Episode 2 Beat the Brain

Hello, I'm The Brain.

There are some tricky games for our team to tackle today.

Why don't you try a couple yourself?

Which of the four wheels on the right matches the one on the left?

And here's another one.

What's the phrase or saying?

I'll give you the answers at the end of the show.

Now, watch how our team does today as they attempt to beat The Brain.

APPLAUSE

Please welcome a bona fide national treasure, John Craven.

Well, thank you for that. And welcome to Beat The Brain.

Now, you don't need any brilliant general knowledge

to do well in this show.

In fact, you don't need any general knowledge at all.

What you do need is a subtle mind

and sharp wits to take on our series of prickly posers.

So let's say hello to our puzzle princess. How are you today, Brain?

Oh, I'm gorgeous, Mr Craven and so are you.

But no-one will steal my crown today.

Well, I know some people who are determined to do just that,

so let's meet our team.

Please introduce yourself.

I'm Louise and I'm a support worker.

I'm Jennifer and I'm a secondary school science teacher.

I'm Allie and I'm a monitoring officer.

I'm Rob, I'm the team captain and I'm an IT support analyst.

APPLAUSE

Well, welcome, everyone.

You're all from the London area and, captain,

have you decided what your team is going to be called?

-We are going to be Team Melodians.

-And why is that, Rob?

Because we are all members of the Melodians Steel Orchestra.

-Your biggest gig?

-We've played at the Queen's Jubilee...

-Really?

..played at several garden parties at Buckingham Palace.

You may be very good at playing the drums and things

but are you going to be good at playing Beat The Brain?

I believe we will, John.

Well, let's find out because here's how it works.

The show's Brain is divided into six Zones...

Now, The Brain will select four out of those six Zones for you to

play today and, Rob, as captain,

you must decide which team member you think will perform best

in each Zone.

You'll face a series of questions in our Zone with each

correct answer adding three seconds to what we call your Brain Bank.

The more time you build up,

the better chance you have of beating The Brain in today's

final and walking away with our jackpot of £3,000.

-So, Melodians, are you ready to play?

-Yes, we are.

Right, time to find out which Zone you'll be facing first.

Brain, Zone, please.

It's Multi-tasking.

So, Rob, which do you think is going to be the best person to multi-task?

This Zone is probably most suited to Allie.

Well, Allie, please join me, then, in the Multi-tasking Zone.

APPLAUSE

-Nice to meet you, Allie.

-And you too.

Now, I hear that you were the first person in the country to

-do GCSE in steel band.

-On the steel drums, yeah.

That must have been quite a thing.

It was a challenge because it wasn't recognised, really,

as a musical instrument. But I'm quite strong-willed.

Well, let's see how you do when you play The Brain.

You will play two games in this Zone.

Both games have three questions worth three seconds each,

so, Brain, what's the first game?

-Hello, Allie.

-Hello, Brain.

-Here's your first game.

-Thank you.

Count the number of times the named object appears

in the spinning wheels.

To help you out, have a trial run.

Count the yellow hard hats.

-How many hard hats did you make?

-12.

-12 is the correct answer, good.

-Can I use that as my main one, then?

No, that is just your test run. So, concentrate with all your might.

Off we go. Over to you, Brain.

Remember, Allie, I will only accept your first answer.

-I would say good luck but I don't want to.

-OK.

Every correct answer will add three seconds to your Brain Bank.

Your game starts now.

Count the apples.

-How many apples do you reckon?

-11.

-11 you're saying. Are you right?

You are correct, well done.

That's a very good start, so off we go with the second one.

Count the chicks.

-How many chicks?

-13.

-13 chicks, were there?

There where indeed. Cracking start so far. So, the third one, please.

Count the snowflakes.

-How many snowflakes?

-15.

-15 you reckon. How many?

Was that correct?

Yes, it was.

That's a really good start for your team, isn't it?

You had three right there, so maximum points so far.

Let's see how you do in game two.

Here's your second game.

Allie, count the number of times each arrow passes its needle.

To get your eye in, have a trial run.

-How many times?

-Three and five.

-Three and five, you're saying.

-Let's have a look.

-Oh.

Four and six.

I always find, with this one, it's good to use your fingers, you know?

I was trying to.

Are you happy to play it again?

Well, no, not really.

I'm not very good at it.

You did very well on the first one, so let's see how you do on this one.

-OK.

-Please remember I can only accept your first answer.

-OK.

Your game starts now.

-Two-one.

-Two and one.

That's correct, next one.

How many that time?

(Oh, God.)

-Three-two.

-Three and two. Let's have a look and see if you're correct.

You are! That was a fluke. Fluke?

-No, no, no, no. Fluke(!)

-Next one.

