,
10:21we are looking for a score of 19 to get you into the next round.
10:25What would you like to go for?
10:27Nahonium.
10:29Nahonium, says Theo.
10:30There we are.
10:31You get a red line, and it's there.
10:34Shall we see what happens when we say Nahonium?
10:39Nahonium is right.
10:42I have a feeling it will get you through.
10:44I have a feeling it might be something else.
10:45Yes, it does.
10:46Very well done, indeed.
10:48Nahonium, very well done.
10:49It's a pointless answer, and it adds £250 to today's jackpot,
10:53taking the total up to £1,250,
10:55causes you nothing, leaves your total at seven,
10:58and is just terrific.
11:00That's a fabulous answer.
11:01It uses exactly six different letters, N-I-H-O-U-M.
11:05It was first synthesised in 2004 at a research centre in Japan,
11:10where they announced the production of exactly one atom of the element.
11:15There we are.
11:15What they did with that one atom,
11:17how they shared that around, I'm not sure, but...
11:18But they know molecularly how it looks.
11:22Atomically.
11:23Atomically.
11:24Mm.
11:24Not molecularly.
11:27I embarrass myself sometimes.
11:29Thank you very much indeed, Ria.
11:30Now, Abi, welcome back to Pointless.
11:32Great to have you here again.
11:34Tell us more about yourself.
11:36Well, I'm a second-year print student at Chelsea College of Arts,
11:40but in my sort of spare time, I do a lot of, like, knit and crochet,
11:44which is more structural textiles, but just for fun.
11:46What is your favourite bit of the course?
11:49I like learning the different textiles processes.
11:51That's, like, sort of my favourite thing.
11:53I like being quite hands-on and practical with that, so, yeah.
11:55Very.
11:56I really enjoyed it.
11:56We did screen printing at the start of this year,
11:58so I really enjoyed it.
11:59That was fun.
11:59Great to do that.
12:00Now, Abi, you are on eight, which means 18 or less...
12:03Yeah.
12:04..gets you into the next round.
12:06Do you remember your periodic table well?
12:08Not really, no.
12:09OK.
12:10Not the best science, but the only one I can think of is tin,
12:14but I feel like a lot of people are going to say that.
12:17OK.
12:17We're going to go for tin.
12:18This is music to the ears of Martin and Kieran.
12:20Tin.
12:21How many of our 100 said that?
12:22Here is your red line.
12:27It's right.
12:28Down it goes, Abi.
12:29Down it goes.
12:29Still going down.
12:30Still going down.
12:31Look, it's got you through as well.
12:32Tin.
12:33Six.
12:35Well, that's amazing.
12:37Takes your total up to 14.
12:39Brilliant.
12:40Tin, we've all heard of it, but do we know how often
12:42and where it's used?
12:44It's actually used, I don't know if you know,
12:45it's most window glass is made by floating molten glass
12:48on molten tin to produce flat surfaces.
12:50Not just for encasing tuna, which I don't think is tin.
12:53It probably isn't even tin anywhere.
12:54It's just some alloy.
12:55That's brilliant.
12:56Did you know about the glass and the molten tin?
12:59The tin.
13:00OK, thank you very much indeed.
13:02Martin, you are on 27.
13:04We have to start thinking of a lovely low score for you,
13:07but not until we've heard, for the last time,
13:09a little bit more about yourself.
13:11Yeah, so I'm a director at a creative consultancy
13:14and I'm a really big music fan as well.
13:17And for the last couple of years, actually,
13:19I've been listening to a lot of Brazilian music
13:21because my wife is actually Portuguese,
13:23so I'm kind of using it as a vessel
13:25to try and learn the language as well.
13:27How are you getting on with it?
13:28Well, I've been, like, learning Portuguese on and off
13:30for about 12 years.
13:33Right.
13:33So I'm OK, but probably not as good as I should be.
13:36Not as good.
13:37But the music.
13:38Yeah, exactly.
13:38Terrific music.
13:39Where do you go to find your Brazilian music?
13:42Well, mostly recommendations from my wife
13:44or streaming services.
13:46Excellent.
13:46But, yeah, I go to as many concerts as I can
13:48when there's, like, stuff going on in London, too.
13:50Brilliant.
13:51Good for you.
