Episode 64 Pointless

APPLAUSE

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

and welcome to Pointless, the quiz show where the aim of the game is to score as few points as you can,

and to do that you need to come up with the answers that no-one else could think of.

Let's meet today's players.

Now, first up we welcome Niall and Sinead. How do you two know each other, Niall?

We went to school together. We actually met on the first day of secondary school.

-First day of school, and you've been friends ever since?

-Yep, 20 years.

-20 years. Where are you from, Sinead?

-We're from Belfast.

-I thought you might have been.

So what are you hoping is going to come up today on Pointless?

I'm hoping for a bit of geography, science, nature, books,

sci-fi books would probably be my best one,

but I'm hoping for maybe Booker Prize winners or something like that.

-OK, very good. Sinead, how about you?

-I'm hoping for none of those things, except for books.

Very good. You're going to be quite a good pair. Very best of luck to you, Niall, Sinead.

-Lovely to have you here.

-Thank you.

Next we welcome Carol and Matt. How do you two know each other, Carol?

-This is my son, Matthew.

-Matthew, where are you from?

-From Wolverhampton.

-From Wolverhampton.

-What do you do there, Matt?

-I'm a primary school teacher.

-Ah!

Primary school teachers always do well on Pointless...ish.

What do you like to get up to when you're not doing that?

I like to go to the gym. I also like most sports, in particular wrestling.

-Really?

-Yes.

-OK. Good stuff.

-Now, Carol, how about you? What do you do?

-I'm a specialist nurse in Wolverhampton.

-A specialist nurse?

-Infection prevention. Lots of hand washing.

-Very good indeed.

What do you like to get up to when you're not doing that, Carol?

When I'm not at work, I like gardening, I like badminton, and I love football.

I'm a big fan of Manchester United.

Well, best of luck to you, Carol and Matt. It's great to have you here.

And next we welcome Jay and Hannah. How do you two know each other?

-We've been friends for the best and probably worst part of about seven years now.

-Worst?

I think I reckon the natural life cycle of a friendship is about seven years, so this might be our swansong.

-You think that Pointless will be the straw that breaks the camel's back?

-Probably.

-Hannah, where are you from?

-I'm from Leicestershire

but I've just moved back because I've just graduated from university.

-Right you are. And what was your degree?

-It was a BA in law.

-Right, OK. Jay, how about you?

I graduated recently as well from an MSc, a master's

-but I didn't want to finish university and now I'm a civil servant.

-OK, very good.

I'm not going to ask any further. That's fine.

-Hannah, what would you like to come up?

-Anything to do with South Africa would be great.

-Or penguins. I'm quite good at those.

-Jay, anything you're hoping doesn't come up?

Anything that's not superficial, like pop music...

Give me anything about the Spice Girls, I'll be fine.

Anything about what happened, when it happened and who did it, not so good.

Jay and Hannah, a warm welcome to the show. Lovely to have you here.

And finally we welcome back Rob and Callum who were on the show the last time,

the heroes of the last show in many, many ways.

Everyone gets two chances to reach the Pointless final. This is your second and final chance.

Our youngest ever contestants on Pointless, apart from anything else.

And, Rob and Callum, remind us how you know each other.

Well, we're friends at college. We've just finished

and over the summer we decided we might as well apply for Pointless and have a go.

Well, and have a go you did! Callum, remind us what happened last time.

By having a go and failing epically. Never watched EastEnders in my life

and I guessed that Heather Trott was played by Barbara Windsor...

-LAUGHTER

-Much to the other audience's amusement too!

Rod, I'm particularly enjoying... Is that like a shooting shirt?

I've no idea. I just walked into a shop and thought that'd look good on Pointless!

It's kind of made for a new parent, it would be quite a useful... useful patch there.

Rob, what are you hoping will come up today? We have high hopes for you.

I don't want to put any pressure on you, but I have a feeling you might be our finalists.

Probably something on either English or politics, probably UK politics or American politics,

-anything else, probably not.

-Callum?

-Music, mainly alternative rock.

So if there's anything by Muse or Biffy Clyro, they'd be quite good for me.

OK. Very good indeed. Anything you're hoping doesn't come up, Callum?

