Episode 1 Pointless

APPLAUSE

Thank you very much indeed.

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

the show that makes big winners out of the lowest scorers.

Let's meet today's players.

And couple number one.

Hi, I'm Steve and this is my son Chris, and we're from Dover in Kent.

-Couple number two.

-Hi, my name is Ray. This is my partner Lup.

We're from south London.

Couple number three.

Hello, my name's Natalie and I'm from Hitchin in Hertfordshire,

and this is my sister Deborah, from Surrey.

-And finally, couple number four.

-Hello, I'm Ruth.

This is Frank, my friend,

and we live in a little village near Bridgwater.

And these are today's contestants.

Thanks very much to all of you.

We'll get to chat to each of you throughout the show

as it goes along.

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

We could only afford an intellectual minnow,

but we've hooked a great white shark.

We're going to need a bigger float. It's my Pointless friend, Richard.

Hiya! Hey, everybody!

-Good afternoon to you.

-And to you.

Now, the small matter of that last show.

We've got three returning pairs from that show.

Simon and Leila the only people from that show who are not here

and that's cos they took home that £8,500, didn't they?

It's one of those very serendipitous moments.

It does happen sometimes and it couldn't happen to a nicer couple.

They were absolutely over the moon

and a terrific performance as well, and, yeah, £8,500,

but you know what, mo' money, mo' problems, as we say.

-Very nice to have a very small jackpot.

-Isn't it nice?

-Yes.

-So much more refreshing, isn't it?

-It's a suit jacket or something.

It looks gaudy with £8,500 stuffed into it, whereas with a grand,

you can just about get away with it.

So I think this is a show for the better-dressed contestant.

-I think that's more useful, isn't it?

-Well said.

Thank you very much indeed, Richard.

Yes, Leila and Simon won the jackpot so today's jackpot starts off at...

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

Now, remember this - the pair with the highest score

at the end of each round will be eliminated.

No conferring till we get to our head-to-head round.

Best of luck to all four pairs. Our first category today...

Africa.

Can you all 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, let's find out what the question is. Here it comes.

We gave 100 people 100 seconds to name as many...

..as they could.

Any African country ending in a vowel. Richard.

Yeah, we're specifically looking for any member of the African Union,

any country that's a member of the African Union

whose name ends A, E, I, O or U, please.

As always, by country,

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

Thanks very much indeed. Now, Chris, welcome back.

-Well, we didn't see much of you last time.

-No.

-It was a Round One departure.

-Yes.

But we discovered you've been working

on the cross-channel ferries.

-We did, yeah.

-We discovered that.

-Quite keen to go to work for the police.

-Yeah, that's the plan.

That's the plan. What are your hobbies, Chris?

I play football. I like watching football as well.

Big Liverpool fan, as you can tell from the southern accent.

LAUGHTER

OK, and how are we feeling about African geography?

-Erm, not too bad. Better than the last show, so...

-OK.

OK, always tough having to go first in these rounds.

What would you like to go for?

-I think I'm going to go for Cape Verde.

-Cape Verde.

OK, let's see if that's right.

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

It's right.

I think this might be rather good.

Let's have a look.

Oh, and it is! CHEERING

It happens to be a pointless answer, Chris.

Very well done indeed.

That adds £250 to today's jackpot, taking the total up to...

It scores you nothing and gets you off to a rollicking start.

-What about that?

-Yeah, that is great stuff.

Very well played, terrific answer and also if everybody does that,

we'll soon get back up to £8,500.

It'll be absolutely fine.

Yeah, Cabo Verde it's now called.

We're in a period now where we still accept Cape Verde. We won't always.

-I suppose we won't.

-No, because it's officially changed its name.

-Yeah.

There's other countries which are trying to change their name.

I wish they wouldn't, cos it makes the admin so much more complicated.

I know. There we are. LAUGHTER

Ray, welcome back. Remind us what you do, Ray.

I'm a business manager for the English health care regulators.

That's right. And what do you like doing

-when you're not doing that, Ray?

