15 to 1

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Tony Atkins
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15 to 1

Post by Tony Atkins »

With James Robinson and Heather Styles appearing in the new series, time for its own thread.

On today's show, the first one, is S64 one-time-winner (against me) Cliff Barnes.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Martin Bishop »

I'm going to be on the show too (episode 19/20 on 30th April).

What struck me most about the new series is how much slower the pace is now. William G used to really rattle through the questions. I'm not keen on the tense background music either.

I didn't really get to enjoy episode 1 properly until the final round. That was a really tense contest. All three did well to hang in so long. I don't really know why Anthony chose to take questions when he was on three lives and the others on one each, but him losing a life then made it more interesting.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Martin Bishop wrote:I'm going to be on the show too (episode 19/20 on 30th April).

What struck me most about the new series is how much slower the pace is now. William G used to really rattle through the questions. I'm not keen on the tense background music either.

I didn't really get to enjoy episode 1 properly until the final round. That was a really tense contest. All three did well to hang in so long. I don't really know why Anthony chose to take questions when he was on three lives and the others on one each, but him losing a life then made it more interesting.
I only caught the end of it. I don't know how it works now, but I seem to remember in the old format, the score you needed to make the grand final got higher and higher, and while people used to get away with nominating until everyone else was out, in later years, they needed to go for questions to get a score of 200+ to make the grand final.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Martin Bishop »

Gavin Chipper wrote:
Martin Bishop wrote:I'm going to be on the show too (episode 19/20 on 30th April).

What struck me most about the new series is how much slower the pace is now. William G used to really rattle through the questions. I'm not keen on the tense background music either.

I didn't really get to enjoy episode 1 properly until the final round. That was a really tense contest. All three did well to hang in so long. I don't really know why Anthony chose to take questions when he was on three lives and the others on one each, but him losing a life then made it more interesting.
I only caught the end of it. I don't know how it works now, but I seem to remember in the old format, the score you needed to make the grand final got higher and higher, and while people used to get away with nominating until everyone else was out, in later years, they needed to go for questions to get a score of 200+ to make the grand final.
Fair point, but there are only 19 heats this series. You only need to beat four low scorers to make the grand final.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Ian Volante »

Anecdotally, and as demonstrated on Saturday, the variability in standard of questions is much greater, going from e.g. pop music to a question on the Kalmar Republic, and (to me) much more obscure than that at times. Quite apart from the lack of heats, this is another reason why going on runs of question-taking in the final is likely to be a much more difficult strategy this time.

As for today's highlight(?), Edinburgh quiz legend Dave McBryan makes an appearance.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Chris Marshall »

I think Lois was on a previous series of Take Me Out. The only thing I can deduce from this is that she likes standing in a semi-circle.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

SPOILERS

Some very low scores so far. 93 and 81 only? Ouch. I wonder what the lowest qualifying score will be?
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Gavin Chipper »

You don't say "Fifteen to One". You say "Quarter to One". Stupid name. And it's on at the wrong time.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Jojo Apollo »

I see former 15 to 1 contestant Martin Riley is on today's show.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Jojo Apollo »

Jojo Apollo wrote:I see former 15 to 1 contestant Martin Riley is on today's show.
Using his old intimidation tactics of immediately nominating back the contestant who has nominated him.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Ian Volante »

Jojo Apollo wrote:
Jojo Apollo wrote:I see former 15 to 1 contestant Martin Riley is on today's show.
Using his old intimidation tactics of immediately nominating back the contestant who has nominated him.
That wasn't allowed in ye olden days! In my memory, he looks like Michael Portillo, is that still the case?
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Ian Volante wrote:
Jojo Apollo wrote:
Jojo Apollo wrote:I see former 15 to 1 contestant Martin Riley is on today's show.
Using his old intimidation tactics of immediately nominating back the contestant who has nominated him.
That wasn't allowed in ye olden days! In my memory, he looks like Michael Portillo, is that still the case?
I think it was allowed before it wasn't allowed, so it was allowed in ye olden olden days.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Jojo Apollo »

Yeah it was allowed originally, I think they changed it because Martin always used to nominate back immediately as a form of intimidation. When they changed it so that you couldn't immediately nominate, he used to nominate back on the very next question after. I wonder if Trevor Montague will be appearing.

