Episode 8 Mastermind

Our first contender tonight is Michael Ward,

a civil servant from Manchester.

He's answering questions on the films of the Coen brothers.

Next, Alison Rawlinson,

a registered nurse from Godalming, on Flanders and Swann.

Lyndon Easterbrook is a chef from Settle.

His specialist subject,

American singer-songwriter Tom Waits.

And last, Lynne Francis, a student nurse from Hampshire,

on the golden age of transatlantic liners.

APPLAUSE

Hello, and welcome to Mastermind, with me, John Humphrys.

Four more contenders will tonight take

the ultimate test of nerve and memory.

They have spent a long time trying to remember

what they will need to know for their specialist subject,

And they have a mere two minutes to prove that they know it.

And after that, two and a half minutes on general knowledge.

The winner, of course, goes through to the semifinal.

So let's have our first contender, please.

And your name is?

Michael Ward.

Your occupation? Civil servant.

And your specialist subject?

The films of Joel and Ethan Coen.

In two minutes, starting now.

Which actress who married Joel Coen after they met on the film

Blood Simple won an Academy Award

for her role in the 1996 film Fargo?

Frances McDormand.

In Raising Arizona, what is

the real first name of Hi McDunnough?

It is revealed in the letter to his wife, Ed,

to explain why he's leaving.

Herbert.

Who has received Academy Award nominations

for his role as cinematographer

on various Coen Brothers films,

including No Country For Old Men and True Grit?

Roger Deakins.

In The Man Who Wasn't There, why does Creighton Tolliver

ask the barber, Ed Crane,

to pause before he starts to cut his hair?

To take off his wig.

When Maude Lebowski asks The Dude about his past life,

he tells her that he once spent time working as

a roadie on the Speed Of Sound Tour for which band?

Metallica. In Oh Brother, Where Art Thou,

Everett's wife tells the children

their father is dead to cover up the fact

that he is imprisoned. How does she say she died?

Hit by a train. In The Ladykillers,

Garth Pancake says he met Mountain Girl in

a weekend retreat in the Catskills

for sufferers of what medical condition?

IBF.

Which actor plays the title role in Barton Fink

and also appears as Bernie Bernbaum in Miller's Crossing

and Jesus Quintana in the Big Lebowski?

John Turturro.

What is the title of the song Llewyn Davis recorded

when he was around eight years old

that he sings to his elderly father

when he goes to visit him in a nursing home?

Shoals Of Herring. In True Grit,

how old is Mattie Ross when she sets out to avenge

her father's death by tracking down

his murderer, Tom Cheney?

14.

What is the name of the town in Minnesota where

Marge Gunderson is employed as a police officer in Fargo?

Brainerd.

In Raising Arizona,

when Hi commits armed robbery

at the Short Stop convenience store,

he tells Ed he's going to get

the baby what brand of disposable nappies?

Huggies.

Barton Fink's first commission when he is employed as

a scriptwriter by Capitol Pictures

is for a film about a wrestling for which actor?

Wallace Beery.

In Fargo, Marge Gunderson's husband,

Norm, wins a competition to have his

painting of a mallard put on

to a stamp with how many cents?

Two.

No, three!

Tom Regan is taken to Miller's Crossing at gunpoint to prove

that he shot Bernie Bernbaum. ENDING BEEP

Whose body is actually lying

in the woods instead of Bernie's?

Mink. Is correct.

You know, if it hadn't been for one cent,

you'd have gotten them all right.

As it is, you didn't do badly. My goodness, you got 14 points.

APPLAUSE

And our next contender, please.

And your name is? Alison Rawlinson.

Your occupation? Registered nurse.

And your specialist subject? Flanders and Swann.

Flanders and Swann, here we go, two minutes.

Michael Flanders and Donald Swann had a successful partnership

writing and performing comic songs and monologues.

Which of their songs includes the line,

"His inamorata adjusted her garter?"

The Hippopotamus.

They first collaborated in 1939 for the revue, Go To It,

written and performed while

they were at Westminster School.

Which fellow pupil and

future Labour politician helped behind the scenes?

