Episode 37 Pointless

APPLAUSE

Thank very you much, indeed. Hello, I am Alexander Armstrong

and welcome to Pointless, where the aim of the game is to

score as few points as you can,

and you do that by coming up with the answers no-one else can think of.

Let's meet today's players.

And couple number one.

I'm Mervyn, this is Robbie.

We're old school friends and we're both from London.

Couple number two.

Hi, I am Vas. This is Tas. We're friends.

I'm from North London, and Tas is from Welwyn Garden City.

Couple number three.

Hi, I'm Paul and this is my lovely wife, Rosie

and we come from a little village in Herefordshire called Withington.

And finally, couple number four.

Hi, I'm Alex. This is my girlfriend Dani and we're both from York.

And these are today's contestants.

APPLAUSE

Thanks very much all of you, a warm welcome to Pointless.

Great to have you with us. We'll get to chat to each of you throughout the show as it goes along.

That just leaves one more person for me to introduce.

Packed with knowledge and deeply dangerous, like a firework in a library.

It's my Pointless friend. It's Richard.

-Hiya.

-APPLAUSE

Hey, everybody. Hello!

Like a firework in a library, I like that!

Like a mix between a Catherine wheel and Catherine Cookson.

Now, we've got two returning pairs from the last show.

Tas and Vas got knocked out early on.

But Rosie and Paul got all the way through to the head-to-head.

They're going to be tough to beat. Welcome to our two new pairs, as well.

It's fun. The first round is fun.

Is it? Oh, that's nice. The rest of it's deadly.

The rest... Yeah, well, the rest of it is very, very bad.

I would switch off at about 5:27pm.

-Something like that.

-That's what I would do.

There we are. Thanks very much, Richard.

Kate and Dorrinder didn't win the jackpot last time

which means we add another £1,000 to that.

So, today's jackpot starts off at

£2,000. There we are.

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

The only thing you have to remember is this.

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

eliminated. That is it.

Best of luck to all four pairs.

Our first category this afternoon is...

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

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

OK, and our Pop Music question concerns...

-Richard.

-Yeah, on each board,

we're going to show you seven definitions of words

from oxforddictionary.com.

They are also the names of bands, or groups.

You just need to tell us the name of the group, please.

We'll give you the first initial, as well.

There is going to be seven groups on the first board,

seven on the second board. 14 in all to guess at home.

Thanks very much, indeed.

So, we're looking for the names of these groups hinted at by these

definitions. Here's our first board of seven.

And we have got...

I should point out those dates are when these bands had their first

top 40 hits, as well.

So give you a clue of the era.

Very good.

ALEXANDER REPEATS THE DEFINITIONS

Robbie, a warm welcome to Pointless.

Lovely to have you here. What do you do, Robbie?

-I'm currently a PhD student.

-Where are you doing that?

In London. Imperial College, London.

And what's your...? What do you do your PhD in?

So, it's an intersection between physics and health.

So, I'm looking at the projected health effects of climate change.

-Goodness, how far are you into your PhD?

-Nine months, so...

-Nine months.

-Yeah, yeah.

-What's the outlook?

Er, between bleak and very bleak, really.

Yeah, so... Yeah.

OK, well, that's fun.

There we go. Oh, what are your interests, Robbie?

Aside from your...

..your studies.

I am quite into music.

So, I like this round.

-Very good.

-Yeah.

-Good stuff.

Robbie, what would you like to go for?

So...

I'm just... I...

I think I know a few of them and...

I guess it's just trying to figure out what the fewest people know.

So, I'm going to go with Buddhism and Nirvana.

Nirvana says Robbie.

I like that, and Mervyn was nodding even before you gave your answer.

He liked your choice there.

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

It's right.

50.

Exactly halfway down the column, Robbie.

Not a bad start at all.

Good work, Robbie. Well played, yeah.

There was another band called Nirvana many, many years ago in 1968, had a UK top 40 hit.

Not the same group though.

Mind you, if you're in the other Nirvana,

maybe you might get some nice unexpected royalty cheques.

-Oh, yes!

-That would be kind of fun.

-Yeah.

-No, I bet you would. Some accidental ones.

We should get our... We could get our band, The Beatles, going again.

-Do you remember?

-Yeah, and then, just occasionally...

Even if we got, like, kind of one in three of their cheques...

