Grand Final Mastermind

From the 96 contenders in this series, six finalists have emerged.

One of them is about to be crowned the nation's Mastermind.

The first finalist is Mark Wyatt, a chartered accountant from Birmingham.

He'll answer on JMW Turner.

Next, Maya Davis, a retired teacher from Brighton, on alchemy.

David Love, a financial planner from Wolverhampton, on Tom Lehrer.

Next, Nick Reed, a househusband from North Yorkshire, on The Diggers.

Gary Grant, a GP from Bury, on whales, dolphins and porpoises.

And Andy Tucker, a former diplomat from Winchester, on the history of Azerbaijan.

Hello and welcome to the Mastermind Grand Final with me, John Humphrys.

It's been a long road for these six finalists, but the end is in sight.

Having seen off all challengers, they must now face the black chair one more time. They know the rules.

Two minutes on their specialist subject, 2½ on general knowledge.

The winner will take home this glass bowl and, far more importantly,

the title of Mastermind Champion. So let's get on with it and ask our first finalist to join us, please.

And your name is...?

In the heats, you took the life and music of Nick Drake and Band of Brothers.

Tonight you are taking...?

I used to drop into Birmingham Art Gallery on my lunch hour and got interested in painting.

One of the artists that most fascinates me is Turner because of the change that he represents

and the way that he paints.

Tate Britain is home to the largest collection of Turner works including Snowstorm Steamboat,

The Shipwreck and Norham Castle.

One of the interesting things I've found out is

that his mother was admitted to the Bethlehem mental hospital. That's where we get the word bedlam.

Since the semi-final, I've been trying to prepare as best I can.

I don't think there's much you can do to prepare for general knowledge,

but for the specialist subject round I've been reading as many biographies of Turner as I can

and trying to learn about his paintings - not an unpleasant task.

From the earlier rounds I've learnt that it's really important to answer as quickly as you can.

And a really strong black coffee 10 minutes before the show helps.

I don't think I'll ever forget the first walk to the black chair.

My biggest concern was I'd sit in it and it would tip backwards like some office chairs I've known.

I'm quite excited about the final. In earlier rounds, I was nervous.

Hopefully in the final I'll just enjoy it.

I think my friends and family are quite surprised. We've done a lot of pub quizzes and don't often win,

so I think it's quite a shock for them.

I used to enjoy watching Mastermind as a kid. As I grew up, I started doing pub quizzes.

This brings the whole thing full circle.

Two minutes on JMW Turner starting now.

In which year was he baptised on 14th May in Covent Garden?

-1775.

-Whose painting Seaport With The Embarkation of The Queen of Sheba so profoundly effected Turner

that he burst into tears on first seeing it?

-Claude.

-In which town west of London did Turner first attend school

after he was sent to stay with an uncle, possibly to escape the stress of his mother's mental instability?

-Brentford.

-What major event of October, 1834, did Turner witness,

making a series of quick watercolours?

-Burning of the Houses of Parliament.

-In which London street did he open his own gallery in 1804 until 1816?

-Queen Anne Street.

-Yes. What was the first oil painting he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1796?

-Fishermen At Sea.

-Which artist did he upstage at Somerset House in 1832

by changing the colour scheme of his own work with a daub of red?

-Constable.

-Which figure painting, a rare theme for Turner, was strongly influenced by Titian

-and first exhibited in 1803?

-Pass.

-With which other student artist was he employed on Friday evenings

at the home of Dr Thomas Munro?

-Girtin.

-Which North Wales castle did he paint in 1800, submitting it to the Royal Academy two years later?

-Dolbadarn.

-What widow of a composer was said by some to be the mother of two daughters by Turner?

-Sarah Danby.

-He left two paintings to the National Gallery in his will

on condition they be displayed beside Claude. One was Sun Rising Through Vapour and the other...?

-Er, Dido Building Carthage.

-In which city did he set up a studio in 1828 and receive much criticism?

-Rome.

-Who offered Turner the post of illustrator on his expedition to Greece, but disagreed over terms?

-Elgin.

-What's the title of his oil painting of 1832 which, 12 years later, became his first work

to enter an American collection?

-Staffa, Fingal's Cave.

-His huge...

-BEEP

..canvas, Rome From The Vatican, was painted in 1820. Which Renaissance artist is depicted working in it?

-Raphael.

-Is correct. You had one pass.

The title of the figure painting was Holy Family.

You have, Mark Wyatt, 15 points.

And now our next finalist, please.

And your name is...?

In previous rounds, you chose Gerard Hoffnung and British owls. Tonight it is...?

Alchemy is a sort of early chemistry. What a lot of alchemists were interested in doing

was exploring how to change one substance into another.

The Wellcome Institute in London is all about the history of medicine.

A lot of early alchemists had a background in medicine,

were doctors, were interested in finding out more about life.

Some of the equipment here looks very like what you see in pictures of alchemists.

They were really interested in how to make gold, for obvious reasons.

The ideas go right back to the Ionian Greeks who wanted to know what everything was made of

and led to the ideas of Aristotle that everything is a balance of fire, water, earth, air,

hot, cold, wet, dry.

