Episode 2 Debatable

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Hello and welcome to Debatable,

where, today, one player must answer a series of tricky questions to

try to walk away with the jackpot of over £2,000.

As always, though, they're not on their own, they will have

a panel of famous faces debating their way to the answers.

Will they help or will they hinder? As always, that's debatable.

So, let's meet them.

All talk today, we have broadcaster and journalist Angela Rippon,

actress Sally Lindsay,

and we have comedian Ed Byrne.

APPLAUSE

It is a fully formed, beautiful panel.

Let's meet today's contestant.

It is Chris from Newcastle.

-Hi.

-How are you doing, Chris?

-Nice to meet you. How's it going?

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Yeah, so, I'm from Newcastle, I came down to London to work as

a social worker in child protection.

And I am at university studying for a master's degree in novel writing.

-Wow.

-So, what, you're actually currently writing a novel?

-Yeah.

So, it's about a Russian boy who moves to a small town in the

Arctic Circle in 1989, during the fall of the Soviet Union.

And so, how far are you in on this?

-I think I've got about 20,000 words written out of hopefully 80,000.

-Wow.

Yeah, I get up in the morning, I write for an hour and then go to work.

-Wow.

-So, panel, a very impressive contestant, I think you'll find.

Angela, what have you got to offer Chris today?

He's a Geordie from Newcastle.

My dad was from County Durham, from a little village called Cornsay.

So, as two Geordie families together, keep it in the family,

that's what I'm going to offer him. Family support.

LAUGHTER

And Sally?

-I'm not a Geordie, but...

-That's fine.

..I'm quite good at very specific things. '80s sitcoms.

Nail that. Some pop music. Not bad.

And some Mills & Boons, but that's it.

-So I'm quite useful, really.

-LAUGHTER

This is the point where Chris tries to disguise the fact that his

heart is slowly sinking...

LAUGHTER

I can run with Mills & Boon, that's fine.

And of course, Ed, you've a lot to offer Chris today.

Chris, listen, I know what I know, and I know what I don't know.

And I won't pretend to know something if I don't know it.

So, you know where you stand with me.

OK, Chris, look, you need to pay close attention to our panel,

you can only choose one of them at the end of the show

-for the Final Debate. Are you ready to play?

-Let's do it.

That's the spirit. Let's play Round One.

APPLAUSE

OK, Chris, Round One is multiple choice.

Four possible answers, we have three questions in this round, £200

up for grabs for each correct answer,

a possible 600 quid for the prize pot.

Let's see if we can get you off the mark with this one.

I think I know the answer to this.

But I'm not going to say anything and I'm going to see what you

guys have to say.

I think this is good, it's the first question, let's test the panel.

Let's see how you are on this. Your debate starts now.

-What do you think, guys?

-It won't be in the sea.

-It won't be at the sea.

-It'll be inland.

-I don't think the Devil's Tower is real.

Devil's Tower was the tower at the end of

-Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.

-Was it?

-Yeah.

-Where's the Skeletal Coast?

-Skeleton...

That's... Isn't that off the coast of Africa somewhere? I think.

-I think it's Death Valley.

-It's got to be inland.

Do you know why I think it's Death Valley?

I seem to remember Roy Castle, I remember him frying an egg on a lid.

-I remember that!

-On Death Valley. Where it's really hot.

So, what do we think? Are we going to go for...?

-We think it's inland, and we think it's Death Valley.

-Death Valley, OK.

So, the panel have decided to go for Death Valley.

OK, Chris, the panel think it's Death Valley.

-Was that your first thought?

-It was my first thought.

Yes, I think... I remember reading about it somewhere.

And I think my mam and dad have been to Death Valley as well.

And my dad said that's where the highest temperature on Earth

was recorded. So I'm going to go with Death Valley, please.

You're going with Death Valley, Chris.

The highest recorded temperature on Earth, Furnace Creek,

is in Death Valley, for £200.

