Brain of Britain - Round One - Heat 3

Third heat of the series, this one, and like the last couple of weeks none of the truly big names in this year’s series were yet to come out to play. This is not to do down
Rob Cruise
Chris Gould
Sarah Greenan
Alison Jacobs
who would go on to provide us with an interesting contest. First to go was Rob Cruise. He fielded four chestnuts, and in all honesty I was sure he was going to get a full set. Ah, but he didn’t know that Buck the dog was the hero of “The Call of The Wild”. For most of us mere mortals you won’t get many shots at a full set, and this was a definite chance gone begging. The bonus went to Alison Jacobs. Chris Gould didn’t know an ion for his first. Sarah Greenan did well to take her first two, but didn’t know that Buster Keaton was The Great Stoneface. This bonus went to Alison Jacobs. Her own set saw her fail to answer where Interpol was founded. The bonus for Vienna went begging. So despite missing what had looked like a great opportunity, Rob still led with 4, while Sarah and Alison had 2 apiece. As for Chris Gould, well, one of the vagaries of BoB is that it’s not uncommon on a show to see one poor devil get a set of really horrible starters, and as a result never really get into the contest. I hoped that this was not on the cards for Chris in this show.

Rob began the second round by dropping a gettable old chestnut with his first question. Alison knew that the name of the colour derived from a hindi word for dust coloured is khaki. Chris actually had a gettable starter himself, but nobody knew about the great Carwyn James, coach to the 1971 British and Irish Lions of blessed memory. I didn’t know that Armagh is the Orchard County, neither did anyone else. Alison took her first, but failed with Morpeth, which gave Chris his first point. Alison though had pulled up to equal Rob on 4 now.

Rob took his first, but had a nasty one for his second, about a posthumous patent by Marlon Brando. Unsurprisingly nobody had that one. Chris took 2, but that ole gibbous moon did for him. Rob had a bonus for that. Sarah didn’t know about places named after Nelson, which gave Alison a bonus. For her own question she was asked about Columbia Road Market. I’ve never heard of it any more than the brains had – it’s a flower market. Rob now had the lead again with 6 to Alison’s 5.

Rob didn’t know that ozone is O3. Sarah did for a bonus. Chris took his first , but didn’t know that the sorcerer in Swan Lake is Rothbart. A point for Alison there. Sarah answered her first 3 , but then the treaty of Calmar did for her and for the others. Alison then fell at the first, not knowing that the current king of Norway is Harald, which gave Rob a bonus. This was enough to ensure that he led by a point from Alison and Sarah. This was becoming a good show.

For the Beat the Brains interval a couple of quotations about musical works were far too obscure to allow generalists in, and they took neither of them. On with the show.

Rob , then, had the lead, but he hadn’t managed to break away from the chasing pack. He took his first two , but selenium , and the colour that it turns glass , foxed him. Nobody knew it turns glass red. Chris didn’t know about the wee frees, but Sarah did. For her own first she had the hovis music – which apparently was by a chap called Dvorak – but nobody knew that it was played on a cor anglais. Not easy, but still gettable. Alison took her first , and she took her second . She didn’t know the St. Scholastica’s massacre took place in Oxford, and neither did anyone else. So Rob preserved his one point lead with 9 to Alison’s 8.

Rob took his first two, but didn’t know about Geoffrey of Monmouth. Chris did, and went on to add another point of his own. He didn’t know that there are 24 members of the Order of Merit. Alison did. Sarah didn’t know that Arizona was added to the Union at the same time as New Mexico. Nobody else did. Alison didn’t know that Johnson’s VP was Hubert Humphrey – but Sarah did. Only at this point did Russell announce that his had actually been the final round. This meant that the final totals were

Chris Gould – 6
Sarah Greenan – 8
Alison Jacobs – 9
Rob Cruise – 11

SO well played Rob Cruise. Hard lines to the others, as I’m pretty sure that those scores won’t see them back. A good contest. All of the contestants came up with some very good answers, although none of them showed quite the breadth of knowledge you’d need to take you all the way in this show.