Episode 35 Pointless

APPLAUSE

Thank you very much. Hello, I'm Alexander Armstrong and welcome to Pointless.

This is the quiz show where all the questions have been asked to 100 people before the show

and our contestants have to come up with the answers those 100 couldn't think of. Let's meet the players.

APPLAUSE

-And couple number one.

-Hello, I'm Luke, this is my girlfriend Carolyn,

I'm from London and she's from Boston in America.

-And couple number two.

-Hello, my name is Kevin,

this is my wonderful friend Karen who I have known for 25 years and we come from the West Midlands.

-Couple number three.

-Hello, I'm Alex, this is my dad Mike

-and we're from North Newbald near Beverley.

-And finally, couple number four.

I'm Katy, this is my friend Lynne,

we first met when we were 11 and we come from the New Forest.

-And these are today's contestants.

-APPLAUSE

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

So that just leaves one more person to introduce.

A beefy bailiff knocking on your door, ready to repossess your ignorance.

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

Hiya. Hi, everybody. Hiya. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

What kind of a show have we got today?

We've got two returning pairs. Mike and Alex, who we saw very briefly.

-Do you remember them?

-Yes.

-It was a blink and you miss them.

-Yes.

They've got a lot to make up. Alex says he's more nervous this time, Mike says he's much calmer.

I don't quite know where that's coming from but it'll be interesting to see how they go.

And Katy and Lynne were terrific last time. I suspect they'll do well. We gave them a tough category

in round two. But it should be a cracker, I think. Should be a lot of fun.

-We've got four good pairs. And we've got an American!

-Always nice.

That's nice, isn't it? Always nice to have our colonial cousins over.

-In a good way.

-I'm trying to get "re-pay-triated."

See, we would say "re-pat-riated." LAUGHTER

-I'm working on it, I'm trying.

-But that's the nice thing, isn't it?

Well, good stuff. Thanks, Richard.

All our questions have been put to 100 people.

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

Everyone's trying to find a pointless answer, that's an answer that none of our 100 people gave.

Each time that happens, we will add £250 to the jackpot.

Phil and Emma didn't win the jackpot last time, so we add another £1,000.

So today's jackpot starts off at £8,250.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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

-APPLAUSE

OK, in this first round, I want an answer from each of you but there is to be no conferring.

At the end of the round, whichever pair has the highest score will be heading home.

Our first category today is...

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

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

And the question concerns...

-Surnames beginning with H, Richard.

-We're going to give you seven clues on each pass

to famous people who are commonly known by a surname beginning with H.

Can you give us the most obscure? There'll be 14 in all to have a go at at home. Good luck.

We'd like you to give the full names of these people whose surnames begin with H.

OK, our first board looks like this.

I'll read those all one last time.

There we are, seven people whose surnames begin with an H.

Carolyn and Luke, you all drew lots before the show and today you are going first.

-Carolyn, welcome to Pointless.

-Thank you.

-Great to have you here.

-You live in London.

-I do, yes.

-How long have you lived here?

-Nearly seven years.

-Right. And you came here for Boston.

-I did, yeah.

-Where did you meet Luke?

-We met at his work's tenth anniversary party.

So a friend of mine worked with him and I went to the party with my friend

and then met Luke.

-We met before that, but...

-That's right.

We met before that but he forgot that we met, so...

Seems like you have too, now.

-It's a bit awkward.

-OK. And what do you do, Carolyn?

-I'm a medical student, actually.

-Good stuff.

Now then, Carolyn, this board of famous people beginning with H.

-Yes.

-What do you make of it?

-It's not great

but it's not terrible, I hope.

So I think I'm going to go for the founder of Dianetics

and Scientology and say L Ron Hubbard.

L Ron Hubbard. OK, let's see if L Ron Hubbard's right and how many of our 100 people said it.

It's right.

-Six.

-APPLAUSE

Very well done. That's a cracking score, Carolyn. Well done.

-Six for L Ron Hubbard.

-Well played, Carolyn. Great start.

And L Ron Hubbard was another American who made his home in the UK.

-He lived near East Grinstead for many years.

-There we are. Thank you.

Now then, Karen, welcome to Pointless. What do you do?