It is, well done.

-Well done.

-Thanks.

-Well played.

It was recorded in Death Valley, in California, on 10th July 1913.

-The temperature was 56.7 degrees Celsius.

-That's hot.

-Which is 134 degrees Fahrenheit.

-Wow.

Devil's Tower, in Wyoming, is the mountain used for the alien landing...

Good knowledge, Ed.

..in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.

Chris, you're off to a flying start. £200 in the prize pot.

Here comes your next question.

Ed Byrne is smiling.

-As a 34-year-old man, I have never seen Star Wars.

-What?!

-Yeah, I don't know, so it's over to you.

-Panel, your debate starts now.

Well, basically, we'll go through the scene.

It's the first film, which was A New Hope, wasn't it?

We can rule out Han Solo and Obi-Wan.

He doesn't come until later.

I'm pretty sure it starts with C-3PO on Princess Leia's

-ship, wandering around looking for R2-D2.

-Exactly.

-And he finds him with Princess Leia.

-And she's just finished the film.

-She's just done her little selfie.

-Then goes into...

-So we're saying...

-R2-D2.

-The hologram that goes into...

-Yeah.

-That doesn't mean anything to you, Chris.

But we know what we're talking about.

We should have said "spoiler alert" before we started that debate.

So, the panel believe... who are all massive Star Wars fans,

believe it was C-3PO.

So, was it convincing?

It was pretty convincing.

And you all seemed fairly certain on that,

so I'm more than happy to go for C-3PO.

There we go. C-3PO.

Is that the right answer? For £200.

It is the correct answer.

-Well played, Ed. Well done, panel.

-So relieved.

C-3PO is the first character to appear alongside, you were right,

Ed, R2-D2, and is the first character to speak.

It means that it's another £200 into the prize pot,

-you're up to £400.

-Whoa!

Here comes your next one.

Two out of two so far, let's see if you can keep it going with this.

I did watch a little bit of the darts, and on Twitter,

somebody tweeted about this, so I think I might know the answer.

-But again...

-Phew!

-You don't look too confident,

-but I'd like to hear what you've got to say.

-Oh, yeah.

We'd absolutely like to hear what the panel make of this one.

Your debate starts now.

Chris, if this was 1983 darts, I'd be all over it, mate.

I tell you what I'm thinking, looking at them.

Jimi Hendrix is such a specific name to a singer, I can't think of

too many people called Hendriks who would be called Jimmy.

But if your family name was Hendriks in America,

you would be called Jimmy.

There's loads of Mark Twains in America because they, you know...

-Paul Hogan.

-I'm just thinking Paul Hogan must be just a coincidence.

You know, it's not...

Of all the people they would put up on the board there, no offence

to Paul Hogan, but he's, like,

he was Crocodile Dundee, he was of his era.

It'd be a strange one to toss in if he wasn't a darts player.

So, I think, I think we can rule that one out...

-He is one?

-He is a darts player,

therefore we can rule him out as the answer.

-David Cameron's got to be a bit obvious.

-If I was going to guess...

If I was going to guess? I actually do have to guess.

THEY LAUGH

-I'd have said David Cameron.

-Let's say David Cameron.

-Cameron?

So, the panel have decided that the name that is not

-a player at the championship is David Cameron.

-Yeah.

So, not a huge amount of knowledge there from the panel,

but they believe that David Cameron did not play in the

2017 BDO World Darts Championship.

So, the tweet that I read about this,

somebody said something along the lines of, "What, so there's now

"David Cameron, Jimmy Hendriks and Mark Twain playing at the darts?"

-Oh!

-So, I'm going to go for Paul Hogan,

-I'm going to go against the panel.

-He knows.

-Amazing.

You're going against the panel, for £200.

The correct answer is...

-It was Mark Twain.

-OK.

-Wow.

It was a late night tweet, Chris, with a couple of pints, wasn't it?