-I am...

I've dropped it for a little bit,

but I'm trying to pick up my 10K assault courses.

-I like to do those.

-10K assault courses?

-Yes.

But, Ray, what kind of assault courses are they over 10Ks?

Well, the last one was cracking the ice in lakes to swim through them,

-climbing up waterfalls, jumping over horse jumps.

-Over 10km, though?

-Yes.

But this is madness, Ray.

Tell me, what's the hardest obstacle you have to climb over or...?

I think it was at a racecourse.

-We literally had to jump over the horse jumps.

-What, all of them?

-Yep.

-Sounds like a lot of fun, doesn't it(?)

-It does!

I can see why you're itching to get back to it, Ray.

But before you do that, let's have an answer from you.

Bit of a risk, but why not? And I hope I have the right title.

I have a friend from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Democratic Republic of Congo.

Let's see if that's right and how many of our 100 people said that.

It's right.

Look at that, 6. Very well done, Ray.

Lovely low-scoring start to the round.

Yeah, good work from everybody.

Well done, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ends in an O.

So it does! Thank you very much indeed, Richard.

Deb, welcome to Pointless. Great to have you here. What do you do, Deb?

We've got a family business - dental equipment. The chairs, X-rays...

Oh, that's the fun dental equipment! X-ray machine...

-Yeah, they go and fix them if they break.

-But the chair...

Oh, what fun!

You sell that all over the country, all over the world?

-The UK.

-The UK, I see. Very good indeed.

Now, what are your hobbies, Deb?

Well, I only do the 5K assault course.

Have you been around a racecourse?

-No, I potter around in my garden.

-Oh, that's nice.

Yeah, nothing like...

There we are. Deb, what would you like to go for?

-Erm, I'm going to try Leso...tho.

-"Lesotho," says Deb.

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

Lesotho.

It's right. These are all excellent answers.

6 is our highest score, 0 is our low. 10 for Lesotho.

10 for Lesotho. Time was when Lesotho was way down at the bottom.

We have done a lot of good work for Lesotho and some of the other...

One answer that we can mention cos it's not in this round,

Central African Republic. Can you imagine?

They'll be right up there these days.

If this was African Union countries ending in C,

it'd be through the roof.

We'd have to build a new column.

LAUGHTER

-Ruth, welcome back.

-Thank you.

Remind us what you like getting up to, Ruth.

Well, I sing in my church choir,

but I also do a lot of boot sale-ing for my charity.

Selling stuff or going round and...?

-I do stuff in a big way.

-Wow! Tell me what kind of stuff.

-Anything.

If you fancy a wet suit or... I've got everything in my house.

Wow! How many boot sales' worth?

I used to be able to do two or three a week,

but I'm a bit older now

so I only usually get to do two at the most in a week.

And very satisfying to raise money for your charity as well.

-Oh, yeah.

-Good for you, Ruth. Now, what would you like to go for?

-I am going to go with Mali.

-"Mali," says Ruth.

Let's see how many of our 100 people went with Mali.

It's right. Nothing is our low score, 10 is our high.

Look at that, 14 for Mali.

That's a great answer, Ruth.

Mali in West Africa ends with an I, of course.

Thank you very much.

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

Going up in increments of four from Podium Two on,

but we start off at nothing.

Very well done indeed, Chris and Steve.

What a strong start to the show.

6 is where we find Ray and Lup, 10 is where we find Deb and Natalie

and 14 is where we find Ruth and Frank.

Now, Frank, as a career soldier,

I am hoping you will have some fantastic answers here.

But we're going to come back down the line now.

Can the second players please step up to the podium?

So, Frank, as I say, African countries ending in a vowel.

We discovered last time that you are a retired soldier, Frank.

Tell us about the other things you like getting up to.

I do a lot of writing, I do a lot of am dram, I've got an allotment.

Chairman of the village hall, you know, just a good village man.

-An all-round good egg, Frank.

-Yes.

Sounds to me like you're more from the comic end of writing.

