Episode 18 Pointless

CHEERING

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

and welcome to Pointless, the show where popular answers mean nothing and obscure answers mean everything.

-Let's meet today's players.

-APPLAUSE

So, welcome back, Leisha and Myra. You were on the show last time.

Everyone gets two chances to reach the Pointless final.

Remind us how you did last time.

Well, we sort of lost on the pop songs, unfortunately.

-It was girl bands, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

Boy bands would've been better.

Yeah.

-What do you do, Myra?

-I'm retired,

but very busy.

-And Leisha, how about you?

-I'm a hotelier.

-A hotelier!

-I run a small hotel.

How beautiful! Who's looking after it while you're here?

My husband, of course.

-He's doing everything? Frantically making beds?

-Breakfasts, beds...

-Dear, oh, dear!

-No.

-No.

-LAUGHTER

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

Next we welcome Gavin and Jason. How do you two know each other?

Er, well, we met a few years back through a mutual friend,

and we're now part of a hugely unsuccessful pub-quiz team.

-THEY LAUGH

-Really? Hugely unsuccessful?

-We've never won.

-What do you put your lack of success down to?

-I'm not sure.

-Is it the categories and questions they ask you?

I think it's the lack of youth. There's always a youth angle

-to the questions...

-Yes.

-..to keep the youth demographic happy.

-Hoping to change things.

-Hoping to change things quiz by quiz.

Well, very best of luck to you this afternoon.

Next we welcome back Cliff and Nicki.

You were here last time. Remind us how you did.

We got through to the head-to-head, but then Dad forgot where China was,

-and we went downhill from there!

-LAUGHTER

You don't need to know where China is. It's fine.

It's fine, it's fine. I think great things will happen for you today.

-OK.

-That's my hunch. Well, very best of luck to the pair of you.

And finally we've got Trevor and Isabel.

-How do you two know each other?

-We met in the mid-'70s,

-and we've been married for 34 years.

-Wow! Very well done!

We spend a lot of time together, because for the last 31 years

we've been in a musical duo together.

Oh, fantastic!

A musical duo! You're the singers, are you?

-Yeah.

-Very good indeed.

What's the name of your act? Do you have a name?

We go under the name of Solid Gold.

We have Solid Gold! You didn't tell me you were Solid Gold!

LAUGHTER

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

There's only one more person for me to introduce,

-the curator of all things obscure and pointless. He is my Pointless friend, Richard.

-Hiya.

Hello, there.

Wow, Richard!

-Yeah. I mean, really - wow.

-We've got 'em.

Solid Gold. First noble metal we've had on the show, isn't it?

-It is. You're right.

-Certainly in solid form.

-LAUGHTER

-Yeah.

-We've got a lovely show.

We've got two returning pairs today. We had Nicki and Cliff

in the head-to-head last time, and that usually augurs well for the next show, doesn't it?

People often win when they've been to that head-to-head.

But I think Leisha and Myra will be looking to do better than they did last time.

Gavin and Jason I don't buy at all.

They're a hopeless quiz team. I've never heard such rubbish in my life.

-Hollow!

-Look at the cocky looks on their faces there.

They fancy this, I think. But do you know what?

You cannot, will not and never will beat Solid Gold.

LAUGHTER Not going to happen.

We may as well crown the winners now.

We put all our questions to 100 people before the show,

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

What everyone's trying to do is to find a pointless answer,

an answer that none of our 100 people gave,

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

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

so today's jackpot starts off at a dizzying £5,750.

Right! Let's play Pointless.

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 will be eliminated,

so be very careful that's not you. If anyone gives an incorrect answer,

they will score the maximum of 100 points.

OK. Our first category this afternoon is...

world geography. Cliff...

THEY LAUGH I'll get my coat.

World geography.

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

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

We gave 100 people 100 seconds

to name as many countries ending in N as they could.

Countries ending in N, Richard.

We're looking for any country whose English name ends

with the letter N, and that's according the UN official website.