LAUGHTER

You may have been getting confused with Tom Sawyer,

-who was one of Mark Twain's characters...

-Yeah.

..who also played the 2017 BDO Darts World Championship.

Canadian darts player David Cameron

and Dutch player Jimmy Hendriks played in the preliminary round.

English darts player Paul Hogan, nicknamed Crocodile Dundee...

IN AUSTRALIAN ACCENT: That's not a dart, that's a dart.

LAUGHTER

..beat Tom Sawyer. So, Chris, nothing for that.

But you're still doing well. After the first round, you're on £400.

So, Chris, how do you think the panel is doing so far?

Yeah, I think they're doing quite well, to be honest.

Again, we can write the darts question off, that's fine.

Yeah, let's just forget about that.

-But in general, yeah, I'm more than happy.

-Aw.

More than happy?! Surely just happy.

More than happy would be getting all the questions right. Come on.

I mean, you're very kind.

I had low expectations.

LAUGHTER

Let's see how they cope with pictures, it's time for Round Two.

APPLAUSE

OK, Chris, Round Two is our picture round.

You must place three pictures in the correct order.

£300 for each correct answer, two questions in this round,

a possible £600 up for grabs.

Here comes your first question.

I haven't got a clue, really don't know.

I'm not a huge cocktail drinker.

And if I do have one, it's a pina colada, so please help.

OK, panel, let's see if we can sort this out for Chris,

-your debate starts now.

-So, you're a pina colada guy, then, Chris.

-Give us that one down here.

-Now, this is the one.

This is the lowest,

because a bellini is just champagne and peach juice.

So you've only got one alcoholic ingredient in that.

-I have no idea what is in a Manhattan, do you know?

-Vodka?

Like a martini with creme de cassis in it, or something like that.

I'm not 100%. I'm not sophisticated enough for a Manhattan.

No, but you were quite sure that Long Island iced tea

has got boatloads of booze in it.

Pretty much, like, every white spirit goes in it,

-then you sort of just top it up with Coke.

-An iced tea?

-I'm fairly certain.

-Really?

It's one of the ones that I always, as a younger man,

ordered just cos I thought it had the most alcohol in it.

-LAUGHTER

-The most number of alcoholic drinks.

Is a Manhattan, it's a martini of some sort, isn't it?

I think it's a martini and vodka, but I don't know.

But I think alcohol content, the actual question, I think

it's bellini... Is that what we believe?

I think Manhattan is fairly simple. And Long Island iced tea is...

-is lovely!

-So...

LAUGHTER

I don't know how they get anything done in Long Island.

LAUGHTER

So on the advice of our booze drinking panel,

bellini, Manhattan and Long Island iced tea.

So, have the panel been any help there?

I'm more than happy, again,

to go with the answer that they've given, so I am going to go

for the bellini, then the Manhattan, then the Long Island iced tea.

You're going with the panel, for £300. Is that the correct order?

-Yay!

-It is, well done.

APPLAUSE

-Well done.

-Bellini has one alcoholic ingredient, Prosecco,

or other sparkling wine, mixed with peach juice.

Manhattan has three alcoholic ingredients, rye whiskey,

red vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters.

-Ah!

-Long Island iced tea, Ed, five alcoholic ingredients.

Gin, tequila, vodka, white rum, triple sec,

gomme syrup,

-lemon juice and a dash of cola.

-And not a leaf of tea in there.

Well done, Chris.

That's £300 into the prize pot, taking your total up to £700.

OK, another picture question coming your way.

Are you a fan of any of those people, Chris? Tell the truth.

Unfortunately not.

So, again, it's over to you, hopefully you're a fan.

Ed's looking a bit concerned.

-It's his natural look.

-LAUGHTER

OK, panel, your debate starts now.

This is really interesting because Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus

have done hundreds in America.

But I'm not sure Billy Ray has broken over here. But Miley has.