When I was doing A Level English at school, our Chaucer set text was the Canon's Yeoman's Tale,

which is about an alchemist. I wanted to find out more about it

and thought it would be nice to go back and look at something I last read about 40 years ago.

I'm going through it in detail and thinking about how I would teach it and set an exam on it.

That's helping me focus on what I think are the basic ideas.

Mastermind is THE big challenge of a quiz, the one where you're competing against yourself.

I'm really pleased to get to the final. I can be thrown by left-field questions.

I can have the odd senior moment,

but the important thing is to get it out of your mind and concentrate on John Humphrys and doing your best.

As far as general knowledge is concerned, I'm not sure whether age is a good factor or a bad factor.

Experience is an important thing and if your mind is a cross between a dustbin and a filing cabinet

with a random access memory, that possibly works best.

My friends and family are divided about me taking part in Mastermind.

Some are backing me all the way, particularly my husband. Others just think I'm completely mad.

Either way, I'm going to try to not let them down.

Two minutes on alchemy starting now.

According to Chaucer, in alchemy sol and lunar refer to which metals?

-Sulphur and mercury.

-Gold and silver. What equipment was used by amateurs, derided as "puffers"?

-Furnaces.

-Bellows. According to Avicenna, metals were mainly formed from which two elements?

-Sulphur and mercury!

-What name meaning "the royal water" was given to hydrochloric and nitric acids?

-Aqua Regia.

-Which 17th-century antiquarian collected many alchemical texts

in his Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum?

-Ashmole.

-Geber's Chest of Wisdom includes "the most important single piece of information" in his books,

which was a recipe for what?

-Pass.

-Which Pope issued a decree against alchemists and anyone claiming to turn metals into gold?

-John XXII.

-In which city did the physician Helvetius and his wife experiment with transmutatory powder

and apparently turn lead into gold?

-Basel.

-The Hague. Which element was sometimes called "the grey wolf"?

-Mercury?

-Antimony. In 1597, a German Lutheran published Alchemia,

often regarded as the first modern chemistry textbook. What was his name?

-Paracelsus.

-Libavius.

Which 13th-century Dominican bishop known as Doctor Universalis, tested alchemical gold and found it false?

-Pass.

-Which alchemical apparatus now used in cookery is said to be named after a Jewish prophetess?

-Bain-Marie.

-As described by George Ripley, which animal stood rotting for over 80 days

before he began to experiment on it?

-Cow.

-A toad. What term, probably coined by Paracelsus, was used for liquid to dissolve all substances?

-Elixir.

-Alkahest. Which notorious English alchemist, mentioned by Ben Jonson,

worked with John Dee for Emperor Rudolf II and died near Prague?

-Kelley.

-What word of Arabic origin meant an alchemical furnace...

-BEEP

..with a deep ash pan?

-Alembic.

-Athanor.

You had two passes. That 13th-century Dominican bishop was Albertus Magnus

and in Geber's Chest of Wisdom, the most important single piece of information his books contained

was a recipe for nitric acid.

You have, Maya Davis, six points.

And our next finalist, please.

And your name is...?

Your earlier specialist subjects were Ralph Vaughan Williams and British birds of prey. Tonight...?

We're in Boston. It's the largest city in Massachusetts.

Also the state capital. One of the oldest cities in America.

This is Storyville, a music venue in Boston that's been a home to some of the greats

such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong,

Billie Holiday

and, in 1954, it was the place where Tom Lehrer made his professional debut.

# First we got the bomb and that was good cos we love peace and motherhood

# Then Russia got the bomb but that's OK cos the balance of power... #

Tom Lehrer's material proved just a little too hot for the radio stations to broadcast.

You can understand it when you realise he was dealing with civil rights, racial persecution...

# France got the bomb but don't you grieve...

# China got the bomb but have no fears, they can't wipe us out for at least five years... #

Also quite a few strange things not to be mentioned in polite company.

# Egypt's gonna get one, too

# Just to use on you know who... #

Lehrer's got a reputation for being a great ad libber,

but the wonderfully hilarious and urbane introductions to the songs on the live recordings

were very carefully calculated. He knew where the laughs were.

I don't know why, but people in London take me for an American...

-He knew where to pause...

-# Hey ho and hi diddle diddle

# Aunt Isobel's shingles have met in the middle. #

He didn't leave anything to chance.

# There's no such thing as a fifth of a penny So you call it seven pence... #

I used to steal his songs with an old university friend of mine. His material supplemented ours.

I thought as I already know quite a few of the songs, he might make a decent subject for Mastermind.

-National Brotherhood Week.

-Walking to the black chair must feel like jumping out of an aircraft.

No amount of panic will do any good and all you can do is hope that your parachute is going to open.

# And that is the end of the news! #

Tom Lehrer, two minutes.

He was born in 1928 to a Jewish family in which borough of New York?

-Manhattan.

-At what age did he go to Harvard to study mathematics "due to the lack of labs and smells"?

-15.

-In Lobachevsky, what is the secret of success in mathematics?

-Plagiarise.

-In the notes of his first album, which song is dedicated

"to that member of the community who goes modestly...about his job of spreading happiness...

"but is never properly recognised"?

-The Old Dope Peddler.

-In Smut, what line follows, "Who needs a hobby like tennis or philately"...?

-"I'm re-reading Lady Chatterley."