Is that right? Is that fair to say?

Yep, I write anything that makes people smile.

And what have you got on at the moment? What are you working on?

We're just getting together another village panto.

It takes a long time, as you can imagine.

Do you work on a sort of general model

or do you fill it with lots of local gags?

I have a look round the village and see.

I'm a bit like the girl in The Archers, you know.

I skate round the village saying, "How are you fixed for the panto?"

People see me coming, they cross the street.

So, it depends who I can get!

I see. Now, Frank, there you are on 14. You're the high-scorers.

Not by any margin, but you are the high-scorers

so we need a particularly low and obscure answer from you.

I'm torn, really.

I was stationed in one of these places. I'm going to say Ethiopia.

"Ethiopia," says Frank.

No red line for you cos you're the high-scorers at the moment,

but let's see how many of our 100 people said Ethiopia.

25.

39 is your total.

Yes, the most populated landlocked country in the world, Ethiopia.

Hmm!

So, essentially, Ethiopia's got the most people in its population

who are not in the navy of any country in the world.

LAUGHTER

Yeah, thank you very much, Richard. Natalie, welcome to Pointless.

-Thank you.

-What do you do, Natalie?

-I work for a letting agency.

-Do you show people round properties?

-Yes.

-Is it commercial or residential?

-No, residential.

-And where do you do that?

-In Stevenage in Hertfordshire.

It also means you know that locale incredibly well, doesn't it,

and you must know all the people -

who lives there, how long they've been there.

-Yes.

-That's fun, though, isn't it?

-Yes, no day's the same.

-Yeah, I bet! Now, you're on 10, Natalie.

The high-scorers are behind you,

Ruth and Frank on 39,

so 28 or less keeps you in the game.

Erm, I've got a couple.

One is a bit risky

so I think I'll go with Namibia.

"Namibia," says Natalie. Well, here is your red line.

Below that, you're into Round Two.

Let's see how many of our 100 said Namibia.

It's right.

Very well done. Through you go, just.

22 is what you score,

32 is your total.

Well done, Natalie. You did exactly what you needed to do there,

safely through to the next round. Well played.

Now, Lup - it's another great shirt from Lup.

Either that or your scrambled egg

didn't quite make the journey this morning.

Lup, remind us what you do, Lup.

I'm an IT project manager.

That's right, and tell us about your interests.

I'm into photography,

in particular macrophotography.

Now, tell us what that is.

That's sort of real close-ups of insects and flowers and things.

For which you need super-duper long lenses?

There is a cheap way of doing it

where you reverse the lens,

so you can get an adaptor ring,

and it reverses the lens on the camera

so you can get in real close to your subject.

That's amazing!

How fantastic!

So, what's the smallest scale thing you've ever done?

Well, you can see the fangs on spiders

and the hairs on the backs of their bodies.

Have you ever scared yourself?

No, I like spiders.

I remember the very first time

looking through a stereomicroscope at a fruit fly

and just being so scared.

It was just too much!

Anyway, Lup, you're on 6.

Lovely low score from Ray in the first part.

-39 is the highest score, which means 32 or less gets you through.

-OK.

I'm going to play it relatively safe

and go with Eritrea.

"Eritrea," says Lup.

Here is your red line. Let's see if you can get below that with Eritrea.

How many of our 100 people said it?

Very well done.

You have done it, 13 is your score there,

taking your total up to 19.

Lovely low total. Through you go.

Great answer, Lup, safely through to the next round.

Thank you very much indeed, Richard. Steve, welcome back.

-Remind us what you do, Steve.

-I'm a music retailer.

-A music retailer.

So you have an online music... Does that mean you can work from home?

No, we do pay for an office.

We work from a lovely converted Kent barn

just on the outskirts of Dover - myself and my wife

and my other son - who are running the office today - work with me.

-And your interests are musical as well.

-Very much so, yeah.

-Tell us about those again.

-I have three choirs that I conduct.