Yeah, but even...

Billy Ray Cyrus had, like, one, he had Achy Breaky Heart,

and that's about it.

And Miley, even though she's really big, I mean,

obviously Wrecking Ball and stuff like that.

But how many has she actually had?

But we're talking top 40, aren't we? It's not top 10.

-Now, the Iglesias boys...

-Millions, but worldwide.

Marty and Kim, I think...

-I think they are the most.

-They both had a boatload.

-He had loads in the '60s and '70s.

-We can safely put that down here.

Definitely. I'm just really confused about the Billy Ray Cyrus thing.

He only had that one hit, didn't he? Am I right about that?

-He probably had one other.

-How many did Julio have?

That's the thing that's confusing me.

-In this country, I think he would have had more than him.

-Right.

And then Miley has had more. Oh, it's touch-and-go.

-I think Miley and Enrique are probably comparable.

-Yeah.

-OK.

-Your decision, Chairman.

-OK, let's leave it as it is.

Let's leave it as it is.

OK, so the fewest hit singles, or top 40 singles,

we think, are Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus,

and Julio Iglesias and Enrique,

and then with the most is Marty Wilde and Kim Wilde.

So I think in that order.

-OK, Chris.

-Right, so...

Anything in there to help you out?

I think I agree with the least being Billy Ray and Miley.

I'm unsure about the other two.

Angela, you were saying that Marty Wilde and Kim Wilde had quite

-a lot of hits in the '70s.

-Well, Marty did.

-Marty in the '70s, Kim in the '80s.

-Kim in the '80s.

I feel like Julio had quite a lot of hits, though.

I'm going to go with my gut instinct,

and I'm going to say Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus...

..then Marty Wilde and Kim Wilde,

and then the most for Julio Iglesias and Enrique Iglesias.

Going against the panel.

-Controversial.

-Controversial, Sally.

For £300, is that the correct order?

It's the wrong order, Chris.

Let's have a little look at the correct order.

The panel had it right. Billy Ray Cyrus has had only two top 40 hits.

Miley has had 12, 14 in total.

-Julio has had six, and Enrique has had 17.

-Wow.

-23 in total.

Marty Wilde has had 11 UK top 40 hits and Kim has had 20.

-Wow.

-31 in total. Chris, never mind.

It means at the end of Round Two, your prize pot is up to £700.

There's still plenty of time, still £1,000 up for grabs,

it is time for Round Three.

APPLAUSE

OK, Chris, in Round Three you will face questions that contain

three statements about a person, a place or a thing.

Only one of them is correct. We need you to find that statement.

£500 for each correct answer, so £1,000 in total up for grabs.

Here we go.

OK.

I was in Nepal last year, and I was relatively close to the

mountain, and I remember hearing some facts about it.

I think it might be a bit higher than 5,000, to be honest.

So I would probably rule that one out. So it's between A and B.

OK, between A and B. Panel, can you help Chris out on this one?

-Your debate starts now.

-To be fair, he's eliminating the one I knew.

Ed's a big mountain climber. He knew that one, didn't you?

-Well, feet in a mile, isn't it 1,760?

-Feet in a mile?

-I have no idea.

-I have to admit, I converted to metric some time ago.

-So, 1,760...

-I think is feet in a mile.

-Right, OK.

-An FA Cup match is 90 minute, right?

-A cup match is 90 minutes.

60 seconds is 5,400.

The fact that it's very specifically an FA Cup match.

I have no idea whether it is just a hole in our knowledge that

there is some... For some reason, each half is ever so slightly...

I don't know. As you know, sport is a closed book to me.

That's the nearest one, isn't it?

That's the nearest number to, and I know that's not very scientific,

-but are we going to go for it?

-It's not feet in a mile.

-Everest is over 6,000 metres.

-OK. You're sure of that.

Let's make that a fact. And you've got the mile, that's a Rippon fact.

We know that, so it's got to be the minimum number of seconds.

-So, are we going to decide on that?

-It has to be, then.

-Yeah?

-OK.

-Yeah.

So, the panel have decided that the answer is B, the FA Cup match.

So, Chris, by a process of elimination, because Ed seems...

he's pretty sure on the height of Mount Everest.

Angela is pretty sure about the number of feet in a mile.

-What do you think?

-Yeah.

I think Mount Everest is over 8,000 metres, I'm pretty certain.

And I'll go with Angela's maths on the number of feet in a mile.

So I'm going to go with the panel, and I'll go for B, please.

You're going for the minimum number of seconds in an FA Cup match

is 5,280.

For £500, the correct statement is...

-Oh!

-It's the exact number of feet in one mile.

-There are 1,760 yards...

-Yards!

-..in a mile,

three feet in the yard,

making 5,280, so you got the figure right.

-Sorry, Chris.

-5,280 seconds would add up to 88 minutes,

which would be too short for a football match.

Football matches are 90 minutes before injury time.

The top peak of Mount Everest is around 8,848 metres above sea level.

Good knowledge, Ed. Good knowledge, Chris.

Unfortunately, though, it means no money for that question.

There's still 500 up for grabs, though,

with your final question of this round. Here we go.

I feel like that would be common knowledge if

he had six fingers on his right hand.

B is quite a bizarre statement.

I would be inclined to go with A, but maybe one of you guys

has met Rowan before and looked at his hands.

-LAUGHTER

-I've not, I'm afraid.

Panel, can you shed any light on this for Chris?

-Your debate starts now.

-Well, I've never heard of a Rodney Atkinson.

Then again, I don't know if that's Rowan's real name.

If his brother is standing for Ukip, I would have heard about that.

That's one of those, surely you'd have heard that before.

-You would have definitely have heard of that.

-Absolutely.

He would have been out there campaigning for him, possibly.

-Or if he hadn't, that would be news.

-Yeah, trying to avoid it.

I've never heard he's got six fingers on his right hand.

I'm fairly certain he has the regular complement of fingers.

I'm trying to think of Blackadder's gloves now.

Not something I ever thought I would be thinking about.

I mean, the only thing that jumped at me was, like you, Chris,

Mr Bean first appeared on Comic Relief.

Because lots of comedy characters have started there.

I think it's Comic Relief. I think it's Mr Bean.

-It's got that feel about it.

-OK, are we going to go for that?

OK, we are going to go for A, Comic Relief.

OK, Chris, they're going for A.

Yeah, I think I'm inclined to go for that as well.

I'm going to go with A, Mr Bean first appeared on Comic Relief.

OK.

For £500, did Mr Bean first appear on Comic Relief?

The correct answer is...

No!

-..his brother Rodney stood for Ukip leader.

-Oh, my gosh!

-Wow.

-Rodney Atkinson lost the Ukip leadership election

by 16 votes to Jeffrey Titford in the year 2000.

I can tell you, Mr Bean has appeared on Comic Relief,

but only after he was an established character.

It means at the end of Round Three, your prize pot is £700.

APPLAUSE

OK, Chris, £700 up for grabs, any plans what you'd like to do with it?

So, to be honest, I think that I would like to use the money

to probably try and self publish, maybe even if it's just one book for

me, so I can put it on the shelf and say that I have achieved something.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-There is only one question that stands between you and

that £700, Chris. That is of course our Final Debate.

In the Final Debate, you will face one question with six possible answers.

Three of those answers are correct.

I need you to give me all three correct answers to leave with the £700.

You will not be playing this question on your own,

you will be pleased to know.

Would you like Angela Rippon to go the extra mile with you?

Would you like to be shaken, not stirred, with Sally Lindsay?

Or will you break his heart, his achy, breaky heart...

LAUGHTER

..and pick Ed?

As fantastic as Ed and Sally have been, and I mean that,

I feel like the kind of work Angela has done as

a journalist gives her quite a broad knowledge of the world in general.