-It'd be fine.

-..we'd be making money.

Yeah, even if we only got half of their money.

Yeah, it'd be fine. Thank you very much, Richard.

Now, Tas. Welcome back.

Remind us what you do, Tas?

I'm a product manager for a large delivery company.

And what are your interests, Tas?

I love Egyptian mythology.

-Really? Egyptian mythology?

-Egyptian mythology, yeah.

How did you get to that?

When was it? In '97, I went to Egypt for the first time.

-Yeah.

-I saw the pyramids, and the Sphinx and...

It's almost like I'd been there before.

It was a really weird...sort of feeling I had there.

I'm sure, yeah. You connected with it.

And you go back as often as you can, do you?

-Yeah, I love it there.

-Excellent!

Now, Tas, what would you like to go for on our board here?

I'm going to go for the origin or mode of formation of something,

so Genesis.

Genesis says Tas.

Well, we have 50.

It's our only score so far. Let's see if you go better or worse than 50 with Genesis.

Look at that, you leave 50 in the shade there, Tas.

Very well done indeed. 35 for Genesis.

Another good answer. Yeah, it's interesting.

There's some obvious ones up though.

It's that working out exactly what's going to score the fewest, isn't it?

So, not a bad choice at all, Genesis.

Thanks very much, indeed.

-Rosie, welcome back.

-Hello.

What do you like getting up to in Withington?

Well, not specifically in Withington,

but I'm very interested in singing.

I've been singing in choirs for over 20 years, now.

How many choirs do you sing with?

At the moment one, semi-regularly.

And I do the odd bit of singing if a friend is organising something.

What sort of size choir are you in?

Is it a more of a...? Is it a choral society size?

-Or a smaller one?

-I prefer small choirs.

My heart is in cathedral music.

Good stuff. Now, Rosie...

From cathedral music to bands.

What would you like to go for on our board here?

There's one I don't know.

But I think the best of the four remaining that I do

is probably used to express the sound of a forcible impact,

which I think is Wham!

Wham! says Rosie. Wham! Let's see where...

It's going to be interesting to see where Wham! ends up on the column.

How many people said it? Wham!

49, there's your answer.

Not bad, not bad.

One better than what you thought was the best answer on the board.

-So, good.

-Yeah, they had the...

They had the best selling single in UK chart history

that didn't get to number one.

Last Christmas sold more copies than any other number two record in history.

1.8 million copies they sold and never been number one.

Even more than Vienna?

-Yeah.

-Thank you very much, indeed.

-Now, Alex...

-Hello.

-Welcome to Pointless. Here from York?

-Yes.

What do you do, Alex?

I look after the IT systems for a well-known construction

and shop fitting company.

I see.

And what do you like getting up to when not doing that, Alex?

I'm interested in football and cricket.

I'm a bit of a Leeds United fan.

I'm also a drummer in a punk band.

How long have you been doing that?

I've been drumming for probably close to ten years,

been in the band about four.

If you compared the fitness of all sorts of different styles of drummers,

I'd have thought a punk drummer would be very fit.

I would disagree.

Now then, this board is all yours.

If you wanted to go through all our blanks and fill them in,

-you'd be very welcome.

-Yeah...

The three answers that I knew that I thought were going to be the best three have now been taken.

The top one is... It'd be Bread.

The middle one would be Oasis.

The bottom one will be Kiss.

I'm not 100% sure about the second one.

So, I'm just trying to work out which of the three's

going to be the lowest scorer.

Um...

Kiss.

-You're going to go for Kiss?

-Yeah.

OK, eschewing Bread and Oasis, you're going to go for Kiss.

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

It's right.

79 for Kiss.

Oh, that's a big score.

I wonder how the other ones you knew fared in comparison.

Anyway, 79. Not bad.

Let's take a look at how the other two would have done.

So, you scored 79.

If you had said Bread...

You would have scored 87.

So, well done avoiding that. If you'd said Oasis...

You would have scored 94!

How about that?

Now, anyone who is in a punk band should know this second group.

One of the great groups of the '90s, still going now, as well.

And, yeah, the lead singer's still going.

-Supergrass.

-Supergrass. Yep.

That would have scored you 16 points. Very well done if you said that at home.

Thank you very much. We're halfway through the round. Let's look at those scores.

