Episode 37 Pointless

APPLAUSE Thank you very much indeed.

Hello, I'm Alexander Armstrong, and welcome to Pointless,

the show where the more obscure your knowledge,

the better your chances of winning. Let's meet today's contestants.

And couple number one.

Hello, I'm Luke. This is my friend Fibon. And we're from Gateshead.

Couple number two.

Hello, my name is Lisa. This is my friend Cormac.

And we're both originally from Omagh.

And couple number three.

Hi, I'm Graham. This is my wife, Mikiko, Miki.

And we're from Liverpool.

And finally, couple number four.

Hi, my name is Nikki. This is my mother-in-law, Dianne.

And we're from Wakefield.

And these are today's contestants. APPLAUSE

Thank you very much, all of you. Warm welcome to the show.

We'll find out more about you throughout the show.

So that just leaves one more person for me to introduce.

Here to rip us a quizzical new one, it's my pointless friend.

-It's Richard.

-Hiya.

-Hey, everybody.

-APPLAUSE

-Good afternoon to you.

-And to you.

-Are you well?

-I'm very well.

That's good. You look well.

You had a little back trouble sort of a week or so ago.

-I do from time to time.

-Is that any better?

-No, not really.

-Really?

-Yeah, still there.

-Repetitive strain?

Yeah. I think probably almost certainly.

-Pilates.

-That's what I need to do, yeah.

-Yeah, that's what you need...

-I mean, not right now.

-No.

-But after the show.

-Very good.

Two returning pairs from our last show.

We didn't see much of Luke and Fibon, on podium one now.

Welcome back, gents.

And on the last podium, Nikki and Dianne got knocked out in Round Two.

I thought they were rather good.

-Yes, I did too.

-They were quite unlucky.

-There's something about them...

-They showed promise.

I think they did. I think they might do rather well on today's show.

-A nice classic Pointless round to start us off with today.

-Lovely.

Thanks very much indeed.

Well, Hal and Adam didn't win the jackpot last time,

so we add another £1,000 to that.

So today's jackpot starts off at £3,000.

There we are, it's creeping up.

APPLAUSE

Could be a nice win for someone.

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

Well, for the benefit of our newcomers,

I'm just going to remind you the central plank of Pointless is this.

The pair with the highest score at the end of each round will be

eliminated. That is all you need to remember.

Best of luck to all four pairs. Our first category this afternoon is...

Countries.

Can you all decide in your pairs who's going first,

who's going second?

And whoever is 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...

Countries whose names begin with a letter in the first

half of the alphabet. Richard.

Yeah, simply looking for any country in the world whose usual

short form name in English starts with A to M, inclusive, please.

As always, by country,

we mean a sovereign state that is a member of the UN in its own right.

If a country starts with a "the", we ignore the "the".

OK, thank you very much indeed, Richard.

Now, Luke, welcome back to Pointless.

Yeah, we didn't see nearly enough of you last time round.

-No.

-What was our first rounds in the last show?

-Alans. Famous Alans.

It was famous Alans!

That's right, and you sidestepped Alan Pardew

cos you thought everyone would know it. It turned out

you went for Alan Carr instead.

That was a high score.

-Remind us what you do, Luke.

-I am a student at Newcastle University.

And you just finished your second year?

-Just finished my second year, yes.

-And you are reading?

Maths and accounting.

-Maths and accounting. Now, you have one more year there?

-Yeah.

Have you any idea what you might do when you leave?

-Not 100% sure. I might try maths teaching.

-OK, very good. Now, Luke.

Countries whose names begin...

Lovely old-school Pointless question here.

Countries whose names begin with a letter in the first

half of the alphabet - A to M.

Um... It's hard cos there's so many.

-I'll go - Antigua and Barbuda.

-Antigua and Barbuda, says Luke.

Let's see how many of our 100 people went for Antigua and Barbuda.

It's right.

Not bad, Luke. Look at that,

down it goes. Still going down.

Still going down. To 3.

Great start to the show. Very well done, Luke.

Lovely low score there.

Well played, Luke. Starting us off right.

At the top of the alphabet as well.

That's a very solid, competent Pointless answer, isn't it?

-Isn't it?

-They both, if they were separate countries,

they'd still both qualify.

Should they ever decide to go their separate ways...

Please don't, Antigua and Barbuda, for the sake of the children.

Yeah, I mean, they would both qualify.

Or even if the and in the middle seceded from the other two,

it would still be right at the front of the alphabet.

-Look at that. Um, Lisa. A warm welcome to Pointless.

-Thank you.

And you said originally from Omagh, where are you from now?

-I live in Belfast now.

-In Belfast, I see.

What do you do in Belfast, Lisa?

I work as a production data analyst in a soft drinks company.

-Oh, that sounds like fun.

-For sure, it's a lot of fun. It very much is.

Oh, phew! I thought you were going to say,

"And it's very much not what you think."

No, that's great.

And what do you do when you're not working for the soft drinks company?

I like learning things, anything that I can read or see -

go to museums...

-OK. You have a thirst for knowledge is what you are saying.

-I do, yes.

Do you go to lots of classes and things like that?

Yes, the most recent ones have been life drawing

and flamenco, not at the same time.

No. Well, it'd be hard, because they would keep changing.

-Now, Lisa, what are you going to go for?

-I will chance with Honduras.

Honduras. Honduras, says Lisa.

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

It's right.

Look at that, 4 for Honduras.

Lovely low-scoring start

to this round. Very well done.

Yeah, another very good answer. Well played.

Famously went to war with another country whose name

I won't mention, and they call it the Soccer War

because it was supposed to be about football match.

It wasn't really, but it coincided with rioting

between the two countries.

-Was the war over in 90 minutes or was it...?

-No.

Unfortunately, it ended in a draw,

-so they had to play another half an hour.

-Oh, no.

-Yeah.

Thank you very much indeed, Richard. Graham, welcome to Pointless.

-Great to have you here. Where are you from, Graham?

-From Liverpool.

From Liverpool. What do you do, Graham?

I'm a manufacturing consultant.

-So I help companies to work better, smarter.

-I see.

What are your interests aside from that?

I like my car. I like to mess around with the car.

My wife probably doesn't agree with that.

What sort of car is it?

-I've got a sports car, convertible, so...

-I see.

-And I'm in an owners' club as well, so...

-Oh, I see.

There's a bit more to it than just polishing it.

Wonderful. Now, Graham, what would you like to go for?

Yeah, I've got one in my head that I've had since we started,

and I think I'm going to go for that.

And it'll be Bolivia.

Bolivia, says Graham. Bolivia.

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

Very much in the right

sort of ballpark there.

6 for Bolivia.

Yeah, and other good score, Bolivia. Very well played.

-The only country in the world to rhyme with Olivia.

-Yes.

Yes.

In case there's any budding songsmiths out there,

-that just might help somebody.

-Thank you, Richard.

-Now then, Dianne, welcome back.

-Thank you.

Very nice of you to be on the same podium as last time.

Remind us what you do, Dianne.

Well, I don't have an official job title.

You used to work in a post office.

-Did you work in a local post office?

-I did, yes.

-And when did you stop working there?

-Three years ago.

And what do you fill your retirement with, Dianne?

Well, I am a bit of a jack of all trades.

-As most grandparents do at my age, I look after grandchildren.

-Lovely.

But for the first time in 42 years of marriage,

I've suddenly taken an interest in gardening.

Oh, really?

-Yes.

-Having not previously...?

-I don't know anything about plants.

I don't know anything about where to put them. But I know what I like.

And my husband puts them where I want them to be.

-So you just point...

-Yeah.

Oh, you've got a full-time gardener, that's exciting.

-Well, that's brilliant. Now, Dianne.

-Yes.

The matter in hand is countries whose names begin with

-a letter in the first half of the alphabet.

-I know.

I'm going to go with the Galapagos Islands.

-The Galapagos Islands...

-Yes.

-..says Dianne.

The Galapagos Islands. Well, let's find out if that's a good answer.

Let's see how many people said it if it is.

-Oh, no!

-Oh, Dianne!

Dianne, I'm so sorry.

That's an incorrect answer.

-That scores you 100 points.

-Sorry, Dianne,

Not a country, the Galapagos Islands.

They belong to a country whose name I can't say,

but they're not a country themselves.

Its name comes from the first half of the alphabet,

-so it's really hard to...

-Yeah, very complicated to pronounce(!)

-Yeah.

Thank you very much.

We're halfway through the round, let's look at those scores.

Luke and Fibon, well done you.

Very good. Lovely low score there.

There on 3. Then we travel up to 4, where we find Lisa and Cormac.

Then up to 6, where we find Graham and Miki.

And then up to 100, Dianne and Nikki.

I'm so sorry. That was a tough one there.

Nikki, let's see if we can find a nice low score from you.

I mean, I bet there are some pointless ones.

There must be some pointless ones. We'll come back down the line now.

Can the second players please step up to the podium?

So, Nikki, welcome back.

I'm sorry to be welcoming you back when you've got that 100

on the podium in front of you.

Remind us what you do, Nikki.

-I'm a passenger service agent for an airline company.

-Very good.

So we discovered last time that you're part of the check-in team.

Do you then go through and get people onto the plane?

Yeah, we board passengers and then we also welcome them back

when they come back from, you know, the inbound flight.

And when you're not doing that, what do you get up to, Nikki?

-Well, I'm a mum of three, so I'm quite busy there.

-Yeah.

I like eating out, family, family days out and things.

Lovely.

Now, Nikki, so we're looking for any country whose name begins

-with letter A to M.

-So I've got two in mind.

One's safe. One, a bit risky.

It's a country in Africa.

It's inside another country,

so I'm not sure if it's a country outright, but my answer is Lesotho.

Lesotho, says Nikki. Lesotho.

No red line for you as you're the high-scorers.

Let's see how far down the column we get with Lesotho.

It's right.

Look at that - 2, Nikki!

The lowest score of the round so far.

Ironically, adding to the highest of the round so far

and taking your total up to 102.

Yeah, another good answer from Nikki as well.

And it has the good grace to be encircled by a country

I am allowed to name.

-It is South Africa.

-South Africa. Thank you very much indeed.

-Miki, a very warm welcome to you.

-Hello.

-It's lovely to have you here.

-What do you do, Miki?

-I'm a staff nurse.

-In Liverpool?

-In Liverpool.

Very big hospital.

And when you get time off, assuming you get a little

bit of time off, what do you like to get up to?

I like cooking.

I like reading books.

I play the piano a little bit. That's about it, really.

Now, are you teaching yourself piano,

or have you played it all your life?

I've played piano from the age of about seven.

-Oh, I see.

-So, a long time ago, yeah.

And you've kept it up all the way through?

-Yeah, on and off.

-Well, that's good enough. As long as there's an on,

the off is fine.

That's very impressive.

Very good. Now, what would you like to go for?

You're on 6, which means if you score 95 or less,

you are through to the next round.

Hm... I've got a few.

I think I'll go for Liechtenstein.

Liechtenstein, says Miki. Liechtenstein. Here's your red line.

If you get below this red line, nice and high,

through you go to Round Two. I think that should be fairly easy.

Let's see how many people said Liechtenstein.

It's right and you're through.

Very good indeed. Look at that, 5.

5 takes your total

-up to 11.

-Well played, Miki.

Some lovely scoring all round here.

Liechtenstein is only 62 square miles.

It's about the same size as Washington DC.

-Thanks very much, Richard. Now, Cormac.

-Hello.

-Welcome to Pointless.

-Great to have you here.

-Thank you.

And you're also from Omagh originally. Where are you from now?

-Now I live in Manchester.

-Right.

How long have you been in Manchester?

Oh, gosh, coming up for 12 years.

-Unbelievable.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-And how are you finding Manchester?

Well, I know my way around now.

Well, that's good. That's good.

So literally, you are finding. What brought you over there?

As they say in Italian, "C'e' sempre una donna di mezzo."

Oh, that's nice! I have no idea what that means. Yeah, but... Oh!

-It means there's always a woman in the middle.

-Yes, exactly.

-Oh.

I thought it meant you got a job at Pizza Express.

LAUGHTER

But how nice. What a lovely reason to come anywhere,

but particularly to Manchester.

And what do you do in Manchester?

I am an adult education manager.

We have about 600 students learning English as a second language.

People have come from all over the world - refugees, asylum seekers,

economic migrants.

So we give them skills to help them integrate into society,

find employment, improve their lives and the lives of their children.

That's very rewarding, I should think, is it? Fantastic.

-It's a job that gives a lot of satisfaction.

-Good for you.

Now, Cormac, you're on 4. 97 is your total.

Lovely high target there.

-Hm.

-What would you like to go for?

There's a couple of them.

One I've been thinking about all the time.

And the more I think about it,

the more I think it could just be a city.

So I'm going to go for Guinea-Bissau.

Guinea-Bissau. Guinea-Bissau.

Well, we'll find out what the other one was you were thinking of later.

But Guinea-Bissau. Here is your red line. It's lovely and high.

Get below that with Guinea-Bissau, through you go to Round Two.

How many people said Guinea-Bissau?

It's right.

Well, our lowest score so far is 2 for Lesotho.

It's a pointless answer!

Very well done indeed, Cormac.

That adds £250 to today's total,

taking it up to £3,250.

It scores you nothing, it leaves your total at 4.

-Very well done indeed.

-Terrific stuff, Cormac.

Very, very well played. Yeah, in West Africa.

It used to be called Portuguese Guinea,

so if we were doing this show 40, 50 years ago,

-it would have been an incorrect answer.

-Hm.

-You got lucky there.

-LAUGHTER

-Just in on time.

-Yeah.

-Thanks very much, Richard.

Now, Fibon.

-Welcome back to Pointless.

-Thank you.

-We discovered

you were also at the end of your second year at Newcastle.

That's correct.

-And what are you reading?

-Economics.

-Economics. Enjoying that?

-Yeah, it's going all right, I guess.

-"It's going all right, I guess."

Now, listen, we had this last time from Luke.

He was pretty lukewarm, I think that's what we might call it,

on the merits of your time at Newcastle.

We hadn't really got to... Are you really enjoying it?

-I do really enjoy it.

-You're having a good time?

I'm having a good time. I'm enjoying it.

-What would you say was the best thing?

-The best thing...

I think it's probably the nightlife, to be honest.

I mean, Newcastle, let's be honest, is a fabulous place.

I mean, there are few better cities in the world.

I'll go on record saying that.

Newcastle, a brilliant base, particularly for nightlife

and stuff like that.

-And so much culture as well.

-Yeah.

-Yeah! So, Fibon.

-Yeah.

-Countries...

-Uh-huh.

-..beginning with... I mean,

you're not in any sort of precarious position.

98 or less will get you through.

But wouldn't it be nice to have a pointless answer?

-It would be nice.

-Wouldn't it?

-Yep.

You can almost afford to take that kind of a risk.

Luke is not looking so happy with me saying that, but take it from me.

No, really, you can. Really.

I've got a few in mind, especially around Africa.

I'm thinking Burundi or Burkina Faso,

but I think I'm going to go for the Central African Republic.

RICHARD LAUGHS Oh!

-I think we should have some sort of choir on standby.

-Yeah, we should.

I know we've got our monks, but we should have,

for when people say

-Central African Republic...

-Glitter drop.

It would be nice if they just came down... Oh, I don't know.

Anyway, it's probably not feasible. Anyway, Central...

Central African Republic. Here's your red line, lovely and high.

Get below that with Central African Republic

and you are through to Round Two.

It's right.

There's that lovely ping there.

Look at that, 3.

You equal Luke's score from the first pass,

taking your total up to 6. Very well done indeed.

Well played, Fibon.

It is actually almost the precise geographical

centre of Africa as well, Central African Republic.

Funnily enough, because of its Pointless fame, it's

actually a higher score than the other two you mentioned.

Burundi would've scored you 2 points

and Burkina Faso would've scored you 1 point.

Yes! Yes, Central African Republic!

There are eight pointless answers here.

We've heard one of them already - Guinea-Bissau.

Let's take a look at some other ones.

-Want to guess one?

-Oh, I won't look.

Micronesia, I was going to go for.

-Micronesia is a pointless answer.

-Yay!

-Yeah, very well done.

Here's some others.

And Kyrgyzstan was also a pointless answer.

Very well done if you said Kyrgyzstan.

I'll go through the 1 pointers. Lots of people at home

would've come up with obscure ones. There's quite a few 1 pointers.

1 point for....

Dominica, for Cabo Verde. Someone said Cabo Verde.

Well done, our 100.

Comoros.

Grenada, Bhutan, Kiribati,

Laos, Haiti,

Equatorial Guinea, Belize, Djibouti and Gabon.

-All of those would have scored you 1 point.

-Fantastic.

Thanks very much indeed. So at the end of our first round,

the pair who are heading home with their high score of 102...

Bring the tone down a little bit because it's sad.

It's Nikki and Dianne we have to say goodbye to. I'm so sorry.

Far too soon to be sending you back up to Wakefield.

But thank you so much for playing with us.

Nikki and Dianne, wonderful contestants.

APPLAUSE

But for the remaining three pairs, it's now time for Round Two.

Well done, everybody. Lovely to have you all here in Round Two.

We said goodbye to one of our pairs. We'll have to say goodbye

to another pair at the end of this round.

But you all did very well there.

Low scores, single-figure scores from everyone.

Cormac, special mention to you for your pointless answer

with Guinea-Bissau. Best of luck to all three pairs.

Our category for Round Two this afternoon is...

The Academy Awards.

Can you all decide in your pairs who's going first,

who's going second?

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

OK, and the question concerns...

Best Director Awards. Richard.

On each board, we'll show you the names of six films which won

the Academy Award for Best Director.

We'll also give you the year that the film was produced.

You need to name the director who won that award, please.

So there's six on each board, 12 in all to have a go at at home.

Very best of luck.

OK, so who are the award-winning directors of these films?

And here they are.

Our first board of six is this.

I'll read those all one last time.

-Fibon.

-Yep.

There's only one I know on the list,

and it's probably going to be the highest scorer,

but that's better than 100, so I'm going to go for

Schindler's List and Steven Spielberg.

Steven Spielberg, says Fibon.

Tactically, quite a useful thing to do

because it might be only one other people know as well.

Let's see, though, how many of our 100 people said Steven Spielberg.

It's right.

61. That's not bad at all, Fibon.

A lot better than 100.

Yeah, you did the right thing there.

Won seven Oscars in total, that film,

including Best Director for Steven Spielberg.

Thank you very much indeed, Richard. Now, Cormac.

-Cormac.

-Yes.

Are you happy with this as a board, as a subject?

When I heard the topic, I was happy. When I'd seen the board...

..not so much, not so much. But I know two and possibly a third.

I'm going to go for Lawrence Of Arabia

and David Lean.

David Lean, says Cormac. Let's see if that's right.

Let's see how many of our 100 agree with Cormac.

It's right.

Good answer. 26 for David Lean.

Nicely done.

Well played, Cormac.

And Lawrence of Arabia also won seven Oscars.

Thanks very much, Richard.

Now then, Miki, there was a look

that I saw just pass across your face there of...

I'm going to call it despair.

Hm, yeah, you can call it that.

-Is it not a good category for you, this?

-Well...

I mean, do you want to just go through the board

and do some thinking out loud?

-Not really.

-LAUGHTER

I only knew one, that was Schindler's List. That was taken.

So I just have to make it up,

I'm afraid.

So Birdman -

Thomas Mann.

Thomas Mann, or... OK. ALEXANDER LAUGHS

Sorry.

Thomas Mann, OK. No, don't worry. Thomas Mann.

There we are, Thomas Mann, Birdman.

Yep. Oh, well, there's your answer. I'm sorry, Miki.

I'm sorry there wasn't anything left

that you could have a reasonable go at.

That scores you, inevitably, 100 points.

Yeah, unlucky, Miki.

The initials are there - AGI - and it's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

So very well done if you got that at home.

Terrific stuff. It's a good film.

5 points for that. A Beautiful Mind was...

Do you know that? You'll know him.

Very famous director.

Ron Howard.

-Oh, yes!

-Ron Howard.

-Happy Days.

-That would've scored 17.

Gone With The Wind was directed by Victor Fleming.

And that would have scored you 8 points. And The Graduate...

is Mike Nichols.

Mike Nichols. He would've scored you 11.

So Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is, unsurprisingly,

the best answer on that board.

There we go. Thank you very much indeed, Richard.

So, we're halfway through the round. Let's look at those scores.

26, Cormac. Well done. David Lean

doing you proud there.

Cormac and Lisa looking pretty solid as far as Round Three is concerned.

Then up to 61, where we see Fibon and Luke.

And then 100, Miki and Graham. Well, maybe that was a tough list.

Maybe the next board will be the easy one.

Let's hope there's something on there you like the look of

and you can find a nice low score. We'll come back down the line now.

Can the second players please step up to the podium?

OK, let's put six more films up on the board. And here they are.

I'll read those all one last time.

So there, Graham, we are looking for the directors of these films.

Yeah.

I feel like I should know quite a few of those,

but I'm going to sort of play safe, even though I'm on 100,

and go for Million Dollar Baby, Clint Eastwood.

Clint Eastwood, well done. Million Dollar Baby, Clint Eastwood.

No red line for you as you are the high-scorers,

but let's see how far down the column we get.

It's right.

Not bad.

148 is your total.

Yeah, also won Best Picture and Best Actress for Hilary Swank.

Thank you, Richard. Now then, Lisa.

Lisa, good news, doesn't matter what you score,

you're through to the next round.

Which you could look on as an opportunity to have a bit of

a gamble, a bit of a punt.

-Yes.

-How are you feeling about this as a category?

I'm not great with directors, I have to say, but on the first

board, they did start coming to me the more that I looked at the board.

Not so much coming to me now.

So I will have to go for the third one and say Martin Scorsese.

Martin Scorsese, MS there.

No red line for you, Lisa, as you are already through.

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

It's right.

22, our lowest score so far,

taking your total up to 48.

Well played, Lisa.

Yeah, Martin Scorsese's first Academy Award as director.

Thanks very much indeed. Now, Luke, that board is all yours.

If you fancy talking us through it,

you'd be very, very welcome to.

-Your target is 86 or less.

-I'll give it a go. I don't know any.

But I think I'll go Casablanca

and go Michael Caine.

Michael Caine... LAUGHTER

He was a precocious talent, certainly. There we are.

Back in 1942. Here's your red line. If you can get below that red line,

you're through to the next round. Michael Caine.

No.

I'm so sorry, an incorrect answer there, scoring you 100 points,

takes your total up to 161.

Great work on the initials, though, Luke. That was perfect.

Absolutely perfect. It is a Michael, actually.

It's the best answer on the board as well, Casablanca.

It's Michael Curtiz.

Would've scored you 5 points.

Very well done if you said that at home.

-American Beauty?

-Sam Mendes.

-Sam Mendes, yep.

Went on to direct the Bond films. 25 points for that.

The Grapes Of Wrath

is John Ford.

Would've scored you 10. And Vincente Minnelli directed a Gigi

and would've scored you 7 points. Tough board.

-Did you say directed A Gigi?

-Probably.

-Did you?

-ITALIAN ACCENTS: 'No, he's a-nice.

-He's a-nice.

-He directed a-Gigi.

-'He directed very well. Very good director.

-Very well.

-Yes.

-'Si, si, si, si.

-Si.

-Si, si, si, si.

-Si, si.'

Thank you very much indeed, Richard.

At the end of our second round, the pair we're saying goodbye to...

I'm afraid this time it really is goodbye, Luke and Fibon.

Lovely having you on the show. Thank you so much for playing,

but I'm afraid this is the end of the line. Luke and Fibon.

APPLAUSE

But for Cormac and Lisa, Graham and Miki,

it's now time for our head-to-head.

Very well done, Cormac and Lisa, Graham and Miki.

You are now one step closer to the final

and a chance to play for our jackpot,

which currently stands at £3,250.

Well, you know the story.

From here on in, you can start playing as a couple.

You can confer before giving your answers. First pair to win

two questions will be playing for that jackpot.

Well, very well done. We've had a couple of moments...

Miki, you had to take a bit of a punt in that last round.

But actually, there's always been a core of good

answering at the heart of each of those teams.

Now you can pool your resources, you should be very, very well placed.

Lovely low-scoring, as I said, in that first round.

Best of luck to both pairs. Let's play the head-to-head.

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

World Cup Players, Richard.

We'll show you five pictures now of people who've appeared

in a FIFA World Cup final. We'll also give you their initials.

Can you tell us who they are, please?

OK, let's reveal our five World Cup players. And here they are.

We have got...

There we are.

Five players from World Cup finals.

Now, Cormac and Lisa, you are our low-scorers, so you will go first.

Feel free to confer.

THEY WHISPER

Yeah... Hope this is right. I think D is Carlos Alberto.

Carlos Alberto, say Cormac and Lisa. Carlos Alberto.

Now, Graham and Miki, that board is all yours.

Do you want to talk us through it?

Yeah. Jurgen Klinsmann for A. Diego Maradona.

C - I know his face and I can't think of his name.

And E is Geoff Hurst.

I think we'll have to go for Jurgen Klinsmann, A.

Jurgen Klinsmann, say Graham and Miki for A.

So we have Carlos Alberto and Jurgen Klinsmann.

Cormac and Lisa went Carlos Alberto for D.

Let's see if that's right.

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

It's right.

That's a good answer.

Look at that, down it goes to 3.

Very well done indeed.

I guess that was the one to go for, Carlos Alberto.

It'll be tough to beat. But, Graham and Miki, let's see.

Jurgen Klinsmann you've gone for for A.

Let's see if you can get close to it.

That's another good answer.

27 there for Jurgen Klinsmann.

Well done, Cormac and Lisa. After one question, you're up 1-0.

Well played, both teams.

Yeah, Carlos Alberto, best answer on that board,

so you couldn't have beaten it even if you had known C,

who we'll get on to.

You're right about Diego Maradona.

Big scorer.

Would've scored you 60 points.

Now, Cormac and Lisa, did you know C?

-Mario Gotze?

-Mario Gotze, yeah,

the German. Very well played.

It would've scored you 5 points.

And Sir Geoff Hurst there at the end.

Would've scored you 40.

There we are. Thank you very much indeed.

OK, here comes your second question.

Graham and Miki, you get to answer it first.

But you have to win it to stay in the game, so very best of luck.

Our second question is all about the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Richard.

Five clues now to facts about the Edinburgh Festival Fringe,

which takes place every year.

Can you give us the most obscure answer?

OK, let's reveal our five Fringe facts. And here they are.

I'll read those all one last time.

Graham and Miki.

THEY WHISPER

Right, OK.

OK, the last one, playwright.

I'm not 100% sure,

but I think it's Sam Stoppard.

-Sam Stoppard.

-Hm.

-Sam Stoppard, say Graham and Miki.

-Or Tom.

-Right.

Cormac and Lisa, do you want to talk us through that board?

The Newsnight presenter, Jeremy Paxman.

The review group, we think is The Cambridge Footlights.

The month is August.

And the decade, I don't know.

So we're going to try The Cambridge Footlights.

OK, The Cambridge Footlights, say Cormac and Lisa.

So we have Sam Stoppard and The Cambridge Footlights.

Graham and Miki said Sam Stoppard for Rosencrantz And Guildenstern.

Let's see if that's right.

Oh, I'm so sorry. So close, Graham and Miki.

Very close indeed, but a wrong answer there.

Which means, Cormac and Lisa, you merely have to be right with

The Cambridge Footlights and you'll go through to the final.

Let's see, is it right?

Yep, it is absolutely right.

Takes us it down to 21.

But the key thing is it was right.

It means, Cormac and Lisa,

you are through to the final after only two questions, 2-0.

Well played, Cormac and Lisa. Unlucky, Miki.

If you'd had a second guess at his name, what would you have gone for?

-Tom.

-Tom Stoppard is exactly right.

-Would've won you the point as well cos it's 10 points.

-Aw.

It's really, really unlucky.

And well done for taking a risk as well.

10 points for that.

Paxo is of course Jeremy Paxman, at the top there.

64 points.

The month is August.

37 for that. And the decade?

If I had to guess, I'd probably say the '60s.

-It's the '40s.

-The '40s?!

1947 was the first-ever Fringe Festival.

And 3 points if you said that. Very well played.

Thank you very much indeed, Richard.

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

I'm sorry to say, Graham and Miki.

We're very sorry to see you go, but there is consolation for us

cos we get to see you again next time.

Had you gone through, that would have been it.

We'll look forward to that very much indeed.

In the meantime, thank you very much, Graham and Miki.

APPLAUSE

But for Cormac and Lisa, it's now time for a Pointless final.

Very, very well done, Cormac and Lisa.

You've seen off all the competition

and you've won our coveted Pointless trophy.

You now have a chance to win our Pointless jackpot.

At the end of today's show, the jackpot is standing at £3,250.

Well, I don't know, if I were a betting man,

I'd say that momentum was on your side.

You know, cos this is your first appearance on Pointless,

straight through to the head-to-head,

straight through the head-to-head 2-0,

and here you are in the final.

What would you like to see come up

on this board?

I would like a bit of history, maybe? Or languages.

OK. Cormac?

Sport, again, would be nice to see, or possibly some history as well,

maybe 19th-century British or European history.

Very best of luck. Let's hope there's something up there

you like the look of. Today's selection reads like this.

The letter S in science could be anything.

Police also is quite sort of... Could be almost anything.

-Police.

-Police?

-OK.

-We're law-abiding people. Police.

-ALEXANDER LAUGHS

As law-abiding people, you have nothing to fear.

Police, OK. Well, Police it is.

OK, three very different questions here.

I hope at least one of these suits you.

We're looking for anybody who's credited in acting in more

than 100 episodes of The Bill, according to IMDB.

That's 100 episodes or more of The Bill.

We are looking for anyone who's ever been Metropolitan Police

commissioner from 1829 up to June 2015, please.

Or we are looking for any tracks on The Police's album

Outlandos d'Amour.

So any tracks on the original release of Outlandos d'Amour.

So, cast of The Bill, 100 episodes or more

Metropolitan Police commissioners,

or tracks on The Police's Outlandos d'Amour. Best of luck.

Thank you very much indeed. Now, as always,

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

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

to be pointless. Are you ready?

-Yes, we're ready.

-OK, let's put 60 seconds up on the clock.

There they are. Your time starts now!

OK, cast of The Bill. It's Todd Carty.

Gillian Taylforth, I think, was in quite a lot.

The guy with the moustache, I can't remember of his name.

I'm clueless about The Bill.

Police commissioners, there was the fella who ran for mayor as well.

I can't think of his name.

Robert Peel started the police,

but I don't know if he was police commissioner.

I don't think he would qualify. Police songs.

-HE MUMBLES

-That's King Of Pain.

The album is King Of Pain?

-No, that's the name of the song.

-King Of Pain then.

-I don't know if it was on that album.

-What's that...?

-That was an album title, I think.

-Right.

Any other Police songs, then?

Ooh... Apart from the obvious ones.

-Roxanne.

-Yeah.

-King Of Pain.

-Might not be the album, but...

-I can't think of that guy's name.

-Ten seconds left.

-Michael... Did he appear in The Bill?

-No.

Todd Carty, he's definite. Gillian Taylforth and...

I can't think.

OK, that is your time up. Let's have your three answers.

If you can say which category you're answering,

-that would be brilliant.

-OK, for cast of The Bill,

we'll go for Todd Carty...

Todd Carty.

-..and Gillian Taylforth.

-Gillian Taylforth.

And tracks on The Police's album, we'll try King Of Pain.

King Of Pain.

Of those three, which is your best shot at a pointless answer,

do you think?

-What would you say?

-BOTH:

-King Of Pain.

-King Of Pain we'll put last. Least lately to be pointless?

-Todd Carty.

Todd Carty we'll put first and Gillian Taylforth in the middle.

OK, well, let's pop those answers up on the board in that order then.

And here they are.

Well, very, very best of luck.

You managed to find three answers on that board.

One of those could easily be pointless

and could win you that jackpot. It is quite a nice jackpot now, £3,250.

What would you do if you won that today?

We celebrate our 40th birthday this year,

so we're going to have a party, and the bigger the amount of money

that can go towards the party, the bigger the fun.

That's how it works.

-Lisa, what about you?

-Yes, I think I would probably chip in as well.

It's all of us who went to school together, we are

-all turning 40 within the next six to eight months, so...

-Very good.

That will be a great celebration. Let's hope...

Let's hope one of these answers wins that jackpot for you.

In the first instance,

we were looking at Todd Carty as a cast member of The Bill.

If this is right and it's pointless, it'll win you £3,250.

How many people said Todd Carty?

It is right.

Now, Todd, all he has to do is take us down to zero

and you will leave here with £3,250.

Todd Carty now going down through the teens

and into single figures.

Down it goes. Still going down. Oh, 4.

APPLAUSE

4 for Todd Carty.

Unfortunately, however good a score that might be,

I'm afraid it's not a pointless answer.

The only two more chances to win today's jackpot.

Your next answer was Gillian Taylforth.

Again, we were looking for cast members of The Bill,

from 100 or more episodes. If it's pointless, it'll win you £3,250.

Let's see how many people said Gillian Taylforth.

No!

It sounded like a very good guess to me,

but I guess maybe she was in it but wasn't in 100 episodes?

I don't know, we'll discover it at the end.

But it means you've only got one more shot at today's jackpot.

Everything now rides on King Of Pain.

We were looking for tracks from

The Police's album Outlandos d'Amour.

If this is right and it's pointless, it will win you £3,250.

Very best of luck. How many people said the King Of Pain?

Is it pointless?

Bad luck. I mean, a good guess, but I'm afraid a wrong answer.

I'm sorry, you didn't manage to find that crucial pointless answer,

so I'm afraid you don't win today's jackpot of £3,250.

That will roll over on to the next show.

But such a great performance across the show.

It's been great having you, so thank you both so much for playing.

And you get a Pointless trophy each, so there you are.

APPLAUSE

Yeah, it's been a storming performance, Cormac and Lisa.

Very well played. And how much fun does that party sound?

I know we haven't given you any money towards it,

-but that will be a laugh.

-Yeah.

-Imagine that.

Now, King Of Pain was from Synchronicity, The Police album.

And Gillian Taylforth was in The Bill.

She had about 55, 56 episodes, got nowhere near the 100, I'm afraid.

Let's take a look at...

We'll start with The Bill, with the pointless answers.

Eric Richard, who played Bob Cryer.

Kevin Lloyd is the gentleman you're thinking of.

He played Tosh Lines. He was a pointless answer.

Lisa Maxwell, who played DS Nixon.

Mark Wingett, who was Jim Carver.

Lots of other big names from The Bill.

Alex Walkinshaw, Andrew Paul, Beth Cordingly, Chris Jarvis,

Huw Higginson, Jon Iles, Nula Conwell, Roberta Taylor,

Samantha Robson, Tony Scannell.

All of those are pointless answers. Well done if you said any of those.

Let's take a look now at Metropolitan Police commissioners.

Charles Rowan, the very first Metropolitan Police commissioner.

Joseph Simpson. Paul Stephenson,

who was the commissioner from 2009 two 2011, very recent.

And Peter Imbert, who was '87 to '93.

The only people who scored there at all were Ian Blair,

Bernard Hogan Howe, Paul Condon and John Stevens.

Everyone else was a pointless answer.

Tracks on Outlandos d'Amour.

Can't Stand Losing You was a pointless answer, amazingly.

Huge hit single.

Three more pointless answers.

Be My Girl, Born In The '50s and Masoko Tanga.

Very well done if you said any of those.

Thanks very much, Richard.

Unfortunately, we have to say goodbye to you, Cormac and Lisa.

It's been fabulous having you. Thank you so much for playing.

Cormac and Lisa. APPLAUSE

Well, Cormac and Lisa didn't win our jackpot today, which means

it rolls over onto the next show, when we will be playing for £4,250.

Join us next time to see if someone can win it.

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

-Goodbye.

And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.