One is the local choral society,

one is the church choir and another one is a chamber choir

of about 20-22 voices, which I started myself back in 2003.

Very nice indeed. Now, Steve, Chris has set you up immaculately.

He has put the pressure on.

It'd be quite nice to bookend this round with another pointless answer

is what I'm thinking, Steve.

Well, I don't want to let him down so I'll do my best.

I'm going to try Burundi.

Well, 38 is your target, 38 or less keeps you in the game.

Burundi - there's your red line. How many of our 100 people said it?

Very well done,

you're through to Round Two.

The second-lowest score of the round.

There we are, 4 on Podium One, fantastic low total.

Well played, Steve.

There were some other pointless answers out there,

four pointless answers in all.

We've already had Cape Verde or Cabo Verde.

You also could have had Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe

and Equatorial Guinea.

All of those were pointless answers.

One point for Djibouti and three points for Togo, Cote d'Ivoire,

Guinea and Mauritania. They were the best answers out there.

Let's take a look at the top three answers,

the ones that most of our 100 people said.

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

the pair that we have to say goodbye to, I'm so sorry,

with their high score of 39, Ruth and Frank, I'm afraid it is you.

I'm so sorry. Nothing wrong with either of your answers,

they were just quite high-scoring,

so I'm afraid we have to say goodbye,

but it's been wonderful having you here, Ruth and Frank.

-APPLAUSE

-Well done.

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

And so three pairs remain.

At this end of this round, we'll be down to two pairs,

but very well done, everyone.

Lovely low-scoring in that round, particular praise to Chris, though.

Very good, lovely pointless answer there,

swelling up our jackpot a little bit there, which is great.

Best of luck to all three pairs. Our category for Round Two today is...

Cinematic Poetry.

Can you all decide in your pairs

who's going to first, who's going to go second

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

OK, and the question concerns...

Films In Haiku, Richard.

Yeah, on each board, we're going to give you six descriptions

of films all written as haikus.

Japanese poems of five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables.

It's something we like to do.

Six on the first board, six on the second -

just guess the film, please.

12 in all to have a go at at home - the very best of luck.

OK, so which are the films described by these haikus?

And here's our first board of six.

I'm going to read these beautiful poems out again.

There we are. Chris.

Yes. It's not bad.

There's a few that I probably know,

but actually none that I definitely know.

I think the bottom one is Boyhood.

"Boyhood," says Chris.

Let's see if that's right and how many of our 100 people got it.

It is Boyhood.

Very good indeed.

Look at that, 17. That's a great score. Well done, Chris.

Good work, Chris. Chris is having a good show, isn't he?

Yeah, very nicely done. It's a beautiful film, have you seen it?

He literally films it over 12 years

so all of the cast grow older as it goes on.

-It's really, really good.

-We've got it, I haven't seen it.

Thank you very much indeed.

Ray, what would you like to go for?

The only one I knew, so I'm going to have to take a bit of a guess.

I think I saw it a while ago.

The room of jurors, Henry Fonda - 12 Angry Men.

!"12 Angry Men," says Ray.

Let's see if that's right ad how many of our 100 people got that.

It is 12 Angry Men, let's see where you end up. 17 for Boyhood.

Well played. Yeah, I went to see that in the cinema very recently.

They were re-showing it. Absolutely sensational.

The script of that, it's wonderful.

One of the best scripts ever written.

Thank you very much, Richard. Now, Deb, this board's all yours.

Would you like to go through our haikus?

Well, that was going to be my one. I agree, it's a great film, isn't it?

I think the first one's Groundhog Day.

I don't know what the dude wants.

The Jeff Goldblum is the Fly, and Singing In The Rain.

I'll say Singing In The Rain.

"Singing In The Rain," says Deb.

Let's see how many of our 100 people got that.

It's right.

Yeah, you picked the perfect one of the ones you knew there.

That was the lowest scorer of the answers you gave so well done.

Very well done if you said that at home.

Thank you very much indeed.

OK, we're halfway through the round

so let's take a look at those scores. 17, Chris, very well done.