By country we mean a sovereign state that's a member of the UN

in its own right, so we wouldn't, for example, accept Taiwan

or Great Britain, because it's officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,

-so ends in a D.

-So it does!

-Yeah.

There are 18 countries on the list,

and that's as of the start of 2011.

Right, then, Myra.

Well, I'm not very good on geography, I have to confess,

so I'm going to have to go with one that's probably very, very popular,

and that's Pakistan.

I hadn't thought of that one.

SHE LAUGHS

You are hoping to score as few points as possible.

Let's see if Pakistan is correct, and if it is,

how many people said it. Pakistan.

There we are.

-Ooh!

-24, Myra!

I thought it would be higher than that! Brilliant!

That's a fine score.

-Pakistan, 24.

-Yeah, not a bad score at all, Myra.

Very well done. The world's second- largest Muslim nation, Pakistan,

behind Indonesia. Which ends in an A, everybody.

THEY LAUGH

Now, Jason - I'll be honest, you looked quite happy,

verging on the smug, when this category came up.

There are a few options here.

It's just working out which one could be a pointless one.

What are you thinking, Jason?

There's a country which has a border with China,

-I believe...

-Cliff!

-..called Tajikistan.

Tajikistan, you're going to say. I think that's an excellent answer.

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

Very well done.

I have a feeling this might be going a long way down.

Very, very well done!

APPLAUSE

Four people said Tajikistan.

But could they spell it?

LAUGHTER Yeah. I shouldn't have thought so.

I only can because it's written down here.

It's in Central Asia. Really good answer, Jason.

Thanks very much indeed, Richard. So, Nicki...

-So, Nicki, what do you think about this question?

-Not good!

I'll have another one.

Um, I think it's a country. I don't think I've made it up.

-And I think I'm saying it right. Azerbaijan?

-Azerbaijan.

-Yeah.

-You generally see these written down.

-No-one says them.

-Yes. Say them quite quietly.

HE CLEARS HIS THROAT

Or make sure you're eating something when you say it.

Azerbaijan!

LAUGHTER

You are hoping to score as few points as possible with Azerbaijan.

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

It's right!

Very well done, Nicki.

Ooh, it's still going down. Seven! Very well done indeed.

APPLAUSE

-Azerbaijan, Richard.

-Yeah. Well played, Nicki,

and so long as your dad has a good grasp of geography, you're safely through to the next round.

-Thank you!

-Thanks very much.

Now, then, Trevor, we're looking for countries that end in the letter N.

Right. I'm going to go forward with Yemen.

Yemen. Let's see if that is a correct answer,

and if it is, let's see how many of our 100 people said it. Yemen.

Very good.

Down it comes.

Very, very, very well done, Trevor!

APPLAUSE

That scores you four.

I'd say that was solid gold.

That was solid gold, the equal best score of the round. Well done.

-Thank you.

-Yemen came into being in its present state in 1990.

Very good. Thank you. We're halfway through the round.

Let's take a look at the scores as they stand.

Well, the joint bottoms on four

are Trevor and Isabel and Jason and Gavin on four.

Very, very good low scores there.

Nicki and Cliff not really that far ahead of them on seven,

and then a bit of a leap up to Myra and Leisha on 24,

but that's by no means a bad score.

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

OK. We are looking for countries ending in N.

-Isabel, how brilliant was Trevor's answer there?

-Very good, yeah.

-Yeah!

-Geography's not one of my best subjects.

THEY LAUGH

But I'll have a go with Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan. Very good.

You're on four. The high scorers are Leisha and Myra on 24.

If you can score 19 or less,

Kazakhstan will see you through to the next round.

There's your red line. If you get below that red line,

you are safely through. Good luck.

Let's see how many people said Kazakhstan.

Well done.

Down it comes. Very well done! Through you go. Six!

CHEERING

That's a lovely low score there, Isabel. Six,

taking you just into double figures. Ten.

Enormous country, Kazakhstan. From one end to the other,

-it's the distance between London and Istanbul.