-Well, soaps isn't going to come up, so I'm glad for that.

-No, no, no.

-If it's TV or film, isn't it?

-Not the Spice Girls.

-Not the Spice Girls?

-Not the Spice Girls.

OK. Very good. Well, best of luck, Rob and Callum. It's great to have you back on the show.

We'll find out more about all of you throughout the show as it goes along.

Only one person left for me to introduce. He has the sound of the Pointless tower going down to zero

and a massive round of applause as his alarm clock. That's how he starts every day.

-It's my Pointless friend, it's Richard.

-Hiya.

Hiya.

-How are you? Are you well?

-I'm very well.

-Excellent.

We've only got one returning pair today, that's Callum and Rob, the youngest people ever on the show,

but they were terrific. A lot of people talking about the Spice Girls in your little chats,

which must be the most they've ever been mentioned. Anyone who sticks around to round 2

might either live to regret or love their love of that sort of music!

-OK, brilliant.

-Round 2.

-Ooh! That's actually the alarm clock noise I've got.

-Good.

-Every morning I wake up to...ooh!

-An audience?

-LAUGHTER

Followed by laughter.

-That's nice.

-Yeah.

Good stuff. All our questions on Pointless have been put to 100 people before the show.

In order to get to the final round and be in with a chance of winning our jackpot

our contestants need to find the obscure answers our 100 people didn't get,

so the fewer of the 100 people who knew the answer, the fewer points you'll all score.

Now, what everyone's trying to do, of course, is find a pointless answer,

this is an answer that none of our 100 people knew,

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

Now, Suze and John won the jackpot last time, so today's jackpot starts off at...

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

OK, in this first round, each of you must give me one answer and you cannot confer with your partner.

Whichever pair has the highest score at the end of the round will be eliminated,

so try and make sure that's not you. OK, our first category today is...

World geography. Can you all decide in your pairs who's going to go first and who's going to go second?

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

OK, and the question concerns...

Regions and their modern-day countries.

-Richard?

-Yes. On each pass, we're going to show the name of seven well-known areas or regions.

You just need to tell us in which country will you find that area or region, please.

Give us a nice obscure answer you're going to score fewer points.

Give us an incorrect answer that'll be 100 points. There's going to be 14 in all to have a go at at home,

and as always by country we mean a sovereign state which is a member of the UN.

-Very, very best of luck.

-OK, thanks very much.

Now, then, Niall and Sinead, you drew lots before the show today. You are going to go first.

So we are looking for the modern-day countries in which these regions are located.

And we have got on our first board...

I'll read those one last time.

There we are, seven regions. You need to give me the name of the country

that you think the fewest of our 100 people would have known.

OK. I'm going to go for Crimea and Turkey.

Turkey, says Sinead.

Crimea, Turkey. Let's see if that's right, and if it is let's see how many people knew that answer.

Bad luck, Sinead. I'm sorry, that's an incorrect answer

-which means you've scored the maximum 100 points. Richard?

-Sorry, Sinead.

A brave attempt from that first podium,

but I'll give you the correct answer at the end of the pass.

Now, then, Carol...

OK. I think I will go for Umbria and it will be Italy.

Umbria, Italy says Carol.

Umbria, Italy. Let's see if that's right, let's see how many people knew that answer.

It's right.

APPLAUSE

Well played, Carol. Good start to the show.

The capital is Perugia, Perugia the capital of Umbria.

Jay?

I'm having that awful moment when I know the answer, but I'm doubting myself.

I've been there and my mum's from the country,

so I'm pretty sure that Kerala is in India.

Kerala, India says Jay. Let's see if that's right, and if it is let's see how many people said India.

Absolutely right.

Very well done, Jay.

Excellent score.

Yes, the most densely populated state in India.

It's very interesting. People, I think, underestimate how hard it is to come on this show,

because as Jay says, his mum is from there, he's been there,

but your brain won't let you think it's a correct answer.

It can be very, very tough, especially in this opening round.

Indeed. Now, Rob, you're the last person to have this board. You can talk us through it, if you like.

I was going to go for Kerala, actually, but unfortunately he got there before me.