I'm a network administrator for an educational IT company.

What do you like doing in your spare time? What's your favourite occupation?

I write, I go quizzing and I watch speedway.

-So what do you write?

-Fiction.

I did a creative writing degree part-time over six years.

And how many things have you written? Have you finished novels?

I haven't finished anything. We don't finish anything on the writing degree, we start and end things.

-We don't do the middle bit. So...

-SHE LAUGHS

There's a course there I'm going to set up.

I'm going to do a middle bits course.

-Also, that's the easiest bit.

-Yeah, chapters two through 19. It's going to be amazing.

-And you quiz!

-Yes.

-Do you quiz together?

-Yes, we quiz together.

-In a team?

-Smooth Operators.

-Ah! Good. Thank goodness.

I always like a team name that doesn't have a pun in it.

-Unless I'm missing something there. Hang on. No, I don't think I am. Who came up with that name?

-Kevin.

-She said, almost too quickly.

-LAUGHTER

Now then, Karen, what about these famous people whose surnames begin with H?

I think I'll have a go at the director of The Da Vinci Code,

-Ron Howard.

-Ron Howard.

Ron Howard, OK. Let's see if that's right, and if it is, how many of our 100 people said Ron Howard.

Absolutely right.

Well, six is our lowest score so far.

-Nine! Very well done, Karen.

-APPLAUSE

-Ron Howard.

-Yeah, also directed A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13

-and was an actor before he was a director. Richie Cunningham in Happy Days famously.

-Mike.

-Welcome back. Last time, Mike, talk us through it.

-Last time?

-Yeah.

-I've blanked it from my memory.

We had a tough round on parliamentary terms.

-Yes.

-Yeah, which wasn't good for us.

-No, civil list was a good answer.

-Well, yeah, I was being polite here by saying us.

-LAUGHTER

-Now, Alex.

Yeah, we'll come to you in a moment.

Mike, famous people beginning with H.

It's not too bad for me, this one. I'll go for the comedian

-who starred in The Road To Singapore, Bob Hope.

-Bob Hope, says Mike.

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

-Ooh, another low score. Look at that. 11.

-APPLAUSE

Not bad at all.

-Some lovely low scoring here.

-Yeah.

-89,000 pages of Bob Hope jokes

are preserved in the US Library of Congress.

-Wow.

-Written by lots of writers over the years,

but they're preserved for posterity.

-That's a lot of jokes, isn't it?

-It's an awful lot of jokes.

-Katy, welcome back to Pointless.

-Thank you.

So round two last time. What was it?

-Music.

-Music.

-Oh, yes, that's right, it was animal bands!

-Yes.

-OK.

Now, Katy, you're the last person to have this board, so you could talk us through it.

I can't talk us through it.

I only know two that are left

and unfortunately they're both going to be really high-scoring.

I'm not sure which of the two is going to be the least high-scoring.

I've got a feeling more people would know the F1 driver

than a member of the Beatles, but that's probably not true.

I'm just going to have to go for the member of the Beatles,

-George Harrison.

-OK, George Harrison, says Katy.

Let's see how many people didn't know that.

-Well, it's still going down. 45.

-APPLAUSE

That's better than it could've been, Katy. A lot better.

-Yeah, not too much damage done but it is the biggest scorer up there.

-Oh.

If you had gone for the racing driver, Lewis Hamilton,

would've scored you 38 points.

The other two are better answers.

-Released the album Are You Experienced?

-Jim Hendrix.

-Would've scored 14 points.

-You know the film The Royal Tenenbaums?

-Yes!

-Do you remember who plays Royal Tenenbaum, the father?

-No.

-Very well done to anyone who said Gene Hackman.

-Oh.

-Gene Hackman would've scored you six points.

So Gene Hackman and L Ron Hubbard the best answers up there. Well played.

We're halfway through the round. Let's look at the scores.

Six the best score of that pass, Carolyn. Very well done indeed.

Then up to nine, where we find Karen and Kevin.

11, Mike and Alex. And then 45, quite a long way ahead, Katy and Lynne.

So Lynne, you'll get first pick of the next board.

But use it wisely. Find a nice low-scorer if you can.

Best of luck. We'll come back down the line. Second players, take your places.