-Wow!

Mmm.

THEY LAUGH

Cliff... Cliff, you're on seven.

Should you score 16 points or fewer with this answer,

you will be safely through to the next round. What are you thinking?

I've had a country in my head since the category first came up.

-And is it the one Isabel just said?

-No, it's not.

The longer I'm stood here, the more I'm convinced I've invented it,

-but I think I'm going to try.

-Narnia ends in A.

LAUGHTER

I'm going to try Gabon.

Gabon.

-AUDIENCE MURMURS

-Oh, listen to that noise!

You hear? Do you not hear?!

-Is that good or bad?

-I don't know!

There's only one way to find out what that noise means,

but it was amazing. It was like the murmur of bees...

..just before they're about to...

-die.

-LAUGHTER

Or...make some honey. I don't know. We're going to discover.

-Um, Gabon.

-OK.

-Where do you think Gabon is, Cliff?

-I think it's in Africa,

or it should be, if it's not.

-LAUGHTER

-OK.

-Here's your red line.

-Yes. CLIFF LAUGHS

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

Is Gabon a country, and if it is, how many people said it? Gabon.

Oh, very well done, Cliff!

He might not know where China is, but, my goodness, he knows Gabon!

Here it goes. Oh, very, very well done!

That's a fabulous score, Cliff.

One point, taking your total up to eight. You're still in single figures.

-Richard?

-Brilliantly played. That's the best answer of the round so far.

And it is in Africa, so we're not going to have to move it there.

Very well done, Cliff. Nicki, how brilliant's your dad?

I know! I think he redeemed himself from last time. Much better.

Utterly! Gavin,

remember, we're looking for countries that end in the letter N.

-You have a mini-challenge and just a side-bet challenge.

-Yes.

The lesser of the two challenges is to remain in the game.

The high scorers remain Leisha and Myra,

at this stage, on 24.

If you can score 19 points or fewer, you're in the game.

But here's the fun side-bet challenge.

Remain the low scorers,

ie score three or less with your answer.

OK. My best bet is staying with the obscure African theme.

I'm going to go with Benin.

Oh! He just... He made a face like this.

LAUGHTER

Right. Below that red line with Benin,

you are through to the next round. I have a hunch

Benin will be going a long way down.

Let's see if that's right.

Well done.

-Well done indeed! Look at that!

-Ooh!

-Oh, fantastic!

Gavin, you've risen to both challenges.

Benin scores you two. Takes your total up to six.

You are the lowest scorers in the round. Richard?

Really well played, Gavin. Benin's a great answer.

It's one of Africa's smallest and most stable countries, Benin.

-Politically, it's stable?

-I don't want to go into the details

of how I measure these things,

but rest assured I have an index of all the countries of the world,

and I rank them on stability. LAUGHTER

And on my ranking, they're one of the most stable countries in Africa.

Let's move on. LAUGHTER

OK. Now,

Leisha and Myra, this breaks my heart.

Your brilliant low score of 24

has just been outshone by...by...

It's almost like these people do nothing but study atlases!

I don't know.

Anyhow, I'm afraid you are already our high scorers,

even before you've submitted your answer. But, Leisha,

out there, something tells me,

below Benin - they don't have to be stable!

They just have to end in N. I think there might be a pointless answer.

Well, it won't make much difference, will it?

No, but what a wonderful legacy,

to leave the show with a little 250-quid pourboire

for these remaining pairs!

Cliff got the Gabon, which is the one I wanted, you see.

Oh, I do see.

So, you know, I was a bit cross about that.

-Yes, I should be. I should be.

-So there's no point, really.

-I might as well go for Sudan.

-Right!

Sudan. Let's see if it's right,

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

-Look at that, Leisha!

-Oh, well!

It's a brilliant score!

APPLAUSE

Sudan scores you nine! It's a brilliant single-figure score.

I can't bear that that doesn't save you in some way,

but I'm afraid your total is 33.

-Richard?

-Yeah, a good answer, Leisha.

It's the last time we'll be able to use Sudan as an answer, as of 2011.

It's splitting up. There were lots of single-point answers, actually.

There's Liechtenstein, Lebanon, Bahrain, Bhutan,

Oman, Jordan... All of those were low scores.

There is one pointless answer here. Let's take a look at what it is.

Russian Federation!

That's a pointless answer. Very, very well done, if you got that at home.

There's Gabon. There's Liechtenstein. We've seen quite a few low scorers.

Let's take a look at the three highest-scoring ones,

the ones most of our 100 people said.

In third it was Iran, on 27.

Spain on 37. Sweden there with 43.

Unusually, we didn't get any of those top-three answers from anybody.

Thanks, Richard. So, at the end of round one, the losing pair

is Leisha and Myra.

And a brilliant score! Everybody answered fantastically on that one.

It's so unfair that you have the highest score at the end.

I'm so sorry, but we have to say goodbye to you.

-Thanks for playing. You've been lovely contestants.

-Thank you.

APPLAUSE

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

Only two pairs can make it through to the head-to-head,

so one of these pairs will be leaving us at the end of this round.

The category for round two is...

..fictional characters.

Decide in your pairs who's going to go first and second,

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

Right. So, our round-two question this afternoon

concerns TV characters and their shows.

We're about to show you a list of characters.

We asked 100 people to tell us which TV shows they are from.

-Richard?

-We're going to show you six characters on each pass.

The more obscure the character, the fewer points you'll score.

If you tell us they're in the wrong show, you'll score 100 points.

And see how many of the 12 you can get at home.

We are looking for the TV shows these characters are from,

and we have got...

-So, then, Gavin!

-Um...

Huggy Bear was a character in Starsky & Hutch.

Huggy Bear, Starsky & Hutch.

As ever, you are looking for the answer that will score you the fewest points.

Let's see if Huggy Bear is indeed from Starsky & Hutch,

and if he is, how many people said it.

It's right.

37.

APPLAUSE

37 for Huggy Bear.

Yeah, 37. It's quite a big score.

Played by Antonio Fargas in the TV show, and by Snoop Dogg in the film.

-Huggy Bear.

-Thanks, Richard. Now, then, Nicki...

Here are the characters. You need to tell me which TV show

one of them is from, a nice obscure one.

What do you think of that lot?

I only know two of them, and one of them was Huggy Bear,

so I'm going to have to go for Dot Cotton, EastEnders.

-Dot Cotton, EastEnders.

-AUDIENCE MURMURS

-There's that noise again!

-LAUGHTER

I think that was a slightly different noise.

It was shorter, wasn't it?

Mmm... Let's see if that's right, and if it is,

let's see how many people said Dot Cotton, EastEnders.

Oh!

Ooh, that's a very high score, Nicki.

Very high score. 86 for that. Richard?

Yeah. Now Dot Branning, of course, played by June Brown.

-That's a huge score, isn't it?

-That is an enormous score.

-One of the most iconic characters on British TV, I guess.

-Yeah.

Right. So, then,

Isabel, remember we're looking for the TV shows

that these characters are from.

Well, I'm looking at Yosser Hughes,

and I can't decide between two -

either Auf Wiedersehen Pet or The Boys From The Black Stuff,

and I can't remember which one.

So because I don't want to take a chance,

and because I think BA Baracus might be slightly less than Dot Cotton,

I'll go for BA Baracus, and that was the A-Team.

Right you are. OK, BA Baracus, the A-Team.

Let's see if that's correct, and if it is,

let's see how many people knew that.

Less than Dot Cotton. 59.

59 for BA Baracus.

Very well done. A better answer, as you say, than Dot Cotton.

Played by Mr T.

So, Isabel, if you'd had to choose Yosser Hughes,

what would you have gone for, do you think?

-Um... Boys From The Black Stuff.

-You'd have been exactly right.

Exactly the right answer, but it would have scored you 31 points.

So big score, but not as much as 59. I suspect it wasn't worth the risk.

Lurcio is from Up Pompeii. Would have scored you 19 points.

And the best answer on the board is Stringer Bell. Xander, do you know him?

He's from The Wire. Six points. Well done if you got that.

Right! Well, we're halfway through the round,

so let's take a look at the scores.

The lowest - again, you see, it's Gavin and Jason!

There they are on 37. Next one up is Isabel and Trevor.

59, not bad at all.

But the contest is going to be between Trevor and Cliff, I feel,

in the next pass. Cliff, 86 was the high score from Nicki there.

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

OK. We're going to put six more characters on the board,

and here they are.

Remember, we're looking for the TV shows these characters are from.

You're trying to find the one that the fewest of our 100 people knew.

Now, then, Trevor,

you're on 59. If you can score 26 points or less,

you're through to the next round.

What's that board look like to you, Trevor?

I know three of them,

one very well, but I'm not going to choose that one.

I'm going to choose Emma Peel, The Avengers.

Emma Peel, The Avengers.

OK. Well, there is your red line. If you get below that red line

with Emma Peel, you are through to the next round.

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

It's right.

Will it get you through?

48, Trevor.

APPLAUSE

It takes your score up to 107.

-Richard, Emma Peel?

-Yeah. Played by Diana Rigg, of course.

Cliff, remember we're looking for the TV shows

that these characters are from.

The high scorers are currently Trevor and Isabel, on 107.

If you can score 20 or less,

you are safe and through to the next round.

I think I know three of them,

but I think they're the three best known.

Gareth Keenan, I'll go for, from The Office.

Gareth Keenan from The Office.

There's your red line there. Below that red line,

through to the next round. Let's see if Gareth Keenan is right,

and if it is, how many people said it. Will it get you through?

It's right.

Yes, it does get you through! Look at that!

APPLAUSE

Very, very well done, Cliff.

Gareth Keenan scores you six. Takes your total up to 92. Richard?

Well played, Cliff. You're having quite a show.

I think people know Gareth from The Office,

but I suspect they don't know Gareth Keenan,

so I think that's why it's six points. Very, very good answer.

Very good. Now, then, Jason, you are on 37.

Trevor and Isabel are our high scorers on 107.

If you can score 69 or less,

you are through to the next round. Now, then, Jason.

I'm... I'm not 100 percent certain of this,

but I'm going to go with Mad Men for Peggy Olson.

Peggy Olson, Mad Men. You're not 100 percent certain?

Mmm... No.

-99.99 percent.

-LAUGHTER

LAUGHTER

So fairly confident.

There's your red line, nice and high up

courtesy of Gavin's good answer in the first pass.

Let's see if Peggy Olson is from Mad Men. If she is,

let's see how many people said it.

Oh! Well done.

And through you go.

Very good indeed.

That scores you six,

taking your score up to 43. Very well done.

Yeah. Well played, Jason. Matching Cliff blow for blow there.

She's from Mad Men, which is set in the 1960s advertising world in New York.

Played by Elizabeth Moss. Hilda Ogden, of course, is Coronation Street,

but would have scored a fairly hefty 84.

-Arthur Daley...

-Minder.

Exactly right. Would've got you 55 points.

And Ruth Evershed is the best answer on the board.

She gets one point. Any ideas?

-Hi-de-Hi?

-Anyone in the audience?

Spooks. One point to the audience. It's the best answer on the board.

Thanks very much, Richard. At the end of round two,

the losing pair with the highest score,

-I'm afraid... Oh, dear! Solid Lead!

-LAUGHTER

Trevor and Isabel, what a shame!

Any kind of commiseratory song you might like to burst into at this point?

I think we'll have to go out singing less and watch more television.

-I don't even know that song.

-LAUGHTER

At least we're going to get an encore.

Exactly. It's been brilliant having you here.

Thank you for playing. We'll see you again next time.

APPLAUSE

But for the remaining two pairs, things get even more exciting now

as we enter the head-to-head.

So, very well done, Gavin and Jason, Cliff and Nicki.

You've made it through to the head-to-head.

Obviously only one pair can make it through and play for the jackpot,

which currently stands at £5,750.

CHEERING

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

For each question, each pair needs to give me one answer, and you are now allowed to confer.

All you have to do is come up with an answer

that scores less than the other pair, and you win that question.

The pair that get the best of three questions will be playing for today's jackpot.

Let's play Pointless.

APPLAUSE

OK. Here is your first question.

We gave 100 people 100 seconds

to name as many Liverpool Football Club managers

as they could. Richard?

We're looking for any manager of Liverpool FC

from 1960 all the way up to the start of 2011.

We won't accept temporary or caretaker managers such as Ronnie Moran

and Phil Thompson, but any manager of Liverpool

from 1960 up to the start of 2011.

There are nine answers on the list.

Gavin and Jason, because you played best throughout the show so far,

-you get to go first.

-THEY WHISPER

Joe Fagan.

You don't think he was a caretaker or anything, was he?

THEY WHISPER

Er, we're going to go for Joe Fagan.

Joe Fagan.

-Cliff and Nicki?

-I think that's a really good answer.

I...

Roy Evans.

Joe Fagan, Roy Evans.

Two excellent answers.

Gavin and Jason, you said Joe Fagan first.

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

Joe Fagan.

Well, it is right.

Down it goes. Oh, look at that!

CHEERING

Very, very well done.

That is pointless!

A pointless answer. That adds £250 to today's jackpot,

taking the total up to a nice round £6,000.

Wow!

Very, very well done, Gavin and Jason.

Now, Cliff, you said Roy Evans. Let's see if that is correct,

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

Down it goes. Down it goes. Oh, look!

ALEXANDER CHUCKLES

APPLAUSE

Another fabulous score!

Very, very well said, Cliff. Roy Evans.

A great answer. Scores you one.

You just reckoned without Gavin and Jason. That was the only problem.

-Richard?

-I was looking forward to this head-to-head.

Two great teams. Those are the best answers you could have given.

Joe Fagan is the only pointless answer there is.

Won the European Cup and the League with Liverpool in the '80s.

There's Roy Evans, who went on to manage with Gerard Houllier.

Evans only won the League Cup. Bob Paisley won 20 trophies

in nine seasons. Two points for him. Houllier got five.

Souness, who was a former player, of course, six.

Roy Hodgson, 12. He only lasted 31 games,

and he was fired. Benitez was fired just before Hodgson.

He also scored 12. Bill Shankly got 15.

Dalglish, 53 points. Brilliantly played, both teams.

Very well done. So, after the first question,

it is one-nil to Gavin and Jason. But only just!

Cliff and Nicki, you have to win this question,

otherwise we say goodbye to you,

and Gavin and Jason go straight through to the final.

Here is your second question. We gave 100 people 100 seconds

to name as many X Factor winners as they could.

We're looking for any winner of the X Factor TV talent contest

up to and including the 2010 series. There are seven names on the list.

And, of course, we mean the UK version of X Factor.

Thanks very much, Richard. Now, Cliff and Nicki,

you get to go first.

THEY WHISPER

I don't know which would be better. I would've said...

-The first one.

-Um...

-I don't know.

I think it's right. Andy Abraham.

Andy Abraham?

-OK, Gavin and Jason.

-Um...

Leona Lewis.

-Leona Lewis.

-Oh...

Oh, oh...

Not the best question, I have to say, but heigh-ho.

OK.

Cliff and Nicki, you know what you have to do with this.

If Gavin and Jason win this question,

we say goodbye to you. Andy Abraham - is it correct,

and if it is, how many people said Andy Abraham?

Oh!

Oh, bad luck,

Cliff and Nicki.

Andy Abraham is an incorrect answer.

Which means, Gavin and Jason, you merely have to be correct

-with Leona Lewis.

-No guarantee of that!

THEY LAUGH

You merely have to be correct.

Leona Lewis - is it right?

Well, is it right? That's all we need to know, really.

It's right!

Down it goes to 46.

You played it safe, and that turned out to be exactly the right tactic.

After two questions, Gavin and Jason are through in straight sets

-to the final. Richard.

-Yeah, that's unlucky, Nicki.

Andy Abraham got through to the final but he didn't win, unfortunately,

and then represented the UK at Eurovision, and didn't win that either.

Let's take a look at all seven winners.

Right at the bottom was the first one, Steve Brookstein,

with nine, then Leon Jackson, as in "whatever happened to Leon Jackson",

ten. Shayne Ward, as in "whatever happened to Shayne Ward", was 20.

Joe McElderry, as in "has anyone seen Joe McElderry recently", got 24.

Then there's Alexandra Burke, 37,

Matt Cardle, the 2010 winner, on 39,

and Leona Lewis with 46, biggest score on the board,

but gets you the points.

Thank you very much, Richard. So the losing pair after the head-to-head,

I'm sorry to say it's Nicki and Cliff.

-Did you have any of the other X Factor winners?

-Yeah.

I wouldn't have got any of them. She knew Steve Brookstein,

the bottom one. We didn't know which to go for, and I was no help at all.

Oh, bad luck, bad luck! So close!

You've made it to the head-to-head in both shows you've been on.

Fabulous team. You've been absolutely fantastic.

I'm so sorry you didn't get through to the final

and walk off with a Pointless trophy and a jackpot, because you certainly deserve it.

-Brilliant contestants. Thank you so much for playing.

-Thank you.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

For Gavin and Jason, it's now time for our Pointless final,

and the chance to win our jackpot of £6,000.

CHEERING

Well, congratulations, Gavin and Jason.

You've seen off all the competition and won our coveted Pointless trophy.

Very well done.

You now have a chance to win our Pointless jackpot.

At the end of today's show, the jackpot stands

at £6,000.

CHEERING

Now, the rules are very simple. To win that money,

all you have to do is find a pointless answer,

an answer none of our 100 people could think of. We've had one today,

and that came from you - Joe Fagan, in the previous round.

You only need to find one more now and you'll go home with that money.

First you've got to choose a category, and here are your three options.

-Er...

-What's it going to be?

I...

-Obscure things in chemistry.

-Obscure things in golf.

-We'll go for chemistry.

-We're being brave.

You're being very brave.

Let's find out what the question is.

We gave 100 people 100 seconds to name as many chemical elements

ending in I-U-M as they could.

-Richard?

-We're looking for any element that ends I-U-M.

We're only looking for elements that have been officially named

by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry -

that's all elements up to atomic number 112,

as of the start of 2011.

You have up to one minute to come up with three answers,

and all you need to win that £6,000

is for just one of those answers to be Pointless.

Your 60 seconds start now.

Strontium.

No. I think we need to go deeper down the periodic table.

-Into the...

-Barium?

-No, no. It can get weirder than that.

The transuranics are where the action is.

-OK. Fire away!

-In a moment.

It's a question of the official names,

because some have had more than one name,

because they've been named by different authorities.

Like polonium, selenium, barium...

Some of them have weird names based on the Latin form of the numbers.

-Some suggestions!

-Unnilpentium.

Then there's also things like lawrencium...

-Rutherford had one named after him.

-Rutherfordium?

-Does that ring a bell with you?

-Sort of. OK.

Do you prefer rutherfordium or lawrencium?

The first one.

Um... Can we go even more obscure than that?

-I'm convinced with selenium.

-No, people know selenium.

-It's, um...

-Five seconds remain.

-It's not weird enough.

-OK. OK.

-Those two I'm happy with.

-There's your minute up.

Remember, we were looking for chemical elements

ending in I-U-M. I now need your three answers.

OK. Unnilpentium.

Unnilpentium?

-And you can go with your one.

-Selenium.

I think it's something to do with batteries. S-E-L-E-N.

Selenium. And one more.

Lawrencium was the third one. We'll go with that one, yes.

Of those three answers, which do you reckon's your best shot at a pointless answer?

-I like lawrencium because...

-You think it's right?

-I'm fairly confident, and yet it's still quite obscure.

-Right.

Lawrencium we'll put last. Which is your least likely to be pointless,

do you think?

-Um...

-Selenium, I think.

-I'd go for selenium.

OK. So selenium, off of the batteries...

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-..goes first.

So let's put those up on the board in that order,

and here they come.

There they are. They look good up there!

Do you have a background in chemistry? You clearly do.

Sad to say, they gave out prizes in school for who did best

in each subject, and I wasn't good at the core subjects,

but I could do French and chemistry, so I scooped.

Jason? I mean, selenium was brilliant.

-Or did you just know that from batteries?

-Just from batteries.

-I like batteries.

-I do, too.

LAUGHTER

We were looking for...

chemical elements ending in I-U-M.

This was your least confident answer. Selenium.

You only need one of these to be pointless

to win that jackpot of £6,000.

OK. Let's put it to the 100. Selenium.

Well, it's right. It's right.

This is your first shot at our jackpot of £6,000.

It has to go all the way down to zero

for you to win that jackpot. Still going down.

Four!

Selenium has scored you four,

so therefore it is obviously not a pointless answer.

Four people also liked batteries...

LAUGHTER

..out of our 100.

You only have two more chances to win today's jackpot. £6,000!

What would you do with it?

Um, I'm getting married next year, so...

-Many congratulations.

-I guess it would go towards the wedding.

Very many congratulations.

APPLAUSE

I've already got a baby daughter,

and bringing those things up doesn't come cheap,

so that's probably what most of it'll get soaked up in.

-Maybe a little celebration.

-We'll have a drink afterwards.

Afterwards. OK. Well, we were looking for chemical elements

ending in I-U-M. Let's hope nobody said your next answer.

I've now got to say it, obviously.

It is unnilpentium.

Unnilpentium. I have the feeling, if this is correct,

it'll go a long way down. Let's see. Unnilpentium.

Is it right? How many people said it?

Oh!

That is an incorrect answer.

You only have one more chance to win today's jackpot of £6,000.

It's lawrencium. You said this was the answer you had most faith in.

This has to be pointless. It's your final shot

at that jackpot of £6,000.

It has to be correct, and it has to go down to zero.

Let's see if lawrencium is a correct answer,

and if it is, how many people said it.

It's right!

It's right. Four people out of that 100 knew selenium.

Unnilpentium was incorrect.

Now lawrencium is correct. It's got to go all the way down to zero

if you're going to win that jackpot - and it has!

CHEERING

CHEERING

-Brilliant!

-CHEERING CONTINUES

Very, very well done.

Many, many congratulations.

You managed to find that all-important pointless answer,

which means you go home with our jackpot of £6,000.

CHEERING

Well done.

Well, I think... I think that's a proper reflection

of your performance on the afternoon, actually,

because you have played phenomenally well,

and you found the very best answers pretty much in every case,

possibly with the exception of Leona Lewis.

LAUGHTER

But absolutely staggering performance,

and a really richly deserved jackpot there. Very well done.

-Rich, what about that?

-Brilliantly played. Really good.

Unnilpentium, as you suspected... There was unnilpentium,

-but it was renamed dubnium.

-Oh.

-Like you care!

THEY LAUGH

Here are some other pointless answers.

Lots of people at home will have done well on this. Cerium,

copernicium, dysprosium - those are all pointless.

There's lawrencium. Nobelium, polonium,

technetium, thallium and osmium.

All of those were pointless answers.

Very well done if you got any of those at home,

although I'm afraid you don't get £6,000.

Well, very, very, very, very well done.

Thanks once again to our brilliant winning players, Gavin and Jason,

who go away with today's jackpot of £6,000.

CHEERING

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

-Meanwhile, goodbye from Richard...

-Goodbye.

-And from me. Goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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