13:51Now, Martin, you are on 27, you are our high scorers.
13:54What are you going to go for?
13:56Um, so there's a few that I think are probably a bit too obvious,
14:00so I'm going to hope that it doesn't use more than six letters
14:05and go for lithium.
14:06Lithium, says Martin.
14:08OK, lithium.
14:09No red line, as you are the high scorers at the moment,
14:11but let's see how many of our 100 said lithium.
14:15It's right.
14:20Oh, this is good, Martin.
14:21It's very good.
14:22It's down again to 11.
14:23Taking your total up to 38.
14:26Very nice.
14:27Lithium does use exactly six letters
14:29and it uses the letter I twice.
14:31So it counts.
14:32The most important modern use of lithium, of course,
14:34is in rechargeable batteries for mobile phones, laptops,
14:37digital cameras, electric vehicles.
14:39If you have any of those, you got some lithium.
14:41We got some lithium in our lives.
14:43Thank you very much indeed, Ria.
14:44Now, Bruce, welcome back to Pointless.
14:47Tell us more about yourself.
14:49Well, besides being a geriatric hairdresser,
14:55I helped Steph doing a lot of research
14:58for the silver and things like that
14:59and it was me that bought the stuffed kestrel
15:01and we've got two dogs, but they're alive, they're not stuffed.
15:06They're alive, they're moving.
15:08And they just keep me on my toes.
15:09What do they make of the kestrel?
15:11We've hidden it, haven't we?
15:13So the idea is the kestrel then will be sold on
15:16or have you got a place for it somewhere?
15:18No, no, it'll be sold on.
15:19Does it need a bit of sprucing up?
15:21I don't know, a little bit of gel?
15:22It's in a glass cage, so just give it a little bit of a polish.
15:26A little bit of a polish?
15:27Yeah, it's fine, fine.
15:27And is the glass all right?
15:29Does it need to be reset on some molten tin maybe?
15:31No, no, it's fine.
15:32Well, yeah, yeah, it could be, yeah.
15:34OK.
15:35Now, Bruce, you are on five.
15:36We are looking for a score of 32 or less to get you into the next round.
15:42I'll try Zenon.
15:44Zenon, says Bruce.
15:46Zenon.
15:46Here is your red line.
15:48Shall we see if we can get you below this red line with Zenon?
15:53There we are.
15:54Four letters.
15:58And you're through.
15:58Very well done, indeed.
16:00Round two.
16:00Oh, wait, it's down to one.
16:01It goes, Bruce.
16:02This is terrific.
16:03Save your total up to six.
16:04Very well done.
16:06Zenon is actually more prevalent in our lives than we perhaps realise.
16:09It's actually used in high-speed electronic flashbulbs used by photographers,
16:13sunbed lamps and the bactericidal lamps used in food prep and processing.
16:17So it's actually incredible that only one other person thought of that answer.
16:22Amazing.
16:22Poor Zenon.
16:23I don't know who does the press for Zenon, but they should perhaps pull their finger out.
16:27Well, at least it got one point because there were 23 pointless answers.
16:31So let's have a look at a few of them that you could have had.
16:35Astatine, curium, firmium, indium, oganessin, osmium.
16:41Did Richard discover that one?
16:43Yes.
16:43Yes.
16:43Was that his?
16:44You just found it under there.
16:45It was, right.
16:46Yeah.
16:46Amazing.
16:48Phosphorus, tenosine and yttrium.
16:51Moving on to the ones to avoid.
16:53Here are the top three high scorers that people came up with, including gold,
16:59which 39 people answered, iron, which was scored 40, and oxygen, which scored 44.
17:05So well done to avoiding all of those and well done at home if you got a pointless answer.
17:08And also well done to whoever's doing the press for oxygen, because that is good.
17:12That's proper brand recognition there.
17:14Fantastic work.
17:15I think most people know of it.
17:17Yeah.
17:17Keep up the good work.
17:18Thank you very much indeed, Ria.
17:20That brings us to the end of our first round.
17:22Oh, Martin and Kieran, I don't know what's happened here.
17:24I'm so sorry.
17:25This is the end of the road.
17:27It's where we say goodbye.
17:28It's been terrific having you on the show.
