Episode 4 Debatable

APPLAUSE

Hello, and welcome to Debatable, the quiz show where talk is cheap

but celebrity chat can win a contestant money.

Today, one player must answer a series of tricky questions

to try to bag our jackpot of £2,000.

But they're not on their own as they will also have a panel

of celebrity brainboxes debating their way to the answer.

Will they help or will they hinder?

Well, that's debatable, so let's meet them.

On today's show,

we have actress Sunetra Sarker,

we have weather presenter Carol Kirkwood,

and writer and broadcaster

Rick Edwards.

Let's meet today's contestant. It is Sara Pilkington from Wales.

-How are you doing?

-Hi, Paddy.

-Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Well, my name's Sara Pilkington, I'm 57

and I'm from Carmarthen in South West Wales.

I'm the mother of two teenage sons.

I'm now working as a sales negotiator

for a local estate agent in Carmarthen.

So you're used to negotiating, you're used to getting your own way.

To a degree.

When you look at our clients here,

which one is going to go for above the asking price

and which one is the doer-upper? LAUGHTER

Do I have to really say that?

-LAUGHTER

-Yes.

OK, Sara, let's get this debatable show on the road

as we play Round 1.

This round is multiple choice.

Each question has four possible answers.

We just need the one correct answer.

It's going to be very easy because we have our panel here to help you.

Will you go with them or will you go your own way?

-It's entirely up to you.

-OK.

-Two questions in this round.

-Each correct answer is worth £200.

-OK.

-Ready to play?

-Love to, thank you.

-OK, here we go. Best of luck.

-Thank you.

I think, if I was going to pick one of those,

I'd possibly go for mouth.

-Hold that thought...

-OK.

..as we go over to our learned colleagues.

-Your debate starts now.

-I...

I immediately think it's missing a T off the front.

-People who are scared of tomatoes.

-LAUGHTER

Have you made a mistake, do you think?

-Is that possible?

-LAUGHTER

Well, let's think about what we know is a common thing

for people to be scared of.

I think there's something called halophobia which is about breath.

-Like halitosis?

-Halitosis, yeah.

-Yeah, yeah.

So, I'm not thinking mouth so much.

Do you think anyone is scared of ears?

Do you think there is such a thing as being scared of ears?

-Well, I've got very small ears and no-one's ever found...

-Them scary?

-Yeah.

-I've never noticed your ears before, Rick.

That's the point. They're so small, you wouldn't.

-LAUGHTER

-Oh, that's not true. Not true.

-You've got perfect ears.

-Aw, thank you, Carol.

-So, eyes...

I don't think you'd be frightened of eyes, would you?

-Hang on a minute. You could be scared of eyes.

-Could you?

The aftereffect is that you find eyes quite...

I'm a bit, like, icky about eyes.

-I don't like people touching my eyes.

-Oh, really?

-Yeah.

Has anyone ever accused you of having ommatophobia?

-SHE LAUGHS

-No, but maybe they should've done.

What's the word for...?

-It's rhinoplasty, isn't it, when you have a nose job?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

So, we think "rhino" could be nose.

Things that I can imagine people having a phobia of

-are the mouth...

-Mm.

..and eyes.

I can't really imagine people having a phobia of ears or noses.

OK, right, we need to make a decision.

So, I would think mouth.

-Sunetra?

-I think I'm going to go with mouth, as well.

-Rick?

-I mean, why not?

-LAUGHTER

-OK. It's as good as any of the others, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-To be honest?

-At least it's got an M in it.

-Yeah.

OK, we think that particular phobia is mouth.

-That was your first thought, as well, Sara.

-Yes, it was.

Anything in there, though, to make you change your mind?

No, I don't think so, actually.

For some reason, it's just at the back of my mind

that it's something to do with mouth.

-OK.

-I'm going to stick with mouth.

All right, we are all agreed.

Let's hope it is mouth to get us up and running for £200.

Is ommatophobia the fear of the mouth?

-Aw!

-It's the eyes.

The correct answer was eyes.

-Almost got there, Rick.

-Not really.

-It's derived from the Greek word omma, which means eye.

-Eye.

-There we are.

-Don't worry, though.

Lots of cash still up for grabs.

We're going to try to get it up with our next question. Here we go.

I'm inclined to think beards out of those. I don't know why.

If only we had someone on the panel with a magnificent beard.

-LAUGHTER

-Don't look at me when you say that!

-I shaved it this morning!

-LAUGHTER

What can we bring to this, panel? Your debate starts now.

You would want to tax something

-where you would get a lot of revenue in, wouldn't you?

-That's the thing.

-It's a money-raising exercise.

-And if you think, Russia - cold.

-You go out, you put your hat on, as well...

-Yeah.

-..so it keeps you warm.

-Yeah.

So, who's going to come round to check

if you're using your fireplace or not?

Who's coming round to check your beard?

Well, this is the thing.

Maybe that was a sign of if you were rich or poor.

Maybe, if you had a beard, it was saying,

"I'm rich enough to pay the tax."

And, like, there's something about a beard tax that,

well, A, I like, and B, sounds vaguely familiar.

I think windows is something that we did.

I'm not exactly sure when. Fireplaces?

I don't think you'd get much money out of it.

And you can't really say to someone,

"If you can't afford to pay tax, you can't heat your house."

Hats?

-I...

-Maybe everybody had hats.

-It could be. Yeah.

Beards just feels nice because of that delineation

-between rich and poor.

-OK.

-OK, right.

-So, unanimous decision - beards?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-OK.

It's the sort of answer that could make us look really dumb.

"A beard tax? Are you mad?"

OK, Sara, for you,

the panel have decided that, in 1705,

Russian Tsar Peter the Great imposed a tax on beards.

So, a tax on beards. That was your first thought.

What do you think?

I just have a really funny feeling it's beards.

-So, Sara, you're going for...?

-Beards.

-Going for beards.

There it is. Lock it in.

Did Peter the Great, for £200, impose a tax on beards?

-He did.

-Yes!

-Well done. APPLAUSE

-Thank you.

-Well played.

-Thank you.

It was a crazy idea that just worked.

The tax was actually Peter's attempt

to Westernize the nobility in Russia.

He'd visited Western Europe, where most men were clean-shaven,

and all the men, except peasant and clergymen,

had to pay 100 roubles for a copper or silver beard token,

which had a moustache and a beard engraved on it.

The token also bore the message, "The beard is a useless burden."

-LAUGHTER

-I find that.

-Well played, Sara.

-Thank you.

-Well worked out.

-Thank you.

We're up, at the end of that round, to £200.

-Thank you. Thank you.

-APPLAUSE

OK, this is the point where we look at our panel

based on our first couple of questions. How are they doing?

I think they're all doing pretty well.

Very diplomatic, and that's exactly what you have to do

because you'll have to choose one of them,

and only one of them, to play today's final debate.

So, let's see how they get on with pictures.

It is time for Round 2.

Sara, Round 2 is our picture round.

All you have to do is to put three pictures in the correct order.

Two questions in this round.

Each correct answer is worth £300,

-so let's see if we can get that cash up. Here we go.

-OK.

If you were going to have a stab in the dark, where would we go?

I'd have gone for Jack Nicholson as the eldest.

And then between Al Pacino and Robert De Niro,

I think I'd put Robert De Niro as the youngest

and Al Pacino...

..in the middle at the moment.

OK, panel, let's see if you can help.

Your debate starts now.

Right. Do you remember the film Fear

where they were both in it at the same time?

-So, there was a film called Fear with De Niro and Al Pacino.

-Heat?

Heat, sorry. Dammit! Yeah, that's it.

You got the middle two letters right, so...

-Why was I thinking it was Fear? Sorry.

-Yeah.

-Heat.

So, let's think about that one cos that'll help clarify

who we thought looked older in there.

-I think they look...

-I think De Niro looked older.

-Mm.

See, I'm saying I think Pacino is probably slightly older.

I would say Pacino is slightly older.

I think Pacino looks a bit older in Heat, as well.

-I think he looks older generally.

-Cos he is, maybe.

-Yeah.

I seem to think Al Pacino's the baby of the group.

I feel like I've heard of him...

The thing is, though,

-Pacino was in the first Godfather.

-And De Niro

-was in the second.

-De Niro in the second.

I think Pacino's older.

Nicholson in Batman...

-Yeah.

-..is sort of middle-aged then.

-I think Nicholson's...

-Nicholson now...

-If you think about them now, I suppose...

-Is extremely old.

He does look quite old, but so does Pacino.

So, do we think Pacino is older or younger than Nicholson?

Younger than Nicholson. I think Nicholson's the oldest.

I think Nicholson's the oldest.

OK, so, you have that one, then, and...

-Er... Oh, hang on.

-Who's this?

-No, no, that's what I think.

-Give me Nicholson.

Right, OK, the youngest, we think, is Robert De Niro.

Then, we think Al Pacino.

And we think the oldest is Jack Nicholson.

So, panel, of course, bringing the logic to this.

Who looks oldest in Hollywood?

Because nobody's ever had any work done in Hollywood, Sara.

-LAUGHTER

-Never, ever, ever.