I think I know where Crimea is, but I'm not going to hazard a guess,

because I know the Crimean War was between Russia and England, so I imagine it's somewhere around Russia.

I'm probably going to play it safe with New England and USA.

New England, USA says Rob. Let's see if that's right, and let's see how many people said it.

Yeah, New England's a pretty big score.

That's one of the six States in the Northeast of the United States.

What would you have gone for for Crimea, Rob, if you'd had to risk it?

Probably say Mongolia.

-It's actually... Do you know the answer to this one?

-Ukraine.

It is Ukraine. Absolutely right. Would have scored 5 points. Very well done if you got that at home.

-Hannah, do you know Eastern Cape?

-I do, it's my home away from home, South Africa.

-Absolutely right.

Sorry it's not on your board. 29 that would have scored you.

Brittany is France of course. Would have scored 75, the biggest answer up there.

-And Thessaly...what do you reckon?

-Greece.

-Absolutely right.

So Crimea is the best answer on that board. Well done if you said that.

Let's take a look at the scores.

Very much the best score on that pass.

So Hannah and Jay looking pretty strong at this point.

Then up to 34 where we find Carol and Matt,

then up to 62 where we find Rob and Callum.

Then, I'm afraid, up to 100 where we find Sinead and Niall.

So, Niall, we're going to need some really good low scoring from you in the next pass.

Have to hope that's enough to keep you in the game. Best of luck.

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

OK, we're going to put seven more regions on the board and here they are.

I'll real those all one last time.

Remember we are looking for the modern-day countries in which these regions are found.

Callum, you're going to try and find the one you think the fewest of our 100 people knew.

Now, the high scorers are still Niall and Sinead on 100, you're on 62.

So if you can score 37 or less, you are through to the next round.

I recognise some of them and no country is coming to mind and I knew one on the last board.

The only thing I can say

and it's because it's got the word California in it, so I'm going to say Baja California is the USA.

But it's going to be 100 and I'm going to look like a fool again.

You're not going to look like a fool at all, Callum. Let's see, USA.

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

Baja California. Is it in the USA, how many people said it if it is?

Bad luck, Callum. Bad luck. I'm afraid that's an incorrect answer which scores you 100 points.

Takes your total up to 162.

Mind you the round is still young. Anything can happen in the next three answers. Richard?

Yeah, absolutely right. Unlucky, Callum. As I said with Jay,

you know what? Sometimes when the board comes up and you're stood up there, it can be very tough.

-I'll give the correct answer for that at the end of the pass.

-OK, thanks, Richard.

Now, Hannah.

The high scorers at the moment are Callum and Rob.

You're through to the next round anyway.

Even if you score 100 points, you won't overtake them.

It's a tough board and I don't know any of them, apart from one which could be one or the other,

so I'll have to have a guess, but thanks to Jay that's OK.

So I'm going to go Algarve and I'm going to go Portugal.

Portugal, Algarve says Hannah. Portugal, Algarve.

There's no red line for you, you're already through, but let's see how many people said Portugal.

It's right.

Takes your total up to 80.

Yeah, another big scorer, Algarve. It's in the south of Portugal, bordering on to the Atlantic.

Now, then, Matt. You are on 34.

The high scorers on 162 are Callum and Rob and they are out of your reach.

-You are through to the next round.

-OK. The board doesn't look too bad.

I've been to one of the places, but I don't think that'll be pointless,

so I'm going to have another go at Baja California cos I think that's Mexico.

Baja California says Matt, Mexico.

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

Absolutely right.

Very well done indeed!

8 for Baja California. Takes your total up to 42. Richard?

Yeah, well played, Matt. Good answer. It's at the top of Mexico, actually borders on to California.

It's home of the most crossed border in the world

which is at Tijuana between the United States and Mexico.

Thanks very much, Richard. Now, Niall, moment of truth.

The high scorers are Callum and Rob on 162. You're on 100.

If you can score 61 or less, you are through to the next round. Talk us through the board.

I know Andalusia is Spain. I think Transylvania is Romania.

I think Mato Grosso is either Brazil or Argentina.

And I'm assuming Cappadocia is Greece, maybe.

And I think Sarawak is either Indonesia or Malaysia.

