Episode 39 Pointless

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Thank you very much indeed. Hello, I'm Alexander Armstrong,

and welcome to Pointless, the show where the lowest scorers

are the biggest winners. Let's meet today's players.

APPLAUSE

And couple number one.

Hi, erm, I'm Tash and this is my boyfriend Nathan

-and we're from Plymouth.

-Couple number two.

I'm Sam and this is my dad Ian and we're from Worthing.

Couple number three.

Hi, I'm Ian, this is my work colleague Nikki,

and we're from Carlton Community College in Barnsley.

And finally, couple number four.

I'm Chris and this is my sister-in-law Sherrie

and we're from Cambridge.

And these are today's contestants.

APPLAUSE

Thank you very much, each and every one of you.

We'll find out more about you throughout the show as it goes along.

So, that leaves one more person for me to introduce,

a man so clever he not only knows the minutiae, he can spell it, too!

-It's my Pointless friend, it's Richard.

-Hiya. Hi, everybody.

-Good afternoon to you.

-Good afternoon to you.

We've got two returning pairs. Very different shows last time.

-Nicola and Ian, who's now got an initial.

-I spotted that.

-He's gone off and done stuff.

-Hasn't he just?

They got through to the Head-to-Head, played very,

very well, and on podium one, got Tash

and we've got our Harry Kane lookalike, Nathan.

They got knocked out very, very early, unfortunately.

Hopefully see a bit more of them today.

Yeah, a lot of them - very, very Ian-heavy.

Is this the first time we've gone double Ian?

-I don't think it can be, can it?

-Done double a lot.

-Double Dave.

-Double Dave, we've had it on a team!

-Urgh!

-One team of Daves.

-But I think it might be our first double Ian.

-First double Ian.

Anyway, listen, thank you very much indeed.

Jane and Catherine, by the way,

didn't win the Jackpot last time, which is terribly sad for them.

But it does mean, by way of some consolation, that we have a

slightly bigger Jackpot. I know.

We're going to add £1,000 to that Jackpot,

so today's Jackpot starts off at...

There we are.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Right, if everyone's ready, let's play Pointless.

APPLAUSE

So, remember, the pair with the highest

score at the end of each round will be eliminated.

Do what you can not to be in the pair with the highest score.

Our first category today is...

History. Can you decide in your pairs who's going to go first,

who's going to go second?

And whoever's going first, please step up to the podium.

OK, and the question concerns...

The 16th century. Richard.

Yes, on each board, we're going to show you seven

questions about people, places and events of the 16th century.

Just need you to give us the most obscure answer.

There's going to be seven on each board, 14 in all,

to have a go at at home. Very best of luck.

No-one is allowed to say, "This is a bit before my time."

LAUGHTER

OK, let's reveal our first board of people,

places and events from the 16th century, and here they are.

I'll read those all one last time.

Nathan, welcome back. Now, Nathan, remind us what you do.

-I'm in sales for a packaging company.

-Excellent.

-They call it a packaging strategist.

-Packaging strategist.

-So, where does strategy come into it?

-It doesn't.

I'm a cardboard box salesman.

LAUGHTER

So, you come up with strategy solutions

-in the cardboard box industry?

-'Solutions' is a good buzz word.

-We use that a lot.

-I bet.

-Packaging solutions, which basically just means packaging.

-Yes.

-Putting things in a box.

-Yes.

-Excellent.

When you're not putting things in a box, Nathan, what keeps you happy?

-Erm, we've just bought a house earlier this year.

-That's exciting.

So, we've got a bit of a rule.

We have to do at least one thing every day.

For example, we're building a cupboard to put our washing

machine in. The other day, I couldn't be bothered,

so I put a curtain up in front of it instead of a cupboard,

and that was my job for the day done.

I would've thought a very sturdy cardboard box would do the job.

Yeah! Yeah! Can't you strategise some kind of cardboard solution to that?

-I just don't know where I'd get it from.

-Oh. Good point.

Good point. Now, Nathan, what are you going to go for on this board?

I've got an idea for a few of them.

But I'm afraid...

-I might have to just go for Leonardo da Vinci, painted the Mona Lisa.

-OK.

Tash is nodding.

ALEXANDER CHUCKLES

I think it might be right, but we'll see! Leonardo da Vinci.

It IS right.

51. Well, that's not bad, actually. 51.

They used emotion recognition software on the Mona Lisa, and

they concluded she was 83% happy, 9% disgusted, 6% fearful and 2% angry.

-Wow!

-Wow.

I wonder where they found that in the face.

-What percentage disgusted and angry am I now?

-You?

You are 41% disgusted and 36% angry.

-Not bad. 42...

-And you are...

LAUGHTER

And I would say you are 20% not really understanding

what's going on.

LAUGHTER

-Which, for you, is low! So, that's good.

-Not bad! I'll work on that.

Thank you very much indeed, Richard. Now, Sam, welcome from Worthing.

And thank you for the shirt! That's brightened everyone's day, hasn't it?

I was thinking might be a bit too jazzy?

We've never had "too jazzy" on this show, Sam.

Listen, there's a challenge,

throwing down the jazzy gauntlet for next time.

-Somebody's got to beat the jazziness.

-Yeah, absolutely.

So, what do you do in Worthing, Sam?

I am a funeral operative at the Family Funeral Directive.

Now, a funeral operative,

these are funeral systems solutions that you're strategising here.

-Plenty of buzzwords.

-Yeah! So, you run the whole thing, don't you?

As a funeral operative, which part of it do you...

Obviously, Dad runs the business and he meets families,

where as I sort of... First job of the day, clean the cars...

-Important.

-And then, yeah, just go from there.

First job of the day, go home, change your shirt.

LAUGHTER

That's a good point.

What do you wear, generally, for work, obviously, on the day itself?

Grey striped trousers, waistcoat, white shirt, black tie,

-black jacket.

-Every day?

-Yeah. To clean the cars in as well.

-Really?

Do you have some cuff protectors?

I just roll my sleeves up, get the guns out.

LAUGHTER

OK, now, Sam, what are you going to go for on this board?

Well, Nathan's taken my answer, so...

I'm not very good on 16th century. I think it was a bit before my time.

LAUGHTER, GROANING AND BOOING

What percentage disgusted now?

LAUGHTER

94% disgusted. 6% so furious I'm going to have to hold you back.

LAUGHTER

I'm going to have to take a punt at 'Ee-van' the Terrible, Russia.

Or Ivan. Let's see if that's right.

Let's see how many of our 100 people said Russia.

-(Yes!)

-He's right. Why-yo-ee-yo!

Look at that! 75 for Russia.

Yeah, and they used that software on him. He's 81% terrible.

LAUGHTER

-81% terrible, 19% misunderstood.

-Aw!

-Poor old Ivan.

-Yeah.

-Nikki, welcome back.

-Head-to-Head last time!

-Yeah!

Head-to-Head. Very good. Remind us what you do, Nikki.

-I am a cover teacher in a secondary school.

-Oh, this...

This has just opened something up for me now.

If you and Ian,

who we both discovered last time are cover teachers, are here...

who's covering you?!

LAUGHTER

-Hopefully a very good supply teacher.

-That's the order of it?

You have a cover teacher then... Teacher, cover teacher,

-supply teacher.

-Yeah.

Erm, now, when you're not covering, what do you get up to, Nikki?

I like to plan weddings. A lot of my friends...

I seem to have, like, about three or four weddings a year.

Like, my friends, they're always getting married,

and I'm always bridesmaid.

So...

AUDIENCE "AWWS"

-Aww!

-Never the bride.

Aww! Well, you've got some holidays, don't you?

You get three holidays a year?

-You could start setting up the Nikki wedding industry.

-Yeah.

ALEXANDER SIGHS

-Yeah, you should do this!

-Yeah.

-You should do it. I'd go to Nikki.

-Nikki's Strategic Wedding Solutions, yeah, lovely.

-Absolutely!

Now, Nikki,

-what are you going to go for on this board of the 16th century?

-Well...

As I'm teaching history at the moment, this is going to be highly

embarrassing if I get it wrong,

but I'm drawing a blank here completely, so I'm going to

go for the bottom one, and I'm going to say Christopher Columbus?

Christopher Columbus? OK. Christopher Columbus.

Let's see if that's right,

and if it is, let's see how many people said it.

Bad luck, Nikki. I'm afraid that's an incorrect answer, scores 100 points.

It may very well not be the last 100 points of this round,

-though, so don't despair yet.

-I tell you, as a history teacher,

I hope you're a very, very good wedding planner.

LAUGHTER

Me too. Could be getting my P45 soon.

NIKKI CHUCKLES

-Thanks very much. Now, Chris!

-Hi.

-A warm welcome to Pointless.

-Thank you.

Good to have you here. What do you do, Chris?

So, I'm a civil servant at the moment.

Can we ask which part of the civil service?

Yes, I work for Ofqual, which is the qualifications regulator.

I see, and you do that in Cambridge?

I do it in Coventry, so I commute every day to...

SLIGHT CHEERING

-Oh! Excellent.

-How about that?

-Isn't that nice?

We always have a party from Coventry in,

and they so seldom get a chance to do that and it's really nice.

It's like going home, cos I was born in Rugby, which is

-just outside Coventry.

-Nice. How long does that take you?

-Two hours each way.

-Every day?

-Every day.

-Wow!

-Yeah.

-Now, Chris, this board's all yours.

-Please talk us through it and fill in all the blanks.

-Yeah, so...

I think my dad took me to this battleground.

I think that's Culloden. The other ones...

I think Magellan is the Spanish conquistador,

but I might be wrong there.

Scott, the Englishman to circumnavigate the globe, maybe...

But to be perfectly honest, I'm guessing at everything,

so I'm going to go top one, Culloden and, yeah, risk the wrath of my dad.

OK. Culloden, says Chris. Let's see if Culloden's right.

Let's see how many of our 100 people said it.

Ooh. I don't know what's worse -

the 100 points or the wrath of your father but, anyway,

I'm afraid you've got both to contend with now, Chris.

That's an incorrect answer there.

-Who'd have thought Leonardo da Vinci would be the best answer?

-Yes!

Caused some trouble this board, but let's fill these in.

It's not Culloden, it's actually your neck of the woods.

-Flodden Field.

-Yeah. Northumbria. Would have scored you five points.

A terrific answer.

-The Cardinal is...

-Cardinal Wolsey.

As all fans of Wolf Hall will tell you. 42 for that.

-The Royal Palace?

-Hampton Court.

-Hampton Court.

That would have scored you 17. Now, the explorer who became

the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe.

-Francis Drake.

-Sir Francis Drake.

Would have scored you 27. And the Spanish conquistador

-was Hernan Cortes.

-Aah.

Very well done if you said that. 14 points.

So the best answer on the board is Flodden Field.

Well done if you said that.

Thank you very much. OK, we're halfway through the round.

Let's look at those scores. As Richard said, Nathan 51.

Leonardo da Vinci sorted you out there.

Nathan and Tash looking very strong at this point.

Then we travel up to 75, where we see Sam and Ian H.

And then up to 100.

Chris and Sherrie and Nikki and Ian D are tied.

So, yes, Sherrie and Ian D, it's going to be between you.

We're going to come back down the line now.

Can the second players please step up to the podium?

OK. Let's put seven more clues up on the board.

And here they are. More 16th century people, places and facts.

I'll read those one last time.

-Now, Sherrie, welcome to Pointless.

-Thank you.

Good to have you here. How do you and Chris know each other?

Chris is married to my sister.

Lucky enough to be married to my sister, I should say.

Very good. How long have they been married?

Ooh. Coming up to ten years next month?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Very good.

Now, Sherrie, what do you do?

I'm a police officer.

Are you? Which bit of the police, or just general police?

I work in the safeguarding hub.

So I work alongside partnerships,

services to protect the most vulnerable members of the community.

Excellent. And what are your interests, Sherrie?

-Photography is my new hobby. Very much into that.

-New since when?

About the last year or so. But it's hampered by funds.

I didn't realise quite how expensive it was when I first started.

Yeah. Cameras really expensive. So, what kicked it off?

I actually did a course at work.

Couple of years ago. And thought, I really like this.

Then didn't dabble in it very much.

Then about a year ago, thought, I'm going to take it up.

Take it up! Very nice.

Now, Sherrie, what are you going to go for?

To be honest, I think I only roughly know two of those.

So, it's a toss up between which one's going to be the lowest.

So, I'm going to go for the top one and I'm going to say the Tudors.

The Tudors, says Sherrie.

No red line for you, as you're joint high scorers.

Let's see how many people said the Tudors.

It's quite right.

54.

APPLAUSE

154 is your total.

Yeah. The Tudors. Weirdly low scores from our 100 on this.

I think it's the second someone mentions history

we have a slight blindness. I think everyone knows the answer to that.

-It's the second you put questions in that way it upsets them.

-Yeah.

-Now, Ian D. You are also a cover teacher.

-Yes. In Barnsley.

What are your interests, aside from teaching?

Table tennis, I play a lot of the sport.

I've played it since I was 11.

In my previous jobs, I was a police officer, prison officer,

and I was in the Royal Air Force

and I've won all the championships of those respective jobs, as well.

The table tennis championships.

So, basically, you just go from table tennis...

Yes, from jobs to table tennis.

I see.

So, which vocational table tennis table do you want to take over next?

I suppose the school's would be a good one.

We had quite a good junior team

and our school's won the Barnsley Championships a couple of years ago.

-That's good.

-So that was good.

-Under your tuition, or...

-Yeah.

It takes a lot of work to be able to get young people

to a good standard at table tennis.

There are quite a lot of good young table tennis players out there.

OK. Well, listen. We need a score of 53 or less from you, Ian.

53 or less. How do you feel about that?

I know most of them but I think, perhaps,

the best of them will be the bottom one

and I will go with Machiavelli. The guy who wrote The Prince.

Machiavelli, says Ian D. Let's see if that's right.

Here's your red line. Get below that, you're into round two.

It's right.

Very well done indeed.

That's a good answer. 21. Well done.

APPLAUSE

121 is your total.