-On what day does Poisoning Pigeons In The Park routinely take place?

-Sunday.

-Lehrer said something he invented out of necessity when alcohol was banned at a party

was his single contribution to the war effort. What was it?

-The vodka Jell-o shot.

-His album That Was The Year That Was was recorded in which night club?

-The Hungry I.

-In 1997, which of his songs did he describe as being probably the most controversial?

-Vatican Rag.

-The last time he was a paid performer in a live concert was on September 12th, 1967,

in which European capital city?

-Copenhagen.

-The fourth verse of Clementine is reworked in the style of which British musical pairing

whom Lehrer once described as his earliest musical memory?

-Gilbert and Sullivan.

-In the introduction to Tom Lehrer Revisited

he claims that his translation of which book into Latin remains the standard version of that work?

-Wizard of Oz.

-Who was the owner of Ciro's, the nightclub on Sunset Strip, where Lehrer played?

-George...Homer.

-Herman Hover. What is the name of the musical revue based on Lehrer's songs

written and produced by Cameron Mackintosh in 1980?

-Tomfoolery.

-In The Irish Ballad, the maid admits to killing her family. Why doesn't she deny it?

-Lying would be a sin.

-Yes!

-BEEP

Murder's fine, but lying is a sin. Exactly. No passes.

David Love, you have 14 points.

And our next finalist, please.

And your name is...?

In previous rounds you took English Football Leagues and PG Wodehouse as your specialist subject.

Tonight...?

"Take notice that England is not a free people until the poor that have no land have a free allowance to dig

"and the Earth must be set free

"from entanglements of lords and landlords and become a common treasury for all..."

Diggers described land and property as being under the Norman yoke,

looking back nearly 600 years and blaming the Normans for changing the way land was allocated.

The Digger movement emerges from the English Civil War and Revolution and that's no coincidence.

The Civil War is a time when accepted ideas are up in the air for the first time in centuries

and a radical movement with a coherent idea and commitment can really seize the day.

"Everyone talks of freedom, but few act for freedom

"and the actors for freedom are oppressed by the talkers and verbal professors of freedom."

We're here in St Mary's Church, a key site of the Surrey Diggers.

In April, 1649, after renegade soldiers stormed into the church,

one of the more excitable Diggers took up a bundle of thorns and briars to drive the parson away.

"True religion and undefiled is this.

"To make restitution of the Earth, which hath been held from the common people, and set the oppressed free."

The Digger movement lasted barely a year and had, across the country, no more than 200 adherents.

Despite that, of all the radical movements of the 1650s,

and there were plenty of them, the Diggers and the Levellers are the ones whose ideas still resound.

I blame Billy Bragg for my final specialist subject. I've always loved his version of a song

about the Diggers. By the time I'd got to the final, I'd run out of subjects at which I am specialist,

so I thought I'd try to learn some more about these people set in a time about which I know little.

Thanks for that, Billy.

I'm quite surprised to be in the final, especially as somebody who doesn't do organised quizzes.

How would it feel to win the Grand Final? I haven't got the faintest idea. Ask me again if it happens.

"And here I end, having put my arm as far as my strength will go to advance righteousness."

Two minutes. On which common ground near Cobham did a group of landless labourers begin to dig in 1649?

-St George's Hill.

-The first digging experiment was led by Gerrard Winstanley and which ex-soldier?

-William Everard.

-In 1650, Winstanley and the Diggers retreated to Pirton, home of which eccentric woman?

-Lady Eleanor Davies.

-In A Vindication of Those Called Diggers, which controversial sect

are called "the Devouring Beast"?

-Ranters.

-What Digger poet in A Mite Cast Into The Common Treasury argued

that increasing land for cultivation would bring down the cost of living?

-Robert Coster.

-The teachings of a sect led by Christopher Vittels

is said to be a possible influence on Winstanley. What was it called?

-The Fifth Monarchists.

-The Family of Love. Under what title was The Diggers Christmas Caroll published?

-The Diggers Mirth.

-What anonymous 1648 pamphlet called for equality of property

and other principles of Winstanley?

-Light Shining In Buckinghamshire.

-What man from Walton-on-Thames informed on the Diggers' activities?

-Henry Gerard.

-Henry Sanders. In A New Year's Gift For The Parliament and Army,

what does Winstanley describe as "the true saviour"?

-Religion.

-The power of love. Which soldier with two troops of horse was sent to Kingston

to investigate the Diggers?

-John Gladman.

-In his Law of Freedom, what does Winstanley say is a breeder of wars?

-Religion.

-The Government of Kings. According to Henry Sanders,

the Diggers at St George's Hill sowed carrots, beans and...?

-Parsnips.

-In 1652, two years after the collapse of his Digger colony,

Winstanley published a proposed constitution. What was it called?

-The Law of Freedom In A Platform.

-What pseudo-science does he recommend be taught,

along with physics, surgery, astronomy, navigation and husbandry?

-Astrology.

-What was...

-BEEP

..the name of the common land of the Wellingborough Diggers?

-Bareshanke.

-Is correct. No passes.

Nick Reed, you have 12 points.

And our next finalist, please.

And your name is...?

In previous rounds you have taken the Seven Wonders of the World and the Monaco Grand Prix. Tonight...?