And modern history, perhaps.

So, yeah, I'd like to go with Angela, please.

OK, Angela, join us as we play the Final Debate.

APPLAUSE

OK, Angela, Chris believes that you have the best overall knowledge to

help him to the money. Has he made the right decision?

This is the most terrifying part of this show, I have to tell you,

when you really have to dig really deep,

and if the two things that come up cover things that you know,

we're all right. But if they don't.

I mean, if there is a bit of sport up there, or pop music, I'm out of here.

-OK.

-OK. Chris, two categories for your Final Debate, as always.

Have a look at these and tell us which you fancy.

-How's your space knowledge?

-Space...

They're probably going to be asking questions about stars and

space travel.

-I feel like you could perhaps help with the media side of things.

-OK.

So, yeah, I'm going to go with Radio, please.

You're going for Radio, Chris.

This is where my heart now is right up here in my mouth.

ANGELA LAUGHS

I wish you the best of luck. For £700, 45 seconds on the clock,

here is today's Final Debate question.

LAUGHTER

(Fastnet.)

No.

No.

No.

Yes.

-North Sea. Yes!

-Your debate starts now.

It's definitely not Orkneys and Penzance.

-OK.

-It is Fastnet, it is definitely Viking.

And I am 99% sure it is North Sea.

Because I hear the Shipping Forecast when I'm up very early in the

-morning to go filming.

-I've never heard of...

-Dogger Bank, yeah.

Penzance, definitely not. Orkneys is definitely not. Wait a minute.

-Dogger, Viking. Fastnet, Dogger, Viking, North Sea.

-20 seconds.

Now I'm worried about North Sea. I don't think North Sea is.

I think it's Fastnet, Dogger, Viking.

-Do you remember hearing those recently?

-I'm just trying to think.

Fastnet, Dogger Bank... Viking definitely is.

Fastnet, it definitely is.

I know it's not Penzance and I know it's not Orkneys.

-Chris, I need three answers.

-OK, I'm going to go for Fastnet.

-Definitely.

-Viking.

-Definitely.

-And North Sea, please.

-No, no, it's Dogger!

OK, Fastnet, Viking and North Sea. OK, Chris, here we go, best of luck.

For £700, we're all hoping you can do this.

Three BBC Radio 4 Shipping Forecast areas.

First up, you gave us Fastnet. Is Fastnet a Shipping Forecast area?

It is. Up and running.

APPLAUSE

Next, you said Viking.

To keep us on track for the £700, is Viking a Shipping Forecast area?

It is. Between the Shetland Islands and Norway.

So it all boils down to this.

Initially Angela thought it may have been North Sea,

then she thought it was Dogger.

I needed an answer, Chris, and you gave me North Sea.

If North Sea is correct, you leave today with £700.

If it's the wrong answer, I'm afraid you leave with nothing.

Fingers crossed, here we go.

Is North Sea a Radio 4 Shipping Forecast area, for £700?

It's the wrong answer, Chris.

It goes North Utsire, South Utsire, Fastnet, Dogger, Viking.

-Let's see the correct answer.

-It's Dogger.

It is Dogger, Angela.

After Dogger Bank, a sandbank east off Newcastle.

The Shipping Forecast has been going since the 1920s, only stopped during

the Second World War when it thought it may have helped the enemy.

Chris, I'm so sorry, we were so close on that one.

I wouldn't have had a clue anyway, so at least we got two right.

Well, look, you've been a great player, thanks for coming in to see us.

-Give it up one more time for Chris.

-Thank you.

APPLAUSE

-Thanks.

-There you go.

That is it for Debatable, just enough time for me to thank our

fantastic panel, to Angela Rippon, to Sally Lindsay and Ed Byrne.

I do hope you've enjoyed watching,

we will see you next time for more heated debates.

For now, it's goodbye from me.