Steve and Chris looking very strong for the next round.

Then we go up in increments of nine - up to 26,

where we find Ray and Lup, then up to 35

where we find Deb and Natalie so, Natalie, not far ahead,

but ahead. You know what you need to do.

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

Can the second players please step up to the podium?

OK, let's put six more haikus up on the board and here they come.

I'll read them again.

Natalie, we need a low score from you.

Oh, Natalie, are you not liking this board?

No, I preferred the first one!

-Oh, I'm sorry.

-Erm...

I'm going to go for Wilson and Stiller - Zoolander.

"Zoolander," says Natalie.

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

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

It's right.

-Oh!

-Not bad, 44 for Zoolander.

It takes your total up to...

Yeah, it keeps you in the game. They released a sequel as well,

Zoolander 2, which I'm going to say was less good than Zoolander.

-This is what I gather. I haven't seen it, probably won't rush.

-Yeah.

Erm, Lup.

Lup, you now have a target in the shape of 52.

What would you like to go for?

I'm trying to think which one's going to be lowest.

I think I'm going to try the tiny door one

and that is Being John Malkovich.

Being John Malkovich," says Lup. Here is your red line.

Get below that red line and you are through to the next round.

Let's see how many of our 100 people said Being John Malkovich.

Yup, that's good enough.

It takes your total to...

Well played, Lup. Yes, the Cusack in question being John Cusack.

John Malkovich also in the film.

Thank you. Now, Steve...

Steve, this board is all yours.

If you want to go through our haikus and provide all the answers,

you'd be most welcome.

Erm, there's a few I know.

I'm guessing the second one is The Shining.

The third one is one of the Indiana Jones films

and the bottom one, I think, is Pulp Fiction.

And I think I'm going to go with Pulp Fiction.

OK, 61 is your target.

Here is your red line.

Get below that with Pulp Fiction and you are through to the head-to-head.

How many people said Pulp Fiction?

Oh, yes, I bet you weren't the only person to do that.

LAUGHTER

That 100 points, Steve, takes your total up to 117.

Ah, the look on Chris' face!

Ah, he was not happy one bit. It's not Pulp Fiction. Chris, it is...

-Reservoir Dogs.

-Reservoir Dogs.

-Oh, man!

Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade.

It was the best answer so well done if you said that.

So, at the end of our second round,

I'm afraid the pair we send home with the high score of 117,

very much against the grain of play,

but, Steve and Chris, I am afraid it is you.

I'm so sorry to be sending you home so early,

but you did brilliantly so far and you've left your mark on the game

with your addition to the jackpot there,

but thank you so much, Steve and Chris.

APPLAUSE

But for Ray and Lup, Natalie and Deb,

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

Well, congratulations, Ray and Lup, Natalie and Deb.

You are now one step closer to the final

and a chance to play for our jackpot,

which currently stands at...

Well, we have made it as far as the head-to-head,

for which congratulations.

From here on in, you can play as a team.

You can chat before you give your answers.

The first place to win two questions in this round

will be going through to play for that jackpot in the final.

Now, Ray and Lup, you've been here before and you were standing

right there as our low scorers. It was whipped away.

Natalie and Deb, they've been very good. It could happen again.

I wonder! It's going to be very exciting.

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

APPLAUSE

OK, here comes your first question and it concerns...

Richard.

We're going to show you five pictures

of historic events that happened during the 20th century.

We need you to name the decade in which these happened, please.

Thanks very much.

So, in which decades did these historic events happen?

Ray and Lup, you are our low-scorers so you will go first.

THEY WHISPER

It's a risk, but E -

around the 1930s.

The 1930s.

1930s for E.

OK, now, Natalie and Deb,

do you want to talk us through all those other events?

Well, we think the '50s.

Nixon will either be '60s or '70s, probably.

We think that's probably the Antarctic, the 1910s.

D is the 1960s and I think the Jarrow March is the '20s.

-Do you want to go for that?

-Go on, then.

Can we say the '20s for the Jarrow...

You can say it together, if you like.

You're going to go for the '20s for the Jarrow March.

OK, so, Ray and Lup, you've gone for the 1930s.

Let's see if that's right for E.

Well, let's just see if it's right.

-It is...

-Oh!

-..the 1930s.

That's taken a little bit of jeopardy out of this next...

Just a little bit, but there we are.

Natalie and Deb, let's see what happens when we say...

Maybe it's a very long march.

Let's see what happens when we say the 1920s. I have a hunch.

Yes, that's what I thought might happen. There we are.

Very well done, Ray and Lup, worth taking that risk.

That means after one question, you're up 1-0.

Yeah, the Jarrow March was in 1936.

I think you were maybe thinking of the General Strike in '26,

-maybe, and getting them...

-Maybe that's it.

-Funnily enough,

there's one answer on the board that would have beaten it

and that is C, which is Amundsen reaching the South Pole,

which was the 1910s.

And you were right about the others.

Thanks very much, Richard.

So, here comes your second question, Natalie and Deb.

You know what you have to do here,

but you get to answer it first, which is good.

So, best of luck with that.

Our second question is all about...

It's all about sheep.

Yeah, just five clues to facts about sheep now.

Can you give us the most obscure answer?

Let's reveal our five clues and here they are.

I'm going to read all of those again.

There we are.

Natalie and Deb will go first.

It could be New Zealand.

What should I go for?

Go for the stomachs?

We're going to try the stomachs and say four.

"Four stomachs," say Natalie and Deb.

Now, then, Ray and Lup, what would you like to go for?

Talk us through that board.

The country's either New Zealand or Australia, I think.

Adult female sheep is a ewe.

Star sign is Aries

and the Aardman Animation is Shaun the Sheep.

Let's go with the Aardman Animation,

Shaun the Sheep.

OK, "Shaun," say Ray and Lup. So we've got four and we've got Shaun.

Natalie and Deb said four stomachs.

Let's see if that's right,

let's see how many of our 100 people said four.

It's right.

It is four stomachs.

APPLAUSE

Ray and Lup, meanwhile, have gone for Shaun the Sheep.

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

It's right.

55. Very well done. Natalie and Deb, you're back in the game.

After two questions it's 1-1.

Yeah, good head-to-head it is.

There's only one answer that would have beaten that.

The name given to an adult female sheep is a ewe.

That's a big scorer.

82 points for that.

The star sign, you're right gents, is Aries, 64 for that.

Now this other one, if you'd been forced to go for something

-what would you have gone for?

-New Zealand.

44 of our 100 said New Zealand

and they were wrong.

One of our 100 got it right

-cos they said China.

-Oh.

China is the answer to that, which is you think about it makes sense.

Of course it makes sense.

-Cos it's big and it's got sheep in it.

-Mmm.

-Mmm.

There we are, thank you very much, Richard.

It all comes down to our third and final question.

Whoever wins this goes through to the final

to play for that jackpot. Best of luck to both pairs.

Our third question is all about...

Wine Grapes.

Wine Grapes, Richard.

We're going to show you five types of wine grape but with

alternate letters removed from their name.

Whichever team gives us the most obscure answer is going through

-to play for that jackpot.

-Thank you very much, indeed.

Let's reveal our five wine grapes with bites taken out.

And here they are...

There we go. Ray and Lup will go first.

We're a bit stuck, so potentially playing it a bit too safe,

but hopefully...

Cabernet Sauvignon, the second one.

OK, you say Cabernet Sauvignon.

Now, Natalie and Deb, do you want to talk us through that board?

-We'd rather drink it.

-We'd rather drink it.

Well, it's Merlot...

-I don't know the next two.

-I just can't think.

The last one's Lambrusco.

We'll have to go for Lambrusco.

OK, you're going to go for Lambrusco.

We have Cabernet Sauvignon and we have Lambrusco.

Ray and Lup have gone for Cabernet Sauvignon.

Let's see if that's right, how many of our 100 people got it.

It's right.

35

APPLAUSE

I wouldn't want to call this, it's going to be very close, I think.

Natalie and Deb, meanwhile, have gone for Lambrusco.

Let's see how many of our 100 people got that.

Oh!

Couldn't be closer than that!

My goodness! 36 for Lambrusco.

Ray and Lup very well done.

I said this was going to be hard-won.

There you are up to three questions and there's just one point in it.

Ray and Lup you are going through to the final, 2-1.

That's a terrific head-to-head. Well played everybody.

Um, the biggest scorer up there is the top one, that's Merlot.

It scored 51.

The next one down...

-Shiraz.

-Shiraz.

-Shiraz, yes.

Would have scored 18.

18 would have seen you through to the final.

And, do you know this next one?

No.

It's Nebbiolo.

Nebbiolo.

Grown in Piedmont. One point for that.

Very well done if you said that at home.

-Very, very well done if you're drinking that at home.

-LAUGHTER

Very good. Thank you very much, indeed.

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

I'm afraid, it's Natalie and Deb. It's good news, really,

because it means you'll be back for the next show, which is great.

Thanks very much, Natalie and Deb. APPLAUSE

But for Ray and Lup it's now time for our Pointless final.

Well, congratulations Ray and Lup.

You've seen off all the competition and you have won

our coveted Pointless trophy.

You now have a chance to win our Pointless jackpot,

and at the end of today's show the jackpot is standing at...

£1,250.

Well, congratulations.

Second time lucky.

Right the way through to the head-to-head in both cases

and just one point in it in the third question.

Well, as always you get to choose your category from the four

that we put up on the board.

Let's see what today's selection looks like. We have got...

-What do you reckon?

-New Jersey in popular culture,

at least it'll be cultural and you'd...

-It's a chance.

-Yeah.

-Rugby...

-Let's just go for New Jersey.

New Jersey in popular culture, please.

OK, New Jersey in popular culture.

Excellent! It's been on the board for a while

but nice questions in there.

I think people are always put off it, but very best of luck.

Hopefully one of these suits you.

We're looking for any feature film made for cinema release

which John Travolta has received an acting credit.

Born in New Jersey, of course.

We are looking for any of the 36 main characters in The Sopranos

as listed on the official HBO website,

or looking for any of the tracks on the original album release

of Born In The USA by Bruce Springsteen.

So John Travolta movies up to the end of December 2015,

characters in The Sopranos, those main 36 characters

and tracks on Born In The USA. Very best of luck.

Thanks, Richard. As always you've got up to one minute

to come up with three answers.

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

-be pointless. Are you ready?

-Ready.

OK, let's put 60 seconds up on the clock. There they are.

Your time starts now!

OK, the John Travolta ones, that horror film that you like.

Carrie. He was in Carrie.

Er, I don't know either of two other subjects unless you do.

-No. He was in Pulp Fiction but that's going to be too obvious.

-Yes.

-I'm sticking on John Travolta, to be honest.

-Yeah.

Grease, that's too obvious.

What was the other, Saturday Night Fever?

There must be something recent... Swordfish he was in, wasn't he?

-Swordfish might be a good one, yes.

-Swordfish, Carrie...

-Swordfish, Carrie.

-And...

Um...

Saturday Night Fever number two.

-Was there a second one?

-Yeah, there was.

Staying Alive it was called.

I will say go for that one.

Staying Alive?

So we've got Carrie, Swordfish...

Ten seconds left.

And, um, Staying Alive.

OK, I think we're ready.

OK, there we are, your time is just running out now.

Let's have your three answers.

If you can say which category you're answering.

-We're going to go for all three John Travolta films.

-OK.

-The first one's Carrie.

-Carrie.

-The second one's Staying Alive.

-Staying Alive.

-And the third one's Swordfish.

-Swordfish.

Of those three which is your best shot at a Pointless answer?

-Swordfish.

-Swordfish.

-Swordfish goes last. Least like to be pointless?