We are here in Cromarty near Inverness, looking for dolphins.

It's the most peaceful place I know.

Cromarty is home to the most northerly population of bottle-nosed dolphins in the world,

one of only two permanent populations in the whole of the UK.

Dolphins have produced sonic booms in excess of 230 decibels.

This is so loud, it stops fish in their tracks.

They're the only animal apart from humans to give each other names.

I've always had a massive passion for wildlife, wild animals and wild places

and there's something about the way dolphins look and their intelligence has always fascinated me.

I actually first applied for Mastermind four years ago.

I didn't think I'd even get on the programme, but I amazed myself by getting to the semi-finals.

Now I want to get back and, hopefully, win the whole thing.

My family and friends are delighted that I've got to the final. They can finally join the studio audience.

Up to this stage, I've banned them. Now I've no choice.

From previous shows I've learnt three important things.

Answer quickly, never pass and, most important, don't panic.

Having got to the final, I may as well be honest and say I want to win.

I'm against five tough competitors, but my heart is set on it. Anything less will be a disappointment.

Winning Mastermind has actually been one of my life's ambitions,

so it would probably be the biggest thing I've ever achieved. It's the pinnacle of quiz,

so if I won it, I'd have to find a new hobby as well.

Whales, dolphins and porpoises.

To which group of aquatic mammals do whales, dolphins and porpoises belong?

-Cetaceans.

-There are two main types of whale - toothed and which other?

-Baleen.

-The Baiji dolphin, possibly extinct, is native to which river?

-Yangtze.

-What two fin-like structures form the tail of cetaceans?

-Flukes.

-The Amazon River dolphin is also known by what common name due to the colour of many adults?

-Pink dolphin.

-To which genus do the beaked whales such as Blainville's and Sowerby's belong?

-Mesoplodon.

-In the breeding season, the males of one whale species are noted

for their long and complex songs. What's the species?

-Humpback.

-What name is given to the bulbous forehead of many toothed cetaceans,

important to echolocation?

-Melon.

-The endangered Vaquita porpoise is only found in which body of water?

-Sea of Cortez.

-What name is commonly given to the forceful tail-slapping of the surface of the water

while the animal is under water?

-Lobtailing.

-Which dolphins of the genus Stenella get their general name from their acrobatic displays

in which they leap out of the water?

-Spinners.

-What general name is given to the family to which the largest whales belong, such as Blue and Fin?

-Rorquals.

-Which large whale can be identified at a distance by its forward-angled blowhole?

-Sperm whale.

-What name is given to the habit of many cetaceans of raising their heads out of the water

and seeming to slowly look around?

-Spyhopping.

-Which dolphin shares the alternative name Grampus with the Killer Whale?

-Risso's.

-What alternative name for the Blue Whale comes from its yellowish underside?

-Sulphur Bottom.

-How many longitudinal ridges does Bryde's Whale have on the top of its head?

-Three.

-The Beluga is sometimes known by what name after a bird because of the variety of sounds it makes?

-Sea Canary.

-The Right Whales got their name because they were the right whales for what?

-BEEP Whaling. Or killing.

-Yes, killing, hunting, catching.

Absolutely right. No passes. Gary Grant, you have 19 points.

And our... our final finalist, please.

And your name is...?

In previous rounds, your subjects were Robert Bruce Lockhart and the East Africa Campaign of WWI.

Your subject tonight is...?

This is Baku, capital of Azerbaijan. We're on the Caspian Sea, where the wind blows for much of the year.

I had the honour to be Britain's Ambassador in Azerbaijan for three years and was inspired

by its rich culture and history to offer it as a specialist subject.

In 1991, it regained its independence from the Soviet Union.

President Gorbachev appealed for an end to the insane civil war in Azerbaijan.

At the time it was fighting a bitter war with Armenia and when it stopped in 1994

it had lost control of more than 10% of its territory and almost one million people were refugees.

Azerbaijan is "the land of fire" because of its rich resources

of natural gas and petroleum.

In 1900, more oil was produced in Baku than in the whole US

and in the 1990s techniques developed in the North Sea were used to help develop the Caspian Basin.

I was taken aback to find myself in the final because many good people don't get this far,

then you feel you must do your subject justice in the final.

I don't think age is a big factor in the general knowledge rounds.

You may have read or seen more, but it's all about mental organisation and speed of recall.

I would be very proud if I won the grand final.

It would be a great honour to be in the company of names such as Kevin Ashman, Sir David Hunt

and the more recent winners.

Azerbaijan, two minutes. After the Russian Revolution, which nation formed a Trans-Caucasian Federation

with Azerbaijan and Armenia?

-Georgia.

-In which now autonomous region of Azerbaijan was Geidar Aliyev born on May 10th, 1923?

-Nakhchivan.

-Who was replaced by Aliyev as First Secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party in 1969

after being accused of letting corruption develop?

-Akhundov.

-What name did Stalin give to the city of Ganja in 1935?

It regained its former name when the Soviet Union collapsed.

-Kirovabad.

-Who became President of Azerbaijan after it declared independence from the USSR?

-Mutallibov.

-In 1945, who founded an autonomous Azeri state in Soviet-occupied northern Iran,

but was forced to flee after the withdrawal of Soviet support?