35, the best score of the pass, Tas. Very well done indeed, Tas and Vas.

I think there's a place in Round Two for you, I will say.

49's where we find Rosie and Paul.

Up one to 50 is where we find Robbie and Mervyn.

And then 79.

Actually, Alex, well done. You chose well there.

But Dani, you're in front. We need a low score from you.

Good luck with that when we come back down the line,

which we are going to do now! Could the second players please step up to the podium?

OK, let's put seven more band definitions up on the board

and here they come.

I shall read those all one last time.

Dani, welcome to Pointless.

What do you do, Dani?

I work as a senior administrator in the higher education sector.

I see. So, what sort of things are you administering?

I work on an awards scheme, so for lecturers up and down the country,

-people and services, universities - any role.

-So, that's nice.

That's nice. Your job is basically to pick out people who have been good.

-Yeah.

-And should go forward for this wonderful award.

-Do you get to go to the ceremony?

-Yes, we do.

-We arrange the ceremony, so it's brilliant.

-Very nice. Excellent.

Now, Dani, what would you like to go for?

You're the high-scorers.

Don't be tempted into something too easy is all I am going to say.

Music is usually my subject, so I know most of these.

It is just trying to work out which one would be the least known.

I think I might take a bit of a risk.

The leather with the flesh side rubbed to make a velvety nap

-would be Suede.

-Suede.

Always nice to have the word nap in that context.

A velvety nap. I might have one of those between the second

and third rounds.

LAUGHTER

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

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

It's right.

57 for Suede,

taking your total up to 136.

Yeah, very well done. My brother is in Suede,

so I can give you no facts about them.

I remember when they were called Suede,

the first day they decided to be called Suede took everyone by

-surprise.

-What were you expecting?

Years ago, when they first started, when they were at school,

they were called Suave And Elegant.

Then briefly they were called Jeff, genuinely,

and then they were called Paint It Black.

And then when they got together in London they called themselves Suede.

There we are. Now, Paul, welcome back to Pointless.

I'm not going to ask what you do.

Good.

Now then, Paul. Tell me truthfully, have you yet used your appearance

on Pointless as text for a sermon?

Already, yes.

Just this Sunday gone?

-Indeed.

-Did you say, "because all of us are asked questions at some point?"

"We all have our scribes and Pharisees we have to face."

-Did you say that?

-That's my subject for next week's sermon.

Oh, there we are! OK. Very good.

Perhaps you could do something on the Pointless trophy if you win it.

-Indeed. Indeed.

-There you are. Now, Paul, there you are, on 49.

You are so nearly there.

All you need to score is 86 or less.

Yes. Normally with pop music I'm operating on the limits of the

power of prayer.

I'm going to try a person who is the source of inspiration for creative

artists and go for Muse.

Muse says Paul. Muse. Let's see if that's right.

Here's your red line, nice and high.

Get below that with Muse and you are comfortably through to Round Two.

There you are, very well done.

39. Which, if I'm not wrong, is the second lowest score of the round.

Very well done. 88 is your total.

You know, Muse's single Muscle Museum,

do you know where they got that name from?

-No.

-It's the two words either side of Muse in the dictionary.

Really? Thank you very much, indeed.

-Vas.

-Hi.

-Welcome back to Pointless.

Remind us what you do, Vas.

I work for the same large delivery company that Tas does.

Do you work side-by-side?

No. So, we met, but he has gone on to do bigger and better things.

I'm still stuck there.

Might you go and join Tas at the bigger and better, no?

No, because you need to have a bit of intelligence to do what he does.

LAUGHTER

Which you have in spades, let me tell you.

For example, you're already through to the next round.

I know you've got a good answer up your sleeve there, Vas.

-I did but Paul took my answer.

-Oh, no.

I'm going to say, for the bottom one, Cream.

Cream, says Vas. Let's see if that is right. No red line for you for the lovely reason that

you are already through, but let's see what happens when we say Cream.

83.

But it's fine. It takes your total up to 118.

Big score, isn't it, for Cream?

They considered themselves a supergroup.

They considered themselves the cream of the crop.

Oh, that was the thinking, was it?

-Yeah, a little bit.

-Wow, a little bit.

Also because I imagine it was smooth and what have you.

It's not a great name for a band.

-No. There we go. Mervyn.