But I need to play it a bit safer, I think.

I'm going to go for Transylvania and Romania.

Transylvania, Romania says Niall.

Let's see if that's right, and if it is let's see how many people said it. There is your red line.

Get below that, you are through to the next round. Romania.

It's correct.

You've done it.

34, takes your total up to 134. Sees you through to the next round.

Well played, Niall. It was originally part of Hungary, Transylvania,

but was ceded to Romania in 1920.

Dracula's castle was going to be in Austria in the original drafts of Dracula

but moved to Transylvania. Let's fill in the rest of this board.

Niall actually took us through it rather well. Andalusia is Spain, you're absolutely right.

That would have scored 45.

Mato Grosso is Brazil. 2 points that would have scored you.

Cappadocia, it's not Greece. That one is Turkey.

That would have scored 9.

Sarawak, you're absolutely right. It's Malaysia.

That would have scored 3. So Mato Grosso is the best answer on that board.

Well done if you got that.

Thanks very much indeed, Richard. So at the end of our first round, the pair who'll be leaving us

with a high score of 162, I'm afraid, it's Callum and Rob.

Oh, dear, oh, dear! I'm sorry, Callum. That was a really tough board, that second one.

There wasn't really that much in it, but I'm afraid you are the high scorers,

so we have to say goodbye to you. But thanks so much for playing. Great contestants, Callum and Rob.

APPLAUSE

But for the remaining three pairs, it's now time for round 2.

Now obviously there's only going to be room for two pairs in our head-to-head round,

so one of the teams in front of me now will be leaving us at the end of this round.

Carol and Matt, on the strength of that first round, I don't think it's going to be you.

Very good answering there. Baja California particularly, Matt.

Well, very best of luck to all three pairs. Your category for round 2 is...

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

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

OK, let's find out what the question is. We gave 100 people 100 seconds to name as many...

as they could, sister acts. Richard?

Yes, we're looking for the name of any band or duo

who've had a UK top 40 hit up to the beginning of May 2012

who have the word sister or sisters in their title, please.

So any band or duo who have sister or sisters in their title and have had a UK top 40 hit.

Very best of luck. See how many of these you can get at home as well. There's a few.

OK. Thanks very much indeed. Now, then, Niall,

we are looking for a band with the word sister or sisters in their name,

who've had a UK top 40 hit.

I know a couple, but I think I need to take a risk for this round and I'm going to do Swing Out Sister.

Swing Out Sister says Niall. Swing Out Sister.

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

It's right.

Very well done indeed.

-APPLAUSE

-Great answer.

Swing Out Sister.

Good answer, Niall. Very well played. Probably best known for Breakout, do you remember that?

Yes. You remember Swing Out Sister? Sort of slightly jazz, poppy trio.

THEY SCAT THE TUNE

# Breakout! #

Carol, your go.

Carol?

Well, I do know a few. I think I will go back in time, show my age, my seniority,

-and go for the Beverley Sisters.

-The Beverley Sisters says Carol.

Let's see if that's right, and if it is let's see how many of our 100 people said the Beverley Sisters.

It's correct.

Good answer, Carol.

Good answer, Carol. Joy, Teddie and Babs, the Beverley Sisters. They all had the same birthday,

-May 5.

-Weird, isn't it?

-Two of them were twins. So that's not weird.

-That's less weird.

-That's less weird, but the other one had the same birthday.

-They were sisters?

-They were sisters, yeah.

-They were real sisters?

-Yeah, the Beverley Sisters!

I know, but there were bands with Brothers in their names who were by no means brothers.

-Yeah, like the Righteous Brothers.

-Indeed. They're the very ones I'm thinking of.

Swing Out Sister, they were three sisters all called Swing Out.

Elaine, Joyce and Deirdre Swing Out.

-Joyce?

-Yeah, Joyce Swing Out.

-Joyce Swing Out?

That's the worst name anyone's ever had to make up on the spot.

Now, then, Hannah?

I did just have a mind blank but something's just come to me, thankfully.

-I'm going to say Scissor Sisters.

-Scissor Sisters says Hannah.

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

It's right.

48 for Scissor Sisters.

Safe answer, Hannah. Again not real sisters. Only one of them's even a woman.