Very well played, Ian.

Niccolo Machiavelli.

Of course, where we get Machiavellian from.

-I had a hunch.

-Yeah.

Thanks very much indeed.

Now, Ian H, welcome.

-Now, you run the whole funeral service.

-Yes.

-A funeral directors.

-Funeral directors.

Do you have a favourite part of the service?

Really, looking after the people.

I find it very rewarding because you're helping people

-at a very difficult time.

-Yeah.

What are your interests when you're not in the family business?

I'm a Brighton season ticket holder.

Haven't had the best of seasons this year.

I'm the manager of Worthing under-18s in the Ryman Youth League

and I'm a director of Worthing Football Club, as well.

Do you come and do pep talks in the dressing room?

Motivational. Bit like David Brent!

Very good. Yeah.

LAUGHTER

OK, you're on 75. If you can score 78, or less,

you are safely into the next round.

I think I'm going to go for the Spanish Armada,

which was the name of the fleet of around 130 ships.

OK. The Spanish Armada.

Here's your red line.

If you can get below that, you are through to our next round.

Let's see how many people of our 100 said the Spanish Armada.

It's right and you're through. Very well done.

45.

APPLAUSE

Takes your total up to 120.

That's another one that everyone knows, really.

And just 45 points.

It was the largest fleet ever assembled at that time in history.

130 ships.

Thank you very much indeed.

So, now, Tash. Look what Nathan's done

-with his brilliant answering in the first round.

-I know!

51, it doesn't matter what you score,

you're still going to be in the next round. Tash, remind us what you do.

I work at the students union at Plymouth University.

And remind us what you like getting up to when you're not doing that.

So when I'm not doing that I quite often volunteer at the local zoo.

Obviously we've just bought a house, so a lot of decorating,

and when I actually have real spare time I like to do a bit of

sort of crafty things, so knitting and sewing, things like that.

That curtain's a bit annoying, isn't it? I mean, you know, it was...

Well, I made it originally so I'm quite happy...

Well, I know but still, you know, the instruction was a cupboard, you know.

-It'll get there.

-It'll get there.

Well, I hope so, I just hope so, that's all I'm saying.

Tash, that board's all yours.

Do you want to talk us through it and fill in all the blanks?

I'm thinking the artist could be Michelangelo but I could be wrong.

I think the next one's then Shakespeare.

I'm not sure about the monarch so the one I think I'm going to go with

is the astronomer that I think is Copernicus.

-Copernicus, says Tash.

-I think.

-OK, Copernicus.

No red line for you for the wonderful reason that you're already through.

Let's see if Copernicus does you any favours.

It's right.

16! Look at that. APPLAUSE

The lowest score of the entire round.

With Nathan, you have the lowest score of the first pass,

there we are. 67 is your total.

Best answer on the board as well, Tash, so very well played.

Terrific answer. The Renaissance artist was Michelangelo,

would've scored you 38 points.

What do you think Shakespeare scored, "Bard of Avon"?

You've got to hope in the 90s. 92.

-41.

-AUDIENCE GASPS

-41, that scored.

-OK.

-There you go. And the six-day-old girl is...

-Mary, Queen of Scots.

Mary, Queen of Scots and it would've scored you 24.

-Wow.

-Wow.

-Wow-ee.

OK, thank you very much, Richard.

So at the end of our first round, the pair who are heading,

you've only just got here, Chris and Sherrie, I'm sorry,

we've got to send you home but you'll be back again next time

and we'll look forward to that but in the meantime,

thanks very much for playing. Sherrie and Chris.

APPLAUSE

But for the remaining three pairs, it's now time for round two.

And suddenly three pairs only remain.

At the end of this round we'll have to say goodbye to another pair.

Well, Tash and Nathan, after last time

when we sent you home after Round One,

here you are, lowest joint scorers and our lowest individual scorers

as well there so, very well done in that round.

And the remaining two pairs, only one point between you.

Very close indeed, fantastic grouping so well done for that.

Best of luck to all three pairs,

our category for round two today is...

Ooh, it's a Words round. It's a Words round.

Can you all decide in your pairs who's going to go first and second?

And whoever's going first please step up to the podium.

OK, let's find out what the question is. Here it comes.

We gave 100 people 100 seconds to name

as many words ending in T-A-N-T as they could.

Words ending T-A-N-T. Richard.

Yeah, looking for any word which has its own entry in oxforddictionaries.com

English word section, please, that ends "..TANT".

As always, no proper nouns, no hyphenated words,

and that's up to May 2015.

And we won't accept the word TANT itself.

OK. Now, Nathan.

Words ending "..TANT".

Always tough going first on these.

I'm going to play it relatively safe,

cos despite being an English graduate I tend to be terrible at this.

You really didn't have to tell us you were an English graduate!

You could have got off absolutely scot-free there.

I trust Tash. I think she's going to come up with a blinder.

Oh, I don't like that, that as a preamble's terrible.

So I'm going to say...CONSTANT.

OK. CONSTANT.

Let's see if it's right, let's see how many of our 100 people said CONSTANT.

APPLAUSE 34.

34 for CONSTANT.

Yeah, pretty big score in a words round, CONSTANT.

It means..."constant".

LAUGHTER

There we are, I thought as much. Sam...

Oh... My mind's gone blank.

OK...

So...STANT. S-T-A-N-T.

STANT, says Sam.

OK, let's see if it's right, let's see how many of our 100 people said it.

It just came... Brighton used to have a player called Paul Stant.

-So I thought I'd give it a go.

-No, it was PHIL Stant.

Well, I'm afraid Brighton let you down there, I'm really sorry.

That scores you 100 points.

Not just Brighton let you down, Phil Stant himself - for not becoming more famous

-and his name becoming so ubiquitous that it was lent to a word.

-Yeah.

Excellent. Now then, Nikki...

Erm...

I'm going to go with EXPECTANT.

Very good. EXPECTANT, we like that.

Let's see how many of our 100 people said EXPECTANT.

APPLAUSE Not bad. 19.

Yeah, EXPECTANT very good answer -

unlike EXPECT STANT which is what the Brighton team coach used to do.

LAUGHTER Yeah.

Thanks, Richard. Well, we're halfway through the round, let's take a look at the scores.

19, best score of the pass, Nikki.

Puts you and Ian D in good shape.

And then up to 34,

where we find Nathan and Tash.

And then up to 100, I'm afraid, Sam and Ian H.

So Ian H, a low score from you

and maybe it'll keep you in the game.

We're going to come back down the line -

can the second players please step up to the podium?

Ian D...

Ian D. We are looking for words ending "..TANT".

If you can score 80 or less, you're in the head-to-head.

I've got two that come to mind.

The one I will go with is

COMBUSTANT.

COMBUSTANT.

Ooh...! I like that murmur from the audience, they like that.

There's your red line, Ian D,

you have to get below that with COMBUSTANT

to be through to the next round. Let's see if it does it for you.

GROANING

-Oh...

-Oh, dear.

-I'm afraid that's an incorrect answer.

Oh! Ian H, suddenly been thrown a lifeline there.

That scores you 100 points, takes your total up to 119.

Yeah, COMBUSTIBLE but not COMBUSTANT I'm afraid.

Right. Now then,

Ian, you know what you have to do. We need 18 or less from you.

-It's got to be one of those really good words.

-I'm going to go MUTANT.

MUTANT.

Ooh, it's another murmur from the audience.

Last time they did that, it was wrong.

LAUGHTER

OK, here's your red line -

get below that with MUTANT,

you're into the head-to-head. Let's see how many of our 100 people said MUTANT.

APPLAUSE 22!

122 is your total,

Ian D, and Nikki can heave a sigh of relief

-over on the far podium there. Richard.

-Yeah, not a bad answer,

not quite good enough. "Having undergone mutation."

-Thank you very much.

-MUTANT.

-Indeed. Thank you.

Now, Tash...

You have to score 87 or less.

Nathan had a lot of faith in you.

Well, I've got two words that I'm fairly certain are correct,

but I think I'm going to have to say BLATANT...?

OK, Well, let's hope that's not too...

obvious(!)

Here's your red line -

if you can get below that

you are through to the head-to-head. Let's see how many said it.

Very well done, did exactly what it had to do, BLATANT...

Oh, look at that! 10.

APPLAUSE

Takes your total up to 43, very well done indeed.

Ironic that a word meaning "very obvious" is actually the best answer of the round so far, well played.

It's one of those categories where there's a huge amount of words

you will know here that have scored under 10 - a huge amount,

you will know all of them. And you'll be furious,

it's quite hard to get a grip on.

-Have you got a word?

-SEXTANT.

SEXTANT would have scored you 11.

-Oh, really?

-Yeah.

-In which case, CONCOMITANT.

Ah - CONCOMITANT, that sounds much more likely.

-It's a pointless answer.

-Oh! Hooray.

-Very well done.

APPLAUSE

I'll go through some of the lower scorers.

I am an ASSISTANT, and it would have scored you 7.

There's some really obvious words here - IRRITANT, 6, EQUIDISTANT, 6,

ACCOUNTANT, 6.

-CONTESTANT would have scored you 5 points.

-GROANING

And especially those of you who are newcomers -

DEBUTANT would have scored you 4 points.

So if you'd been a DEBUTANT CONTESTANT you'd have got 9 points between the two of you.

Now the pointless answers,

the ones that nobody said....

ADJUTANT, which is a bird but also a military role.

ATTRACTANT.

COMBATANT would have been pointless, well done if you said that.

DECONGESTANT was a pointless answer.

EXCITANT is a pointless answer, EXORBITANT is a pointless answer.

See all these words that are so familiar to us,

but they don't quite come to your head?

INCAPACITANT, INHABITANT, PRECIPITANT.

Let's take a look at the ones that most people said,

the biggest scorers of all.

STANT not amongst them.

There's CONSTANT, 42 -

CONSTANT of course is someone who tries to defraud Phil Stant.

LAUGHTER

INSTANT is a tablet

taken by Phil Stant.

36 for that.

And up at the top there, IMPORTANT

-would have scored you 40 points.

-Thanks very much indeed.

So, at the end of our second round the pair who are heading home,

I'm sorry to say... Oh, Phil Stant just really...

I was going to go IMPORTANT

-and I came up with Phil Stant.

-Oh...

-Shocker.

Well, listen. You'll be back next time.

And on the evidence of today's performance

I'm pretty sure you'll come this far and possibly further.

Look forward to that. Meantime, thanks very much, Ian and Sam!

-Thank you.

-APPLAUSE

But for the remaining two pairs it's now time for our head-to-head.

Well, congratulations, Tash and Nathan, Nikki and Ian, you're now

one step closer to the final, and a chance to play for our jackpot which currently stands at £2,000.

Well, you know the deal, it all gets a little bit easier from here on in -

you can confer before you give your answers, and the first pair

to win two questions will be playing for that jackpot. I think it'll be very close,

best of luck to both pairs, let's play the head-to-head.

Here comes your first question, and it concerns...

Famous Sams.

Going to show you five famous Samuels, Sammys or Samanthas now,

can you identify the most obscure?

OK, let's reveal our five famous Sams...

Five famous Sams.

Now, Tash and Nathan, you've been our low scorers so you will go first.

Feel free to confer.

-..You sure?

-Yeah, I can't think of her surname.

Right, Tash thinks she knows D,

but she just can't quite get it.

I can't remember her surname.

It's really annoying.

Sorry, I don't know.

We'll have to go E,

and Samuel L Jackson.

Samuel L Jackson, say Tash and Nathan.

Now then, Nikki and Ian...

Talk us through that board.

We think A is Sammy Davis Jr.

B, Sam Cameron.

D, we've no idea about at all.

I think, but I could be

completely and utterly wrong,

that C could be Sam Peckinpah.

We're not sure, so we'll go for...?

We'll go with A, Sammy Davis Jr.

A, Sammy Davis Jr.

We have Samuel L Jackson

and Sammy Davis Jr.

Tash and Nathan said Samuel L Jackson for E.

Let's see if that's right and how many people said it.

It is him, of course...

31.

31 for Samuel L Jackson.

Now, Nikki and Ian have said that A is Sammy Davis Jr,

let's see how many said that.

It is...

-Ooh, look at that! AUDIENCE:

-Oh!

Popular choice there.

Which means, Tash and Nathan, well done, after one question you're 1-0.

-Twice as famous as Shakespeare, Sammy Davis Jr.

-Yeah! CHUCKLING

Sam Cam also a very big scorer,

she would have scored you 69 points.

C, it's not Sam Peckinpah...

-Samuel Beckett.

-Samuel Beckett.

Would have scored you 12.

And D,

from Les Miserables, Samantha Barks.

Would have scored you 1 point.

Thanks very much, Richard.

Your second question - Nikki and Ian, you get to answer first

but you have to win it to stay in the game so best of luck. It concerns...

German States. Richard.

We're going to show you the English names now

of five German federal states, but we've missed out alternate letters.

Can you fill in the gaps?

OK, let's reveal our German states and here they are.

I'll read those all one last time.

Nikki and Ian will go first.

LOW MUTTERING

We'll go for the bottom one,

which we think is Thuringia.

Thuringia. Tor-ingia. OK, very good.

Now then, Tash and Nathan, which will you go for?

Do you want to fill in all the blanks?

I would love to, Alexander.

I did a road trip through Germany in September

and I just didn't look at any signs, apparently.

I feel like I know all of them, but I...

I think we'd get it wrong if we took a punt.

We'll go for the third one and Bavaria,

hoping that theirs is incorrect.

OK, Bavaria.

So we have Thuringia and we have Bavaria.

In the order they were given, Nikki and Ian went for Thuringia.

Let's see if that's right, let's see how many people said it.

Oh, that's fantastic! What a great round, sir!

Three for Tor-ingia or Thuringia.

Now, Tash and Nathan have gone for Bavaria.

Got a bit of an uphill battle, Bavaria. But let's see, who knows?

Will it beat Thuringia?

It's right.

Oh, there you go, there's your answer.

Very well done, Nikki and Ian.

Back in the game after two questions, it's one-all.