-Hi, there.

On 50.

85 is all you have to score here. Should be a walk in the park.

Now, before we do that, Mervyn, tell us what you do.

I'm a clinical research associate.

-They're quite bright on that first podium, aren't they?

-They seem to be, don't they?

Yes. They are quite bright.

Where do you do that?

-All over.

-So, my job involves, like, going all over the UK,

visiting generally hospitals.

It could be anywhere. It could be a GP practice,

but to see if clinical trials are being done correctly.

-I see.

-Check the paperwork,

talk to doctors and nurses about what they're doing.

I see, so essentially you're kind of a watchdog for the pharmaceutical,

the big pharmaceutical companies.

-That's a good way to put it.

-Sure, right, I see.

He just said that was a good way to put it.

He is so clever, and he told you you did really well.

What are your interests when the clinical research is done?

I'm quite into my cooking actually.

-Are you?

-I find it quite therapeutic, so I like to try out new recipes,

you know, make something from scratch at home on my days off.

Good stuff. Mervyn, this board is all yours.

Do you want to go through it and just fill in all the blanks?

I think what we have left is Blur, and the second one,

I don't know the band, but it is either Yes or Yeah.

And then Aqua.

And then I think I'm going to go for the fourth one as my answer.

I think it's Garbage.

Garbage. I think it's a good answer, Mervyn, what are you talking about?

Here is a red line. Let's see how many of our 100 people said Garbage.

Well done. You're through.

69. Taking your total up to 119.

Again it's working out which ones are going to score the best there.

If you had said Yes, you would have been knocked out,

because Yes would have given you 88 points.

That's a huge score.

B is, of course, Blur.

You are right about that.

That would have scored you 53.

And you were right about Aqua and that is the best answer on the board, by quite some way.

It would have scored you 28.

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

the pair we have to say goodbye to is Dani and Alex.

We say goodbye to you now, but we will see you again next time.

We look forward to that. I'm sure you'll be much better then.

Thanks very much meantime, Dani and Alex.

APPLAUSE

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

And now we're down to three pairs.

It gets a little bit tougher. At the end of this round we'll have to say goodbye to another pair.

Rosie and Paul, well done, our lowest combined score there.

Tas, well done, our lowest individual scorer.

And Robbie and Mervyn, well done, for just being great.

Best of luck to all three pairs.

Our category for Round Two this afternoon is...

Can you all decide in your pairs who is going to go first, who is going to go 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 as many

US states containing the letters W, D or C as they could.

W, D or C, Richard.

Yeah, simply looking for any of the 50 American states with one of those letters in its name.

Have you seen where we have taken WDC from?

-Have you seen why we have chosen those letters?

-I have, I have.

-From Washington, DC.

-Yes.

-And for that reason we won't accept Washington state as an answer.

That was why I didn't want to say where it came from.

-I am learning.

-People often ask this.

They say, if it's like songs with yellow in the title,

and then they say yellow. If we've got the exact word in the title,

-we never accept it, ever, ever, ever.

-No.

-You've got to have a system.

-We have got a system.

If nothing else, we've got a system.

Mervyn, what would you like to go for?

So, I was just thinking it through there. There's a couple.

I'll go with... I'm going to go with Delaware.

-Delaware...

-Yeah.

-..says Mervyn. Delaware.

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

It's right.

32 for Delaware.

Yeah, it's got a W in it and a D in it - Delaware.

-How about that?

-Mmm. Now, Tas...

-Tas.

-Gosh...

Wisconsin is the only one that comes to mind.

Wisconsin, says Tas.

Let's see if that's right. Let's see how many of our 100 people went for Wisconsin.

It's right.

Oh, it's not bad, 31.

And that's got a W and a C, Wisconsin.

Thank you very much, indeed.

Paul...

OK, so, I am going to have a go at Rhode Island.

Rhode Island, says Paul.

Rhode Island. Let's see how many of our 100 people said that.

32 is our highest score, 31 our low.

We whizzed past both of those.

Rhode Island takes us down to four. Very well done, indeed, Paul.

Yeah, it's got two Ds in it, but not at the beginning,

-which is why it scores fewer, I guess.

-Thank you very much.

OK, well, listen, we are halfway through the round. Let's take a look at those scores.

Four, the best score of that pass, well done, indeed, Paul and Rosie.