None of them are scissors.

Their biggest hit, I Don't Feel Like Dancin', a big number one hit in 2006.

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

Now, then, Niall and Sinead,

this time round, the best score of the pass is yours.

Lovely low score of 8, then up to 28 where we find Carol and Matt,

then up to 48 where we find Hannah and Jay.

So you're all on 8s.

Hannah and Jay, you are the high scorers,

so, Jay, we need a really good low-scoring answer from you in the next pass.

We have to hope that's enough to keep you in the game.

Best of luck with that. Can the second players please take their places at the podium?

OK, so remember we are looking for any acts with the word sister or sisters in their name

who've had a UK top 40 hit. Jay?

I think in the back of my mind is a band that is called Shakespears Sister.

Shakespears Sister says Jay. Well, look, you're the high scorers on 48.

You're going to have to hope that Shakespears Sister exists and is a low-scoring answer.

Best of luck. No red line for you as you're the high scorers.

Let's see Shakespears Sister, is it right and how many people said it?

It's right.

17, not bad. Takes your total up to 65.

Could be enough to keep you in the game, Jay.

Yeah, well played, Jay. Their biggest hit was Stay which was another huge number one single.

That was Siobhan from Bananarama and Marcella Detroit.

And they were named after a Smiths song which in turn was named after a Virginia Woolf essay.

Unless they names themselves after the Virginia Woolf essay which is also possible.

Just cut out the Smiths altogether?

Matt?

A couple that others have said I was going to go for. I think I've got an old one as well.

Hopefully, listening to the radio with my mum and dad when I was young is going to help me.

I think there's a group called the Pointer Sisters.

-The Pointer Sisters says Matt, the Pointer Sisters.

-I hope.

The high scorers on 65 are Jay and Hannah. You're on 28 which means you want to be scoring 36 or less.

There's your red line. If you get below that red line, you are through to the next round.

Pointer Sisters. Is it right and how many people said it if it is?

Very well done, Matt! You're through.

Takes your total up to 48.

Well done, Matt. They had big hits with Jump and I'm So Excited.

-They were real sisters.

-They were.

Sinead, the high scorers on 65 are Jay and Hannah.

You're on 8. If you can score 56 or less, you go through to the head-to-head.

OK, most of my answers have now gone, but one has just came into my mind.

I'm going to go for Sister Sledge.

Sister Sledge says Sinead. Sister Sledge. There is your red line.

get below that, you are through to the head-to-head.

Let's see if Sister Sledge is right, let's see how far down the column it goes.

Well done! You've done it!

43 takes your total up to 51.

Yes, Lost In Music, We Are Family, He's The Greatest Dancer, lots of huge hits from Sister Sledge.

I have to say very well done to all the teams here.

I felt sure we'd get at least one 100 score. You picked the top five answers off the list here.

The only big answers that nobody said, funnily enough, were the Sisters of Mercy, the Goth band,

would have scored 10 and Twisted Sister the American heavy metal band would have scored 10 as well.

Apart from that everything very, very obscure.

There's the Kaye Sisters which would have scored 2,

but every single other answer is pointless. Let's take a look.

A lot of these bands are from the late '50s, early '60s,

sort of one-hot wonders.

I only know one thing about the England Sisters, and that is they are the same as the Dale Sisters.

They just changed their name.

Again a couple of older acts here.

The most sisterish answer of all, they had a one-hot wonder,

Sister2Sister, whose hit was called Sister.

So very well done if you said them.

And a couple more.

Thanks very much indeed, Richard. So at the end of round 2 our losing pair with the highest score

is Jay and Hannah. We will see you again next time. We look forward to that very much.

Meanwhile, thanks very much for playing, Jay and Hannah.

But for the two remaining pairs, things are about to get even more exciting with the head-to-head.

Congratulations, Carol and Matt, Niall and Sinead.

You are now only one round away from the final and the chance to play for our jackpot

which currently stands at...

You're now going to go head-to-head and the first pair to win two questions

will be playing for that jackpot, but the big difference is you are now allowed to confer.

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

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

TV game shows, Richard.

Yes, it's going to be a good head-to-head all round this. Nice questions and two good pairs here.