Anyway glad Mark won on today's show
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Ian Volante »

Jojo Apollo wrote:Yeah it was allowed originally, I think they changed it because Martin always used to nominate back immediately as a form of intimidation. When they changed it so that you couldn't immediately nominate, he used to nominate back on the very next question after. I wonder if Trevor Montague will be appearing.

Anyway glad Mark won on today's show
Ah yes, that rings a bell.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by JimBentley »

Jojo Apollo wrote:Yeah it was allowed originally, I think they changed it because Martin always used to nominate back immediately as a form of intimidation. When they changed it so that you couldn't immediately nominate, he used to nominate back on the very next question after.
Yes, I remember him well too, he was so smug you just wanted to punch his fat smug Portillo face. Always good to see him beaten.
Jojo Apollo wrote:I wonder if Trevor Montague will be appearing.
Or possibly even Steve Romana!
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Jojo Apollo »

JimBentley wrote:
Jojo Apollo wrote:Yeah it was allowed originally, I think they changed it because Martin always used to nominate back immediately as a form of intimidation. When they changed it so that you couldn't immediately nominate, he used to nominate back on the very next question after.
Yes, I remember him well too, he was so smug you just wanted to punch his fat smug Portillo face. Always good to see him beaten.
:lol: The best quizzers always seem to be the most humble/modest eg. the great Kevin Ashman and Pat Gibson.
JimBentley wrote:
Jojo Apollo wrote:I wonder if Trevor Montague will be appearing.
Or possibly even Steve Romana!
:lol: indeed. He may have already appeared without anyone noticing. ;)
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Graeme Cole »

In the final round, if a question is played on the buzzer, and someone buzzes in and gets it wrong, why is it not offered to the other players?

As it stands, you could get the following situation:

With two questions left, say player A has 102 points and one life, player B has 111 points and two lives, and player C has 101 points and one life.

Player C, having got the previous question right, asks for another question and gets it wrong. C is eliminated, and there's one question left.

Because C asked for a question and got it wrong, the next question (the last one) is played on the buzzer.

The best strategy for B is to buzz in just as Sandi starts speaking and answer with any old rubbish just to prevent A from answering (or indeed hearing) the question. B goes down to one life, but that's the last question, so B wins.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Jojo Apollo »

It's another flaw of the game but they could put it down as "good tactics".
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by JimBentley »

Jojo Apollo wrote:It's another flaw of the game but they could put it down as "good tactics".
Aye, I'm sure it was always the case in the original series and had actually been "exploited" on an occasion, but typically I can't actually cite the episode it happened in, so I might have misremembered that.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Gavin Chipper »

JimBentley wrote:
Jojo Apollo wrote:It's another flaw of the game but they could put it down as "good tactics".
Aye, I'm sure it was always the case in the original series and had actually been "exploited" on an occasion, but typically I can't actually cite the episode it happened in, so I might have misremembered that.
I always wondered if people might do that back in the olden days.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Graeme Cole »

Quite a big flaw, I think. You might argue that the players should be expected to have a sense of fair play and not do something quite so blatant as that, but there's still a grey area. Buzzing in the middle of a question when you've got an idea of what's going to be asked is a legitimate tactic used regularly on quizzes, and in a situation like the one I've described, you couldn't judge someone for buzzing early as long as they gave a reasonable answer. But what's a reasonable answer? And it's still almost certain that the leading player would be able to think of an answer that sounds like it could fit the question, and buzz in with that, before their opponent has any chance of working out the correct answer.

All this mess could be avoided by taking the approach every other quiz show takes with questions on the buzzer - if you buzz in and get it wrong, the question is offered to your opponent(s).
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Ian Volante »

Graeme Cole wrote:Quite a big flaw, I think. You might argue that the players should be expected to have a sense of fair play and not do something quite so blatant as that, but there's still a grey area. Buzzing in the middle of a question when you've got an idea of what's going to be asked is a legitimate tactic used regularly on quizzes, and in a situation like the one I've described, you couldn't judge someone for buzzing early as long as they gave a reasonable answer. But what's a reasonable answer? And it's still almost certain that the leading player would be able to think of an answer that sounds like it could fit the question, and buzz in with that, before their opponent has any chance of working out the correct answer.