-Six-five.

-Six and five, bit faster that time.

Six and five, are you correct?

-Five and six.

-The other way around.

-So you've done incredibly well.

-Have I?

-Yeah. A steel drummer really on song.

-Well, yeah.

-What do you think, Brain?

-Do you want to beat me today, Allie?

Absolutely.

Well, you're going the right way about it, which annoys me so much.

Soon you'll be getting your hands on £3,000 if I'm not careful.

Because, Allie, you added 15 seconds in that Zone,

which means Melodians have 15 seconds in their Brain Bank.

APPLAUSE

-Congratulations, Allie.

-Thank you.

Lovely to see. Rejoin your team.

So it's time to find out our next Zone and who is going to take it on.

Brain, Zone, please.

It's Memory, so, Rob, who is going in the Memory Zone?

This Zone is probably more suited to...

-Louise.

-Louise?

-Yeah.

Right, well, come and join me, Louise, in the Memory Zone.

APPLAUSE

-You look to me to be the youngest member of the team.

-Yeah.

And how old were you when you actually joined the band?

I was 11 years old.

-So do they give you quite a small drum to start with?

-No, no.

Everyone's drums are the same size, so you have to reach for it

and deal with it.

OK, Brain, please reveal the game that Louise will be playing first.

-Hello, Louise.

-Hi, Brain.

Here's your first game.

Louise, you will see four named pictures.

The pictures will disappear, one will come back. Tell us what its name is.

To give you some practice, have a trial run.

So you've got Merkel, Hollande, Juncker and Putin.

Who was the onion?

Putin?

Putin you think? Yes, you were right.

Are you ready to play for real?

-Yes.

-Right, let's have a go.

Please remember, I can only accept your first answer.

Your game starts now.

Grantham?

The parrot - let's see, let's have a look.

-Oh.

-It was Carson. Carson the parrot.

Here comes the next one.

Giraffe was...?

-Mary.

-Mary, you think?

-Yes, it was. Correct.

-Yay!

-Well done! And the last one...

-Dickens.

-Dickens the duck.

Let's have a look and see.

-Yeah, Dickens the duck.

-Yeah!

-So two out of three there.

-You feeling a bit more confident now?

-Yes, I am.

Yeah. Well, let's see what Brain has in store for the second game.

Here is your second game, Louise.

-It's Follow The Leader.

-OK.

Repeat the order in which the colours flash.

To get you in the groove, have a trial run.

So what are you saying?

Purple, black, yellow, bl...

-Er, yellow, red.

-Purple, black, yellow, red, you're saying.

Let's see if that's right.

-Purple, black, yellow, red, yes!

-Yes!

-Well done.

-Let's see how you do with the real thing.

-Let's do it.

Your game starts now.

Pink, white, blue, black, red.

Pink, white, blue, black, red. Let's see if you're right.

Pink, white, blue, black, red.

-Well done, yeah.

-Yeah!

-Yes, good.

Here comes another.

Yellow, pink...

black, white...

-..red.

-Red, you're saying as a final colour.

Let's have a look and see.

-I missed green.

-Yellow, pink, black...

-You missed the green out right at the end, didn't you?

-Yeah.

Never mind. Let's have another one, the final one.

White, yellow, red,

purple, blue, black.

Let's have a look and see if that's correct.

White, yellow, red...

-You missed the green.

-Green.

Yeah, and black and blue as well

are the wrong way round.

But never mind. Brain, what do you make of that?

I was very harsh on you there, wasn't I, Louise?

Never mind, Brain, I'm sure we'll be friends later on.

Absolutely, and you can give me your headband.

-No, I made this. This is a one-off.

-LAUGHTER

I like it. It would look good on my cranium.

But you did very well.

You added nine seconds in that Zone,

which means Melodians now have 24 seconds in their Brain Bank.

-Jolly good. Well done, Louise.

-Thank you, John.

Rejoin the Melodians.

That's a pretty good score for halfway through.

-So are you feeling quite happy, Rob, so far?

-So far, so good, John.

Don't forget, your team is playing for time.

With the more seconds you add to your Brain Bank,

the more chance you have of beating The Brain in today's final

and walking away with £3,000.

So let's find out right away which Zone is next,

and who is going to take it on. Brain, the Zone, please.

Logic.

Logic. So, Rob?

I might take this one on myself, John.

Well, come and join me in the Logic Zone.

APPLAUSE

Good to see you, Rob. How long have you been in the band?

I've been in the band for...

About 25 years plus.

-An old hand with the drumsticks?

-Yes.

And how are you at playing mental agility games?

I'm not bad.

We're about to find out, I think, aren't we?

So don't forget, there are another 18 precious seconds on offer

in this Zone - that's three seconds for every correct answer.

So Brain, please reveal the first game that Rob will be playing.

-Hello, Captain Rob.

-Hi, Brain.

What's your favourite piece to play in your steel orchestra?

I quite like our version of Bohemian Rhapsody.

Well, let's hope you're going to be as clever

as Galileo, Galileo, Galileo. LAUGHTER

Here's your first game -

Tip Of The Tongue.

Identify the phrase or saying from the cryptic visual puzzle.

-And Rob, you can warm up with a trial run.

-OK.

So here we go.

-That spells out "knuckle", doesn't it?

-That spells the word "knuckle".

It's going down.

I guess at "knuckle down"?

"Knuckle down", you're saying? Is that correct?

Yes, it is. Well done. Knuckle down.

Not knuckle up, knuckle down, yeah.

And so you got the hang of it, so you ready to play?

-Yep, let's go for it.

-Off you go, then, Rob.

You can have as many guesses as you like, Captain Rob,

but I will not move onto the next question

until you give me the correct answer or pass.

you have 45 seconds to answer three questions.

Your game starts now.

The word sky...

-is in red.

-Yeah.

-Red sky...

11pm. Red sky at night?

Red sky at night, you think. Is that correct?

Yes, it is indeed. Next one, 30 seconds left.

-Erm, scales with the word power.

-Yeah.

-Power balance?

-Yeah, or...

-Balance of power?

-Balance of power, yes.

Balance of power, you're correct.

Off we go, 13 seconds left.

Hm.

Erm...

Three wise...

-men?

-Let's have a look.

Three wise men, and that was a really difficult one,

so well done, Rob! You got maximum seconds there.

-Thank you.

-Let's see how you do on game two.

Here's your second game -

What's The Score?

Three darts will be thrown.

You must add up the score and subtract it from the total.

Here's a trial run.

11, triple 12, 18.

HE MUTTERS NUMBERS TO HIMSELF

I think 64? 501...

-The total is 64.

-64.

-Deduct it from 501.

64...

Four...

JOHN LAUGHS

Four, four...

-Four, four...

-443?

-443, you're saying?

-ROB LAUGHS

Let's see if that's correct.

-Oh, gosh.

-436.

-436, oh.

-Almost there, almost there.

-Well, all the very best, OK?

-OK.

Remember, Rob, you have 45 seconds -

not all day - to answer three questions correctly,

and I can only accept your first answer.

Your game starts now.

14, 19, triple 6.

HE MUTTERS NUMBERS TO HIMSELF

Have a quick go. 30 seconds left.

Er, 449?

-449, you're saying?

-Oh.

Nearly there. Next one.

14, double 11, 16.

HE MUTTERS NUMBERS TO HIMSELF

-Time is up, I'm afraid.

-Aw.

-Time is up.

Well, bad luck there. Bad luck, Rob.

-Obviously, the numbers you prefer are musical numbers.

-That's right.

That wasn't my greatest moment.

So, Brain, you must be pretty pleased with yourself,

because Rob started so well and then you manage to scupper him.

Yes, I did, didn't I?

Rob, you added nine seconds in that zone.

You have, Melodians, 33 seconds in your Brain Bank.

APPLAUSE

That is a good score, so far, Rob,

so please rejoin the rest of the Melodians.

Well, Jennifer, you're our final player,

so why don't you come and join me and we'll find out which one

of the three remaining Zones you will be playing.

APPLAUSE

-Hello, Jennifer.

-Hello. Nice to meet you.

-And you too.

Which of the three would you like? I make it that we have

Orientation, Observation and Language left, so...

-I think any of those three.

-Off we go, then. See how you do.

Which Zone are you going to meet, do you think?

-Orientation.

-It's Orientation. How do you feel about that?

-Yeah, I'm quite happy with that one.

-Quite happy?

-Yeah, yeah.

-We'll see how it goes.

-We shall see, yes.

So, Brain, please reveal the first game

that Jennifer will be playing in the Orientation Zone.

-Hello, Jennifer.

-Hello, Brain.

-Captain Rob has three very strong willed women on his team.

-He does.

I like that. I like that a lot.

Here's the first game - Whose View?

Match the viewpoint on the left to the numbered position on the right.

Have yourself a trial run, Jennifer.

Which viewpoint? Which number matches the viewpoint?

OK, so looking at the pink in the middle,

we've got the blue and the green either side,

so I'd say the viewpoint 6.

-6, you're saying?

-Yeah.

-Is that correct?

It is indeed. Happy to play?

-I'm happy to play.

-Let's do it for real.

This is the final chance to build up time for today's final.

You have a maximum of 45 seconds to answer three questions.

Your game starts now.

OK, so, I would say

-that is viewpoint 6.

-Viewpoint 6 again?

Yes, you're correct. Off we go with another one.

-Viewpoint 2.

-2, you say. Is that right?

Yes, it is. Congratulations there. And on to the final one.

-Viewpoint 3.

-Viewpoint 3.

Well done, yeah! 17 seconds to spare and you got all three correct.

-Wasn't that bad.

-Yeah, that was very good.

-Thank you.

Onto the next one.

I'm starting to get a little nervous now.

-I think you should, Brain.

-Brrr.

Here's your second game - Spinning Wheel.

Jennifer, which wheel matches the one on the left?

Here's a trial run to help you get a feel for the game.

-C.

-C, you're saying? C.

-No.

Wheel C.

-No, it was A.

-No. Yeah, I realised I got that wrong.

-Got that now?

-Yeah.

-Ready to play?

-I'm ready to play, yeah.

-Off we go.

You have a maximum of 45 seconds to answer three questions.

Your game starts now.

-C.

-C, is that correct?

Yes, it is. Onto the next one.

C.

-C?

-C.

C, yeah, well done. Onto the next one.

20 seconds left.

-B.

-B.

And you're correct! Wow!

-Love it!

-Yeah, bit of a false start there on the test run, but...

Yeah, that was just to shake The Brain a little, you know?

-THEY LAUGH

-Well, I think you managed to do that, didn't she, Brain?

Yes, Jennifer, do you think you have a chance

-of beating me in today's final?

-I'm hoping so, Brain.

Well, that was a full house.

You have 18 seconds in that Zone, which means that,

Melodians, you have finished with a grand total

of 51 seconds in your Brain Bank!

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Well done!

Well, that is a very good final score, Jennifer, for the team.

I think you have a really good chance of doing well

in the last round. Rejoin the Melodians.

-Thank you very much.

-Lovely to see you. Thank you.

Well, we've finished the individual Zones now,

and it's up to our team to try to beat The Brain one last time

and take home some serious cash in today's final.

Melodians, you've added 51 seconds to your Brain Bank,

and it's time to put it to good use,

because you each need to answer two questions correctly

within your 51 seconds to take home our jackpot today of £3,000.

If you take too long, there's still a chance to win some money, though,

because the brain has given you, in an untypical burst of generosity,

an extra two minutes to get the answers.

But as the time slips away, so does the money,

at the rate of £25 a second.

And if you run out of time, you run out of money.

So Rob, as team captain, you've chosen the order of play.

How have you orchestrated this?

Well, I've gone with Allie to go first,

-and I've left myself till last, cos I think...

-You're the anchor.

-You're the anchor.

-Yes. Hopefully, yes.

Right, well, let's get serious now,

because it's time to start today's final.

Over to you, Brain.

You'll only face questions from the games you've already seen today,

but for every game in the final, I will only accept your first answer.

Melodians, beat me if you can.

That's the challenge, And as always, Allie,

we'll start off with the player on the left - that's you.

Give me two correct answers, and once you have them,

I can pass on down the line, OK?

Good luck. Here we go.

Let's start the game.

Blue, red, black, white, purple.

Yes.

5, triple 4, 18.

Subtract the score.

Pass.

Remember the image and name.

Macbeth.

-Yes. Louise.

-Count the red peppers.

Four.

Correct.

Which wheel matches the one on the left?

C.

Yes. Jennifer.

Pass.

Which viewpoint?

Five.

Yes.

Four and one.

Correct.

Rob.

Iron man?

Oh!

What is the word?

Breakfast. Break fast.

Correct.

Seven.

Stop the clock!

THEY CHEER

APPLAUSE

Well, congratulations, Melodians.

Eight correct answers with one minute 11 seconds to go -

you have won £1,775.

-THEY CHEER

-All right!

Well done, well done.

So how are you going to spend the money?

-Going to the band.

-Going to the band, is it?

-Yes.

-Good, good, good.

-And you didn't get the darts, Rob.

-Yes.

-Yeah!

-THEY LAUGH

I saw it come up and I started to sweat a bit.

So congratulations -

very good luck to you and the band in the future.

Brain, a reaction from you?

Congratulations, Melodians.

Like a steel drum, I've been well and truly beaten.

Well, thank you all at home for watching today.

I hope you've enjoyed playing along.

But for now, it's goodbye from the Melodians...

See ya!

-..from Brain...

-Goodbye!

..and from me. See you again next time.

Don't go just yet.

Here are the answers to the questions I gave you at the start of the show.

Which of the four wheels on the right matches the one on the left?

The answer is...

B. And what about the second one?

What's the phrase or saying?

The answer is thunderball.

Play these and many more testing games next time on Beat The Brain.