-Pisarani.

-Pishevari. Which ancient walled city in Baku was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000?

Ichari Shahar or the Old Town.

The BTC oil pipeline, which opened in 2005, runs from Baku via Tbilisi to which Turkish city?

-Ceyhan.

-Which famous musician was born in Baku in 1927

and studied at the Moscow Conservatory between 1943 and '48

before becoming Professor of Cello in '56?

-Rostropovich.

-In which month of 1994

did a ceasefire agreed between the warring factions in Nagorno-Karabakh take effect?

-April.

-May. Which position in the Azerbaijan government was held

by Vilayat Guliyev from October '99 until April 2004?

-Foreign Minister.

-Name the Armenian President who met Geidar Aliyev in 2001 and 2002

to discuss the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.

-Kocharyan.

-In February 1988, in which town in Azerbaijan

did ethnically motivated violence cause the deaths of many Armenians?

-Sumgait.

-Which chess world champion of Armenian-Jewish origin was born in Baku in '63?

He became a prominent politician.

-Garry Kasparov.

-What cultural change imposed on Azerbaijan by Stalin in '39 was reversed in '91?

The use of the Cyrillic alphabet.

In the 2003 Presidential elections, who came second behind Ilham Aliyev,

although the results were believed to be fraudulent?

-Isa Gambar.

-Who was leader of the Azerbaijan Communist Party...

-BEEP

-..in 1988 when Armenians began campaigning

for a transfer of sovereignty for Nagorno-Karabakh?

-The Azeri Communist Party?

-The Azerbaijani Communist Party.

-Vezirov.

-No, I've got it down here as Kamran Baghirov.

You've no passes. You have, Andy Tucker, 14 points.

APPLAUSE

That's an opening round worthy of a grand final. Let's have a look at the scores.

In sixth place, Maya Davis.

Fifth place, Nick Reed.

Joint third place, David Love and Andy Tucker.

Second place, Mark Wyatt.

In the lead with an enormous 19 points, Gary Grant.

APPLAUSE

This is the final leg of this journey, the general knowledge round.

If there is a tie at the end of it, the number of passes is taken into account

and the person with the fewer passes is the winner.

If they're tied on passes as well, there will be a tie-break.

Let's get on with it and ask Maya Davis to join us again, please.

And you begin with six points. Let's see how you do with your general knowledge.

2½ minutes, starting now.

The nectarine is a smooth-skinned variety of which fruit?

-Citrus.

-Peach. What is an embroidered test piece,

typically containing the alphabet and some mottoes?

-Sampler.

-Whose book, Notes On Nursing: What It Is And What It Is Not, has been in print since 1859?

-Florence Nightingale.

-What dish consists of vine leaves wrapped around a stuffing?

Its Turkish name means "something filled".

-Dolmades.

-Which small European republic is named after its founder,

a Christian stonemason who settled there in the 4th century AD?

-San Marino.

-Which Romantic poet studied Armenian in Venice in 1816 and 1817

and helped prepare the first Armenian-English dictionary?

-Byron.

-Who was nominated for a Best Leading Actress Oscar

for her role as the ageing writer Iris Murdoch in the film Iris?

No, it's gone. Sorry.

Which river rises near the site of the Battle of Naseby and joins the River Severn near Tewkesbury?

-Avon.

-In the 1880s, Sir Leslie Stephen, the father of Virginia Woolf, became the first editor

of which work detailing the lives of notable figures in British history?

Dictionary of National Biography.

What Italian name is given to the winged cherub-like figures in Renaissance and Baroque art?

-Putti.

-Which king, the son of Edward the Black Prince, succeeded his grandfather Edward III in 1377?

-Richard II.

-Which of Verdi's operas features an address to the people of Genoa

by the title character beginning, "Plebe! Patrizi!"?

-Simon Boccanegra.

-In the human body, what can be raised or lowered by the "orbicularis oculi" muscle?

-Eyelid.

-Which newspaper cartoonist is commemorated in his home town of Ipswich

with a statue featuring his character Grandma?

-Giles.

-Which flowering plant brought to Europe in the late 18th century

has varieties including the pompon, cactus and peony-flowered?

-Dahlia.

-According to the poet Ogden Nash, what did "God in his wisdom" make, "then forget to tell us why"?

-Donkey.

-Fly. Which Christian martyr and saint was beheaded

after the spiked wheel on which she was to have been executed miraculously broke?

-St Andrew.

-St Catherine.

Which former head of state's revolutionary activities included a failed attempt

to overthrow President Trujillo of the Dominican Republic in 1947?

-Arias.

-Castro. What word meaning "gaunt" or "wild-looking" originally referred to a hawk,

caught after it had reached adulthood?

-Pass.

-In which Radio 4 programme...

-BEEP

-..does Harriett Gilbert talk to two guests about their favourite books?

-A Good Read?

-A Good Read is correct.

You had two passes. That word meaning "gaunt" or "wild-looking" is "haggard".

And Dame Judi Dench, who else, played Iris Murdoch.

Two passes - you have 20 points altogether.

APPLAUSE

And now Nick Reed again, please.

And you begin with 12 points.

Let's see how you do with your 2½ minutes of general knowledge, starting now.