All this mess could be avoided by taking the approach every other quiz show takes with questions on the buzzer - if you buzz in and get it wrong, the question is offered to your opponent(s).
It's such a rare situation that it's not worth worrying about
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

I know it's from the forum's most hated newspaper (a view I do not share), but there's a very interesting piece by William G Stewart in the Mail. The online version is here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/ar ... t-200.html
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Jojo Apollo »

Graeme Cole wrote:Quite a big flaw, I think. You might argue that the players should be expected to have a sense of fair play and not do something quite so blatant as that, but there's still a grey area. Buzzing in the middle of a question when you've got an idea of what's going to be asked is a legitimate tactic used regularly on quizzes, and in a situation like the one I've described, you couldn't judge someone for buzzing early as long as they gave a reasonable answer. But what's a reasonable answer? And it's still almost certain that the leading player would be able to think of an answer that sounds like it could fit the question, and buzz in with that, before their opponent has any chance of working out the correct answer.

All this mess could be avoided by taking the approach every other quiz show takes with questions on the buzzer - if you buzz in and get it wrong, the question is offered to your opponent(s).
I agree, have you tried contacting them about this flaw and the solution? They may implement it for the next series, if there is one.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Jojo Apollo »

Unlucky, James, good effort there. Well done on making the final three today
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Graeme Cole »

That James bloke who was on today and yesterday. Haven't I seen him on Countdown before?

Ah yes, so I have.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by James Robinson »

Jojo Apollo wrote:Unlucky, James, good effort there. Well done on making the final three today
Graeme Cole wrote:That James bloke who was on today and yesterday. Haven't I seen him on Countdown before?

Ah yes, so I have.
Thanks, guys. Was well great. ;) :) :D :mrgreen: 8-)
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Jon Corby »

I've just started watching yesterday's, and Sandi opened the show by saying "your odds of winning are 15 to 1". Quite a key thing to get wrong :|
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Jon Corby wrote:I've just started watching yesterday's, and Sandi opened the show by saying "your odds of winning are 15 to 1". Quite a key thing to get wrong :|
I don't think a viewer at home has ever won.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Jon Corby »

Gavin Chipper wrote:
Jon Corby wrote:I've just started watching yesterday's, and Sandi opened the show by saying "your odds of winning are 15 to 1". Quite a key thing to get wrong :|
I don't think a viewer at home has ever won.
Haha.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Zarte Siempre »

Gavin Chipper wrote:
Jon Corby wrote:I've just started watching yesterday's, and Sandi opened the show by saying "your odds of winning are 15 to 1". Quite a key thing to get wrong :|
I don't think a viewer at home has ever won.
This made me lol a surprising amount.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Martin Bishop »

Well done James on the performances. There were some impressive answers in there. I especially liked Muhammad Ali as BBC Sports Personality of the Century. Must have been really annoying to nominate someone and they get asked as easy a question as "What is V in the phonetic alphabet".
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by James Robinson »

Martin Bishop wrote:Well done James on the performances. There were some impressive answers in there. I especially liked Muhammad Ali as BBC Sports Personality of the Century. Must have been really annoying to nominate someone and they get asked as easy a question as "What is V in the phonetic alphabet".
Yeah, definitely, I knew all the answers after I was first nominated up to The Exorcist answer, so could've got myself plenty of points, but you just have no idea.

Hey-ho, had a great time nonetheless, and now I look forward to your game on Wednesday. ;) :) :D
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Graeme Cole »

Ian Volante wrote:
Graeme Cole wrote:Quite a big flaw, I think. You might argue that the players should be expected to have a sense of fair play and not do something quite so blatant as that, but there's still a grey area. Buzzing in the middle of a question when you've got an idea of what's going to be asked is a legitimate tactic used regularly on quizzes, and in a situation like the one I've described, you couldn't judge someone for buzzing early as long as they gave a reasonable answer. But what's a reasonable answer? And it's still almost certain that the leading player would be able to think of an answer that sounds like it could fit the question, and buzz in with that, before their opponent has any chance of working out the correct answer.

All this mess could be avoided by taking the approach every other quiz show takes with questions on the buzzer - if you buzz in and get it wrong, the question is offered to your opponent(s).
It's such a rare situation that it's not worth worrying about
It almost came up in today's final - they would have been in this situation had David Stainer got his last question right. His opponent Dave would have been ten ahead with three lives and two questions remaining.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Ian Volante »

Graeme Cole wrote:
Ian Volante wrote:
Graeme Cole wrote:Quite a big flaw, I think. You might argue that the players should be expected to have a sense of fair play and not do something quite so blatant as that, but there's still a grey area. Buzzing in the middle of a question when you've got an idea of what's going to be asked is a legitimate tactic used regularly on quizzes, and in a situation like the one I've described, you couldn't judge someone for buzzing early as long as they gave a reasonable answer. But what's a reasonable answer? And it's still almost certain that the leading player would be able to think of an answer that sounds like it could fit the question, and buzz in with that, before their opponent has any chance of working out the correct answer.

All this mess could be avoided by taking the approach every other quiz show takes with questions on the buzzer - if you buzz in and get it wrong, the question is offered to your opponent(s).
It's such a rare situation that it's not worth worrying about
It almost came up in today's final - they would have been in this situation had David Stainer got his last question right. His opponent Dave would have been ten ahead with three lives and two questions remaining.
True indeed, I was expecting Dave to buzz in v early for that decisive question, but David saved him the trouble!

I've asked Dave for a pay rise :)
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Jon Stitcher »

At least 3 Apterites will be appearing on the new series.

Ian Volante, Sam Hodkin and myself.

Dag Griffiths, countdown legend, is also on my debut show which airs on Friday 24th October.

Enjoy
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Ian Volante »

Jon Stitcher wrote:At least 3 Apterites will be appearing on the new series.

Ian Volante, Sam Hodkin and myself.

Dag Griffiths, countdown legend, is also on my debut show which airs on Friday 24th October.

Enjoy
Yep, I'm on this Thursday I think, with some pretty strong opposition.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Ian Volante »

Yep, confirmed to be on today, and possibly Sunday (2.30pm) and Monday too.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Sam Hodkin »

Late as always I am, but confirmed recently that I'll be adorning your TV/other device screens on the 30th, and potentially the 31st and 3rd, you'll just have to wait and see..
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Jordan F »

And congratulations to Sam, as well as belated congratulations to Jon, both for getting wins. Not sure either will make the final, but both definitely had to earn their prize and they did.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Jordan F »

Fun grand final. Interesting that Mark had this aura around him that made people avoid him during the game. If Mark is this threat, why not try to take him out sooner. Dave's run was a fun one too, rallying quite nicely. And Gerard definitely proved to be a worthy winner, congrats to him.

Is Peter Styles related to our own Styles clan?
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Ian Volante »

Jordan F wrote:Fun grand final. Interesting that Mark had this aura around him that made people avoid him during the game. If Mark is this threat, why not try to take him out sooner. Dave's run was a fun one too, rallying quite nicely. And Gerard definitely proved to be a worthy winner, congrats to him.

Is Peter Styles related to our own Styles clan?
Aye, enjoyable final, lots of shitty questions. Sort of glad that my conqueror did so well.
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Jojo Apollo »

15 to 1 perfect 433 score holder Bill McKaig was on today's episode of Eggheads: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... episode-98
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Kevin Thurlow »

I may be heading for some sort of record, as I have been on the "short list" of contestants for three series, without ever being invited to appear. (Well, in the first series, they rang up one lunchtime and said "can you come tomorrow", but I don't think that counts.) Every so often I get a phone call and get asked if I still want to be on the show, and when am I available.

I think the last day for recording this series is today...
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by Gavin Chipper »

What's with the weird tinnitus sound they have during this game?
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Re: 15 to 1

Post by James Robinson »

I just happened to be on Fifteen To One again today... :P
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