-Staying Alive.

-Staying Alive we put first.

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

Here they are. We've got...

Well, very, very best of luck.

Three good answers on the board there.

One of those could easily be pointless and might win that jackpot for you.

What would you do with it, £1,250?

I'd like to continue my travelling and I fancy going to Japan,

-so it'll go towards a flight to Japan, I think.

-Very good.

Ray, how about you?

I'm a bit of a techie type of person so I'd like to have

a cloud AV system in the house

so I can watch whatever I want in any room of the house.

-I want to invest in one of those.

-OK.

Well, very, very best of luck.

Your first answer was Staying Alive.

In all three cases we were looking for John Travolta films.

If this is pointless it wins you £1,250.

How many people said Staying Alive?

It's right.

It's right. Now let's see how far down the column we get.

If it goes all the way down to zero you leave with £1,250.

Staying Alive goes through the teens.

Into single figures, still going down.

-Down it goes.

-Oh!

-3. Look at that.

APPLAUSE

Very exciting, indeed.

That's a great answer. What a great score.

Sadly not a pointless answer though.

And only pointless answers count in this round.

We have to go back to the board and see what your next answer was.

Carrie.

Again looking for John Travolta films.

If this is pointless, it wins you £1,250.

How many people said Carrie?

Well, again, it is right.

Staying Alive took us all the way down to 3.

Carrie takes us through the 30s and the 20s.

Down through the teens, is it going into single figures? Yes.

Still going down, down it goes...

-Down to 2.

-Oh!

-APPLAUSE

Fantastic!

This is all moving in the right direction, surely.

Looking very good for your third and final answer.

Everything is riding on Swordfish.

Once again we are looking for John Travolta films.

Let's find out how many people said Swordfish for £1,250.

Is it pointless?

It's a third correct answer.

So far we've had Staying Alive taking us down to 3,

Carrie took us down to 2.

Swordfish now takes us down into the teens.

Down into single figures again.

Down we go... Oh, no, 4. AUDIENCE GROANS

APPLAUSE

Oh, that was exciting.

Three brilliant answers there.

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

so we can't give you today's jackpot of £1,250.

That rolls over onto the next show, but what

a great performance across both shows.

Our low-scorers in each head-to-head you were in.

And you get a Pointless trophy each to take home in recognition

of that, but I'm sorry you didn't get to take home the jackpot.

Very well done, Ray and Lup. APPLAUSE

Yeah, three very nice answers there and thank you for going for

that category, as well. It was quite nice,

wasn't it? It wasn't a terrible one.

Some people at home will have got pointless answers,

especially John Travolta films.

There's a few that you definitely would have seen.

Let's take a look at that category first.

Er, Ladder 49.

He's in Look Who's Talking Now,

the third film of the Look Who's Talking films.

The other two were not pointless.

Perfect. Primary Colors about US politics.

Battlefield Earth was a pointless answer.

Basic. Be Cool is a pointless answer.

The Taking of Pellam 123, one of his more recent films,

a pointless answer. The Thin Red Line,

plenty of pointless answers out there.

Now let's take a look, the characters in The Sopranos.

Almost all of these were pointless.

Dr Jennifer Melfi, played by Lorraine Bracco.

Tony Soprano's mum, Livia's a pointless answer.

Paulie Walnuts, a pointless answer.

Tony Blundetto played by Steve Buscemi.

Um, the only answers that weren't pointless were

Tony Soprano, Meadow Soprano and Corrado - Junior.

All the other characters were pointless answers.

Tracks from Born In the USA, there's five pointless answers here.

And No Surrender.

Very well done if you got pointless answers in any of those categories.

Thanks very much indeed, Richard.

Thanks very much, Ray and Lup, who sadly didn't win our jackpot

today which means it rolls over onto the next show when we will be

playing for £2,250.

APPLAUSE

Join us then to see if someone can win it.

-Meanwhile, it's goodbye from Richard.

-Goodbye.

And it's goodbye from me, goodbye.