-It's true.

-No.

-It's true.

-No.

My gut instinct is that that's the right order,

and the fact that the panel thinks so, as well...

I've been listening to everything they've said.

-I'm going to go with the panel.

-OK, you're going with the panel.

-Yeah.

Sticking with your original order.

For £300, is Robert De Niro the youngest,

then Al Pacino, with the oldest Jack Nicholson?

It's the correct answer. APPLAUSE

Well done, well done, well done.

-Thank you very much.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-Well played. Good work, panel.

-Thank you.

Robert De Niro - born in 1943.

Al Pacino - born in 1940.

Jack Nicholson - born in 1937.

Robert De Niro was the first actor

to win an Oscar for a role in a sequel.

There he is. The Godfather Part II.

-Well played, Sara.

-Thank you.

-300 quid into the prize pot.

-You're now up to £500. Well done.

-Thank you very much.

Thank you.

-OK, Sara, here we go. Let's have a look at your second question.

-OK.

-Gosh.

-Do you need the panel's help on this?

I would go for traffic lights first, but I don't know why.

OK, so, you think that's first.

-Let's see if our panel can sort the other two out for you.

-OK.

Panel, it is over to you. Your debate starts now.

Don't take this the wrong way, Carol.

Do you remember any of these things

-being introduced?

-LAUGHTER

-Pick a window, Rick. You're leaving.

-Be honest.

-Of course not. How very dare you?

-I'm just checking.

Cos if you did, it would be a good time to say.

I was thinking driving licence was first, and I also think...

Maybe traffic lights came from over in the States first.

I, for some reason, feel like the traffic-light system

was all hand-held over here for many years. You know in the

black and white films,

-and you see the guy signalling to stop and start?

-Yeah.

And also the fact that they're automated

-makes me think they're a bit later...

-Yeah.

-..rather than...

Driving licences, I reckon you would probably need quite early on.

Driving licences feels like something

you'd want to introduce quite early.

-Yes. I would put driving licence, MOT and then traffic lights.

-Yeah.

-Oh, you'd say MOT before traffic lights, yeah?

-Yes.

-I think so.

-Fair play.

-Because traffic lights

are essentially going to be brought in

once you've got the technology to do it

-and once the roads are busy enough to warrant it, aren't they?

-Yeah.

-So, driving licence first, MOT, then traffic lights?

-Yes.

-Yes, I would say that's...

-I think so.

-OK, so...

-You want to get people who know how to use a car.

-Yeah.

-That's your priority.

-And are safe on the roads.

-Then, you get roadworthy cars, ideally.

-Yeah.

Then we've got the traffic lights because

-so many of us have got licences and roadworthy cars.

-Yeah, MOTs.

-Yeah.

-Let's go for that.

-Let's swap them over, then.

-OK.

Erm...

MOT.

-I suspect Sara's not going to agree with this.

-I know.

So, driving licences, MOT tests

and then, lastly, automatic traffic lights.

Anything in there to help you work it out?

In my head, I was trying to think...

I've got a funny feeling that the traffic lights came before the MOT.

I think, what I'm going to do,

I'm going to put the traffic lights in the middle.

I'll have the licence first, traffic lights and then MOT.

OK, you're going against the panel.

Best of luck. Here we go. The correct order is...

It's the correct order! APPLAUSE

Wow, well done. Really well played.

Let's see when they were introduced.

The driving licence in 1903,

the traffic light in 1927,

and the MOT in 1960.

The only person in Britain who doesn't need

a driving licence in order to drive is...?

-The Queen?

-The Queen.

-The Queen.

-SARA:

-Bless her.

-There she is.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-£300 into the pot.

At the end of that, we're up to £800.

-Well done. Well played.

-Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

-You're doing really well. £800.

-Thank you.

There's still another £1,000 up for grabs as we play Round 3.

OK, Sara, in this round,

you will face questions that contain three statements

which relate to a person, a place or a thing.

Now, only one of those is true and you need to decide which one.

Two questions in this round. Because it's our final round,

-we're going to up the cash to £500 for every correct answer.

-OK.

-So, still loads to play for.

-OK.

-Best of luck. Here we go.

-Thank you.

-Well, I love giraffes.

-You do?

-I do.

Went to Kenya a few years ago and saw them out there.

Absolutely wonderful.

And were the females taller than the males?

That's what I was just trying to remember, as it happens,

because strangely enough, that's the one that I've looked at

and thought immediately was possibly the true answer out of those three.

Carol's smiling. Hopefully, this is good news.

SHE LAUGHS Panel, your debate starts now.

Gestation period. Elephants do have a long pregnancy, don't they?

-I know giraffes...

-They famously have

-an extremely long gestation period, elephants, don't they?

-Yeah, yeah.

So do giraffes.

And I feel like I've heard somewhere that a giraffe pregnancy

is extreme... Possibly even the longest of all animals.

Oh, so, you think it could be...?

I'm erring more towards that.

Like Sara, I've also seen giraffes in Kenya.

-Don't like to brag.

-THEY LAUGH

And I think that the males are taller.

I can't see the camelopard being something that I've heard of ever.

-For me, it could be any of them, actually.

-Oh, that's helpful.

LAUGHTER

I'm going to stick my neck out here...

-THEY GROAN

-Ah, yes.

I'm going to stick my neck out and say gestation period.

-Stick your neck out.

-Rick, what are you going for?

I'm going to go camelopard because I think there are examples

of people first discovering animals, giving them quite a rubbish name

and then someone else later coming in and going,

"No, it's a giraffe."

OK, well, I'm going to go for females are, on average,

-taller than males.

-Oh, great stuff.

-Ah, look at that.

So, one of us is going to be right, Sara.

-LAUGHTER

-I really don't think

it's the females are taller than the males.

And, also, I think elephants have the longest gestation period.

-Well, I beg to differ.

-I know you do.

You're both going to be very cross.

-The final decision from the panel...

-Ish.

..is that giraffes, well,

females are, on average, taller than males.

-We'll go for that one.

-Oh, Carol.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Oh, Carol.

-Don't worry.

Absolutely no agreement here, Sara, whatsoever.

-No.

-Any of that brought any clarity to this?

Do you know what? I think it might be A, actually.

I think it could be that silly name. I'm going to go for A.

-You're going to go for A?

-Yeah, I am.

-And I know I'm going to regret this.

-OK, here we go.

You are trusting Rick, who, by the look on his face,

doesn't trust himself. LAUGHTER

For £500, were giraffes once called camelopards?

It's the first one, Sara! CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Best feeling of my life.

-You're the best.

-Oh!

-Brilliant.

Giraffes were believed, at one time,

to be a cross between a camel and a leopard.

Male giraffes are taller.

-Told you.

-There we are.

-LAUGHTER

Children.

A giraffe's gestation period is between 400 and 460 days.

The elephant's gestation period is 640 days.

-Oh.

-Wow.

-It's almost as if Rick Edwards was right

on absolutely every fact there.

-LAUGHTER

-I like giraffes. Sorry, camelopards.

-Well done.

-Well done.

And you were right to go with him.

That's £500 added to your prize pot,

-a new total now of £1,300, Sara.

-Thank you.

Let's see if we can get this up to 1,800.

Here comes your second question in our final round.

I'm trying to think whether all her novels were published

during her lifetime.

-I think they might have been.

-Is that your gut?

-It is.

Let's go over and see what disagreements

our panel can bring to this. THEY LAUGH

Your debate starts now.

OK, Jane Austen novels first of all.

I feel like there was a novel of hers that was published

-after she died, which feels..

-That sort of...

-Rings a bell.

-It does a bit.

-Yeah.

It feels like there was a Jane Austen novel that...

-Which one?

-She just died and it just came out or something.

Which one and why, I don't know.

So, did she live during the reign of George III?

Well, that's very much asking the question

-when was George III's reign?

-LAUGHTER

-Which George are we...?

-I will very happily defer to you guys on that.

When was she writing?

Late 18th, early 19th.

-Yeah.

-Are we thinking that?

-That's what I think.

So, where does that put Bronte, then?

-I would say Bronte was...

-That puts Bronte later than that, doesn't it?

I think it isn't the first one.

-I think she's...

-I think it...

-I think she's older.

Yes, I think the same.

All her novels published during her lifetime -

we think perhaps that could be true.

But then what you were saying, Sunetra,

about feeling like she might have had something published

-posthumously.

-There was one book that slipped through the net.

-That doesn't sound wrong.

-And lived during the reign of George III?

I think we should plump for that one

because, actually, we don't really know

about the George III, IV or V situation.

-We don't really know about any of them.

-Well, fifth is...

We know the fifth - The Madness Of King George.

-Yeah, that's...

-She's way beyond that.

-Let's go for lived during the reign of George III.

-Yeah.

-OK.

Right, the panel's final decision on this is

Jane Austen actually did live during the reign of George III.

You initially thought all her novels were published during her lifetime.

-I did.

-Anything in there to make you change your mind?

Do you know what?

I think it is possibly lived during the reign of George III,

so I'm going to change my answer and I'm going to agree with the panel,

-working on the timeline that I...

-Ooh!

-..have in my head.

-Pressure.

Did Jane Austen live during the reign of George III?

You got it! CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well done! Well done!

-You played really well. Well done.

-Thank you so much. Thank you.

Just really well played.

Jane Austen was born in 1775

when George III was already on the throne.

Emily Bronte was born in 1818.

Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published after her death in 1817.

So, Sara, that puts another 500 quid into the prize pot.

You're doing so, so well.

It means you're going to be playing for £1,800 in today's final debate.

-Thank you.

-Wow.

-Thank you.

What would you like to spend that on?

My eldest son is moving to London in a couple of months' time.

His girlfriend is off to uni

and they're going to start a new life up in London

and they're going to need some help.

Absolutely no pressure on the member of the panel

that you're going to choose.

Just one question stands between you and that money,

and that is today's final debate.

In the final debate, Sara, you'll face just one question

with six possible answers.

-Only three of those are correct.

-OK.

In order to win £1,800 today, I'm going to need all three answers.

-OK.

-But don't worry, you're not on your own.

It is the final debate and so you'll be allowed to choose,

from our fine panel today,

one celebrity to play the final debate.

Who would you like to join you for a final debate?

Oh, this is a tough one.

-I think I'm going to go for Carol.

-APPLAUSE

OK, Carol, will you join us, please, for today's final debate?

So, Carol, Sara has chosen you for the final debate.

Are you feeling confident?

-Everything is crossed here, Sara.

-Thank you.

Because it is the final debate, Sara,

-we're going to give you a choice of two.

-OK.

-Here we go.

-What do you fancy from this?

-OK, let's see.

Ooh, fingers crossed.

My immediate thought on that is Entertainment.

-Phew!

-LAUGHTER

-So, I take that is agreement.

-Yes, definitely.

We're going for Entertainment.

You're going to see six possible answers.

I'm going to need three correct answers.

All three need to be correct in order to win the money.

Best of luck. Here's today's final debate.

Oh, crikey.

Sara, Carol, for the final time,

-your debate starts now.

-OK.

-Not Sade.

-Definitely not, no.

-Bananarama?

-Bananarama, I'm absolutely positive.

-I can see them in my head in the original filming...

-Yeah.

..for the media coverage.

-Boomtown Rats? Bob Geldof was there.

-I'm sure that they were part of it.

-I don't remember Kylie Minogue being at the original.

-Status Quo?

I'm fairly certain Status Quo were involved.

-I know one of the acts flew...

-Yes, they did.

..Stateside, as well, but I can't remember which one.

-But they still played at Wembley Stadium.

-They did both.

-Did they go to three different places?

-Yeah.

-Dexy's Midnight Runners, I'm sure didn't.

-I don't know.

I don't think they were either.

I think, out of those three, I'd say Bananarama,

Status Quo and The Boomtown Rats. That would be my initial...

-I would agree with you on that.

-OK. Yeah?

-Yes.

-We're going to go with that?

-Oh!

-LAUGHTER

OK, Sara, I need three answers.

OK, Bananarama, Status Quo and The Boomtown Rats.

-We need all three to be correct...

-OK.

-..or you do leave with nothing.

-Yeah.

-Best of luck. Here we go.

-OK, thank you.

Were Status Quo one of the original Live Aid Wembley acts?

-Yes!

-They were. APPLAUSE

Let's see if The Boomtown Rats were also an original Live Aid act

to keep us on track for £1,800.

APPLAUSE

The Boomtown Rats, of course, Bob Geldof's band.

-Well played.

-Yeah.

-Which brings us to Bananarama.

So, if Bananarama were one of the acts

that played at Live Aid at Wembley, you leave with £1,800.

Is Bananarama the correct answer?

-Oh, Sara!

-Oh, no!

-Never mind.

-It's the wrong answer.

-Never mind.

The correct answer was...

-Sade!

-It was Sade. You ruled it out so quickly.

I didn't remember her being there either. Isn't that amazing?

Sara, the members of Bananarama

-were on the Band Aid single...

-There we are.

..which predated Live Aid.

-I'm so sorry, Sara.

-Not at all.

-You played the game so, so well.

-No, not at all.

Thanks for coming to see us today.

-I've really enjoyed it.

-You are so lovely.

Let's hear it for Sara. Give it up one more time.

-APPLAUSE

-Thank you.

-I'm so sorry.

-Not at all.

-Not at all.

-That is it for Debatable.

There's just enough time for me to thank the fantastic panel,

Carol Kirkwood, Sunetra Sarker and Rick Edwards.

I do hope you've enjoyed watching.

We will see you next time for more heated debates,

but now, it's goodbye from me.