OK, let's put seven more famous people on the board and here they are.

I'll read those all one last time.

Now, remember, we are looking for the full names of these famous people

whose surnames begin with an H.

-Welcome back, Lynne.

-Thank you.

-Remind us where you're from.

-We're from the New Forest.

How long have you and Katy known each other?

-We met at school when we were 11.

-Wow.

-And did you like each other instantly?

-Well, we had an empathy,

cos we were the two skinniest girls in the school before it was fashionable.

-LAUGHTER

-And you decided to put your friendship to the ultimate test.

-I know.

-And take yourselves onto Pointless.

-Yes, I know.

Well, Lynne, you have to do something worthy of a friend here.

You have to see if you can find a really low score.

Well... Hm.

I'm going to take a bit of a chance because we are the high scorers

and I'm going to go for the first person to hold the title Director of the FBI

and I hope it was Herbert Hoover.

Herbert Hoover, says Lynne.

No red line for you. Just have to hope this goes a long way down.

Let's see if Herbert Hoover is right.

No!

I'm afraid Herbert Hoover sucks.

LAUGHTER

-Oh, dear.

-That's a wrong answer, scores you the maximum of 100 points,

takes your total up to 145. I'm sorry, Lynne.

-It's OK.

-Sorry, Lynne. I'll give you the correct answer at the end of the pass.

Now then, Alex. Listen, Alex, I've got great news for you.

-You're going to see what round two looks like.

-LAUGHTER

You are through to the next round even if you score 100 points.

That said, you are nonetheless going to have to give us an answer

and I think you might have some good answers from that board.

That board's certainly better than the board that I had last time.

There's a few on there. I'll go for directed Vertigo and Psycho,

-Alfred Hitchcock.

-Alfred Hitchcock. Let's see if that's right, and if it is, how many of our 100 said it.

There's no red line for you, you're already through.

It is right.

-29 for Alfred Hitchcock. Takes your total up to 40.

-APPLAUSE

-That's a low score of Hitchcock, isn't it?

-Isn't it?

-Yeah.

Now, Kevin. Kevin, lovely low score from Karen in the first pass.

-Wasn't that fantastic?

-Superb.

-Great to have you here, Kevin. What do you do?

-I run my own small engineering supplies company.

-The company's small or the engineering's small?

-It's small parts that are used to make cars.

Right you are. And what do you like doing in your spare time, Kevin?

I enjoy playing golf. I like to play golf a lot.

And I also enjoy going to quizzes with my wonderful friend Karen.

OK. Now then, Kevin, what about this board?

-Have you got a nice low-scoring answer for us? You are already through.

-Of course.

Erm, well, as luck would have it, there's one on there that I do particularly know

and that's because I'm a huge fan of The Jungle Book.

And the actor who voiced Baloo in The Jungle Book was Phil Harris.

Phil Harris, says Kevin. Luke was nodding at that.

-Was that your answer?

-Yeah, I think he was also the voice of Little John

-in Robin Hood.

-He was.

-He was?

-In Robin Hood.

-You are right to nod. I thought you were just nodding like I would nod

if someone gave a good answer and I had no idea. Phil Harris, says Kevin.

No red line, you're already through. Is it right? How many people said it?

It's right.

Still going down! Oh, look at that! Very well done, Kevin!

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-That is a pointless answer.

It adds £250 to today's jackpot, it takes the total up to £8,500.

It scores you nothing, earns you considerable respect

and leaves your total at nine. Very well done indeed, Kevin.

Yeah, well played, Kevin. Great introduction to the show.

Also well done Luke, cos he was Little John in Robin Hood, as well.

-Do either of you know which character he played in The Aristocats?

-Was that Thomas O'Malley?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-LAUGHTER

I'm going to have to change round two just very... LAUGHTER

-Anyway, Luke.

-Hello.

-That was one of the answers you might have given.

To be fair, I probably wouldn't have taken a punt on it,

so I wouldn't want to take away all of Kevin's glory for getting the pointless answer.

-What do you do?

-I'm a financial regulation consultant.

What do you like doing when you're not doing that?

I like playing sports, cooking, catching up with Pointless on the iPlayer.

LAUGHTER

-Yeah.