We're going to show you five pictures now of classic TV game shows.

Can you just identify the game shows, please? Good luck.

OK, let's reveal our five TV game shows and here they come. We have got...

There we are, five TV game shows.

Now, then, Carol and Matt, you've played best throughout the show so far, so you first.

OK. THEY CONFER

I know B, C and E.

-I think B would be the best answer.

-B's The Golden Shot.

-We think we know four of them.

-OK.

-We're going to go for the one that I don't know,

-because I think it'll be the better answer.

-We're going to go for B,

which we believe to be The Golden Shot.

B, The Golden Shot.

B, The Golden Shot.

Now, then, Niall and Sinead. You can talk us through the board, if you like, do all your thinking out loud.

We think A is The Price Is Right.

C's The Crystal Maze. D we think is Take Your Pick and E is Play Your Cards Right.

-But we think they've chosen the best answer on the board so...

-We'll go for D as Take Your Pick.

-Yeah.

OK, D Take Your Pick.

So we have B The Golden Shot and D Take your Pick.

Now, then, Carol and Matt have said B is The Golden Shot.

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

It's right.

INAUDIBLE

41. Now, Niall and Sinead, you have said D is Take Your Pick.

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

Oh!

Oh, bad luck, Niall and Sinead. Carol and Matt, well done.

After one question you are up 1-0. Richard?

Well played, Carol and Matt. D is the best answer on the board, actually.

It's not Take Your Pick.

That is Steve Jones and it's The Pyramid Game.

That would have scored you 8 points,

so very well done anyone who got that at home.

-A would have won you the points as well. What did you say for A?

-The Price Is Right.

It's not The Price Is Right, it's the quiz of the week from Norwich,

it is Sale Of The Century.

Nicholas Parsons there, would have scored you 26 points.

C is The Crystal Maze, that's Richard O'Brien,

later presented by Edward Tudor-Pole.

That would have scored 70 points.

That's a big score, isn't it?

And E is Play Your Cards Right, another big scorer, though,

that would have been 67.

-So The Crystal Maze the biggest scorer on that board.

-Lovely!

Marvellous. Here comes your second question.

Now, then, Niall and Sinead, you need to win this question to stay in the game.

Very best of luck. Here it comes. It concerns...

-Richard?

-We're going to show you five clues now to facts about the mission to the moon of Apollo 11.

Can you give us the most obscure answer. Good luck.

OK, let's reveal our five clues to facts about Apollo 11 and here they come.

I'll read those all one last time.

Niall and Sinead, you go first.

THEY CONFER

We'll go for the lift-off rocket was named after Saturn, I think.

Saturn say Niall and Sinead. Saturn.

Now, then, Carol and Matt, you can take us through the board if you like.

OK. Well, the commander of the mission we think would be Neil Armstrong.

We're not sure what year they were born.

THEY CONFER

We've got a bit of indecision about which Apollo it is, so we're not sure about the date now.

So I think we'll play safe, safer, and go for the US State where the mission was launched from,

and they're usually from Texas, so I think I'm going to go for that.

-You're going to say Texas.

-It might be wrong.

Texas, the US State where the mission was launched from.

So we have Saturn versus Texas.

Niall and Sinead, you said Saturn was the name of the lift-off rocket.

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

Absolutely right.

17, lovely low score there. Carol and Matt, you said Texas

is the US State where the mission was launched from.

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

Bad luck, Carol and Matt. Very well done, Niall and Sinead.

That's what you had to do. After two questions, you're back in the game, it's 1-1.

Yeah, Mission Control, of course, in Texas. "Houston, we have a problem," and all that stuff,

but they actually launched from Cape Kennedy in Florida.

And that would have scored you 45 points, so it wouldn't have won you the point.

Saturn, Saturn V, of course, being the rocket. That's a very good answer.

The commander of the mission was Neil Armstrong.

That would have scored 16 points, first man to walk on the moon.

Do you know the first man to urinate on the moon?

Buzz Aldrin.

He's thinking, "I've got to do something."

How did you...? I thought they had to wear spacesuits.

He didn't go behind a bush!

-Oh, I see! He did it in his spacesuit?