Looking very strong, indeed. Very close on the next two scorers.

31 is where we find Tas and Vas.

And Mervyn and Robbie on 32.

So, yes, Robbie, we need a low score from you.

Best of luck with that. We are going to come back down the line now.

Can the second players please step up to the podium?

OK, so, Rosie,

we are looking for any US state whose name contains the following letters.

W, D or C.

Well, Paul took my best answer, which I think is very rude of him.

I'll have to go to my second best.

-It's Maryland.

-Maryland.

Here comes your red line. If you can get below that red line with Maryland,

you are through to the next round. How many people said Maryland?

Oh, look at that!

Three!

Well, there you are, Paul helped you out.

He forced you to go in for the better, lower score.

-Seven is your total. Very well done.

-Very well played.

I really enjoyed the sound of the audience also going through Maryland...

Oh, yeah, that's fine, that's fine. Yeah, you got it.

Vas.

Um...

I've got two in my head

and I'm just going to go for Hawaii.

Hawaii. Hawaii, says Vas.

Now, there is a red line for you, but it's on the line of Pointless,

so it will be invisible to you, but, yes, that's what you want,

a pointless answer to avoid becoming the high-scorers.

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

Oh, that's good.

12, very well done indeed, Vas.

Taking your total up to 43.

Vas, I was 100% thinking, Hawaii, that doesn't have any of the...

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Home to the happy-face spider, a tiny little spider,

a millimetre across, which looks like it has got a happy face with its markings.

So, Robbie, you have a target and it is ten.

-Doable.

-It is tough, but doable.

I'm going to have to go with New Hampshire.

New Hampshire. There is your red line.

You have to get below that with New Hampshire.

Good luck. Let's see how many of our 100 people said New Hampshire.

It's right.

Oh, you've done it! Five for New Hampshire, very well done, indeed.

37 is your total.

Very strong.

It's got four separate nicknames, New Hampshire.

They call it the Granite State.

They call it the Mother Of Rivers.

They call it the White Mountain State.

And they call it the Switzerland Of America.

Ah... Make your mind up!

-It's just...

-I know, right?

Now, there's no pointless answers at all,

and I have to say seven is a pretty spectacular score

because there's two answers that would have scored you three.

Maryland we have had, and Indiana, the other three point answer.

And then four is the next best answer.

Massachusetts, Michigan and Rhode Island.

Five points alongside New Hampshire.

You could have had New Mexico, New Jersey, Kentucky.

Eight points for Iowa, nine for North Carolina.

Ten for South Carolina and South Dakota and 11 for North Dakota.

12 points for Nevada, West Virginia.

18 for Idaho.

You'd have got 21 for New York, 22 for Florida, 25 for Connecticut.

And let's take a look at the top three.

The top three that most of our 100 people said.

36 for Wyoming.

39 for Colorado.

Perhaps unsurprisingly California at the top of that,

a big score, 72.

Thanks very much, Richard. At the end of our second round, the pair

we have to send... Oh, that was very close, but Vas and Tas,

I'm afraid you are out and on top there at 43.

You gave us a great round there.

I'm afraid, you are the high-scorers, so we have to say goodbye.

It has been wonderful having you on both shows. Thank you so much for playing, Vas and Tas.

But for the remaining two pairs now, it is time for our head-to-head.

Congratulations, Rosie and Paul, Robbie and Mervyn.

You are now one step closer to the final and the chance to play for our

jackpot, which currently stands at

£2,000. There we are.

Well, we have made it to the head-to-head round,

which means you are now allowed to confer before you give your answers,

which I think is a nice thing. This will be close, but best of luck to both players.

Let's play the head-to-head.

Here is your first question.

And it concerns...

Famous Bettys.

-Richard.

-I will show you five pictures now of famous people called Betty, or known as Betty.

Can you identify the most obscure?

Thank you very much indeed.

Let's reveal our Bettys and here they come. We've got...

There we are.

Five Bettys.

Rosie and Paul, you are the low scorers, so you will go first.

So, we are going to go for C, Betty Boothroyd.

Betty Boothroyd, say Rosie and Paul. Now then, Robbie and Mervyn.

Talk us through the Bettys that remain.

Well, that was the only one we knew as well, so...

-So...

-That's it.

We'll have to go with Betty McIntosh.

Oh, Betty McIntosh. Which one are you going to give that honour to?

-B.

-You're going to go B, OK?

B, Betty McIntosh.

So, we have Betty Boothroyd and we have Betty McIntosh.

Rosie and Paul said Betty Boothroyd for C.

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

It's right.

39 for Betty Boothroyd.

Robbie and Mervyn have gone for Betty McIntosh for B.

Which is a good name.

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

I'm afraid not Betty McIntosh.

Which means very well done, Rosie and Paul,

after one question you are up 1-0.

Yes, shall we take a look?

-A is...

-I don't know.

Betty Grable.

-Is it?

-Yeah, it is.

It would have scored you 18 points.

-I'm going to call that a guarded smile.

-Yes.

-That is the end of a long day's photo shoot.

-Yeah.

B, I imagine many of our viewers in Northern Ireland

would have got Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams.

Well done if you said that.

That was a pointless answer, so terrific work.

D...

You know her very well,

because you have enjoyed her hospitality many times.

Many times. Oh, the wonderful and helpful Betty Ford.

Betty Ford. Yeah.

Would have scored you three points.

And the last one from Coronation Street...

It's Betty Driver.

That would have scored you 14.

Thank you very much, indeed, Richard.

So, here comes your second question.

Robbie and Mervyn, you get to answer this one first.

You need to win it to stay in the game, so good luck.

Our second question is all about racehorses.

-Richard...

-We're going to give you five clues to the names of famous racehorses.

Can you identify the most obscure, please?

Thank you very much, indeed.

OK, let's reveal our five clues and here they come.

I'll read those again.

So Robbie and Mervyn will go first.

I think we know four of them on the board actually,

but after conferring I think we are going to go for the third one, F.

-It's Frankel.

-Frankel, says Robbie and Mervyn.

Frankel. Now, Rosie and Paul.

Top one is Red Rum.

Bottom one is Shergar.

You know...

Anything else would be a guess.

We think Shergar is probably better than Red Rum,

but neither of them are going to beat the middle one, which I have already forgotten,

-We'll go for the bottom one.

-You're going to go for the bottom, you're going to go for Shergar.

We have Frankel and Shergar.

Robbie and Mervyn went for Frankel.

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

One of the best horses in history.

They're all amazing horses actually.

Frankel is absolutely right.

Down it goes. That's a great answer.

Look at that, 11, very well done, indeed.

Rosie and Paul have gone for Shergar for the bottom one.

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

It's right.

63. No surprises there.

Robbie and Mervyn, very well done indeed, you're back in the game.

After two questions it's 1-1.

Yeah, Shergar actually scores even more than red Rum.

Red Rum would have scored you 60 points.

The first horse to win the Triple Crown was Nijinsky.

Horse racing fans will have known. That would have scored you 19.

And real horse racing fans would have known this one as well.

It was 2015, won the American Triple Crown,

it was American Pharoah and it's a pointless answer,

so very well done if you said that.

So, here comes your third question.

Best of luck to both pairs. And our third question...

Concerns...

Astronauts.

-Richard.

-We are going to show you now the names of five famous astronauts,

or cosmonauts, but with alternate letters removed.

Can you tell us who they are? Good luck, both teams.

Thanks very much. Let's reveal our astronauts, or cosmonauts,

with bits missing and here they are.

We have got...

I'll read those again.

Rosie and Paul will go first.

-What do you think?

-Erm...

Well, we think... Well, we think we know the top two.

They're fairly obvious.

So, we are going to take a guess on the middle one.

Chris Hadfield?

Chris Hadfield, say Rosie and Paul. You are getting a nod from Mervyn,

which we know from past experience is a good thing.

Chris Hadfield.

OK, Robbie and Mervyn, do you fancy talking us through the board?

Yeah, so... Yuri Gagarin at the top.

Buzz Aldrin. I think Chris Hadfield is right.

I don't know number four.

I think the bottom one, which I think we will have to go for,

is Jim Lovell.

Jim Lovell. OK, so we have Chris Hadfield and we have Jim Lovell.

Rosie and Paul went for Chris Hadfield, for the middle one.

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

-It is Chris Hadfield.

-Come on.

Very well deduced. Look at that. Down it goes.

A great scorer, as well. Two for Chris Hadfield. Wow!