17:29I'm sorry we're saying goodbye so soon, but thank you so much for playing.
17:32Martin and Kieran, you've been brilliant.
17:34But for the remaining three pairs, now time for round two.
17:43Well, I mean, that was just extraordinary.
17:45Everyone did brilliantly there.
17:47Abby, well done for making Tin such a low score.
17:50Well done, Theo, our lowest individual scorer of the whole round.
17:54Very well done.
17:55And Bruce and Steph, our lowest combined scorers.
17:57So, terrific work.
17:59Our category for round two today is...
18:03Literature.
18:04Can you all decide in your pairs?
18:05Who's going to go first?
18:06Who's going to go second?
18:07And whoever's going first, please step up to the podium.
18:14OK, and the question concerns...
18:18Books in the Big Jubilee Read, Ria.
18:21The Big Jubilee Read was a 2022 campaign to promote reading
18:25and to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
18:28And it featured 70 titles, 10 for each decade of her reign,
18:32by authors from across the Commonwealth.
18:35So, we're going to give you the titles of six of those books on each pass,
18:39but with the last word missing.
18:41We'll also give you the author and the year.
18:43So, simply give us the missing final words from these titles.
18:46Thank you very much indeed.
18:49So, here is our first board of six clues to those missing book title words.
19:21Yes.
19:22Steph.
19:22Yes.
19:24How do we like our board?
19:25Uh, I know quite a few of them.
19:28Good, good.
19:29I think I'll go with...
19:32To sir with love.
19:34To sir with love, says Steph.
19:36Should we see how many of our 100 said love?
19:40Love is right.
19:44Down you go 52.
19:46Not that.
19:4652.
19:48E.R. Braithwaite was actually born in Guyana or British Guyana,
19:52as it was then.
19:53To sir with love is an autobiographical novel
19:55and inspired a popular film starring Sidney Poitier.
19:59Thank you very much indeed.
20:01Now then, Abby.
20:02Yep.
20:03What are you going to go for?
20:04I think I'm going to go for girl, woman, other.
20:08Girl, woman, other.
20:09I hope it's right.
20:11The Evaristo.
20:11Should we see?
20:12Is other right?
20:15Other is absolutely right.
20:17Well, 52 is the only score we have at the moment.
20:19And you pass it.
20:2212.
20:23Very well done indeed, Abby.
20:25You have a habit of these surprising low scores, don't you?
20:28You just pick them out of thin air.
20:29That's brilliant.
20:29Bernadine Evaristo was born in England.
20:32And the novel famously shared the Booker Prize
20:34with Margaret Atwood's novel The Testaments,
20:37which, of course, is the follow-up novel from her 1985 novel
20:41The Handmaid's Tale, which also appears in the Big Jubilee read.
20:44Thank you very much indeed, Ria.
20:46Now then, Sammy, you're the last person to have this board.
20:48Would you like to talk us through it and fill in all our blanks?
20:51So, White Teeth, Picnic At Hanging Rock,
20:54Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Life Of Pi.
20:57And I think I'll go for Rock, Picnic At Hanging Rock.
21:02Picnic At Hanging Rock, says Sammy.
21:04Let's see how many of our 100 said that.
21:08Rock is right.
21:0952 is the high score.
21:11You pass it.
21:1112 is our low score.
21:13And there you are on 25.
21:15Not bad.
21:17Congratulations.
21:18John Lindsay was Australian.
21:19And this book is a thriller about the mysterious disappearance
21:23of a group of young girls in the year 1900.
21:26It is fictional, but that hasn't stopped a lot of people
21:29believing that it's actually based on a true story.
21:32Interesting.
21:33Was that, I wonder, the lowest scoring answer
21:36of all the brilliant answers Sammy gave?
21:38We had the lowest score with Girl, Woman, Other.
21:41So, congratulations, Abby.
21:42But well done, Sammy, for clearing that board incredibly well.
21:45It is the most popular, of course,
21:47that I think everybody knows, Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.
21:49Yeah.
21:49That scored a whopping 86.
21:51Life of Pi at the bottom.
21:52That scored 43.
21:54And White Teeth by Zadie Smith was known by 15 people.
21:57So, that scored 15 if you got that.
21:59There we are.
22:00Thank you very much indeed.