-Yeah, yeah.

He might have written Buzz in the moon dust!

-Now, that would've been cool!

-That would've been cool.

All the astronauts were born in 1930.

2 points that would have scored you.

All three of them achieved that extraordinary event younger than we are now.

Your father, Neil Armstrong...

..by the time he was your age, he had walked on the moon and come back.

And the US President at the time of the mission that was Richard Nixon.

That would have scored 23. So the year they were born is the best answer there, a terrific answer

if anyone got that.

Thank you very much indeed, Richard.

So here comes your third question, the decider.

Whoever wins this question goes on to play for our jackpot.

Best of luck to both pairs. It concerns...

The 1997 General Election. Richard?

We're going to show you the names of five MPs now who were first elected to Parliament

in the 1997 General Election.

We're only going to show you the first and last letters of their first and surnames.

Can you pick the most obscure of these? Very best of luck, both teams.

OK, let's reveal our five MPs elected in that year and here they are.

I'm going to read those again without the blanks.

There we are. Now, then, Carol and Matt, you go first this time.

THEY CONFER

I think I know four.

I think I'm going to go for the top one which is, I believe, Oliver Letwin.

Oliver Letwin, you're going to say, Oliver Letwin at the top.

Now, then, Niall and Sinead. Which one do you want to go for?

-Talk us through the board if you like.

-OK.

We think we know all five. Our first pick is gone now.

We think the second one is Charles Clarke, and the third one Martin Bell,

Jacqui Smith and Vince Cable.

-Who'll be the most obscure?

-I think from that Charles Clarke.

OK, you're going to go with Charles Clarke. So we have Oliver Letwin versus Charles Clarke.

Carol and Matt said Oliver Letwin.

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

It's right.

12 for Oliver Letwin.

Niall and Sinead have gone for Charles Clarke.

Let's see if that's right, and if it is let's see how many of our 100 said Charles Clarke.

It's right.

Oh, you've done it! Very well done indeed. 6 for Charles Clarke!

Very well done. Which means after three questions Niall and Sinead are through to the final 2-1.

Well played, both teams. Terrific head-to-head. There is actually one answer that would beat both of them,

and that's Jacqui Smith, which would only have scored you 4 points.

Martin Bell would have scored you 15

and the biggest answer on the board by some way, Vince Cable.

And he would have scored 47 points.

But two very good answers. Well played, both teams.

There we are. Thanks very much indeed, Richard. So our losing pair at the end of the head-to-head

is Carol and Matt. Some very, very good answering there.

-Texas, you were unlucky. You were thinking of Houston, weren't you?

-Yeah. My mum said Florida,

but we got kind of mixed up with the Apollo missions. I thought Neil Armstrong would be a lot higher,

-to be honest with you, so...

-Well, maybe our 100 got mixed up as well.

-Yeah, maybe.

Every chance they might have done.

Anyway, it's been great having you on the show. We look forward to seeing you next time.

You did so well. Low scores in every round.

I'm sure you'll come back and do just as well if not better next time.

Meantime, thanks very much for playing, Carol and Matt.

Thank you. Good luck.

But for Niall and Sinead, it's now time for our Pointless final!

Well, congratulations, Niall and Sinead.

You 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 is...

Well, there we are. Very exciting head-to-head there.

You came from 1-0 down to win 2-1.

Did you ever think you were going to make it all the way through to the final

in your first Pointless appearance?

-Well, we're pretty pleased.

-We're happy to be here.

Of course, you started with a high score of 100 as you came out the traps there.

Well, very, very best of luck. The rules are simple.

To win the money, all you have to do is find a pointless answer. We haven't had any on today's show.

You only have to find one now and you will leave with that jackpot.

First, though, you've got to choose a category. You have a choice of five options. They are...

-Not Katie Price.

-Not country music stars.

-Or European theatre.

-You're really good at sports and all that.

-I thin we'd both be good at classic literature.

It's not really...

-Will we do that?

-Let's go for classic literature.

-We'll go for classic literature.

OK, let's find out what the question is. Here it comes. We gave 100 people 100 seconds

to name as many works by William Golding as they could.

Works by William Golding, Richard?

