Episode 18 Mastermind

First in the spotlight tonight is Patrick Macintosh,

an antiques dealer from Dorset.

His specialist subject, the Isles of Scilly.

Next, Harriet MacMillan, a student from Edinburgh.

She'll be answering questions on Lord Byron.

David Dutton is a solicitor from Formby.

His specialist subject, RAF Bomber Command.

And Nick Harrison, a visual merchandiser from Surrey.

His subject, the feature films of Wes Anderson.

APPLAUSE

Hello and welcome to Mastermind with me, John Humphrys.

The rules, as you will know, are very simple.

Our four contenders must answer two minutes of questions on their

specialist subject, and then two and a half minutes on general knowledge.

All of the contenders are hoping that they will make it

through to the Grand Final,

with the chance of winning this splendid glass bowl

and, so much more importantly,

the right to call themselves the nation's Mastermind.

So, let's get on with it and ask our first contender to join us, please.

And your name is...?

Your occupation?

And your chosen subject?

The Isles of Scilly, two minutes, starting now.

What's the main settlement on St Mary's,

-the largest island of the Isles of Scilly?

-Hugh Town.

Tresco's famous sub-tropical gardens

contain thousands of plants from around the world.

The gardens were established around the former site

of which 12th century Benedictine priory?

St Nicholas' Priory.

After Augustus Smith acquired the lease on the Isles of Scilly in 1834,

what autocratic title did he adopt as the lessee?

Lord Proprietor of the Isles.

According to Arthurian legend,

which mythical lost land, now submerged,

extended from Land's End to the Isles of Scilly?

-Lyonesse.

-In the 14th century,

it's recorded that the annual rent for the islands,

payable to the Duchy of Cornwall by Ralph de Blanchminster,

was either a monetary figure or 300 what?

Puffins.

In about 384 AD, two Spanish bishops

were exiled to the Isles of Scilly for heresy.

One was Tiberianus, who was the other?

-Austragus.

-Instantius.

Which admiral's fatal error

led to the deaths of over 1,300 seamen

after HMS Romney and his flagship, HMS Association,

hit Outer Gilstone Rock off the Western Rocks

in October 1707?

-Sir Cloudesley Shovell.

-The Soleil d'Or,

one of the most popular varieties of flower

exported from the Isles of Scilly,

belongs to which genus?

It's a daffodil, a narcissi.

Which castle on St Mary's, now a hotel,

was built in 1593, partly in response

to the threat of the Spanish Armada five years earlier?

The Star Castle.

Cuckold's Carn, Dropnose Point and Kittern Hill are all

geographical features of which uninhabited island?

-Samson.

-No, the Gugh.

What was the name of the family who leased the islands

for most of the period from the 16th until the 19th century,

when the lease lapsed and the land reverted to the Duchy of Cornwall?

The Godolphin family.

Prickly and smooth are two New Zealand species of which insect,

also known as a phasmid,

that has become naturalised on the Isles of Scilly?

-Erm, butterfly.

-Stick insect.

The island of Annet is a bird sanctuary

renowned for its storm petrels, gulls and puffins,

and particularly for its colonies

of which other seabird with the Latin name Puffinus puffinus,

-which nests in underground burrows?

-BEEP

-The Manx Shearwater.

-Is correct.

Patrick, you have no passes. You've scored 10 points.

APPLAUSE

And our next contender, please.

And your name is...?

Your occupation?

And your specialist subject?

Lord Byron in two minutes.

What is the name of the Byron ancestral home in Nottinghamshire?

The poet wrote an elegy to it

that is in his first published collection, Hours of Idleness.

Newstead Abbey.

After the publication of the first two cantos of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage,

Byron wrote, "I awoke one morning to find myself...?"

-Famous.

-In English Bards and Scotch Reviewers,

which fellow poet does Byron call

"Framer of a lay, as soft as evening in his favourite May"?

-Burns?

-Wordsworth.

What is the name of the Italian verse form that Byron first used

for his satirical poem Beppo and went on to use in Don Juan?

Ottava rima.

Which of Byron's dramas, begun in Switzerland

and completed in Italy, are set in the Alps, and is said to show

his remorse over his relationship with his half-sister Augusta Leigh?

Manfred.

Which of Byron's tales is dedicated to the poet Samuel Rogers

"as a slight but most sincere token of admiration of his genius"?

-Erm, Lara.

-The Giaour.

What was the name of the choirboy with whom Byron

fell in love at Cambridge?

His gift of a carnelian ring inspired a poem

that includes the line, "For I am sure the giver loved me."

John Edleston.

Byron made three speeches after taking a seat in the House of Lords.

On what subject was his maiden speech?

-The Luddites.

-Yes, the Framework Bill.

Whom did Byron marry at her father's house in Seaham

on the 2nd of January 1815,

a marriage that would last only 15 months?

Annabella Milbanke.

What was the name of the aristocratic lady who became

Byron's mistress in March 1815?

In a diary entry on the day she met him, she reputedly called him

"mad, bad and dangerous to know."

Lady Caroline Lamb.

At which Flemish port did Byron land after

he left England for the final time in April 1816?

He spent the rest of his life in Europe.

-Cadiz?

-Ostend.

In January 1824, Byron took command

of an Albanian corps formerly led by Botsaris

that was fighting for Greek independence.

What was its name?

-Pass.

-According to the opening line of Byron's poem

The Destruction of Sennacherib,

how did the Assyrian come down?

-Pass.

-Which poem to the Prince Regent's daughter Charlotte,

originally published anonymously,

was published under Byron's own name

in the second edition of The Corsair?

BEEP

-Lara.

-No, it was Lines to a Lady Weeping.

Two passes, Harriet.

"Like the wolf on the fold" was how the Assyrians came down.

And Byron took command of that corps led by Botsaris,

its name was Soulioti.

So, those two passes, Harriet, you've scored 8 points.

APPLAUSE

And our next contender, please.

And your name is...?

Your occupation?

And your chosen subject?

RAF Bomber Command, two minutes, starting now.

Who became Commander-in-Chief of Bomber Command in 1942?

He was known to his crews as Butch

but was later better known to the public as Bomber?

-Harris.

-Sir Arthur Harris.

What was the number of the Dambusters squadron,

formed in 1943 to undertake Operation Chastise,

the precision bombing of the Ruhr Dams

using the bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis?

617.

Bomber Command suffered its greatest single loss on the 30th of March 1944

when nearly 95 of 795 aircraft

failed to return and 545 air crew were killed.

Which German city had been the target of that raid?

-Nuremberg.

-What name was given to the tiny metal foil strips

dropped by Allied bombers that disrupted German radar screens

and so blinded the night fighters?

-Window.

-Yes, or chaff.

A report to Churchill in August 1941

based on analysis of target photographs from the previous two months

documented Bomber Command's inability to find and hit targets. Who wrote it?

Pass.

In 1942, the saturation or area bombing of whole cities was authorised,

and Hamburg and Dresden were later heavily targeted.

The Bishop of Chichester was a major critic of this controversial tactic.

What was his name?

-Pass.

-What nickname did RAF bomber crews give to the Ruhr Valley?

-Pass.

-A 10-tonne bomb,

designed by Barnes Wallis,

was first used to destroy the Bielefeld Viaduct

on the 14th of March 1945.

-What was it called?

-Grand Slam.

What name was given to Sir Arthur Harris' albums,

into which were pasted reconnaissance photographs of bombed German cities?

Copies were sent to Stalin by Churchill.

-Pass.

-Bomber Command had to bring in crews and planes

from operational training units for the first

thousand-bomber raid on the night of the 30th of May 1942.

Which city was the target of that operation?

Cologne.

Which German battleship was sunk in Tromso fjord

by Lancasters using Tallboy bombs

on the 12th of November 1944?

Tirpitz.

What codename was given to the group of RAF squadrons

that were earmarked for transfer

to participate in the bombing campaign against Japan

after the German surrender in Europe?

-Pass.

-Where on the Baltic coast

was the German research and rocket production facility

-raided by nearly 600 bombers in August 1943?

-BEEP

-Peenemunde.

-Is correct. Five passes.

Tiger Force was the codename given to that group of RAF squadrons

that were earmarked to go to Japan.

Blue Books was the name given to Bomber Harris' albums.

Happy Valley was the nickname for Ruhr Valley.

Bishop George Bell was the bishop who condemned saturation bombing.

And that report to Churchill in August 1941 was written by

a man with the unlikely name of David Bensusan-Butt.

-David, you have 8 points.

-Thank you.

APPLAUSE

And our final contender, please.

And your name is...?

Your occupation?

And your chosen subject?

The feature films of Wes Anderson in two minutes, starting now.

Anderson's 1996 debut feature film

was developed from a 16mm short of the same name

that he produced and screened at the Sundance Festival.

What's the title?

-Bottle Rocket.

-Which actor,

a regular presence in Anderson's ensemble casts,

plays Walt Bishop in Moonrise Kingdom,

Herman Bloom in Rushmore

and Raleigh St Clair in The Royal Tenenbaums?

-Bill Murray.

-Which animator and director was responsible

for the fantastical underwater creatures featured in The Life Aquatic?

-Henry Selick.

-What fictional New England island

is the setting for Anderson's 2012 film Moonrise Kingdom?

-New Penzance.

-In Moonrise Kingdom,

what name is given to the storm

that is considered by the US Department of Inclement Weather

to be the region's most destructive meteorological event

of the second half of the 20th century?

-Hurricane Maybelline?

-Black Beacon Storm.

Which Indian actor, who also starred in Life of Pi and Slumdog Millionaire,

appeared as a grieving father in The Darjeeling Limited?

Erm, Irfan Khan.

With which member of the film's cast did Anderson share

the writing credit for The Royal Tenenbaums

and the subsequent Oscar nomination

in the Best Original Screenplay category?

-Owen Wilson.

-What's the name of the refurbished World War II

long range sub hunter

in which Steve Zissou searches for the leopard shark that has

eaten his closest friend in The Life Aquatic?

-Belafonte.

-In Moonrise Kingdom,

who plays the scout leader Commander Pierce

who strips Ward of his command,

only to be rescued by him shortly afterwards?

Harvey Keitel.

What historical event was the subject of the one-act play that

earned the precocious student Max Fisher a scholarship in Rushmore?

Watergate.

At which film festival did Anderson's film The Darjeeling Limited

make its world premiere in 2007?

It won the Little Golden Lion award.

Venice.

In The Royal Tenenbaums, what is the name of Richie's opponent

in his final professional tennis match, during which he suffers a breakdown?

Gandhi.

Which English pop star voices the character of Petey the Farmhand

in Fantastic Mr Fox,

who's criticised for weak songwriting by the farmer Bean?

Jarvis Cocker.

What is the name of the Little League soccer team

-that Anthony ends up managing in Bottle Rocket?

-BEEP

The Hurricanes.

Is also correct. Nick, you had no passes. Your score is 13.

APPLAUSE

So, a clear leader at the moment, but can he hold on to that lead?

Let's have a look at the scores.

In joint third place, 8 points apiece,

Harriet MacMillan and David Dutton.

Second place, 10 points, Patrick Macintosh.

In the lead with 13 points, Nick Harrison.

APPLAUSE

So it is the general knowledge round now,

and if there is a tie at the end then the number of passes is

taken into account, and the person with the fewer passes is the winner.

And if they're tied on passes as well,

there will be a tie-break, and the six highest scoring runners up will

also be able to claim a place in the semifinals, so plenty to play for.

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

And, er, you have 8 points

with your knowledge of Byron,

and you get two and a half minutes now for your general knowledge,

so let's see how you do with it. Here we go.

Which '87 film starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey

features the Oscar winning song I've Had The Time of My Life?

-It's since become a West End musical.

-Dirty Dancing.

What collective English name is given

to the Hebrew and Aramaic religious texts

first discovered near the Middle Eastern settlement of Qumran in 1947?

-The Torah.

-The Dead Sea Scrolls.

Which crime fiction author, a Labour peer since 1997,

also writes under the name Barbara Vine?

Pass.

Admiral's House on the corner of 34th Street

and Massachusetts Avenue in Washington DC is the official

residence of the holder of which office?

Vice President.

The pygmy species of which large African mammal

is around the size of the domestic pig

and is sometimes known as a water cow?

Hippo.

Who swapped Los Angeles for Paris

when he signed for the football team PSG

on a five-month deal in January 2013,

and donated his salary to a local children's charity?

David Beckham.

Which celebrated painter was born in the city of Leiden

on the 15th of July 1606?

He was the son of a miller.

-Rembrandt.

-In Greek mythology, Autolycus,

renowned for his thieving and trickery,

is the maternal grandfather of a hero of the Trojan War.

What is the hero's name?

-Achilles?

-Odysseus.

Which city has a name

meaning "sheltered harbour" in Hawaiian?

Pass.

In which Dickens novel does Inspector Bucket investigate

the murder of the lawyer Tulkinghorn

by Lady Dedlock's maid Mademoiselle Hortense?

Bleak House.

In cookery, what French word is used for a young chicken,

four to six weeks old,

usually served whole as a single portion?

-Spatchcock.

-Poussin.

Who co-wrote The Royle Family with Caroline Aherne

and went on to co-create the sitcom Early Doors, set in a pub?

-Ricky Tomlinson?

-Craig Cash.

The name of which island in the Thames Estuary

comes from the old English for sheep?

Isle of Sheppey?

Yes! In the Shakespeare play Macbeth, the title character is

killed by Macduff, but historically, who actually killed Macbeth?

-Duncan?

-Malcolm.

Which Canadian singer released an acoustic version

of her breakthrough album Jagged Little Pill in 2005?

Alanis Morissette.

Which small electronic device used to correct heart rhythms

was first fitted internally to a human patient in 1958

by the Swedes Ake Senning and Rune Elmqvist?

Pacemaker.

What word for a tall, four-sided tapering pillar

usually made of stone and topped by a pyramid,

comes from the Greek for "little pointed pillar"?

-Obelisk?

-Yes.

Which Russian dramatist's works

include The Seagull and The Cherry Orchard?

Erm, Anton Chekhov.

In 1478, what organisation

did Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain establish...

-BEEP

-I'll finish the question.

..with the permission of Pope Sixtus IV,

to combat heresy among recent converts to Christianity?

The Spanish Inquisition.

Is correct. Two passes, Harriet.

Honolulu is that city whose name means "sheltered harbour"

in Hawaiian. And Barbara Vine is otherwise known as Ruth Rendell.

But you've now shot up to 20 points.

APPLAUSE

And now David again, please.

And you also start with 8 points

with your knowledge of Bomber Command.

20 is, as we speak, the score to beat.

Two and a half minutes of general knowledge, here we go.

What name for an amorous young man

comes from a title character in a Shakespeare play?

Romeo.

The adjective "renal" refers to what organs of the human body?

-Kidney.

-Which 18th century building on the Strand

stands on the site of a Tudor palace built by Edward Seymour?

The building takes its name from his ducal title.

Somerset House.

Which rattlesnake gets its name from the unusual way it moves?

It propels itself forward in repeated loops to avoid

prolonged contact with the hot desert sand.

Sidewinder.

"Dirty old river, must you keep rolling"

is the opening line of a song

that was a 1967 hit for the Kinks. What song?

Waterloo Sunset.

Which modern-day country was at the centre of the former Ottoman Empire?

Turkey.

What's the English translation of the phrase "paternoster",

often used as an alternative name for The Lord's Prayer?

Our Father.

Which mountain in the Swiss Alps,

whose fearsome north face wasn't climbed until 1938

has a German name meaning "ogre"?

-Eiger.

-How were Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry described

in the title of a 1970s Western adventure television series

about two bank robbers who used assumed names to evade capture?

Alias Smith and Jones.

According to William Congreve's play The Mourning Bride,

what have "charms to soothe a savage breast"?

-Pass.

-What name was given to the group of five towns on the coast of Kent

and Sussex that received special privileges in return

for providing ships and men for the defence of the Channel?

Cinque Ports.

Which film director wrote the story for Oliver Stone's

'94 film Natural Born Killers?

Tarantino.

Which football club was given its royal prefix

by King Alfonso XIII in 1920?

Real Madrid.

What is the title of the 1957 novel by John Wyndham

in which the women of an English village mysteriously give birth

to inhuman and manipulative telepathic children?

Midwich Cuckoo.

What Italian word meaning "whim" or "fancy"

is used to describe a musical piece that has great freedom of style?

It occurs in the title of works by Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov.

Pass.

Who stood against De Gaulle for the French presidency in 1965

as the sole leftist candidate?

He stood again in '74

and was finally elected for his first term in '81.

Mitterrand.

The spice saffron is obtained from the stigmas of which plant?

Crocus.

What is the name of Don Quixote's horse in Cervantes' novel?

Pass.

Which British explorer began his seagoing career in 1746

when he was apprentice to John Walker, a well-respected Whitby ship owner?

Cook.

What name is given to Phil Spector's 1960s recording style

which used multiple musicians, echoes and tape loops

to produce a dense reverberant effect?

BEEP Wall of Sound.

Wall of Sound is correct. You had three passes.

The name of Don Quixote's horse was Rocinante.

That Italian word meaning "whim" or "fancy" used in music

is "capriccio."

And, according to Congreve's play The Mourning Bride,

"MUSIC has charms to soothe a savage breast."

You have scored in total, David, 25 points.

APPLAUSE

And now Patrick again, please.

And you start out with 10 points with your knowledge

of the Isles of Scilly, and 25 is now the score to beat.

Let's see if you can do that in the next two and a half minutes.

The shallot is a variety of which vegetable?

-Onion.

-On which Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit

do drivers go through Casino Square,

past the Hotel Mirabeau and turn into Virage du Portier?

The Monaco Grand Prix.

Who composed the theme tunes to the programmes

The Likely Lads, Last of the Summer Wine, Are You Being Served

and Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, among others?

-Pass.

-In which town was Margaret Thatcher born

Margaret Hilda Roberts on the 13th of October 1925?

-Grantham.

-Which Russian writer

who died in mysterious circumstances in 1936

has a popular park of culture

in Central Moscow named after him?

-Pushkin.

-Gorky.

What common shrub produces blue flowers in acid soil

and pink ones in alkaline soil?

-Bluebell.

-Hydrangea.

Which 1980s television series

about a band of renegade special forces

from the Vietnam War was updated to the Iraq War

for a 2010 film version

starring Liam Neeson as their leader Hannibal and Bradley Cooper as Face?

-M*A*S*H.

-The A-Team.

Which Surrealist artist's last picture was The Swallow's Tail,

painted in 1983?

Dali.

Napoleon was exiled to which island off the west coast of Italy

from May 1814 until February 1815?

Elba.

In chess, what term is used when any of a player's possible moves

would place his king in check, resulting in a draw?

-Stalemate.

-In which American city

is the Liberty Bell displayed in a pavilion

about 100 yards from Independence Hall?

-Boston.

-Philadelphia.

What is the name of the legendary Mesopotamian king,

the subject of an epic, thought to be one of

the world's oldest surviving works of mythology?

-Sennacherib.

-Gilgamesh.

Which Olympic Gold medallist was played by Ben Cross

in the '81 film Chariots of Fire?

Harold Abrahams.

Which German-born composer who died in London in 1759 wrote 42 operas?

The first was Almira, completed in 1705.

Handel.

What London landmark, completed in 1920,

replaced an identical temporary structure made of wood and plaster

that had been erected for the Allied victory parade in 1919?

-Tower Bridge.

-The Cenotaph.

The 1955 album Satch Plays Fats

was a tribute by Louis Armstrong and his All-Stars

to a pianist, organist and composer.

What was his name?

-Satchmo.

-Fats Waller.

Who in the second printed edition

of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales,

wrote that Chaucer, "for his ornate writing in our tongue,

"may well have the name of the laureate poet"?

-Macefield.

-Caxton.

When the list of livery companies was drawn up in 1515,

which company was made pre-eminent

-over all the others?

-BEEP

Erm, the Goldsmiths.

No, it was the Mercers' Company.

One pass. It was Ronnie Hazlehurst who composed all those theme tunes,

The Likely Lads, Summer Wine and all the rest of them.

Patrick, you now have a total of 18 points.

APPLAUSE

And finally, Nick Harrison again, please.

And, er, you start with 13 points with your knowledge

of the films of Wes Anderson. 25 the score to beat still.

Let's see if you can do it with your general knowledge.

Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger

have both been governors of which West Coast state?

-California.

-In 2006, the Finnish rock band Lordi,

known for wearing monster masks, became the surprise winners

of an annual international musical competition. Which one?

-Eurovision Song Contest.

-According to the Gospel of St Matthew,

what can pass through the eye of a needle

more easily than a rich man can enter the Kingdom of God?

-A camel.

-Which low-slung two-wheeled carriage,

named after its original designer,

was described by Disraeli as "the gondola of London"

in his novel Lothair?

-Hackney cab?

-Hansom cab.

In which American comedy series does Jason Lee play a redneck

who spends his life seeking to atone for his past sins

after winning 100,000?

-My Name Is Earl.

-A clamour or building are among the collective nouns for a group

of which notoriously noisy birds of the crow family?

-Rook.

-Astronomer Einer Herzsprung

was the first person to propose an absolute standard

for measuring the brightness of what heavenly bodies?

Stars.

Which sport provides the background to David Storey's 1960 novel

This Sporting Life, set in an industrial Northern city?

Rugby league.

A giant statue of a pregnant woman called Verity

stands on Ilfracombe Pier. Who's the sculptor?

-Alison Lapper?

-Damien Hirst. Which city on the Indian Ocean

is South Africa's principal port?

It's also one of the country's most popular beach resorts.

-Cape Town.

-Durban.

Which film became the first in the Bond franchise to win a major BAFTA

when it was named Outstanding British Film of the 2013 awards?

-Skyfall.

-Who discovered the Queen Maud Mountains in Antarctica in 1911

and named them after the Queen of Norway?

-Amundsen.

-What was the name of the German-born film actress

and singer whose adoption of trousers and other masculine clothes

started a fashion that's lasted into the 21st century?

Marlene Dietrich.

Which Dorset town whose cobbled, gold hill

featured in a television advert for bread

was known as Shaston in Thomas Hardy's novels?

-Dorchester?

-Shaftesbury.

Which publishing house was established in 1936 after

the founder Alan Lane became frustrated by the lack

of worthwhile reading matter available at Exeter Railway Station?

Penguin.

What term indicating the lack of a raising agent

is given to bread eaten at the Passover?

Unleavened.

In January 2007, Andrew Flintoff was the 708th and last player

to be dismissed in a test match by which Australian spin bowler?

Shane Warne.

Which Swiss-born philosopher wrote the novel Julie,

or La Nouvelle Heloise, published in 1761?

It was his most popular work during his lifetime.

-Kant?

-Rousseau.

What was the name of the golden throne

stolen from India by the Persians in 1739?

Although lost, it became the symbol of the Persian,

-and later, the Iranian monarchy.

-BEEP

The...

Pass.

Well, I can tell you because we're out of time,

it's the Peacock Throne.

So, that one pass, and it didn't really matter in the end, Nick,

because you have scored 26 points.

APPLAUSE

So, he did hold on to that lead, if only just, but that's what counts.

Let's have a look at all the scores.

In fourth place with 18 points, Patrick Macintosh.

Third place, 20 points, Harriet MacMillan.

Second place, 25 points, David Dutton.

And in first place with 26 points, Nick Harrison.

APPLAUSE

Which means, of course, that Nick Harrison is tonight's winner,

and he goes through to the semifinals. Congratulations to him.

And if you'd like to be a contender on the next series,

do go to our website...

And you can follow us on Twitter.

And do join us again next time for more Masterminds.

Thanks for watching. Good night.

APPLAUSE