22:01Well, we're halfway through the round.
22:01Let's have a look at those scores.
22:0312, Abby.
22:03Very well done indeed.
22:04The best score of the past.
22:06Then we travel from 12 to 25, where we find Sammy and Theo.
22:09And from there up to 52, where we find Steph and Bruce.
22:13So, yes, Bruce, we need a lovely low score from you on the next board.
22:17So, good luck with that.
22:18We're going to come back down the line now.
22:19Will the second players please step up to the podium?
22:24OK, well, let's put six more clues to books in the big Jubilee read on the board,
22:29each of them with a missing last word.
22:31Wolf blank, Hilary Mantel, 2009.
22:35The God of Small blank, Arundhati Roy, 1997.
22:40A Clockwork blank, Anthony Burgess, 1962.
22:44Wide Sargasso blank, Jean Rhys, 1966.
22:49Tinker Tailor Soldier blank, John le Carre, 1974.
22:54And Half of a Yellow blank, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2006.
23:01There we are.
23:03Theo, we come to you.
23:05Now, you are on 25.
23:06If you can score 26 or less, you're straight into the head-to-head.
23:10I think I'll go with the God of Small Things.
23:13The God of Small Things, says Theo.
23:16Here is your red line.
23:18Let's see where we end up with things.
23:23The God of Small Things, absolutely right.
23:28You are in the head-to-head, Theo.
23:30Very well done indeed.
23:3112 is what that score is, taking your total up to 37.
23:35Well done.
23:36Arundhati Roy was born in India and her book, The God of Small Things,
23:39was her debut novel and won the Booker Prize.
23:43Thank you very much indeed, Ria.
23:44Now then, Finn.
23:46You're on 12.
23:4739 or less gets you into the head-to-head.
23:50How are you liking this board?
23:52I don't like it at all.
23:54Um...
23:56No idea.
23:57I'm just going to have to throw a guess.
24:00Um...
24:00Wolf Man.
24:03Wolf Man, says Finn.
24:05Well, you get a red line.
24:07And it is here.
24:09Is Wolf Man right for Hilary Mantel?
24:14No.
24:14Not Wolf Man, I'm afraid.
24:16That scores you 100 points.
24:17Uh, taking your total up to 112.
24:19Sorry, Finn.
24:21So sorry.
24:21But we will give you the correct answers at the end of the pass.
24:24There we are.
24:25Thank you very much indeed.
24:26Now, Bruce!
24:27An opportunity has just opened up there.
24:30You are on 52.
24:31If you can score 59 or less, you're into the head-to-head.
24:34Would you like to talk us through the board?
24:36Not the bottom one.
24:37I think Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,
24:39I think it's Wide Sargasso Sea,
24:41Clockwork Orange and Wolf Hall.
24:46Uh...
24:46Wolf Hall.
24:48Wolf Hall, says Bruce.
24:49Here is your red line.
24:52Can we get you below that with Wolf Hall?
24:57Wolf Hall is right.
24:59Yes.
25:00Yes.
25:00Gets you through.
25:02You are in the head-to-head.
25:0326 is what it scores, taking your total up to 78.
25:07Congratulations.
25:08You took us very well through the board.
25:10Wolf Hall is actually the first of a trilogy about the life of Thomas Cromwell
25:14and was followed up in 2012 by Bring Up the Bodies and then in 2020 by The Mirror and the
25:20Light.
25:20So, great reads there.
25:22You were quite right.
25:23That is A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.
25:2680 people knew that, so that's a high score of 80.
25:29The Wide Sargasso Sea scored 23.
25:32It is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by Lecari and that scored 76.
25:37And it is half of a yellow...
25:40Moon?
25:41Moon?
25:42Oh, so close.
25:43Sun.
25:44Sun.
25:44Sun.
25:45Half of a yellow sun.
25:46Very close.
25:46Which scored five.
25:48So, well done if you got that one.
25:50Thank you very much.
25:50Indeed, Ria.
25:51That brings us to the end of our second round.
25:53It means we have to say goodbye to Finn and Abby.
25:55Oh, it's only your second show.
25:56You're back next time.
25:57So, it's fine.
25:58We'll see you then.
25:59We'll look forward to that.
25:59But thank you so much for playing.
26:01Finn and Abby.
26:02Brilliant.
26:03For the remaining two pairs, though, now time for the head-to-head.
26:11Congratulations, Theo and Sammy, Bruce and Steph.
26:14You are now one step closer to the final.
26:16And a chance to play for our jackpot, which currently stands at £1,250.
26:21However, before we play the head-to-head, we have a chance to find a couple more pointless answers,
26:26just to see if we can throw some more money into that jackpot.
26:28So, here we go, just for fun.
26:30We gave 100 people 100 seconds to name as many types of sunflower as they could, Ria.
26:38You're going to see six options.
26:40Four are varieties of sunflower, two of which are pointless, and two are not types of sunflower.
26:45So, it's £250 in the jackpot for each pointless answer.
26:49OK.
26:50So, for fun, let's see if you can spot the two pointless sunflower types here among these six.
26:59Pacino, Teddy Bear, Malone, Tate Turbine, Double Whammy, Skyscraper.
27:06Does anybody know anything?
27:08I don't know anything.
27:10Er...
27:11Don't know.
27:12Um...
27:12No. No.
27:13No. In which case, Theo and Sammy, what would you like to nominate as a pointless sunflower?
27:18Malone.
27:19No.
27:20Let's go for Malone.
27:21We'll go for Malone.
27:22You're going to go for Malone.
27:24Is Malone a pointless sunflower?
27:28Oh, no!
27:30I thought that was a brilliant answer, but seemingly not.
27:33Bruce and Steph, what are you going to go for?
27:35Shall we go for double whammy?
27:36Because if it isn't, it's a double whammy anyway.
27:38Yeah.
27:39We'll go for double whammy.
27:40Yeah, we'll do double whammy.
27:41I mean, it's been so long since we've won a pointless answer in one of these bonus rounds,
27:46I can barely even remember what the column's pointless noise is like.
27:50Um, Bruce and Steph, double whammy.
27:52Is that a pointless sunflower?
27:55It's a sunflower.
28:02And it's a pointless one as well.
28:07Ria.
28:07Well, this is wonderful.
28:09Um, congratulations.
28:11I'm afraid that Malone was one of our red herrings.
28:13Uh, we picked that because Post Malone and Sway Lee had a 2018 hit with the single sunflower.
28:19Uh, we now have left three sunflowers, one of which is pointless, and one red herring.
28:25I'm going to nominate Pacino as a red herring.
28:28As a red herring?
28:29Yeah.
28:30Oh!
28:30Oh, no.
28:31That's our other pointless answer.
28:33Oh, no.
28:34That is pointless.
28:35So, if you've got Pacino, well done.
28:37That's our other pointless answer, which means that we have one red herring left.
28:40Tate Turbine.
28:41Yes.
28:42Tate Turbine.
28:43Ai Weiwei's artwork, Sunflower Seeds, was exhibited in the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall in 2010,
28:49which is where we got that name from, which means that Teddy Bear and Skyscraper are both
28:54identified variants of sunflower, so.
28:56There we are.
28:57And thank you.
28:58Broken our drought in the bonus round.
29:00You've managed to find a pointless answer, which means we can add £250 to the jackpot,
29:03taking the total up to a more satisfying £1,500.
29:07But who will be playing for it?
29:08Well, let's find out in the head-to-head.
29:15Now, the first pair to win two questions will be playing for that jackpot, and you are
29:19now allowed to confer before you give your answers, which is altogether satisfactory.
29:23Here is our first question, and it concerns animals from the BBC's Wild Isles.
29:31Ria.
29:31We are about to show you five animals that have featured in the 2023 BBC wildlife series,
29:38Wild Isles.
29:39We have also provided every other letter in the animal's name, so we would like you to
29:43identify the animals and tell us which you think the fewest of our hundred people knew,
29:48please.
29:48Thank you very much indeed.
29:49So, let's reveal our five animals from Wild Isles.
29:53We have A. H-Z-L-D-R-O-S.
30:01B. B-O-N-H-R.
30:09C. T-O-C-L-U-E-M-S-N-B-E.
30:19D. C-M-O-C-T-L-F-S.
30:27And E. O-T-R.
30:33There we are.
30:34Now, Theo and Sammy, you're our low scorers, so you get to answer first.
30:38Feel free to confer.
30:50We're going to go for D, common cuttlefish.
30:53Common cuttlefish for D, common cuttlefish.
30:56Now, Bruce and Steph, over to you.
30:59Can you talk us through that board?
31:00It's Aisledore mouse.
31:02Aisledore mouse, brown hair, otter.
31:06I don't know.
31:07Two.
31:07I don't know what C is.
31:09It's something masonry.
31:12OK.
31:13No.
31:14What are you going to go for?
31:14Aisledore mouse.
31:15You're going to go for Aisledore mouse for A.
31:17So, we have common cuttlefish and Aisledore mouse.
31:20Theo and Sammy went for common cuttlefish for D.
31:23Let's see how many of our 100 said that.
31:27Common cuttlefish is right.
31:32Down it goes.
31:3319 for common cuttlefish.
31:36Meanwhile, Bruce and Steph have gone for A and are saying,
31:39Hazel Dormouse.
31:41Let's see how many of our 100 said that.
31:45Hazel Dormouse is right.
31:49And that goes down to 37, which means well done.
31:52Theo and Sammy, after one question, you're up 1-0.
31:55Well, they talked us through the board beautifully.
31:56B is indeed brown hair.
31:58If you guessed that, you scored 42.
32:01Our most popular answer was otter, which scored 84.
32:05And you were very close.
32:07So...
32:08Is it two coloured masonry?
32:09Two coloured masonry.
32:11It is.
32:12Two coloured masonry.
32:13Which was the only one you could have guessed to beat Theo and Sammy.
32:17That would have scored you four.
32:18So if you did at home, well done.
32:19Thank you very much indeed.
32:21Now, here comes your second question.
32:22Bruce and Steph, you get to answer it first.
32:24But you've got to win this one to stay in the game.
32:25So good luck.
32:26Our second question is all about...
32:29People in fashion, Ria.
32:31We are going to show you the names of five people who work or have worked in the world of
32:35fashion.
32:36And are listed in Fiden's 2020 edition of The Fashion Book.
32:41But we have removed the vowels from their names.
32:43However, we have added the field of fashion in which they work or worked as an additional clue.
32:48So please give us the name of the fashionable person you think the fewest of our hundred people knew.
32:54Thank you very much indeed.
32:56So let's reveal our five fashion clues and here they are.
33:23There we are.
33:24Bruce and Steph will go first.
33:33Yeah, we're going to have to go for Vidal Sassoon as a hairdresser.
33:36You're going to go for Vidal Sassoon.
33:38Yeah.
33:39At the bottom.
33:40OK.
33:40Now, Theo and Sammy, can you talk us through that board?
33:43So I think Anna Wintour is the magazine editor.
33:46Naomi Campbell, the model.
33:47Jimmy Shoe, the shoe designer.
33:48And Elsa Peretti is the jewellery designer.
33:51And we'll go for Elsa Peretti.
33:52Elsa Peretti you go for for the jewellery designer.
33:55So we have Vidal Sassoon versus Elsa Peretti.
33:59Now, Bruce and Steph went Vidal Sassoon, the hairstylist.
34:01Shall we see how many of our 100 said that?
34:05It is indeed Vidal Sassoon.
34:09Down, that goes for to three.
34:13Meanwhile, Theo and Sammy have gone for Elsa Peretti.
34:17Let's see if that is right for the jewellery designer.
34:19Elsa Peretti.
34:22It is Elsa Peretti.
34:25And it wins you the point.
34:27Very well done indeed.
34:29Oh, it's a pointless answer.
34:31They're incredibly rare in the head-to-head,
34:33but they still count.
34:34So being a pointless answer,
34:35it adds another £250 to today's jackpot,
34:38taking the total up to £1,750.
34:42Very well done.
34:43It also means you win the point.
34:44And it also means, Theo and Sammy,
34:46after only two questions,
34:47you are straight through to the final, 2-0.
34:49Well, you took us through the board beautifully, Sammy.
34:52It is indeed Jimmy Choo, shoe designer.
34:54Very popular with a score of 69.
34:57Working our way backwards,
34:58Naomi Campbell, famous supermodel.
35:00She scored 63.
35:02And at the top,
35:03magazine editor Anna Wintour scored 10.
35:06Thank you very much indeed, Ria.
35:08And that means the pair leaving us
35:09at the end of the head-to-head round.
35:10Bruce and Steph, it is you.
35:11You'll be back next time.
35:12Next time, we will make it count.
35:14But it's been brilliant having you on.
35:16Thank you so much for playing Bruce and Steph.
35:18For Theo and Sammy, though,
35:20now time for the Pointless final.
35:26Huge congratulations, Theo and Sammy.
35:28You have fought off all the competition,
35:29and you have won our coveted Pointless trophy.
35:39You now have a chance to win the Pointless jackpot.
35:41And at the end of today's show,
35:42the jackpot is standing at £1,750.
35:46All that lies between you and the jackpot is a pointless answer.
35:50So, the big question is, what would you like to see come up?
35:55Geography, maybe?
35:57Mm-hmm.
35:58Stranger Things.
36:00Stranger Things.
36:01Oh, that would be good.
36:03Just the kind of thing that would come up on our board.
36:05Shall we see what today's quartet looks like?
36:08Four will appear on the board.
36:09Let's hope there's something you can have a go at here.
36:13Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales.
36:16Kenneth Branagh's Agatha Christie films.
36:19Boring geography.
36:21Australian pop.
36:23What do we think?
36:25We're leaning towards boring geography,
36:28although it's worryingly vague.
36:30How leaning are we?
36:32Let's go for boring geography.
36:36We'll go for boring geography, please.
36:38Boring geography it is.
36:39Ria.
36:40Well, let's see if you find this boring.
36:42We're looking for the usual short-form name of any country
36:46or national capital city that begins with any of the letters
36:50B, O, R, I, N, or G.
36:56As always, by country, we mean a sovereign state
36:58that is a member of the UN in its own right.
37:01Very best of luck.
37:02Thank you very much indeed, Ria.
37:04Now, as always, you've got up to one minute
37:05to come up with three answers.
37:07All you need to win that jackpot
37:09is for just one of those answers to be pointless.
37:11If you can find three pointless answers,
37:13we will throw in a £500 booster.
37:15Are you ready?
37:17OK, let's put 60 seconds up on the clock.
37:20There they are.
37:21Your time starts now.
37:23You know, that's all capital cities.
37:25So you need to come up with...
37:26We need to work out what...
37:26Bandar Seribeguan is...
37:28I think...
37:30OK.
37:31Bandar Seribeguan, I think, is...
37:34That's the capital city.
37:35Right.
37:37Grenada, is that obscure?
37:39Well, capital city is where?
37:40No, that's just a country.
37:42This country, it's not obscure.
37:44I think capital cities are going to be more obscure.
37:47Yeah.
37:49Um...
37:49Bamako.
37:51OK, yeah.
37:53Let's try and not do one.
37:55Um...
37:55You can do more people.
37:57I could...
37:58You know all the levels.
38:01Any last one?
38:03Uh...
38:03I don't know.
38:04From your...
38:05Or we could do Bishkek.
38:07Or is that...
38:07Is that too well-known?
38:09Yeah, that might be a bit too well-known.
38:11Can you think of any others?
38:12Ten seconds left.
38:13I don't know.
38:14It's hard to think.
38:15OK, well, let's go for that one.
38:17Three?
38:17Yeah.
38:19OK, you happy?
38:21Yep.
38:21There we are.
38:22Right.
38:22Well, there is our...
38:23Our minute has run out there.
38:24So, let's have your three answers.
38:26What can you give me?
38:27So, Bishkek.
38:28Bishkek.
38:29Bamako.
38:30Bamako.
38:31And Bandar Seribegawan.
38:32And Bandar Seribegawan.
38:34And these are all in the capital cities category.
38:36Yeah.
38:36OK.
38:36Of those three, which do you think is your best shot at a pointless answer?
38:41Probably Bandar Seribegawan.
38:42Bandar Seribegawan.
38:43Should we put that last?
38:43Least likely to be pointless.
38:46Bishkek.
38:46Bishkek.
38:47And then Bamako goes in the middle.
38:49OK, well, let's put those three answers up on the board in that order.
38:52And here they are.
38:54We have Bishkek, Bamako and Bandar Seribegawan.
39:00Now, if one of these turns out to be pointless, you will be leaving with £1,750.
39:05What would you like to do with that, Theo?
39:07I'm going to ask you first.
39:08Well, we were thinking of maybe going to Iceland to do a trek.
39:12I can't recommend that enough.
39:14Sammy, anything else you want to add to that?
39:16Er, no.
39:17I'm very happy with a walk in the mountains.
39:19Lovely.
39:20A walk in the Icelandic mountains.
39:22Now, Bishkek is your first answer.
39:25In all three cases, we are looking for capital cities that begin with any of the letters of
39:29the word boring.
39:30Let's see how many of our 100 people said Bishkek.
39:32Is it pointless?
39:37Bishkek is right.
39:39All it has to be is pointless and you will leave here with £1,750.
39:43Down we go with Bishkek through the teens.
39:46We're in single figures with Bishkek.
39:47Still going down, still going down with Bishkek.
39:49You've done it.
39:49Very well done indeed.
39:52Iceland, here we come.
39:53You have won today's jackpot of £1,750.
39:57However, I did say if you've got three pointless answers, we would throw in a £500 bonus.
40:03So let's just check the other two in case we can send you away with £2,250 instead.
40:09So let's find out if Bamako is also a pointless answer.
40:13Might it be?
40:15Well, he's right.
40:19Bishkek took us all the way down to the bottom.
40:21Bamako on its own won't do anything.
40:24But if it and Bandar Seri Begawan are pointless.
40:27That is pointless.
40:28Very well done indeed.
40:31OK, just one more pointless answer and then we can boost your winnings to £2,250.
40:38Bandar Seri Begawan.
40:39Can that be a point?
40:40How could that not be a pointless answer?
40:42Surely.
40:42Come on.
40:43Bandar Seri Begawan.
40:44Brunei, isn't it?
40:46Yes.
40:49Well, it's right.
40:52We've had two pointless answers from Bishkek and Bamako.
40:56Bandar Seri Begawan now takes us down into single figures.
40:59Still going down with Bandar Seri Begawan.
41:00Yes, you've done it.
41:01Very well done indeed.
41:03Huge congratulations.
41:04You have just won today's jackpot of £2,250.
41:12Amazing.
41:13Look at that.
41:14You might even afford a hotel room instead of just camping on a mountain.
41:17Now, in Iceland, congratulations.
41:19Incredible.
41:20Bishkek, of course, is the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
41:22Bamako is the capital of Mali.
41:24And Bandar Seri Begawan is the capital of Brunei.
41:27All pointless.
41:28As was Brunei in the countries category.
41:31So, not a boring round at all.
41:33But let's look at some of the other pointless answers you could have had.
41:37Starting with countries that begin with any of the letters of boring.
41:40You could have said Bangladesh, Gabon, Nepal, North Macedonia.
41:47The other pointless answers were Belarus, Bhutan, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Nauru, and Nicaragua.
41:56So, if you said any of those, well done.
41:59Anything else scored points.
42:00But moving on to capital cities that begin with any of the letters of boring.
42:05You could have had, other than what we've already heard, Bratislava, Islamabad, Nairobi, Rabat.
42:12We had a lot of pointless answers, but the scoring answers here were Berlin, Oslo, Rome, Brussels, Bangkok, Budapest, Beijing,
42:22Brasilia, Ottawa, Bern, Bucharest, Reykjavik, Bangui, Banjul, Belgrade, Buenos Aires, Ouagadougou.
42:32Oh, great one.
42:33Riga and Riyadh.
42:35So, every other capital beginning with those letters was pointless.
42:39Well done if you got one at home.
42:40Thank you very much indeed, Ria.
42:43And thanks once again to our winning players, Theo and Sammy, who take away today's jackpot of £2,250.
42:50Join us next time as we put more obscure knowledge to the test and find out who our next co
42:55-host will be.
42:56Thank you so much to you, Ria.
42:57It's been just a delight having you back on the programme.
43:00Absolute pleasure.
43:01And so, for the last time, it's goodbye from Ria.
43:04Goodbye.
43:04And it's goodbye from me.
43:06Goodbye.
43:10Goodbye.
43:12Goodbye.
43:24Goodbye.
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