Yes, we're looking for the title of any published works by William Golding,

please, not including his radio plays.

When it comes to collections of short stories,

we want the name of the collections, rather than the individual short stories.

And where he has published books in trilogies, we want the names of the individual books,

not the names of the trilogies, so we wouldn't accept the To The Ends Of The Earth trilogy, for example.

-Very, 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 £1,000 is for just one of those answers to be pointless.

-Are you ready?

-Yeah.

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

-I know Lord Of The Flies.

-Lord Of The Flies is the only thing I know.

-Do you know anything else that he put together?

-No.

-Think of anything we did in school.

Lord Of The Flies would have been the only thing.

We'll have to think of something, something like Brothers And Sisters or...

-Brothers In Arms or something like that?

-That's Ernest Hemingway.

-Er...

-Yeah.

Any other author but this!

Brothers In Arms, The Island, something like that, and Lord Of The Flies.

-Did he write any movies and direct anything or...anything that would have been an adaptation?

-20 seconds.

Er...think of famous movies. That might be a way to go.

-Castle or something that, maybe one-word answers or something.

-Yeah.

-The Runaway, something like that. I'm trying to think of other famous books.

-Lord Of The Flies...

-Brothers in Arms...

-10 seconds left.

-The Runaway.

-The Runaway.

-OK.

OK, have you come up with your three answers? We'll stop the clock.

We were looking for works by William Golding. I now need to know what your three answers are.

-Lord Of The Flies.

-Lord Of The Flies.

-The Castle and The Runaway.

-The Castle and Runaway.

-Yeah.

-OK, there we are.

Three answers. Of those three, I think I know which is probably your best shot at a pointless answer,

Lord Of The Flies, we'll put that last. Of the other two, which one do you want to put first?

-The Castle.

-The Castle. OK. Let's put those up on the board in that order and here they are.

OK, so we were looking for works by William Golding.

The Castle was your first answer.

Remember, you only have to find one pointless answer to win that jackpot of £1,000.

The Castle. Let's see if it's right, and if it is let's see if anyone said it.

No. Bad luck.

I think you'd have been quite surprised if that had started going down!

But there we are. Unfortunately not a pointless answer

which means you only have two more chances to win today's jackpot.

Just in case you were to win that £1,000, Niall, what would you do with it?

I think I'd go on a big holiday, put it towards that, Spain or something.

-Sinead?

-I'm getting married next year so the money would come in handy for our wedding.

Many congratulations. Let's just hope one of your two remaining answers might win that jackpot.

OK, we are looking for works by William Golding. Let's hope nobody said your next answer, Runaway.

It has to be correct, obviously, then it has to be pointless for you to win that £1,000.

But let's just see, did anyone say Runaway? Is it right?

Oh, bad luck!

OK, so your last chance. Everything is riding,

as I think you knew it probably would, on Lord Of The Flies.

We're looking for works by William Golding. This is your third and final answer.

Let's see, Lord Of The Flies. I think we know it's right.

Let's just see how many people said it.

Well, it's still going down. If this goes all the way down to zero...

-APPLAUSE

-52.

-Oh, well.

Well, unfortunately, you didn't manage to find that all-important pointless answer,

but you do still get to take home our Pointless trophy, so very, very well done for that.

-So, Richard...

-Yeah, that was a very tough jackpot category.

You played terrifically well all the way through.

Our 100 seem to have done spectacularly well as well. There are only four pointless answers.

Even ones like The Brass Butterfly, The Double Tongue all scoring points,

so if you said them well done but not a pointless answer. There are only four.

And very well done to anybody who got any of these.

A journey he and his wife took up the Nile in 1984.

Poems ss a collection of poems he published more than 20 years before Lord Of The Flies.

And finally...

..which is collected journalism and short essays.

If anybody got any of those at home, very well done. That's very impressive.

Well, unfortunately, we do have to say goodbye to you, Niall and Sinead,

-but it's been wonderful having you here. Thank you both so much.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

APPLAUSE

Well, Niall and Sinead didn't win our jackpot today which means it rolls over on to the next show

when we will be playing for...

-Join us then to see if someone can win it. Meanwhile it's goodbye from Richard...

-Goodbye.

And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd