Episode 13 Pointless

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Thank you very much.

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

the quiz show where the lowest scorers are the biggest winners.

Let's meet today's players.

So welcome back, Emma and Sarah.

You were on the show last time. Remind us how you did.

-We did quite well.

-You did!

-We did better than we thought.

We got to the head-to-head round

and then we got some questions that we weren't very good at.

-They were really tough questions.

-Yeah.

-Snooker!

-Oh!

I mean, for heaven's sake. Remind us what you're studying at university.

-I study drama at university.

-And I'm studying English and writing.

What are you hoping is going to come up? What would be your dream round one topic?

Since I do English, I feel I should say literature but...

-No, no, no.

-I'm hoping something to do with television

or something like that - we do watch too much TV.

Well, the very best of luck this afternoon.

Next, we welcome Linda and Paul. How do you two know each other?

Well, 15 years ago I put an advert in the local paper

and unbeknown to me, Lin was PA to the managing director at the paper.

She got first dibs at the paper, saw my advert, replied to it,

a little bit later we got married

and 15 years on, she's still lumbered with me.

-Ah! That's wonderful.

-APPLAUSE

And the advert - did you ever sell that drill?

What do you do in your spare time, Linda and Paul?

-We go geocaching.

-We all do that.

-Yeah!

-What?!

-Geocaching.

-Tell me about it.

It's like a treasure hunt.

You have a GPS, hand-held GPS.

You put in the waypoints and you follow the arrow

and that's it, really.

-I have never heard of it.

-No, you're not alone.

It sounds like competitive sat nav to me.

-You feed stuff in and follow the arrows?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-And wherever they take you, you must go?

-Yes.

"It says Mogadishu. This way."

Maybe we'll find out a little bit more as the show goes on.

-We welcome back Nick and Louise. Great to have you back.

-Hello.

-Remind us how you did last time.

-We crashed and burned in the first round.

I think you went out in a blaze of glory is what you mean.

What was it that did for you, remind us?

-It was a Maltese Falcon that wasn't.

-Ah, of course!

-Siamese.

-Siamese twins.

Louise, what would you love to come up this first round?

Theatre, musicals, movies. I like nature.

Bit of this, bit of that, bit of music.

Bit of music. How about you, Nick?

-Ooh, a bit of horticulture, maybe.

-Very good.

-If it there's.

-A bit of horticulture.

It's been a while since we've had any horticulture.

-I'm looking through to see if we've got any horticulture.

-No.

It's been a while since we've had any culture.

Well, very best of luck to the pair of you.

And finally, we welcome back Luke and Nyil.

You were on the show last time. How did you do?

We thought we were doing pretty well and gave three quite good answers

but unfortunately then I spoiled it by not saying Something Stupid.

Ah, round two, yes, of course. That was a really tough round, though.

-Yeah.

-Very tough for us. Makes us feel so old.

We had all these duos and there were lots of hits from the '80s.

-Nobody knew them.

-They weren't born when they were released.

-They weren't born.

-Even worse.

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

There is only one person left for me to introduce,

the man whose obscure knowledge knows no bounds.

He is my Pointless friend, he's Richard.

Hiya. APPLAUSE

We've got three returning pairs, which is quite unusual.

Only Linda and Paul are new.

Two of those pairs, of course, are students.

There's a new rule brought in since the last show.

Anyone born after 1982, not allowed to win.

Sorry about that. Just for, you know... Just because it's sickening

that anyone was even born after 1982, let alone are taking home some money.

-They've got plenty of time to earn money, those guys.

-Yeah.

So I think it's very much between Linda and Paul and Nick and Louise

and the others of you should respect your elders

and watch on and just give polite answers but wrong ones.

-That would be a nice way to play.

-A failsafe way.

Good. Well, we put all our questions to 100 people before the show

but this is Pointless, so we are after the obscure answers they didn't give.

Everyone wants a pointless answer that none of our 100 people gave

and each time that happens we will add £250 to the jackpot.

Nobody won the jackpot last time, so we add another £1,000 to that,

so today's jackpot starts off at £2,250.

CHEERING

There we are.

Right. Let's play Pointless.

OK, in the first round, each of you must give me one answer

and you cannot confer with your partner.

The team with the highest score at the end of the round will be eliminated.

OK, our first category this afternoon is...

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

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

OK. Let's find out what the question is.

We gave 100 people 100 seconds

to name as many herbs used in cooking as they could.

-Richard, can you elaborate on that?

-Not much to add.

All the correct answers will be herbs commonly used to flavour food

-during cooking.

-Very good. Thank you. Thank you.

Emma and Sarah, you all drew lots before the show

and you get to go first this time.

In this round, you're going to get a choice of seven possible answers

in each pass.

-A bit of relief, there, Sarah.

-Yes.

Your first set of seven answers reads like this.

I shall read those again.

Now, I can tell you that at least one of those answers is pointless

but do be careful - at least one of those answers is also incorrect.

Pick one of those and you will score the maximum of 100 points.

-So, then, Sarah.

-I have heard of a few of those

and there's some I'm not sure about.

I think I'm going to go for marjoram.

-Marjoram.

-If I've said it right.

So, marjoram, let's see if that's right and if it is, how many people said it.

It's correct.

-Eight!

-APPLAUSE

Marjoram scores you eight points. A great score. Richard?

Yeah, a very good start to the show.

Marjoram. Popular in Mediterranean cookery.

Linda, what we are looking for is herbs used in cooking.

I recognise most of them, yeah.

-Feeling confident?

-Yeah, I am. I think this is a good subject.

-A very good subject for you.

-A very good subject.

-I'm going to go with borage.

-Borage.

-Mm-hm.

OK, well, let's see if borage is a correct answer

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

-Oh!

-It's right!

Down it comes. A very good answer, Linda.

-Very good. Well done.

-CHEERING

That's a spectacular answer. It's pointless,

so it adds £250 to today's jackpot, taking the total up to £2,500.

-CHEERING

-And it scores you nothing.

-Very good.

-Thanks.

Yeah, that's the way to introduce yourself to the show, Linda.

Yeah, borage. I have a lovely bowl of borage every morning.

-Yeah.

-Gorgeous.

I used to grow it. You grow a pole of borage.

-A pole of borage.

-A pole of borage.

LAUGHTER

Borage is a cucumber-like plant

and the flowers are used in salads and drinks and so on.

Now, then, Nick.

There's no saying there isn't another pointless answer

on that board.

Do I want to risk it, really?

How good is your knowledge of the herb garden?

It should be good. I've grown most of them.

The one I'm confident on there would be chervil.

Chervil. There is it at the bottom.

I think that could be a nice low scorer for you there, Nick.

Let's see if it's right and if it is, how many people said chervil.

It's going steadily down...

Down to three. Wonderful answer, Nick.

Very well done.

-So chervil, Richard?

-Well done, Nick.

It originates in central Asia. Often used in sauces and omelettes.

Luke, the problem is, everyone's picked off the low scorers, there.

-Yeah.

-Unless there's another pointless on the board.

I was going to go for marjoram and I was going to go for chervil,

so it leaves me with a bit of a problem.

Talk us through all the things on the board.

-I think I know that "parzley" and coriander are.

-"Parzley"?

Might I just step out for a moment just to commend you

-on your pronunciation of "parzley".

-Oh!

I assume lemon balm's one. I've heard of it before

unless it's... I don't know.

I'll go for it. Lemon balm.

Lemon balm!

-Lemon balm.

-Have I said that wrong as well?

-No, you're right.

Lemon balm, lemon balm.

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

Well done, it's right.

Very well done, Luke. This could go a long way down.

-All the way to the bottom.

-APPLAUSE

That's a spectacular answer, there, Luke. Lemon balm scoring you two.

-Richard?

-How about that for a low-scoring round?

Eight was the highest score.

-Lemon balm is, of course, a member of the mint family.

-Indeed.

Yeah. And it's used in perfumes as well as in cooking.

Let's fill in the rest of the board. There's a couple of obvious ones.

Parzley or I believe the French call it parsley.

Coriander, also a herb, that would have scored you 42 points.

Big scores.

And by a process of elimination, copperbottom is an incorrect answer,

-so well avoided, everyone.

-Thanks, Richard.

Well, let's take a look at the scores as they stand.

-Well, like Richard said, who'd have thought, Sarah...

-I know!

..your spectacular score of eight

would leave you way out ahead of the field?

-And I was so pleased with myself.

-I know.

Your nearest rival is less than half your score.

-That's true.

-Nick with his chervil, three.

Then next up, Luke did fantastically. Lemon balm, two.

Linda and Paul looking fantastic.

Linda pulled a brilliant pointless answer out of the bag.

Emma, you have to make sure

that you are not the highest scorers at the end of this round.

Can the second players please take their places at the podium?

OK, we're going to put seven more answers on the board.

We are looking for herbs used in cooking and we have got:

I'll read those one more time.

And at least one of those answers is pointless

and at least one of those answers is wrong, so be very careful.

So, then, Nyil. What are you thinking?

Well, I know a few of them

but as it's such a low-scoring round,

-I'm tempted to take a punt.

-You might have to.

-What are your hobbies, Nyil?

-Erm, not really cooking.

I like eating but I'm not a huge cooker.

I'm not sure I'd know the one I'm about to say

but I'm going to go for it

because it looks a bit too wacky to be made up

and that's golden bandicoot.

Golden... You see, I just applaud that. I applaud that derring-do.

It deserves to be a pointless answer.

There's your red line.

If you can get below that red line, you are through to the next round.

Let's see if golden bandicoot is correct

and if it is, how many people said it.

Golden bandicoot. Good luck.

Oh, no! Nyil!

Bad luck. That is an incorrect answer, unfortunately,

which means you score 100 points and takes your total up to 102.

-Richard?

-Yes, a golden bandicoot is a small Australian marsupial...

so if someone is giving you a salad sprinkled lightly with golden bandicoot,

I would turn it down, if I were you.

-Louise.

-I've got my favourite herb up there but I'm not going for that.

That's nice, though. It's always nice to see your favourite herb.

-Ah, it's a friend, you know?

-Yeah, just passing...

Oh, hello!

I'm going to play safe and I'm going to go for dill,

which you'd have with salmon.

I like these serving suggestions. Keep them coming.

Well, the high scorers are Nyil and Luke on 102.

You have to score 98 or less with this.

There is your red line. If you come below that, you are through.

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

And you're through.

Very well done. That scores you 34, taking your total up to 37.

Richard?

Dill, very well done and often served with salmon.

I tell you what else is very nice with dill

is a lovely roasted golden bandicoot.

A little bit of dill on top - gorgeous.

OK, remember, we are looking for herbs used in cooking.

Paul, this is your moment, as Martine McCutcheon would say.

Erm, I, too, like cooking. I've used most of those herbs there.

I'm going for hyssop.

You're going to go for hyssop.

-Have you cooked with hyssop?

-No, I haven't.

-Do you know or do you suspect it's right?

-I know it's right.

You know it's right. You have no red line, you're through come what may

because the highest scorers are so far ahead

you couldn't overtake them even if you scored 100.

Is hyssop right and if it is, how many people said it?

It's right.

Down it comes.

-Yes! Very well done.

-CHEERING

Very, very well done.

That's a pointless answer. It adds another £250 to today's jackpot,

taking the total up to £2,750

and it scores you nothing, leaving you with a total of nothing.

-Brilliant. Richard?

-A double pointless

on your very first round of your very first show.

-That's very impressive.

-Very.

Hyssop is a pungent Mediterranean herb.

It was popular in the Middle Ages

but is now more commonly used in distilling liqueurs.

Chartreuse they use hyssop in, for example.

Very, very well done. Now, then, Emma.

What we are looking for is herbs used in cooking.

Emma, you are the last person to have this board,

talk us through every inch of it.

For some reason, I don't think orzo is one.

I think I'm going to have to play it safe

and go for sage.

Let's see if it's right and if it is, let's see if sage gets you below that red line.

It does!

-Very well done. 51.

-APPLAUSE

Sage did what it had to do. It takes your score up to 59.

-Richard?

-Yes. A big score but that was the right thing to do.

You couldn't go out unless you got a wrong answer,

so better safe than sorry. Better sage than sorry, in fact.

Let's take a look at the rest of the board. Basil is a big scorer

on 66.

Lovage is a very low scorer on two.

Orzo, Alexander. Is that incorrect or pointless?

I think orzo's a pointless.

You're wrong. It's a rice-shaped pasta, orzo,

-so well done if you avoided that.

-A what-shaped pasta?

-Rice shaped.

Like grains of rice.

That's just trickery.

Shaping pasta like rice.

And just to round things off,

it's worth getting the answer to the question that the whole of Britain wants to know.

-Yes.

-Louise, what is your favourite herb?

-AS SYBIL FAWLTY:

-Basil!

-Basil. There you go.

Thanks very much, Richard.

So at the end of round one, the losing pair are Luke and Nyil.

Luke, are you going to forgive Nyil?

Mm...

-Yeah, yeah.

-Ah, thanks, mate.

-Yeah!

It's just as well. Just as well.

-You have been fantastic. Thanks so much for playing.

-Thank you.

APPLAUSE

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

Well, there's only room for two pairs in the head to head,

so one of you three pairs is going to be leaving us

at the end of this round, so make sure it's not you.

The category for round two is:

Decide who's going first and who's going second.

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

And our round two question this afternoon concerns...

Films and their directors.

In this round, we're going to show you a list of films.

We asked 100 people to tell us who directed them.

-Richard?

-We're going to show you the names of six films in each pass

and obscure answers will score fewer points.

An incorrect answer, the wrong director, will score 100 points.

-See how well you can do at home on these.

-OK, thanks, Richard.

We are looking for the directors of these films

and so we have:

I'll read those one more time.

-So, then, Sarah.

-There's a couple I'm pretty sure I know.

-Mm-hm?

But they're quite obvious.

-Have you see all these films?

-I've seen one of them.

I've only seen one of those films.

I'm going to go for one I haven't seen

and I'm going to go for Tootsie and I think it might be Woody Allen.

-Tootsie and you're going to say Woody Allen.

-I am, yes.

Woody Allen. OK.

You're hoping that this will score you as little as possible,

you're hoping it's a nice obscure answer

and you're hoping it's correct.

Is it a right answer and if so, how many people said Tootsie, Woody Allen?

-Oh, no!

-Oh! Bad luck, Sarah. Bad luck.

A very brave punt, which is a good thing,

but sadly it was incorrect, which is a bad thing.

-That scores you 100 points. Richard?

-Unlucky, Sarah.

I won't say who it is in case Linda or Louise want to have a go at it.

Now, Linda and Paul, you are yet to score a point

on this show.

Do you think you can keep this up, this low-scoring nonsense?

-I doubt it very much with these questions.

-Really?

-Is film not your forte?

-Directors, no.

-No.

-Not really.

-Do you know some of the directors on the board?

-I know one.

-Well, I think I know one.

-You think you know one.

-So I'm going to play safe.

-And go with that one.

Well, we have a high score, there.

I'm going to go with ET and I think it's Steven "Schpielberg."

You think it's Steven I-like-your-pronunciation "Schpielberg".

Schpielberg.

OK, well, let's see if that's a correct answer and if it is, how many people said Steven...

Spielberg.

-Oh!

-Well done.

-APPLAUSE

-55.

-Not a bad score, comparatively. Richard?

-Certainly better than 100.

It's actually pronounced Schteven Schpielberg.

-Thank you, Richard.

-Pleasure.

Louise. Remember, we are looking for the directors of these films.

I'm going to play safe, in view of the girls have got 100.

I've seen them all but I never look at directors.

Hopefully, Titanic is James Cameron

but if the Hurt Locker comes up who I think it was, I'll be kicking myself.

OK, let's see if that's right

and if it is, let's see how many people said James Cameron for Titanic.

It's right.

26.

-Not a bad score at all. Richard?

-Well played, Louise. Who did you think directed The Hurt Locker?

I'm not sure. I thought I read somewhere it was Clint Eastwood.

Well, I have to say it would have scored you one point if you got the right answer

but the right answer is Kathryn Bigelow,

who is James Cameron's ex-wife.

She won the Best Director Oscar for that.

Braveheart is Mel Gibson. That would have scored you 18 points.

Bridge On The River Kwai was David Lean. Sir David Lean.

That would scored you four points.

Now, Tootsie was a pointless answer,

so not only did you not know who directed it, nobody did, which is good.

It was Sydney Pollack. Very well done if you got Sydney Pollack at home.

Very well done. Well, let's take a look at the scores.

We're halfway through the round.

A broad field, one would have to say at this stage.

Louise, a fabulous low score there, 26.

Amazing. Titanic only 26.

I thought it was going to be much higher than that.

Linda, 55, not a bad score at all for ET.

-And, Sarah, bad luck. Well, you did what you had to do.

-Yeah.

This game is all about taking risks and that's what you did.

But pressure on you, Emma.

You're going to have to find a nice low-scoring answer to save your bacon.

Right, can the second players please take their places at the podium?

OK, we're going to put six more films on the board.

We want to know their directors. Here they are.

I'll read those one more time.

We are looking for the directors of these films

and you want to find the one that the fewest of our 100 people knew.

Now, Nick, you are the low scorers.

I happen to think you're going to pull quite a cunning one out here.

I think you're going to be good at this.

-There's a couple I recognise.

-Yes.

-But it's risk-taking.

-Mm-hm.

-Erm...

-So what are you going to go for, Nick?

I'm going to go for a safe one. Pulp Fiction and Quentin Tarantino.

You're going for Quentin Tarantino and there's your red line.

If you're below that red line, you're through to the next round.

You need 73 or less to be through to the next round for sure.

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

Very well done.

APPLAUSE 37, it scores you, taking your total up to 63.

-Richard?

-Nothing to add except well played.

A very good answer. You're safely through to the next round.

Now, then, Paul. Remember, we are looking for the directors of these films.

We need a nice 44 points or less answer from you

to make sure you're through to the head to head.

I was pretty sure with one question but that's already gone.

Erm... And I think The Producers may be Mel Brooks.

The Producers, Mel Brooks. Very good. Let's see if that's right.

The high scorers, of course, are Emma and Sarah on 100.

Let's see if you can avoid overtaking them with Mel Brooks.

Below the red line, you are through to the head to head.

Let's see how many people said it. Mel Brooks.

Very well done.

-16. A very good score indeed...

-APPLAUSE

..taking your total up to 71.

Mel Brooks, a very good answer. Well played. Safely through.

Very well done.

Now, Emma and Sarah, I'm afraid the writing is on the wall for you.

You are unassailably ahead

and you haven't answered yet your second question.

So why not see if there's a pointless answer on the board

that maybe you can dredge up from the back of your mind...

-Erm...

-..and add a 250 quid bonus for the people you leave behind?

OK, I'm just going to completely pick a name out the bag here.

I'll go for Martin Scorsese for The African Queen.

Martin Scorsese's The African Queen.

I would sleep on the pavement...

LAUGHTER

..for a seat in that cinema.

That is a remake I would like to see.

-A lot of us would.

-That's a great idea.

Even if you've got this completely wrong,

you've sown a seed, there, Emma.

Let's see if it's right... Who cares?

Let's see how many people wanted to see

Martin Scorsese's The African Queen.

Oh! Bad luck but brilliant, brilliant.

Unfortunately, it is an incorrect answer, which scores 100, taking your total up to 200.

-Richard?

-Yes, sorry, Emma. John Huston is the director.

Martin Scorsese is the director of the forthcoming African Queen II,

with a reanimated Humphrey Bogart in the lead role,

which is going to be great.

Let's take a look at the rest of the answers.

Slumdog Millionaire. Do you know that one, Xander?

-Danny Boyle.

-Danny Boyle, of course. 18 points.

-Do you know Halloween?

-No.

-It's John Carpenter,

which scores you five points.

And do you know Brokeback Mountain? Anybody here know?

-MAN: Ang Lee!

-Anybody on the panel know?

-Ang Lee.

-I think it was Ang Lee.

It's Ang Lee. APPLAUSE

And Ang Lee would have scored you three points,

so that and African Queen were the best answers - well done if you got those.

OK, thanks, Richard.

So the losing pair with the highest score, I'm so sorry, Emma and Sarah.

-You were head to head in the last game.

-At least we did well on one of them.

-It saves face a bit.

-It was film! It was film!

-Yeah.

It was a very tough version of film, of course, very tough indeed.

Who's going to be watching this at home?

-No-one. I'm not going to tell them.

-What do you mean?!

Of course you are. Emma, who's going to be watching at home?

Well, my family, my friends.

Well, that was your second chance to make it through to the final

and we have to say goodbye to you.

You've been great contestants. Thank you for playing.

-APPLAUSE

-Thank you.

For the remaining two pairs, things are going to get even more exciting

as we enter the head to head.

CHEERING

Very well done, Paul and Linda, Nick and Louise,

you've made it to the head to head.

Obviously, only one pair can make it through to the final and play for the jackpot of:

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

You're going to go head to head on the best of three questions.

For each question, each pair needs to give me just one answer

and you are now allowed to confer, that's the good news.

If your answer scores less than the other pair, you win that question.

The pair who get the best of three will be playing for the jackpot.

-Let's play Pointless.

-APPLAUSE

OK, here's your first question.

We gave 100 people 100 seconds

to name as many African countries beginning with a vowel as they could.

African countries beginning with a vowel, Richard.

Any African country that begins with a vowel.

By country we mean a member of the UN which is a sovereign state in its own right

and we're taking the English list of how it's spelt

from the UN website.

So we won't accept Ivory Coast

because its English name is actually Cote d'Ivoire, believe it or not.

Any African country whose name begins with a vowel.

OK, thank you, Richard. Linda and Paul, you've played best so far,

so you get to go first.

We are looking for African countries beginning with a vowel.

THEY WHISPER

OK, Paul and Linda?

We're going for Eritrea.

Eritrea. OK, we have Eritrea.

Nick and Louise, you can talk out loud if you like.

Nick's better on geography than I am, so I'm not much use to him.

There would have been lots of Asian countries.

You go for it.

I'll go Ethiopia.

OK, we have Eritrea, we have Ethiopia.

Let's take them in the order they've been given.

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

It's right.

It's a good one.

Very good. 13 for Eritrea.

Nick and Louise have said Ethiopia.

Let's if that's right and if it is, how many people said Ethiopia.

It's right.

56.

OK, so after the first question, it is one-nil to Paul and Linda.

-Richard?

-Yeah, Eritrea, a very good answer.

It was a province of Ethiopia before it gained independence.

There were two answers that would have beaten Eritrea,

one of which I think is virtually impossible.

United Republic of Tanzania

is its official name according to the UN.

That was a pointless answer, perhaps understandably.

Equatorial Guinea would have won you the points as well.

There's Eritrea, 13, Angola, 27,

Algeria, 29, Egypt, 46,

Uganda, 53, and right at the top, in fact, Ethiopia with 56.

OK, thanks, Richard. Here is your second question.

We gave 100 people 100 seconds

to name as many BBC Sports Personalities of the Year since 2000

as they could. Richard.

We're looking for anyone who's won BBC Sports Personality of the Year

from the year 2000 to the year 2010.

Who is the most obscure sports person on that list?

OK, thanks very much, Richard.

Now, I just need to draw your attention to the fact,

Paul and Linda, that if you win this question,

you are through to the final.

Nick and Louise, you have to win this point to stay in the game.

Nick and Louise, it's you to answer first.

Erm, I think we'll go for Zara Phillips.

Zara Phillips, OK. Paul and Linda?

-Erm, I don't know really know but I think Phil Taylor.

-Yeah?

-He won it recently.

-OK.

Not too good on this one but I think Phil Taylor...

Erm... Steve Taylor, Phil Taylor...

-Phil Taylor.

-Phil Taylor.

OK, we have Zara Phillips and we have Phil Taylor.

Nick and Louise went first with Zara Phillips, so let's put that to the test.

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

It's right!

Wow.

That's a great answer, Nick and Louise.

A lovely low score there of eight.

Paul and Linda went for Phil Taylor.

Let's see if that's right and if it is, let's see how many people said Phil Taylor.

Bad luck. That's an incorrect answer.

After two questions you are one-all.

-Richard?

-Yeah, he came second in 2010, Phil "The Power" Taylor

but he's never actually won it.

Let's look at all 11 names on the list.

Right at the bottom there, Paula Radcliffe and Chris Hoy on four.

Jonny Wilkinson, 6, Joe Calzaghe, 7 -

all of those would have beaten Zara Phillips.

Kelly Holmes there with 11.

Steve Redgrave and Andrew Flintoff both with 16.

Tony AP McCoy with 24, Beckham on 33

and Ryan Giggs the most popular answer of all, 34.

OK, here is your third question.

Whoever wins this question goes through to the final

to play for that £2,750 jackpot.

Here we go.

We gave 100 people 100 seconds

to name as many Great Lakes as they could.

Great Lakes. Richard?

We're looking for any of the five Great Lakes

situated on the border between the USA and Canada.

-See if you can get all five at home.

-OK, thanks, Richard.

Paul and Linda, you are to go first again this time.

I think we're going to go for Huron.

-Huron.

-Huron.

OK, Nick and Louise, they've gone for Huron.

Talk us through your options.

I know there's Lake Superior.

-Michigan.

-There's Lake Michigan.

The only other one I can think of is Lake Erie. I can't think of a fifth one.

We'll have to go with Lake Erie, I think.

Lake Erie. We have Lake Huron and we have Lake Erie.

Linda and Paul, Huron, let's see if it's right

and if it is, how many people said Lake Huron.

It's correct.

-Very good.

-APPLAUSE

20 for Lake Huron.

-Nick and Louise, what do you think? Lake Erie?

-Hard pushed.

I think it'll be close.

OK, Lake Erie. Let's see how many people said Lake Erie.

It's correct.

-APPLAUSE

-37.

Well, after three questions,

Paul and Linda are through to the final, two-one.

-Richard.

-Yes, there are some surprising answers here.

I expected Huron would be lowest but it's not, it's Superior.

-Mm.

-Mm.

-At 19 points.

There's Huron on 20. Ontario was the one you couldn't think of.

That scored 25, as did Lake Michigan,

and Lake Erie was the most popular of all, with 37.

So, the losing pair after the head to head, I'm afraid,

is Nick and Louise.

-What would you have loved to come up?

-Cinema, food.

-Basil.

-Basil! Oh, dear.

Well, it's been fantastic having you on the show.

You've played creditably all the way through.

-Thank you for playing. Great contestants.

-Thank you.

-APPLAUSE

-Well played.

-Best of luck.

But for Paul and Linda, it's now time for our Pointless final

and a chance to win our jackpot of £2,750.

Well, congratulations, Linda 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

and at the end of today's show the jackpot stands at an impressive:

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

To win the money, all you have to do is find a pointless answer,

that's an answer that none of our 100 people could think of.

We've had two pointless answers today and you are responsible for both of them.

You've added £500 to that jackpot.

To win it, though, you have to find a pointless answer.

Firstly, you've got to choose a category from these three options.

You can go for:

-Ooh.

-Mm.

-What do you think of those?

-I know nothing about cycling.

Classic pop - pretty minimal.

-Go for politics?

-Politics, yeah?

-Risk it.

-Yeah.

-We'll go for politics.

-You're going to go for politics.

Here is your question. We gave 100 people 100 seconds

to name as many election runners-up as they could. Richard?

Yeah, we're looking for any party leader

whose party came second by number of seats in any UK general election

from 1900 through to 2010.

The only election where it's complicated is 1918,

when the coalition was made up of the leading two parties, so discount that.

But any other election, the leader of any party that came second

by number of seats in a UK general election.

Very best of luck.

OK. You now have up to one minute to come up with three answers

and all you need to win that £2,750 jackpot

is for just one of those answers to be pointless.

Your 60 seconds start now.

-Erm...

-What about the ones that...?

Yeah, I mean, I was thinking, Attlee was in power,

so I've got a feeling he might have gone for power and missed.

What about that Bonar Law guy?

No, I don't think Bonar Law got the...

-Was he not a runner-up at some stage?

-No.

Erm...

Who else would have gone there?

Who have you said? Attlee?

Attlee, yeah. Clement Attlee.

I can't think. Liberals would have been around, 1900.

-So we could have...

-We've got three answers to get.

I know. Erm...

Herbert Atkins is probably one Liberal.

Clement Attlee and who else?

-Go for Hugh Gaitskell, Labour.

-OK.

-Yeah?

-Mm-hm.

-Got three answers?

-We think so.

-Yeah.

-OK, we'll stop the clock

with seven seconds in hand.

OK, we were looking for leaders of the runner-up parties

at elections since 1900.

I now need your three answers.

-Hugh Gaitskell.

-Hugh Gaitskell.

-Herbert Atkins.

-Herbert Atkins.

-And Clement Attlee.

-And Clement Attlee.

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

Herbert Atkins.

-Herbert Atkins. We'll put him last.

-Yeah.

-Who's your least confident?

-Hugh Gaitskell.

-Hugh Gaitskell. OK.

So let's put them up on the board in that order.

There they are.

Now, we were looking for leaders of runner-up parties.

What would you do with £2,750?

We live in Poole. We've got a rickety old boat,

so we'd like to upgrade that.

De-ricket the boat. Same boat, just fix it?

No, we'd like to upgrade a little bit.

-Chuck it out and get a new one.

-Get a new one.

-That's very good.

-Yeah.

-We might be able to go out the harbour, then, without worrying about sinking.

-Ah!

Where would the fun be in that, Paul?

This was your least confident answer.

You only need one to be pointless. How hard can it be?

-Oh, yes.

-Only one of them needs to be pointless

for you to win that £2,750 jackpot.

So, let's see if Hugh Gaitskell, your first answer, is correct

and if it is, how many people said it?

-It's correct.

-Ooh!

Very, very good guess. This is your first shot at the jackpot

to win £2,750.

It's still going down.

Down it goes. It's still going down.

-It's there!

-APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Very well done!

Well done, that's fantastic.

Well done.

CHEERING

Brilliant.

-Very, very well done.

-Oh, wow.

Wow. So the sailing ship Gaitskell will be seen.

Yeah, name's going right along it. I hope it's big enough.

-It's quite a long name.

-Yeah. How fantastic.

-Well done.

-That's a surprise.

I can't fault you on your logic and reasoning.

I wonder if any of your other choices were pointless as well.

-Maybe they were.

-It was tough to think of them.

-We were grasping at straws.

-But they were great straws.

Top straws. You managed to find that all-important pointless answer.

Absolutely fantastic.

You will go home with that £2,750 jackpot. Absolutely wonderful.

-So, Richard, how about that?

-Brilliant.

You started with two pointlesses and you finished with a pointless.

Hugh Gaitskell was the leader of the Labour party who lost the 1959 election.

There are loads of pointless answers.

Stanley Baldwin, Ramsay MacDonald, Arthur Balfour,

all pointless answers.

Attlee would have scored you four

-and Herbert Atkins was an incorrect answer, so...

-Wow.

-Yeah.

-..you went with the right one.

Very, very, very well done.

Thanks once again to our winning players, Linda and Paul,

who go away with today's jackpot of £2,750.

-APPLAUSE

-Very well done indeed.

Join us next time when we'll be putting more obscure knowledge to the test.

-It's goodbye from Richard.

-Goodbye.

-And goodbye from me. Goodbye.

CHEERING

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