Very well done, indeed.

Jim Lovell, which Robbie and Mervyn have gone for,

is going to have his work cut out to beat that, I think,

but let's find out. How many people said Jim Lovell?

It's right.

Oh, 16 for Jim Lovell.

Very, very well done, indeed, Rosie and Paul.

After three questions you are through to the final, 2-1.

Very well played, yeah. Chris Hadfield is the Canadian guy who was up on

the International Space Station, performed Space Oddity.

Did lots of YouTube videos, as well.

Jim Lovell visited the moon twice, but never set foot on it.

He's very much like me and Madame Tussauds.

I've been there twice, both times I didn't go in,

because the queue was too long.

I don't know if that's the same issue that Jim Lovell had, but certainly he has not been there.

Yuri Gagarin is up the top.

He would have scored you 64.

He actually scores more than Buzz Aldrin.

I don't know what else would fit in that,

but Buzz Aldrin would have scored you 60.

And you could fill in the gaps in this one.

You could work out the surname, which is Collins.

And it is Eileen Collins.

The first woman to pilot the space shuttle.

It would have scored you one point and beaten Chris Hadfield.

Wow. Very good answer there.

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

Robbie and Mervyn. Very strong performance across the show today.

We can be certain that when you return you'll do just as well.

I say we can be certain, you can't be certain of anything in Pointless,

but I am pretty sure you'll do well next time you're back.

But it's been great having you on and great for us, we get to see you

again, but in the meantime thanks very much indeed, Robbie and Mervyn.

But for Rosie and Paul it is now time for our Pointless final.

Congratulations, Rosie and Paul.

You have fought off all 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 is standing at

£2,000. There you are.

The next sermon's just going to write itself, isn't it?

-I mean, what about that?

-The next month's worth, I would have thought, yes.

-Just fantastic.

Now, this last round, you know what happens.

Four things will appear on the board behind me and they are usually quite

scary, but if you can find one that agrees with you, then so much the

better, but very best of luck.

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

Hm...

Yeah, not quite the selection we were praying for.

What do you think? I mean, Formula 1, pretty much out.

Russia, but Russia could be anything.

The geographical ones are often...

And geography is, if it is anything actually geographical...

OK, right, there you go, then.

-It's going to be Russia.

-Russia.

-It's going to be Russia.

-Russia it is.

-OK, very best of luck. This has been on the finals board for a long time, Russia.

Sad to see it go. Here are your three options.

Very different subject areas, these three.

We are looking for the title of any Tchaikovsky ballet, or opera.

Any opera Tchaikovsky composed or any ballet that he provided the music for.

We were looking for any country that won a medal in the 1980 Olympics.

We need the name of the country as it was at the time, please.

Or we are looking for any city with a population

of one million or more people in Russia.

That is the 15 largest cities in Russia.

So Tchaikovsky ballets and operas.

Medal winning Olympic nations from 1980.

Or cities with a population of one million or more people.

The 15 largest Russian cities according to the State Statistics Service.

Which is easy for me to say.

Thank you very much indeed, Richard.

As always you have up to one minute to come up with three answers.

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

to be pointless. Are you ready?

-As we'll ever be.

-OK.

Let's put 60 seconds up on the clock.

There they are. Your time starts now.

OK, so cities do you want to do first and then ballets?

I can only really think of the big cities at the moment.

The ballets, do you want to start...?

When Lucy was in Russia, she stayed in some place called Yaroslavl and it might be too small,

but if we're desperate it's worth a try. And for Lucy.

Ballets and operas. I've seen one in Dublin.

It was to do with Cossacks

and I really can't remember anything more than that, any...

Well, apart from Swan Lake.

Nutcracker.

-Anything?

-No, I can't really think.

-I mean, it's classical music.

-I know, Tchaikovsky.

I think it was a name of someone.

Um...

-Peter or somebody?

-Yeah, probably.

Um...

Yeah, no, it's not great, is it?

Try and think of cities, because if it's only the top 15.

If we're going for Yaroslavl, or...

Ten seconds left.

St Petersburg, Moscow, all those, you know, those are the two.

Um...

-Is that literally all you've got?

-That, I'm afraid, is your time up.

-OK.

-I am afraid I now need your three answers, I am so sorry.

That minute could always be about 40 minutes longer.

There's a few where we'll probably kick ourselves.

Yeah. What would you like to go for?

OK, so, from the cities, as a real punt,

it is probably way too small, but Yaroslavl.

-Yaroslavl.

-Um...

What about Stalingrad or Leningrad?

Well, St Petersburg, it is now.

Oh, is it? OK, fair enough.

-Do you want to go for that?

-We'll go for St Petersburg.

And then Swan Lake, Nutcracker.

-Swan Lake.

-Swan Lake.

-OK.

-But maybe people won't know that was Tchaikovsky.

Yeah, maybe they won't!

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

-It's got to be the...

-If it's right,

but is it a bit depressing to end on a big red cross?

It may not, it may be a glorious pointless answer, you never know.

-OK, let's put Yaroslavl last.

-Yaroslavl goes last.

Least likely to be pointless?

-St Petersburg, I'd say.

-OK, and Swan Lake in the middle.

-Yeah.

Well, let's put those answers up on the board in that order then,

and here they are. We've got...

Very, very best of luck. Three good answers.

If one of those turned out to be pointless and won you that jackpot,

what would you like to do with your spoils?

We did say, if it was a reasonably small amount of money,

that we'd like to give some to charity.

There is a really good charity near us called People In Motion who are

doing great things for refugees on the Continent,

so I'd like to support them if we could and we'd really like to

go out for a lovely meal and treat ourselves.

Very good indeed. Herefordshire, full of great places to eat.

Very, very best of luck. Three good answers on the board as I say.

Your first answer, St Petersburg.

In this case we were looking for any Russian city with over a million

people living in it. Let's see, St Petersburg.

If it's pointless, it will win you £2,000.

Let's see how many people said St Petersburg.

Well, it's right.

-That's something!

-That is a key factor.

Down it goes, passing 50, into the 40s, into the 30s.

36.

36 for St Petersburg.

So, I'm afraid not a pointless answer.

Which means we move onto your second answer, which was Swan Lake.

In this case we were looking for Tchaikovsky ballets and operas.

If this is pointless it will also win you £2,000.

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

It's right.

St Petersburg took us all the way down to 36.

Swan Lake takes us down through the 40s, into the 30s.

37.

37 for Swan Lake.

We knew. These were placeholders really, weren't they?

The real answer was your third and final, Yaroslavl.

Let's see. If this is pointless, it will win you £2,000.

It just has to be correct, that's the thing.

Let's find out. We're looking for Russian cities with populations of

over a million. Yaroslavl, is it right?

How many people said it?

Oh, I'm sorry!

AUDIENCE GROANS

-Too good.

-Never mind.

Never mind.

Well, listen, three good answers there.

For different reasons they didn't quite win you the jackpot.

I'm afraid you didn't manage to find that all-important pointless

answer, which means you don't win today's jackpot of £2,000.

That will roll over onto the next show. It's been great having you on.

What a performance across the show today.

You can be very proud of that.

And much more importantly, you get to take a Pointless trophy home,

so very well done indeed.

Yeah, Yaroslavl is a city, so she wasn't lying to you

but 600,000 people in Yaroslavl I'm afraid.

Not so close.

Just 400,000 out!

Let's take a look at the different answers.

Tchaikovsky ballets and operas first.

Eugene Onegin, probably his most famous opera

was a pointless answer.

Iolanthe. The Queen Of Spades.

The Maid Of Orleans.

Every single one of those was a pointless answer,

apart from Swan Lake, the Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty.

Everything else was a pointless answer in that category.

The Olympic medal winning nations.

Czechoslovakia, Greece, Sweden,

Tanzania, Austria, Brazil, Denmark,

Finland, Ghana, Lebanon, Mexico, Mongolia, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.

All of those were pointless answers.

Well done if you got one of those or guessed one of those at home.

Now, those Russian cities with a population of one million or more.

Football fans might have got Kazan, the home of Rubin Kazan.

Novosibirsk, which is in Siberia.

Omsk, Perm.

You could have had Chelyabinsk.

Krasnodar. Nizhny Novgorod.

Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Ufa

or Voronezh.

I'm glad I've got that out of the way.

So, very, very well done if you got any of those at home.

Thanks very much, Richard.

Well, sadly, Rosie and Paul didn't win our jackpot today which means it

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

APPLAUSE

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.