-You can get Pointless on the iPlayer now, can't you?

-Download it whenever you want, watch it at your leisure.

-Yeah.

Watch it on the train if you want to. You could watch it on a submarine

if you've got it downloaded, should you so desire.

Not if you're driving the submarine. Not if you're the submarine driver.

I think you probably can because you'll have machines to beep.

-No, you've got to look out the window.

-It'd be embarrassing if you had a prang with another submarine

-because you were watching the head-to-head.

-LAUGHTER

-Now, Luke.

-Yes.

-Luke, the board is all yours.

We want the full names of these people whose surnames begin with H.

I think the actress who divorced Tom Cruise,

continuing the Scientology theme, was Katie Holmes maybe.

The Scottish philosopher I don't really know. Someone Hobbs, maybe? Thomas Hobbs?

And then the founder of Playboy magazine I'm fairly sure

is Hugh Hefner.

Why are you shaking your... Are you just ashamed that Luke knows this answer?

-Of course he would know that answer!

-I think we've worked out you're good on cartoons and pornography, Luke.

-LAUGHTER And a little ropey on everything else.

-Very concerning.

-Very concerning.

-What are you going to go for?

I think I'm going to go for the founder of Playboy magazine, Hugh Hefner.

Hugh Hefner, says Luke. Let's see if that's right and how many people said it.

No red line, you're already through.

-45. Takes your total up to 51.

-APPLAUSE

Yeah, Hugh Hefner. He is 60 years older than his wife.

Each to their own. Each to their own.

Now, the first person to hold the title Director of the FBI,

you weren't a million miles out. It's not Herbert Hoover, it's J Edgar Hoover.

-Ohh.

-Which I'm sure you knew.

-Yes.

-It's just one of those things that gets in your head and won't go away.

12 points it would've scored you. Would've still knocked you out

but would've been a very good answer.

The actress who divorced Tom Cruise, you're right, Luke, Katie Holmes.

Would've scored you 36 points so would've been a big scorer.

The actress who portrayed Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises is Anne Hathaway.

And the Scottish philosopher is David Hume.

Well done if you said that. Would've scored two points.

Best answer up here, Phil Harris, which everybody seemed to know, weirdly.

Well, there we are. Thanks, Richard. At the end of our first round,

the pair heading home with the highest score is Lynne and Katy,

one of our two returning pairs. I'm so sorry we have to say goodbye already.

Anyway, Lynne, Katy, it's been great having you on the show. Thanks for playing.

APPLAUSE

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

APPLAUSE

So, just three pairs remain.

Best of luck. Our category for round two is...

Decide in your pairs who'll go first, who'll go second.

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

OK, let's find out what the question is.

We gave 100 people 100 seconds

to name as many African countries with repeated vowels as they could.

-Richard.

-We're looking for any African country

which has at least one repeated vowel in its name. Could be two As, two Os, two Es, two Is or two Us.

Any African country with at least one set of repeated vowels in its name.

By country we mean a sovereign state that is a member of the UN in its own right. Very best of luck.

OK. So, African countries with repeated vowels in their names.

-Carolyn.

-Yes. OK.

A few come to mind.

Erm, I think I'm going to chance it.

I think I'm going to be bold and say Guinea-Bissau.

Guinea-Bissau, says Carolyn.

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

It's right.

Very well done indeed, Carolyn! Guinea-Bissau is a pointless answer!

-APPLAUSE

-It adds £250 to today's jackpot, takes the total up to £8,750!

It scores you nothing. Very well done indeed.

What a show. Very well played, Carolyn.

Yeah, there's two Is and two As in Guinea-Bissau.

And two Us, as well, now I think about it. LAUGHTER

-Kevin.

-Yes.

-We're looking for African countries that have repeated vowels in their names.

-I'll go with the country Goa.

-Goa.

-Yes.

-OK, Goa, says Kevin.

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

Bad luck, Kevin, I'm afraid Goa a wrong answer, scores you the maximum of 100 points.

Yeah, not an African country, Kevin, I'm afraid. It's a state in India.

-But not a country in Africa.

-OK, Mike.

Yeah, erm, I can think of one or two, but I'll go for Togo, T-O-G-O.

Togo, says Mike. Let's see if Togo's right and how many of our 100 people said it.

It is right.

-Three. Very well done, Mike.

-APPLAUSE

-Three for Togo.

-Terrific answer, Mike. Well played.

It's a former German colony. Lome, the capital of Togo, has its own version of Oktoberfest.

-If you're ever in Togo.

-I bet they have delicious sausages, as well.

They do, they have German sausages, they drink German beer,

but all on the coast of Africa.

There we are. We're halfway through the round, let's look at the scores.

Zero the best score of that pass, Carolyn. Very well done to you.

Then up to three, where we find Mike and Alex.

Then, I'm sorry, it's a massive journey up to Kevin on 100 points.

Who knows what might happen in the next pass, Karen? It'll require a low score from you.

Best of luck. We'll come back down the line. Second players, take your places.

OK, we're looking for African countries that have repeated vowels in their names.

Now, Alex, looking pretty strong on three,

considering our high scorers are on 100.

So a score of 96 or less will get you into the head-to-head.

Yeah, erm,

there's a few that I could do that are quite safe,

but go hard or go home is the motto to go by,

so I think I'm going to go for the Democratic Republic of Congo.

OK, Alex, there is your red line. Get below that, you're through to the head-to-head.

How many people said the Democratic Republic of Congo?

It's right.

-Four! Well played, Alex.

-APPLAUSE

That takes you down to seven.

I tell you, it's only on Pointless where saying Democratic Republic of the Congo

would count as going hard or going home.

Er, yeah, it's got four Os, three Es and two Is, as well.

-Used to be called Zaire, which wouldn't count.

-Indeed.

Karen. We're looking for any African country with a repeat vowel in its name.

-Botswana.

-Botswana.

Is it right? How many people said it? No red line for you, you're the high scorers.

It's right.

-13 for Botswana.

-APPLAUSE

Takes your total up to 113.

Yeah, two As in Botswana. A person from Botswana is called a Motswana.

-If you meet someone from Botswana.

-That's good to know.

-Luke.

-Hello.

-Great news.

-What's that?

-You're through.

-Excellent!

-You're through to the head-to-head.

-Good.

Courtesy, in part, to Carolyn's lovely low score and Karen and Kevin's high score.

We're looking for African countries that have repeated vowels in their names.

Do you think you can match that pointless answer?

-I going to give it a go.

-I think you might.

-I think that's the spirit of the game.

I'm going to try for Equatorial Guinea.

Equatorial Guinea. So we've had Guinea-Bissau, now Equatorial Guinea.

No red line for you, you're already through. Let's see how many people said Equatorial Guinea.

It's right.

-Very well done! Another pointless answer!

-APPLAUSE

Adds another £250 to today's jackpot,

takes the total up to £9,000.

It scores you nothing. It leaves your total at nothing.

-Very well done, Luke and Carolyn.

-Terrific play. Well done.

A double pointless is a rare thing indeed. Equatorial Guinea.

No part of Equatorial Guinea is on the equator.

-That's my fact about Equatorial Guinea.

-Wow.

It's just lies, lies, lies with that lot, isn't it?

Well, most of it is above the equator

and one tiny bit of it is below the equator, so it sort of straddles it,

-but none of it is actually on the equator.

-Wow.

-There you go.

-There we are.

Let's take a look at some pointless answers. There's plenty here.

Some people are very good at geography so people will be shouting out some of these.

Djibouti would've been pointless. Well done if you said that. There's Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.

We had those from Carolyn and Luke. Mauritius would've been pointless.

Sao Tome and Principe. The Seychelles was a pointless answer.

I'll give you a few of the low ones.

Burkina Faso would've scored you one.

Cape Verde and Sierra Leone would've scored you two.

If you're wondering where Central African Republic was, it scored two points. Never pointless anymore.

-Too many people have heard of it.

-Yeah.

Also you'd have got three points for Burundi, the Comoros and Swaziland.

South Sudan, Eritrea, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo scored four.

Let's take a look at the biggest answers that most of our 100 people said.

Morocco with 31. Look at all those Os.

Ghana with 31, as well. Couple of As there.

And Nigeria, two Is, 36 points.

Thanks very much indeed. Well, I'm afraid, at the end of our second round,

Karen and Kevin, you are our high scorers.

We'll look forward to seeing you again next time.

But in the meantime, thanks for playing. Karen and Kevin. Great contestants.

APPLAUSE

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

APPLAUSE

Congratulations, Mike and Alex, Carolyn and Luke,

you are all one step closer to the final and a chance to play for our jackpot,

-which currently stands at £9,000.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well, to decide who's going to play for that money, you're now going to go head-to-head.

You're now allowed to confer. The first pair to win two questions will be playing for that money.

Mike and Alex. A, well done, round one last time, here you are, head-to-head.

B, well done, you're the lowest-scoring pair

-against the pointless people here!

-Amazing.

-Carolyn and Luke,

who gave us a double pointless in the second round and lovely low scoring in the first round.

However, we did have quite a high score for Hugh Hefner.

-And frankly, Carolyn, I think he deserved that.

-Yeah, that's what happens

-when you say Hugh Hefner on national television.

-Yeah.

-You go tawdry, Luke, you score big.

-Retribution is fast.

-Yeah.

So very well done. Best of luck to both pairs.

This is going to be an exciting head-to-head. Let's play it.

APPLAUSE

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

-Turner Prize nominees, Richard.

-We're going to show you five pictures of artists

who've been nominated for the Turner Prize. Can you identify the most obscure?

OK, let's reveal our Turner Prize nominees. Here they come.

There we are, five Turner Prize nominees.

Mike and Alex, you've played best so far so you get to go first.

THEY WHISPER

-Er, C, Tracey Emin.

-C, Tracey Emin, say Mike and Alex.

Carolyn and Luke, do you think you can take us through the board?

Erm, not quite.

Well, have a crack at it. See how many of those names you can supply.

OK. So, I think B is Damien Hirst.

E, maybe Gilbert & Scott?

-No, Gilbert & George.

-Gilbert & George.

And A I think is Sam Taylor Wood.

-How sure are you on A?

-Erm...

Not that sure, so maybe we should go E.

-I think we should go for A.

-OK, all right, we'll say A, Sam Taylor Wood.

Sam Taylor Wood you're going to say for A. So we have Tracey Emin versus Sam Taylor Wood.

Mike and Alex said Tracey Emin. Let's see if that's right, let's see how many people said Tracey Emin.

It's right.

-39.

-APPLAUSE

39 for Tracey Emin.

Now, Carolyn and Luke have gone out on a bit of a limb

and have said Sam Taylor Wood for A.

-Not confident.

-No.

-Well, let's find out.

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

Yes, it's right.

And...

..it also beats Tracey Emin.

-That's a great score. Two.

-APPLAUSE

Very well done, Carolyn and Luke.

After one question, you are up one-nil.

-Carolyn and Luke's scores have been unbelievably low.

-Haven't they?

-Hugh Hefner aside.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, Sam Taylor Wood.

She also directed the film Nowhere Boy.

-B.

-Damien Hirst.

-Damien Hirst, yes.

He would've scored you 13 points.

D is the best answer on the board, it's a pointless answer.

Someone else who's gone on to make a number of films, Steve McQueen.

Very well done if you said that.

And E is Gilbert & George.

You're absolutely right. And that would've scored you 11 points.

-Very well done to anyone who got all of those.

-Thank you.

OK, here comes your second question. Mike and Alex,

you'll get to answer this one second but you have to win it to stay in the game. Best of luck.

It concerns...

We're going to show you five attractions now that you'd commonly find at a funfair

but we've taken out alternate letters. Can you fill those in and give us the most obscure?

Thanks, Richard. Let's reveal our five funfair attractions

with parts missing, and here they are.

-I'll read those again without the blanks.

-Can I scream if I want you to go faster?

-LAUGHTER

-Would you?

There we go. Now then, Carolyn and Luke, you get to go first this time.

THEY WHISPER

-What do you think?

-It's tough to know which is going to be the lowest.

Yeah. What are your thoughts?

I think you should go with your instinct on this one.

-Agh!

-That means I don't know.

-Passing the buck.

-Yep.

OK. I think...

..we will go for... the second one down,

which I think... is the coconut shy.

Coconut shy, say Carolyn and Luke.

Now then, Mike and Alex, talk us through the rest of the board.

Er, the top one's waltzer.

-The third one...

-Is the hall of mirrors.

Then you've got Ferris wheel and ghost train.

Erm, I think we'll go for the third one

on hall of mirrors.

Hall of mirrors. OK, Mike and Alex say hall of mirrors.

So we have coconut shy versus hall of mirrors. Carolyn and Luke said coconut shy.

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

-13!

-APPLAUSE

Mike and Alex have gone for hall of mirrors. Let's see how many people said hall of mirrors.

Is it going to beat 13?

-Ohh! 18...

-Unlucky.

-APPLAUSE

..for hall of mirrors.

Which means, after two questions, Carolyn and Luke, you are through to the final two-nil. Well done.

Best two answers on the board. There's nothing you could've done.

Carolyn and Luke, best answer up there. The waltzer at the top would've scored you 66.

The Ferris wheel would've scored you 48.

And the ghost train would've scored you 39.

Thanks very much, Richard.

So at the end of our head-to-head, I'm afraid the pair leaving us is Mike and Alex.

You've done so well! And then you came up against Carolyn and Luke

in the head-to-head. Two perfectly good answers from you.

Hall of mirrors, coconut shy, I wouldn't have known how to call that one.

I'm really sorry. It was very close.

But you've acquitted yourselves well.

Thanks so much for playing, it's been great having you here.

-APPLAUSE

-Good luck.

-Good luck.

But for Carolyn and Luke, it's now time for our pointless final.

APPLAUSE

Congratulations, Carolyn and Luke, you've fought off all the competition

and you've 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 £9,000.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

£500 of that is entirely down to you,

so you've played so well, with the single exception of Hugh Hefner.

-LAUGHTER

-It's looking pretty good for you.

What do you hope is going to come up?

I think anything to do with US geography, US politics,

-US film, US culture.

-LAUGHTER

-Anything American.

-OK. Very good.

As always, the first thing you have to do is choose a category and here are your four choices.

LAUGHTER

What about that? Football Leagues, I'm guessing.

LAUGHTER

Well, how are your British sitcoms?

-Pretty poor.

-HE LAUGHS

-Erm...

-It's going to have to be American Politics.

-I think American Politics.

-OK.

You're going to go for American Politics. Richard.

They genuinely come up randomly and a few times before

we've had unusual coincidences. This is one of them.

Very best of luck. We're going to give you three options within this category.

We need you to give us the name of any children of any US president who's been in office since 1990,

so any of the US presidents since 1990, any child they've ever had.

Any US state with ten or more electoral college votes in 2012.

Or any Republicans who've lost a presidential election since 1900.

So there are your three options.

Now, as always, you've got a minute to come up with three answers

and all you need to win that jackpot of £9,000 is just for one of those answers to be pointless.

Remember, the answers you provide can come from any of these categories.

It can be three from the same category or two from one, one from another,

any of these three categories.

-Are you ready?

-Yep.

-OK, let's put 60 seconds on the clock.

There they are. Your time starts now.

-OK, I think...

-I think we should go with children of US presidents.

-Yeah.

-Jenna Bush.

-Yeah.

-I think Barbara Bush would be high cos that was her grandmother's name.

-OK.

US states with ten or more electoral college votes,

-Massachusetts definitely has more than ten.

-OK, fine.

What about more obscure states?

Indiana would probably be more than ten.

-What about smaller, Eastern Seaboard...

-I don't know what the cut-off is.

-OK.

What about Republicans?

-Shall we just ignore that one?

-Maybe.

All right, so I think we should do one child and two states.

-OK.

-So Jenna Bush.

-Indiana.

And Massachusetts? Is that obscure enough?

-But people know Massachusetts.

-OK. Something like South Dakota?

No, cos that won't be enough. Erm...

-Let's go...

-Ten seconds left.

-Kentucky?

-Kentucky?

OK, looks like you have your three answers.

Your time is up.

There we are. What answers are you going to give me?

-OK, so we're going to do one for children of US presidents.

-OK.

-And which answer's that?

-Jenna Bush.

-Jenna Bush.

-Yep.

-OK.

-And then we weren't sure about Republicans who have lost elections,

-so I think we'll go for two US states.

-Mm-hm.

-One of them is Kentucky.

-Kentucky.

-And the other is Indiana.

-Indiana.

Now, of those three answers, which is your best crack at a pointless?

-I think the best crack would probably be... Indiana.

-OK. Yep.

OK. So Indiana we put last. And then which is your least likely to be pointless?

-Kentucky?

-Yeah.

-So Kentucky, Jenna Bush, Indiana.

-Sure.

OK, let's put those up on the board in that order, and here they are.

Let's just say one of these were to win the jackpot for you,

what would you do with your winnings, Carolyn?

Well, I did sort of promise that I'd have a big party on the top of London Bridge

and invite all of my American friends over

and have a big party. Of course, you guys would be invited.

-Stars of the show.

-That's amazing.

-On top of London Bridge?

-Yeah. Oh, sorry, Tower Bridge.

-Oh, that's better.

Sorry. Obviously I'm still not a native.

Yeah, Tower Bridge. We'd love to come.

-Yeah, I'd love to. I hope you win.

-Thanks.

Make it happen.

LAUGHTER

-And Luke?

-I think I'd probably start negotiating

-for at least some small portion of the money.

-LAUGHTER

And then if I got some of the money, I'd probably buy a fancy new bike.

Good stuff. OK, well, three perfectly plausible answers up there on the board.

Your first answer was Kentucky. This was the one you thought was least likely to be pointless.

First it has to be correct, and if it is, it then has to be pointless for you to win the jackpot.

So let's find out. Does Kentucky have ten or more electoral college votes?

Ooh, bad luck. An incorrect answer there with Kentucky.

Your second answer

was Jenna Bush, daughter of a US president since 1990.

Again, this has to be correct then it has to be pointless for you to win that jackpot.

So for £9,000, let's find out, is Jenna Bush a daughter of a US president since 1990?

It's right. That's more like it.

Now, Kentucky was an incorrect answer, but your second answer

is bang on the money. Taking us down through the 20s,

down through the teens, into single figures.

If this goes down to zero, you leave... Ohh!

-Two for Jenna Bush!

-APPLAUSE

OK, so also not a pointless answer. A cracking score,

but we're only interested in pointless answers.

So, your final answer, everything is riding on Indiana.

This was the answer you thought was probably your best shot at a pointless.

-Are you sure it's correct?

-No. No, I'm not.

So for £9,000, let's find out,

does Indiana have ten or more electoral college votes?

It's right. It's right.

Now then, Kentucky was incorrect.

Jenna Bush took us all the way down to two.

Now, if Indiana can take you all the way down to zero, and it's going down...

-Yes! You've done it! Brilliant!

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Fantastic! Very, very good work indeed!

-Wow! Wow!

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Indiana was a pointless answer, which means you leave here

with our jackpot of £9,000.

-Very, very well done indeed.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Wow. What about that, Richard?

That turned out very nicely, didn't it? But fair play for having the guts to go for it, as well,

because you were putting a lot of pressure on yourself there. It was all on you.

Let's take a look at the pointless answers in the different categories.

Let's look at the children of the US presidents first.

These are all George Bush Senior's children, Dorothy, Marvin and Neil.

Jenna Bush and Barbara Bush were the twins,

first ever twins to be born to a president. Barbara would've scored you one point.

Let's take a look at the US states.

There's four answers, so you got one of them, Indiana, which had 11 electoral college votes.

Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee would all have won you the money, as well.

Well done if you said those.

And Republicans who've lost a presidential election.

Charles Hughes. Gerald Ford would've been a pointless answer.

Wendell Willkie. And William Taft. Well done if you got any of those.

I know it really fell for you nicely, that category,

but you've been brilliant all the way through, you've proved yourself in every round, so it's well deserved.

Thanks very much. Let me echo that, as well.

Very, very well done. Fantastic play the whole way through.

Thanks once again to our winning players, Carolyn and Luke,

who take away today's jackpot of £9,000.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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

-Meanwhile, it's goodbye from Richard.

-Goodbye.

-And it's goodbye from me, goodbye.

APPLAUSE

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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