Pass.

Flanders often referred to the fact

that he was in a wheelchair,

claimed that it masked his constitutional laziness.

What illness was the actual cause?

Polio.

In the song The Armadillo, the narrator hears

the armadillo singing a serenade on Salisbury Plain.

What is the object of his love?

A tank.

In Design For Living, the singer says

his speciality is in mess

of pottage consisting of aubergine

and what other ingredient?

Carnation petals.

Who produced the live stage recording of

At The Drop Of A Hat? He went on to achieve

worldwide renown as a pop music producer?

Pass.

In Philological Waltz,

the listener is told that the Tongan expression

Hoolima Kittiluca Cheecheechee equates what word in English?

No.

The song The Reluctant Cannibal begins with

a summons to the dining table.

What delicacy is being served?

Roast leg of insurance salesman.

At what school in Devon did Flanders and Swann

perform some of their material

to an audience of musicians in 1956?

The enthusiastic response encouraged

them to put on their first hat show.

Dartington summer school.

Dartington Hall, yes.

At which small theatre in Notting Hill Gate

did the first performance

of At The Drop Of A Hat

take place on New Year's Eve, 1956?

Pass.

In the Second World War, Swann registered

as a conscientious objector.

He worked as a non-combatant in Greece

and the Middle East with what service?

The Friends Ambulance Service.

The song Slow Train laments the disappearance of numerous

railway stations. At which station will the singer

stand well clear of the doors no more?

Long Stanton.

In one of the duo's most popular songs,

what animal emphatically denies being like a hartebeest?

Gnu.

In The Gasman Cometh, what surname does the electrician

mistakenly call Michael Flanders?

Sanderson. What is subscribed as being like

the jaws of hell from a tram driver's ENDING BEEP

point of view in the song Last Of The Line?

Pass.

Well, I can tell you, because we are out of time. The Kingsway Tunnel.

Yeah. And you had three other passes.

That small theatre in Notting Hill Gate

was the New Lindsey Theatre Club.

It was George Martin who produced

the live recording At The Drop Of A Hat.

And somebody else who went on to great things was the man,

the politician, who helped behind the scenes while they were at

Westminster School, his name was Tony Benn.

There we are.

And you have 11 points.

APPLAUSE

And our next contender, please.

And your name is... Lyndon Easterbrook.

Your occupation? Chef. And your chosen subject.

The life and works of Tom Waits.

In two minutes, starting now.

At which Los Angeles club was Tom Waits performing when

he was seen by the record manager

Herb Cohen who signed him to a songwriting contract?

The Heritage. The Troubadour.

Which singer and actress whom Tom Waits dated for

a while recorded the duet

I Never Talk To Strangers with him

for the '77 Foreign Affairs album?

Bette Midler.

Which song on Waits' 1973 debut album Closing Time includes the

line, "My heart was not born to be tamed"?

Martha. Old Shoes.

Although he later claimed that he was born in

a taxi in the town of Whittier, Waits was actually born

on 7th of December 1949 in a hospital

in which suburb of Los Angeles?

Whittier?

No. Pomona.

What is the name of Tom Waits' childhood friend

with whom he made a Kerouac style road trip?

He is mentioned in the song I Wish I Was In New Orleans.

Tom Bentley. Sam Jones.

He met his future wife Kathleen Brennan when

he was working on the soundtrack

of which '81 Francis Ford Coppola film?

One From The Heart.

What was the name of the club where Waits

worked on the door and made his first live performance

in 1969 where he sang mainly Bob Dylan covers?

The Heritage.

Who had a hit with a cover of the song

Downtown Train from Waits' '85 album Rain Dogs?

It caused a very public rift with Bob Seger,

who also recorded the song.

Rod Stewart.

Which jazz drummer did Tom Waits

first play with on the '76 album Small Change?

Waits thanked him on the sleeve for his

"drumistically pasteurised conktribution."

Cal Taylor. Shelly Mann.

In a Rolling Stone magazine interview,

Waits said he played electric guitar

for the first time on which '78 album?

Heart Attack and Vine.

Blue Valentine. Which record label

did Waits sign with in 1998?

He made his debut for them with the Mule Variations album.

Asylum. Sorry. Epitaph.

When Waits first played at Ronnie Scott's jazz club,

he was thrown out after a row

with the co-founder, who is mentioned

in the subtitles of the song

The Piano Has Been Drinking, Not Me.

What was his name?

ENDING BEEP

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

It was Pete King. Right.

Funny what that black chair does to you, isn't it?

I know, I know. Four points.

APPLAUSE

And our final contender, please.

And your name is...

Lynne Francis. Your occupation? Student nurse.

And your chosen subject.

Is transatlantic liners of the golden age, 1899-1950.

In two minutes, starting now.

Which ship steamed for four hours to reach the Titanic and

rescued 705 survivors from the stricken ship's lifeboats?

Carpathia.

The passenger liner Queen Elizabeth entered service as

a troopship in 1940 and didn't

make her first commercial crossing

of the Atlantic until which year?

1946. To reduce rolling,

the Italian ship Conte di Savoia was the first

large passenger liner to be fitted

with what devices as stabilisers?

Flotation tanks.

Gyroscopes. What was the name of

the shipbuilding firm in Clydebank

which built the Cunard liners Lusitania and Queen Elizabeth?

John Brown and company.

With which British cruiser did the Olympic collide

off the Isle of Wight in 1911?

HMS Hawke.

Which harbour was the last port of call for the Titanic before

she set out across the Atlantic on her maiden voyage?

Queenstown.

The four funnel liner Deutschland

launched in 1900 was built in

Stettin for which shipping line?

Hamburg America.

What was the name of the liner

that served in both World Wars and

reputedly steamed over three million miles in more

than 35 years of service?

RMS Aquitania.

Which French ship captured the blue ribbon for the fastest

crossing of the Atlantic for the first time in 1935?

Normandie.

With which company did Swan Hunter merge in 1903,

specifically to bid for

the contract to build the Mauritania?

Wigham Richardson.

Harland and Wolff built and launched

a luxury liner in 1905.

It's regarded as the first to have installed

an electric passenger lift. What was it called?

Baltic. The America.

Which ship, built for the White Star Line,

was the largest ship in the world

at the time of her maiden voyage in 1899?

The Oceanic.

In which river did over 1,000 people

die when the Empress of Ireland

sank after she collided with

the Norwegian collier Storstad in 1914?

St Lawrence.

What was the name of the liner that had a wartime role

as a troopship and carried

a reputed record of 16,683 people on

a voyage from New York to Britain in 1943?

Queen Elizabeth. Queen Mary.

Which ship was fitted with a spectacular eagle and

globe figurehead on the prow

to make her the world's longest ENDING BEEP

ship at the time of her maiden voyage in 1913?

Imperator. Is correct.

No passes, Lynne. You've got 12 points.

APPLAUSE

So, that is the end of the specialist subjects round.

Let's have a look at all of the scores.

In fourth place, four points, Lyndon Easterbrook.

Third place, 11 points, Alison Rawlinson.

Second place, 12 points, Lynne Francis.

First place, 14 points, Michael Ward.

APPLAUSE

So, it is the general knowledge round now,

and if their scores are tied at the end of this round,

then the number of passes is taken into account and the person

with the fewer passes is the winner.

And if they can't be separated on passes either,

then there has to be a tie-break.

And remember, the sixth 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 Lyndon to join us again, please.

And you had a touch of the black chairs in your first round.

You've now got two and a half minutes of general knowledge

to pile on the points. So, no pressure on you. Here we go.

Two and a half minutes starting now.

What is the name of the section of a symphony orchestra that

includes symbols, triangles, gongs and drums?

Percussion.

In cricket, runs not scored by a batsman such as leg byes,

wides and no-balls are called sundries in Australia.

What are they called elsewhere, including in England?

Extras.

The Marshalsea debtors prison in London is

the setting for a large part of which Dickens novel?

Dombey and Son. Little Dorrit.

What term for a junior member of the staff of an embassy or

legation is also used to

describe a small rectangular case?

Attache.

How many tricks does a player undertake to win with

a call of Misere or Misere Ouverte

in the game of Solo Whist?

Seven. None.

In which 2016 television series based on a

novel by John Le Carre is a hotel worker,

played by Tom Hiddleston,

recruited by a government agent to infiltrate

the inner circle of a ruthless arms dealer?

The Night Manager.

Of which foodstuff are

Sage Derby and Cornish Yarg varieties?

Cheese.

In statistics, what term for the measure of a spread of

a set of numerical values about their mean is often

abbreviated to the letters SD?

Standard deviation.

In which country are the holiday resorts

of Portimao and Albufeira?

Spain. Portugal.

Which composer, famous for his scores for

Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns,

won his first competitive Oscar at

the 2016 ceremony for his original score for

Quentin Tarantino's Western The Hateful Eight?

Ennio Morricone. Yes.

Which football club was formed in 1905 after Fulham

decided not to rent the Stamford Bridge ground

from its owner, Mr HA Mears, and he wanted a club to occupy it?

Chelsea. Yes.

Who did David Cameron replace as the leader of the

Conservative party in 2005?

William Hague? Michael Howard.

Which American rap star had his first UK chart-topping single in July 2000

with the Grammy award-winning song The Real Slim Shady?

Eminem. Yes.

Which poet who went on to be Poet Laureate from 1999 to

2009 published his first volume of poetry,

The Pleasure Steamers, in 1978?

Andrew Motion? Yes.

What term meaning "beautiful era" in French refers

to the period of prosperity in the years leading up

to the First World War,

especially as epitomised by Parisian society?

Beau...

de l'air?

La Belle Epoque.

In which country is the Pacific Ocean seaport of Valparaiso?

Chile. Yes.

In which American state is the so-called fountain of youth?

According to legend, it's associated

with the 16th-century Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon.

Arizona? Florida.

Which general, in support of the murdered Julius Caesar,

formed the Second Roman Triumvirate with

Octavian and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus in October, 43 BC?

Neil Chapman.

No, it was Mark Antony.

But it might have been him. Look, respectable score now.

You're up to 15 points.

Thank you.

And now Alison again, please.

And you start out with 11 points with your knowledge of that

wonderfully funny duo Flanders and Swann.

And you have two and a half minutes of general knowledge.

So here we go.

What is the name of the complex of coral reefs, shoals and islets

that lies off Australia's north-east coast and

extends for a distance of some 2,000 kilometres?

Great Barrier Reef. Yes.

Which precious stone is a red transparent variety

of the mineral corundum?

Ruby. Yes.

What is the common name for small-to-medium-sized parrots, generally with long tails,

best known of them being the budgerigar?

Parakeet? Yes. The Sound Of Music,

which was first staged in 1959,

was the last collaboration between Oscar Hammerstein II and which composer?

Rodgers? Yes. Which popular novelist,

who set most of her works in her native north-east,

was the illegitimate daughter of a barmaid named Kate Fawcett?

Catherine Cookson? Yes.

What name is given to the clarified butter made from cow

or buffalo milk that's widely used in Indian cookery?

Ghee. Yes.

Who achieved fame on television as Colonel Steve Austin,

The Six Million Dollar Man,

before going on to play the Hollywood stuntman Colt Seavers in The Fall Guy?

Lee Majors. La Dolce Vita,

La Strada and 8? are among the best-known films of which Italian film director?

Fellini. Yes. The list of famous people buried

in a London cemetery include Karl Marx, George Eliot and Michael Faraday.

Which cemetery? Highgate.

Yes. Which hero of the Trojan War who was the King of Ithaca had his

journey home recounted by Homer?

Odysseus. Yes. Britain's oldest and most senior order of chivalry

was founded by Edward III in 1348 and is called The Most Noble Order of the...?

Garter. Yes. Jeremy John Durham are the real forenames of a former

leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 to 1999.

Who is he? Jeremy Thorpe?

Paddy Ashdown. In 1943,

the Derwent Reservoir in the Peak District was used

by the RAF to practise for which famous operation?

Dam Busters. Yes.

What name is given to an enclosed court or covered arcade

that forms part of a monastery or college building?

Cloister. Yes.

The waters of which river estuary in South America

have a distinctly brownish colour because of the sediment carried by it.

Although its name means "silver river" in Spanish?

Pass. Which golfer who was twice a winner of the British Open

was known as the great white shark because of his light

blonde hair and aggressive style of play?

Jack Nicklaus? Greg Norman.

What term, used particularly by archaeologists,

for an item made by human workmanship comes from the Latin for skill and make?

Artefact. Yes.

In the children's book first published in the 1920s,

which character says, "I am a bear of very little brain and long words bother me"?

Winnie the Pooh. Yes.

The Cod Wars is the name given to the series of disputes running from

the 1950s to the 1970s between Britain and a country over fishing rights

in the North Atlantic. Which country?

Iceland. Is correct.

Just the one pass.

That river estuary in South America is the Rio de la Plata,

or the River Plate, if you prefer.

You've now gone up, shot up, to 27 points.

APPLAUSE

So Lynne again now, please.

And you start this round with 12 points.

And as you will be very well aware, the score you have to beat,

if you are to get through to the semifinal, is now 27.

So here we go.

Two and a half minutes of general knowledge in which to do it,

or not as the case may be.

Which elderly amateur detective who features in 12 novels and 20 short

stories by Agatha Christie has the first name Jane?

Miss Marple. Yes. The 24th official James Bond film was

directed by Sam Mendez and released in 2015.

What was it called? Skyfall?

Spectre. Which song written by Bob Marley gave

Eric Clapton his first top

ten hit in the UK singles chart under his own name in 1974?

I Shot The Sheriff. Yep.

In which Asian country were the Winter Olympics held

in Sapporo in 1972 and in Nagano in 1988?

Japan. Yes. According to St Matthew's gospel,

John the Baptist survived on a diet of wild honey and which insects while

he was in the wilderness?

Ants? Locusts.

Who succeeded Clement Attlee as the leader of the Labour Party in 1955?

He held the office till his death in 1963.

Pass. The former private chapel known as the Queen's gallery that hosted

a 2015 exhibition of portraits of D-Day veterans

is in the grounds of a royal residence. Which one?

Holyroodhouse? Buckingham Palace.

Which soft bramble fruit considered a hybrid of the blackberry and the

raspberry is named after the lawyer who cultivated it

in Santa Cruz, California in about 1880?

Loganberry? Yes.

Which city in Cambridgeshire has a cathedral known as the ship of the fens

because it can be seen for miles around?

Ely. Yep. A thin layer of what substance is fused onto metal

and other surfaces by intense heat to give a glazed, enamel finish?

Pass. Which 1880 novel by Lew Wallace was subtitled A Tale Of The Christ,

its 1959 film version starred Charlton Heston?

Pass. Who played Detective Superintendant Sandra Pullman,

the original head of the team of detectives in the Metropolitan Police's

Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad in the television series New Tricks?

Pass.

Which spirit is used to make a planter's punch cocktail

along with fruit juices and sugar?

Gin? Rum. A novel by David Nicholls about a student who fulfils his dream of

appearing on University Challenge was published in America as

A Question Of Attraction because of fears that

the Americans might not understand the significance of the original title.

Which novel? Starter For Ten.

Yes. Which composer met the French novelist George Sand in 1837 and lived with

her from the following year until 1847.

Frederic Chopin. Indeed.

In meteorology, which name is usually given to precipitation falling as

rain mingled with snow or hail?

Drizzle. Sleet.

Which volcano in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra erupted in 1883?

The effects were felt thousands of miles away.

Krakatoa. Krakatoa is correct.

You had four passes.

It was Amanda Redman who played Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman.

That film starring Charlton Heston, the original novel by Lew Wallace,

was Ben-Hur.

It was glass that is fused onto metal and all that to get a

glazed finish. And Hugh Gaitskell succeeded Clement Attlee and went on

to lead the Labour Party for quite a long time.

So there we are. You've now a total of 20 points.

Thank you.

And finally Michael again, please.

And you scored 14 points with your knowledge of the Coen brothers films.

And now, as you will know,

27 points is the score to beat with your general knowledge if you are to

get through to the semis.

So let's see if you can do it.

Here we go. Two and a half minutes starting now.

Which American president announced his resignation from office on 8 August 1974

because of the Watergate scandal?

Richard Nixon. Yes.

Which is the largest of the great apes that lives in the tropical forests of Equatorial

Africa and is the closest relative to humans after the chimpanzee?

Gorilla. Yes. Which march by Johann Strauss the Elder

that's named after an Austrian Field Marshal

is played at the traditional New Year's Day concert by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra?

Pass. What is the name of the British trade union that was

established in 1930 for actors,

but was later extended to include performers in most fields of entertainment?

Equity? Yes. What word used for

a form of mountain climbing somewhere between hill

walking and rock climbing is also an alternative name for the motorcycle sport of motocross?

Pass. In which work by Geoffrey Chaucer do a group of pilgrims take part in

a storytelling contest on their way to St Thomas a Becket's shrine?

Canterbury Tales. Yes.

A head and a short head are winning margins in

horse racing and which other sport?

Golf. Greyhound racing.

Which hip-hop group that formed in New York City has members that

include Method Man, Ghostface Killah and Inspectah Deck?

Wu-Tang Clan. Yes.

Who was the commander-in-chief of the British Army at

the Battle of Salamanca in 1812 and the Battle of Vitoria the following year?

The Duke of Wellington?

Yes. Which annual publication that was first published in 1849 contains

over 33,000 short biographies of living,

noteworthy individuals from all walks of life worldwide?

Pass. Which vegetable, often topped with a Mornay sauce,

is used in a dish described as Florentine?

Aubergine? Spinach.

What is the surname of the American surgeon who in the early 1970s

pioneered the emergency procedure of a series of

abdominal thrusts for a person who is choking?

Heimlich? Yes.

Of which artistic movement were Claude Monet and Pierre Auguste Renoir

among the founders? Their paintings were often created outdoors and tried to

capture the changing effects of light?

Impressionists. Yes.

The Greek island of Skopelos provided many of the locations for the 2008

film version of which successful stage musical?

Mamma Mia. Yes. What is the Gaulton-Henry system

classified for the purpose of criminal identification.

It was officially introduced by Scotland Yard in 1901.

Fingerprints? Yes. Which broadcaster and poker player presented the 2015

TV documentary series How To Be Bohemian?

Victoria Coren Mitchell.

Yes. Which city's railway station at Temple Meads was designed by Brunel

and became a Grade I listed building in 1966?

Bristol. Yes.

Which four words complete the opening line of Hamlet's soliloquy which

begins, "To be not to be..."?

"..that is the question." Yes. What word of Dutch origin for anything used to

entice, especially into a trap, BEEP

originally meant a place to which birds or animals were lured to be caught?

Bait? Decoy.

Now, that might have been important, but we shall see.

Your passes.

The annual publication with all those names in it, 33,000 of them,

Who's Who. Scrambling is what you do if you are sort of mountain climbing

or doing the motorcycle sport.

And the march by Strauss was the Radetzky March.

Michael, you have a total now of 27 points.

APPLAUSE

But that doesn't mean we don't have a result, because we do.

Let me give you all the scores and you will see why.

In fourth place, 15 points, Lyndon Easterbrook.

Third place, 20 points, Lynne Francis.

Second place, 27 points and five

passes, Alison Rawlinson.

First place with 27 points and three passes, Michael Ward.

Which of course illustrates the importance of passing or not passing

and means that Michael is tonight's winner and goes through to the semifinals.

Congratulations to him.

With a score of 27, though,

there is every chance that we shall see Alison back in the semifinals,

cos that's a high score.

If you would like to be a contender on the next series,

do go to our website...

And you can follow us @mastermindquiz.

Do join us again next time for more Masterminds.

Thanks for watching. Goodbye.