Which Bronte sister wrote the novel Jane Eyre?

-Emily.

-Charlotte. Which giant trees are named after the Native American

who created the Cherokee Indian writing system?

-Pass.

-What name was given to the sho business friends associated with Frank Sinatra in the '50s and '60s?

-Rat Pack.

-Which drink, consisting of dry white wine and a dash of cassis,

is named after a former Mayor of Dijon, a hero of the Resistance?

-Pass.

-Which Palestinian political and military organisation

was founded by Yasser Arafat and Khalil al-Wazir in the late '50s?

-Hamas.

-Al-Fatah. Who wrote the verse play Cyrano De Bergerac,

based on the life of the 17th century satirist and dramatist?

-Montand.

-Rostand. In 2010, the Australian Neil Robertson became the world champion in which sport?

-Snooker.

-Which TV programme about new inventions and advances in science was first broadcast in 1965

with Raymond Baxter as presenter?

-Tomorrow's World.

-What major fault line runs across Scotland from Fort William to Inverness

and underlies the Caledonian Canal and Loch Ness?

-Pass.

-Which former Chief Constable of Merseyside became Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police

in succession to Sir Paul Stephenson in 2011?

-Bernard Hogan-Howe.

-Rodin's 1905 sculpture The Thinker was commissioned

by the new Museum of Fine Arts in Paris. It was originally meant to represent which poet?

-Byron.

-Dante. Which ballistic missil early warning station was built

on the North York Moors during the Cold War?

-Fylingdales.

-Which South African promontory was so called

as its discovery was seen as an omen that India could be reached by sea from Europe?

-Cape of Good Hope.

-The working title of which manifesto translates

as Four And A Half Years Of Struggle Against Lies, Stupidity And Cowardice?

-Das Kapital.

-Mein Kampf. What name given to the powerful whirlpool off the coast of Norway

has come to mean a state of turbulence or confusion?

-Pass.

-Name the prophet Muhammad's daughter by his first wife,

the object of deep veneration by many Muslims, especially Shi'ites.

-Fatima.

-Which Latin word meaning "le him or her rest" is usually abbreviated to the letter R

as the first part of an inscription on gravestones?

-Pass.

-What are the long, narrow, high-speed air currents

that flow horizontally in a eastward direction in the upper troposphere?

-Pass.

-Which American state was at the centre of the three wars

fought against the Seminole Indians between 1817 and 1858?

-Louisiana.

-Florida. The opera Sir John In Love by Vaughan Williams...

-BEEP

-..is based on which of Shakespeare's plays?

-Merry Wives Of Windsor.

-Correct.

You had six passes. The jet stream is up in the troposphere.

That Latin word meaning "let him or her rest" - "requiescat".

The maelstrom is that powerful whirlpool off the coast of Norway.

The name of that major fault line running across Scotland is Great Glen or Glen More.

The drink, dry white wine and a dash of cassis, is kir.

And those big trees named after the Native American - sequoia.

You have a total, Nick Reed, of 20 points.

APPLAUSE

And our third finalist now - David Love, please.

And you start out with 14 points. As we speak,

20 is the score to beat. Here we go.

What word can follow Blenheim, Sturmer, Golden and Orange in the names of varieties of apple?

-Pippin.

-In which card game is scoring recorded on a board

with four parallel lines of 30 holes each, plus two game holes?

-Crib.

-Yes, cribbage. Under what title, used while a monarch was a minor or absent,

did Oliver Cromwell and son Richard rule Britain from 1653 to 1659?

-Protectorate.

-What word for a hill topped with rocks is applied to the summits of Dartmoor?

-Tor.

-Which English writer won the Military Cross in the First World War?

He was sent to Craiglockhart Hospital where his pacifist views were attributed to shell-shock.

-Siegfried Sassoon.

-What was Britain's first national newspaper printed in colour?

Launched in 1986, it closed in '95.

-Today.

-The island of Nosy Be, a popular tourist destination,

lies about five miles off the coast of which much larger island in the Indian Ocean?

-Sri Lanka.

-Madagascar. Which grouse family member was reintroduced to Scotland in the 1830s

after becoming extinct due to deforestation or excessive shooting?

-Capercaillie.

-In 1962, who was the first US astronaut to orbit the Earth?

-John Glenn.

-Which radio and TV presenter, who died in 2011,

wrote the detective novel Landscape With Dead Dons, first published in 1956?

-Peter Snow.

-Robert Robinson.

Which Roman road ran from East Devon to join Ermine Street just south of Lincoln?

-Fosse Way.

-In the Sherlock Holmes stories, which street children does Holmes call on for assistance?

-Baker Street Irregulars.

-Which military leader died in 323 BC

after being taken ill following a banquet and a long drinking bout?

-Alexander the Great.

-Which word for the use of violence to bring about political change was first used

in the French Revolution to describe methods used by revolutionaries against opponents?

-Terrorism.

-What title is given to the holder of a Chair at a British university

where the post is filled by a Crown appointment?

-Chancellor.

-Regius Professor.

Which artist described his 1941 Self-Portrait With Fried Bacon as an "anti-psychological self-portrait"?

-Freud.

-Dali. Which former Kent and England cricket captain,

born in 1932, played with a broken arm at Lord's in '63?

-Colin Cowdrey.

-What name is given to the French military cap

with a flat top and horizontal peak, worn by the Foreign Legion?

-Beret.

-Kepi. Which economist born in 1883 is best known for advocating recovery from recession

by a policy of job creation?

-Maynard Keynes.

-The name of which metallic element comes from the German for "goblin"...

-BEEP

-..because of the effect it supposedly had on miners' health?

Quick guess?

Come on, you did well with your last guess.

-Rubidium.

-All right, it was the wrong guess, unfortunately.

-It's cobalt.

-Cobalt.

You have, David Love, 28 points.

APPLAUSE

And now Andy Tucker again, please.

And you also start out with 14 points.

28 is the score to beat. Let's see how you do with your general knowledge. 2½ minutes, starting now.

What name is given to a book that lists words in groups of synonyms or related meanings?

-Thesaurus.

-The Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar is known by what title, meaning "Lord"?

-El Cid.

-Which liqueur, originally made in a French monastery,

comes in two varieties - green and the sweeter yellow?

-Chartreuse.

-Which slave pulled the thorn from a lion's paw and later met the same lion in a Roman arena?

-Androcles.

-Which writer, the creator of hard-boiled detective fiction,

worked at Pinkerton's where he got many ideas for his stories?

-Dashiell Hammett.

-The name of which bridge in Florence means "old bridge"?

-Ponte Vecchio.

-Whom did the English writer Robert Whittington describe as "a man for all seasons"?

-Thomas More.

-Which European dictator survived an assassination attempt

by the Irish aristocrat Violet Gibson in 1926?

-Mussolini.

-The 1906 Olympic Games in Athens are the only ones outside the four-year cycle.

What name are they given because of this?

-Pass.

-Which people formed the majority of the population of Biafra

that broke away from Nigeria between 1967 and 1970?

-Igbo.

-In the 1990s, Andrew Wiles announced a solution

to the Last Theorem of which 17th century French mathematician?

-Fermat.

-What term is applied to listening to sounds from the body,

typically with a stethoscope, as part of a diagnosis?

-Entendation.

-Auscultation.

Who submitted two paintings for exhibition to the Royal Academy in 1947

under the pseudonym David Winter?

-Hockney.

-Churchill. Which conservation body was founded

in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley?

-National Trust.

-Which opera singer was born in Naples in 1873?

He was his parents' 18th child, the first to survive infancy.

-Caruso.

-What word for making discoveries by accident was coined by Horace Walpole in 1754?

-Serendipity.

-Which philanthropist, the son of immigrants from Poland,

has colleges at Oxford and Cambridge named after him?

-Wolfson.

-Which British island gives its name to a disease

that almost wiped out our honey bees in the early 20th century?

-Lundy.

-Wight. Who published a periodical called The Rambler between 1750 and '52?

He described it as "pure wine" compared with his other works that were "wine and water".

-Dickens.

-Johnson. What dish is made of sliced aubergines, layered with minced meat, tomatoes and onions,

and topped with a bechamel sauce?

-Moussaka.

-Which prehistoric monument is the focal point of the 30-acre plot bought by Sir Cecil Chubb

at auction for £6,000 in 1915?

-BEEP

-It was given to the nation in 1918.

-Stonehenge.

-Is correct. You had one pass.

The 1906 Olympic Games, the only ones to fall outside the cycle,

the name generally given to those sort of games is the Intercalated or Interim Games.

You have, Andy Tucker, 30 points in total.

APPLAUSE

Now the pace is hotting up. Let's ask Mark Wyatt to join us again, please.

And you start out with 15 points and you have to beat 30 now.

Let's see if you can do it. 2½ minutes, general knowledge, starting now.

Which ox-like antelopes are known for their annual migration in huge herds in search of new pasture?

-Zebu.

-Wildebeest. Which writer's coffin was taken for reburial in the Pantheon in Paris in 2002,

draped in velvet, with the legend, "Tous pour un, un pour tous"?

-Voltaire.

-Dumas. What is the name of the small target ball in the game of crown green or lawn bowls?

-Jack.

-In 2002, Michael R Bloomberg succeeded Rudy Giuliani to which civic post?

He was re-elected in 2005 and '09.

-Mayor of New York.

-Which Scottish physicist established a link between light and electromagnetic waves?

-Pass.

-What word for a code of diplomatic etiquette

originally meant the first sheet of a roll of papyrus bearing the maker's name?

-Pass.

-Which organisation is sometimes known by police and Whitehall officials as Box 500,

a reference to a former postal address?

-MI5.

-Who claimed the land around present-day St John's in Newfoundland in 1583,

making it the first British colony in North America?

-Cabot.

-Gilbert. The sacred fig tree under which the Buddha sat when he gained Enlightenment

is known by what name meaning "wisdom"?

-Dharma.

-The Bo Tree or Bodhi.

Which naval officer who created Germany's Second World War U-Boat fleet succeeded Adolf Hitler

as German head of state until the German surrender?

-Pass.

-Which French blue cheese, made from sheep's milk,

is sold wrapped in foil with a picture of a red sheep on the label?

-Gruyere.

-Roquefort. Harold Macmillan was given what title in addition

to Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden when he became a peer?

-Lord Home.

-Earl of Stockton. Which composer's ballad opera Hugh The Drover is set in the Cotswolds

during the Napoleonic Wars?

-Britten.

-Vaughan Williams.

The train known as the Ghan, named after Afghan camel trains,

runs south to north across which country?

-Pass.

-What is the more common name of the "cast-iron" house plant

that has long, stiff, pointed evergreen leaves?

-Christmas tree.

-Aspidistra. Which detective, created by Jo Nesbo,

made his first appearance in the 1997 novel The Batman?

-Pass.

-Which woodcarver included a distinguishing peapod on many carvings?

If the pod was open, it was said to mean he had been paid for the work.

-Durer.

-Gibbons. What term of French origin is given to a person who infiltrates a group or organisation

to induce them to commit an incriminating act?

-Agent provocateur.

-Which fishing port on Loch Broom in the Highlands

is a terminus for ferry services to the Outer Hebrides?

-Tobermory.

-Ullapool. Which son of a flour miller...

-BEEP

..became one of the most important figures in the British film industry and owned hundreds of cinemas?

Um...

-Pass.

-Well...

-Rank.

-What did you say?

-J Arthur Rank.

-Sadly, you did say "pass", but yes, it was Rank.

Your other passes - Harry Hole was that detective created by Jo Nesbo.

Australia is where the Ghan train runs.

Doenitz took over very briefly from Adolf Hitler.

Protocol is that word for a code of diplomatic etiquette.

And James Clerk Maxwell was the Scottish physicist.

And with those passes, Mark Wyatt, you have a total of 19 points.

APPLAUSE

And finally, Gary Grant.

And you start this round with a pretty enormous 19 points.

The score to beat is 30. Let's see if you can do it with general knowledge.

What property in Belfast is home to the Northern Ireland government?

-Stormont.

-The Spanish football match El Clasico is between Real Madrid and which club?

-Barcelona.

-What name from Jungle Boo is given to the leader of a Cub Scout pack?

-Akela.

-What did Karl Marx describe as "the heart of a heartless world, the opium of the people"?

-Religion.

-Andy and Frank Schleck are competitors in which sport?

-Cycling.

-In Judaism, what name from the Hebrew for "learning" is given

to the writings that form the basis of Jewish law and customs?

-Mishnah.

-Talmud. In which 2011 film, directed by JJ Abrams, does an alien devastate a small town in America

with a group of child film-makers on its trail?

-Signs.

-Super 8. The African hunting dog called the "barkless dog" is generally known by what Bantu name?

-Basenji.

-Who made the first theoretical calculation of pi,

the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter?

-Pythagoras.

-Archimedes. Which war began after the death in 1740 of the Habsburg monarch Charles VI

who died without a male heir?

-War of the Austrian Succession.

-Who wrote That Day We Sang about the children's choir who became famous

for their rendition of Nymphs And Shepherds? It premiered in 2011.

-Rattle.

-Victoria Wood. Which dessert consists of sheets of filo pastry,

filled with chopped nuts, soaked in honey and cut into triangles?

-Baklava.

-What name is given to splitting a heavy atomic nucleus into two equal parts?

The process is the source of energy in nuclear reactors and atom bombs.

-Fission.

-Which military corps was founded as the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot?

-Marines.

-Who was looked after by the homeopathic doctor Paul Gachet,

producing two celebrated paintings of him?

-Van Gogh.

-What name for unidentified objects seen by pilots in the war

was adopted by a 1990s American rock band?

-Foo Fighters.

-In 2011, which former French Finance Minister became Managing Director of the IMF,

the first woman to hold the post?

-D'Estaing.

-Christine Lagarde. Which term, referring to proceedings that have been adjourned

without a date for resumption, means "without a day" in Latin?

-Sine die.

-Which Asian country has a flag that combines two pennants,

the only national flag not rectangular or square?

-Nepal.

-Who incurred the wrath of the gods by trying to ride the winged horse Pegasus up to Mount Olympus?

-Bellerophon.

-In his 1624 work Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions,

who wrote, "Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee"?

-Gray.

-John Donne. What word for the personal property of a married woman means various items of adornment...

-BEEP

-..or pieces of equipment?

-Paraphernalia.

-Is correct, even though you doubted it.

Gary Grant, you have 35 points.

APPLAUSE

Let's look at all of those scores.

In sixth place, Mark Wyatt.

Joint fourth place, Maya Davis and Nick Reed.

Third place, David Love.

Second place with a normally victorious 30 points, Andy Tucker,

but in first place with a huge 35 points, Gary Grant!

APPLAUSE

Gary, come and collect it.

-Well done. Congratulations.

-Thank you.

There you go. You're a GP, so you will demand extra respect from your patients now.

Yes. This will be prominent, so they can all see it in my surgery room.

They will expect you to answer every question they have about everything.

I'm glad I didn't get a medical question as I would have got it wrong!

You did well enough without that. Brilliant performance. Well done.

If you would like to become Mastermind champion or you would just like to play the game

because it is fun, quite apart from actually winning the trophy,

you can apply at the website address you can see here.

And do join us next time for more Masterminds. Good night. Gary...

APPLAUSE

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