Very much the Sammy Davis Jr of Germany, Bavaria.

Thuringia, that's a terrific answer, it's the best answer on the board.

Could not have been beaten, so very well played.

Top answer is another good score, Saarland...

would have scored you 4.

And this Schleswig-Holstein...

..would have scored you 15.

And the fourth one is Brandenburg.

That would've scored you 30.

Thanks very much, Richard.

So here comes your third question, the decider.

Whoever wins this goes through to the final. It concerns...

Richard.

We're going to show you the names of five bands or groups now.

They each contain a member who's won an Academy Award.

We need you to tell us the member of these bands

who's won an Academy Award, please.

OK, let's reveal our five bands and here they are.

I'll read those all one last time.

Now then, Tash and Nathan, you go first this time.

LOW WHISPERING

I think I know three of them, but...

This answer could potentially be quite low.

-Going to say 30 Seconds to Mars, Jared Leto.

-Jared Leto.

Jared Leto. Now, Nikki and Ian, talk us through the board.

-We only know two.

-We can't, yeah, we can only tell you two.

We think the Genesis one is Phil Collins

and The Commodores is Lionel Richie.

But we think they've got the best answer there,

-so we're just going to have to go Lionel Richie?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, go Lionel.

-You're going to go Lionel Richie.

So we have Jared Leto and Lionel Richie.

Now, Tash and Nathan said Jared Leto.

Let's see if it's right, let's see how many people said it.

It is right.

16. 16 for Jared Leto.

Nikki and Ian have gone for Lionel Richie.

Let's see how many people said that.

31!

Very well done. Tash and Nathan, after three questions,

you are through to the final 2-1.

Very well played. There's a couple of answers out there

that would've won you the points. The top one is one of them,

actually. There is a sort of clue there.

She won for best original song an Academy award, Carly Simon.

Carly Simon would have scored you 2 points.

Genesis was Phil Collins as he suggested, it's a big score,

though, 57. And D12, this would've won you the point as well.

-Is it Eminem?

-It's Eminem.

It would've scored you 10 points.

Thanks very much, Richard.

So the pair leaving us at the end of the head-to-head round

were Nikki and Ian. It was a head-to-head last time,

a head-to-head this time, but three very good answers.

I'm afraid, though, this is where we say goodbye.

Great to have you on both shows.

-Thank you so much for playing, Nikki and Ian.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

But for Tash and Nathan, it's now time for our Pointless final.

Congratulations, Tash and Nathan.

You've seen off all of the competition

and you have won our coveted Pointless trophy.

You now have a chance to win our Pointless jackpot.

At the end of today's show, the jackpot stands at £2,000.

Well, a very strong and consistent performance.

Lowest scores in every single round.

It's all looking very good for this round.

However, as you know, you'll have to choose your category

from the four that we put up on the board.

What would you like to see up there?

I think, for me, sport or geography.

And for me, sport or geography, so he could get the best answer!

That would be great.

Yeah, nicely put. Well, let's see what today's selection looks like.

We have got...

-Films?

-Yeah.

Yeah, we can work together.

Yeah, definitely not the top or bottom.

I don't trust myself on boxing.

-Yeah.

-OK, modern comedy films it is. Richard.

OK, we're going to show you three comedy films now from 2014.

We're looking for the name of any actor accredited in any of these,

please, according to IMDB.

Looking for anyone accredited as appearing in...

So any actor accredited in any of those three films according to IMDB.

Very best of luck.

OK, now, as always,

you've got up to one minute to come up with three answers.

All you need to win the jackpot is for one of those answers

-to be pointless. Are you ready?

-Yep.

-Yes.

OK. Let's put 60 seconds on the clock. There they are.

Your time starts now.

Bad Neighbours, James Franco's brother, he was in Scrubs as well.

-Oh.

-Obviously his surname is Franco.

Whatever his first name is.

We could even go with three first names

and have Franco at the end of all three, but that would be stupid.

The Australian from Bridesmaids. Do you know the actress' name?

I can't even think of an Australian in Bridesmaids. Mrs Brown's...

-They are all surname O'Carroll, the people in that.

-Really?

Yeah, but I can't remember their first names.

-Should be...

-So that's helpful!

We could take a punt on some Irish names and add O'Carroll.

-Inbetweeners 2, there's Simon Bird.

-Yeah, that would be really obvious.

The teacher, the tall guy. But he's obvious as well.

-What's his name, something Davies?

-Greg Davies.

-Is that his name?

-Possibly. But he won't be pointless.

-OK.

Well, he might be, it's a shout. He's only in it briefly.

-Greg Davies. I think the Franco...

-10 seconds left.

-..could be...

-Tom?

-Dan?

-Dan?

-I have no idea.

-Something.

It's the annoying bridesmaid in Bridesmaids.

OK, I'm afraid that's your time up.

What are your three answers going to be?

-I think we'll go Greg Davies...

-Mrs Brown's Boys, Kieran O'Carroll?

-Kieran O'Carroll.

-I might take a punt on Franco.

Shall we take a punt on the Franco or do you want another Irish name

-and O'Carroll?

-No, you go.

-Dan Franco.

-Dan Franco?

-For Bad Neighbours.

-OK, there we are.

-Which is your best shot at a pointless answer?

-Kieran O'Carroll.

So the one you think is most likely to be pointless is Kieran O'Carroll.

We will put that last. Least likely to be pointless...

Dan Franco, cos it's not his name.

-Dan Franco. And we put Greg Davies in the middle.

-Yes.

-OK, very good.

Let's pop those answers up on the board in that order then

and here they are.

We've got Dan Franco,

we've got Greg Davies and we've got Kieran O'Carroll.

Well, they look like really good answers.

I mean, who knows if you've just made them up?

But they might turn out to be great. One of them might even be pointless.

And if it were that you won 2,000 quid,

what would you do with it, Tash?

-This is a bit of a contentious issue.

-I thought...

There's a cupboard that needs building, isn't there?

There is a cupboard that needs building. Yeah, a couple of things.

My brother has just moved out to Australia,

so I'd quite like to go and visit him, so that's quite a good thing.

And I'm sure Nathan is about to tell you that he would like to

-get a hot tub, so...

-Nathan, what would you like to do with two grand?

Hot tub.

Perfect. OK, now, best of luck.

Three answers on the board, let's hope they're all right

and at least one of them is pointless.

Dan Franco is the first name you made up.

In this case, we were looking for actors in Bad Neighbours.

For £2,000, let's see if it's right, let's see how many

of our 100 people said Dan Franco.

Bad luck. An incorrect answer,

which means you only have two more shots at today's jackpot.

Your next answer was Greg Davies,

in this case we were looking for actors in the Inbetweeners 2.

Let's see if it's right, for £2,000, let's see if it is pointless.

Greg Davies, how many people said it?

It's right.

Your first answer was Dan Franco, which I'm afraid was incorrect,

but your second answer Greg Davies is absolutely right,

taking us down through the teens into single figures.

Down it goes, still going down...

Oh, to four! To four.

That's a very good answer, very strong, sadly not pointless,

which means everything is now riding on your third and final answer,

which is Kieran O'Carroll.

Let's just keep our fingers crossed and hope that this is correct.

Let's hope it's pointless.

For £2,000, let's see how many people said Kieran O'Carroll

was an actor in Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie.

Oh, bad luck!

I'm sorry.

Well, listen, that was a very game attempt.

They were tough and that minute is never long enough.

Unfortunately, you didn't manage to find that all-important pointless

answer, I'm afraid you don't win today's jackpot of £2,000.

It'll roll over onto the next show.

But what a strong performance right across the show.

Low score after low score from you,

very good indeed, from Copernicus right on.

You get a Pointless trophy each to take home.

So very, very well done. Tash and Nathan, well done.

APPLAUSE

Very well played, and Tash, your instinct was right

about the O'Carrolls. There are five O'Carroll's in that film.

Brendan O'Carroll, who was Mrs Brown, wasn't a pointless answer.

But the other four were pointless answers.

So if you'd stumbled across Danny O'Carroll, Eilish O'Carroll,

Fiona O'Carroll or Jamie O'Carroll,

all of them would've been pointless answers.

Now, James Franco's brother is Dave Franco, not Dan Franco.

-It would have scored you 2 points, as well.

-So that's fine.

Let's take a look at the pointless answers in the different categories.

We will start with Bad Neighbours.

Andy Samberg also a pointless answer for that.

Well done if you said any of those.

Inbetweeners 2, a lot of the parents played by

brilliant British comedy actors.

Alex McQueen, who plays Neil's dad, is a pointless answer.

Jay's dad, David Schaal, is a pointless answer.

Lucy Cohu, who plays Nikki, and both of Simon's parents,

the brilliant Martin Trenaman and Robin Weaver,

also pointless answers, well done if you said any of those.

We'll move on to Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie. There's Danny O'Carroll.

Keith Duffy from Boyzone is a pointless answer.

Robert Bathurst and Shane Byrne, all of those pointless.

Very well done if you said any of those at home.

Thanks very much, Richard.

Well, unfortunately, we have to say goodbye to you, Tash and Nathan.

I'm so sorry you didn't manage to win the jackpot,

but you have played so well today.

Thank you so much, Tash and Nathan, great contestants.

Well, sadly, Tash and Nathan didn't win our jackpot today, which means

it rolls over onto the next show when we will be playing for £3,000.

Join us then to see if someone can win it.

-Meanwhile, it's goodbye from Richard...

-Goodbye.

..and it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.