Weaver's Week 2001-02-27
27th February 2001
Iain Weaver reviews the latest happenings in UK Game Show Land.
"It's a whack off my mortgage, it's life-changing money." A Millionaire contestant? Nope, David on The Mole last week. £100,000 is already in the pot, and maybe some more to come. But first...
The two high-scoring first round losers meet in the quarter final, which may be the first time this has happened in the revival. The youngsters of St John's Oxford - two of whom were born in 1980 - meet the 70s kids of Bristol. The most devilish question: excluding Nick, name the ten evictees from Big Brother, in order. Linham missed out Anna.
Bristol races to an early lead, only for St John's to pull back and briefly take a 5 point lead. Trading the advantage, St John's opens a margin, sees it briefly eliminated, then storms on to the win.
Box scores Person (starter) total
St John's Oxford (21 bonuses)
Bell (15) 37
Linham (20) 47
Finglass (20) 46
Laird (50) 80
Bristol (15 bonuses)
Dhanendran (20) 38
Kenyon (30) 49
Edwards (25) 44
Armstrong (25) 44
SJO 25 70 35 80 = 210
BRI 60 30 35 50 = 175
The BB answer: Sada Andrew Caroline Nichola Thomas Claire Mel Darren Anna Craig (Nick left the day before Nichola.)
HOW THEY DID IT: MOLE US-STYLE
The Hostage Challenge: "To some degree the rescue of Steve was just a comedy of errors so I would just try to take advantage of small things to slow it down. It's always a good idea to waste time if it is a timed test."
Even though host Anderson Cooper told mole Kathryn that Steven wasn't at the location the players were scouring, Kathryn convinced them to continue searching.
The Dice Challenge (similar to our roulette challenge) "I knew that I wanted to sabotage that. The day before that, Wendi has asked me if I would ever shave my head and I said...no. So, I told the producers that she had said that to me. So, one of the choices in the dice game was 'Would you shave your head?' and I manoeuvred it so that I would get in a position that that was the card I would receive".
The Sniper Challenge "During the sniper attack, I just wanted to take myself out of the action so the suspicion could fall on other players. The Mole wants the team dynamic to break down."
Hotel Room Challenge (No direct UK equivalent, but this was one of the games in the last week. Check the psychology.) "My goal is that we would pass the test and I would be the hero that did it. I was given the exact details of the test beforehand by the producers and it is a very complicated test. I actually had everything written down on a little card in my boot. So, there I was out in the hallway trying to subtly point Steve towards the clues that I knew were in his room. Despite the fact that I was trying to give them every clue, I could not force those guys to win any money that day. They were just sitting in their rooms chatting on the phone like school girls so we ended up failing the test."
Enough foreign malarkey. Back to Jersey, back to the prime suspect in the shooting of Phil Mitchell, back to...
It's Week Eight. It's the end of the road. All good journeys must come to an end. Who's at the Terminal Three?
Zi Khan, 32, expected (by your correspondent) to be the winner, Doncaster Jennifer Waller, 37, surely the mole, Darlington David Buxton, 35, regrettably, the loser, London
Why Jennifer? Process of elimination. We can logically eliminate David, after Paul in week 3. I genuinely can't make any sort of case against Zi. Which only leaves one.
Just two challenges this week, and thanks to Count Von Count of Sesame Str for pointing out that last week's challenges were #19-#21. Not #16-#18. D'oh.
Challenge 22: The Running Man (Or Woman): We join the unholy trinity on the beach. Where they each get an orange boilersuit and shades. That's all they wear or carry. For £15,000, the three must reach the same final location from different start points in 2.5 hours. They each have a GPS unit, but can only come back on foot.
Jersey geography is crucial to this game. It's a small island, roughly rectangular, 7 miles east-west, 5 miles north-south. There are bays on the south and west sides, more rocky outcrops on the north and east sides.
David goes by sea, to a point on the NW coast of Jersey. Jen flies, and is left at the aerodrome, top middle. Zi goes in a car, and is dropped near the SE corner.
Each contestant must remember four numbers. Zi: 8-1-3-7 Jen: 4-10-7-58 David: 42-3-8-68 Then the tape they're listening to - quite literally - self-destructs.
Waiting at the end - on the coast at the SW corner of the island - is a safe with four credit cards. Only one has all the numbers on it. If they're late, the safe is washed away on the tide.
Jen gets terribly confused, Zi has the long run ahead of him, and cracks on with it. Jen doesn't have the faintest how to use the GPS. These are meant to be foolproof systems.
As our readers will know, GPS gives directions as the crow flies. Over hedges and stuff. Not necessarily along the road, as Jennifer seems to think. For further info, http://www.howitworks.com/
Zi is suffering from painful feet with two hours still to run. He asks people around if they've seen a tv crew, which is smart. Jennifer is lost. Zi is pissed off. David can see the lighthouse. 3.8 miles away. 3.6 miles over the sea. He goes down the side of the bay. Jen has gone round in something of a circle - she's at the other end of the airfield.
Zi borrows a bike, which has me flicking back the tape to find if that's legal. [fx: rewind] "You must travel on foot. You must not use any form of motorised transport." [fx: wind] Probably not, but we may be able to argue that. Zi leaves the bike a couple of miles short, for no obvious reason. He's got the stitch. And cramps. Real agony. A runner comes with bottles of water.
David passes Glen, and meets a security guard. Glen calls him on a mobile phone, and urges him to remember his numbers. Jen is running. Zi is beat.
"Your time is up."
It's all too late.
Zi - "It's one of the hardest things I've ever done. I'll never run again. Not even to the shops." Jen claims her GPS failed after 30 minutes.
Mole Hunt Clue. GPS doesn't fail like that. If one was down, all three would go down.
Glen points out that all three contestants wore tops under their boiler suits. Another call for disqualification.
Challenge 23: St Helier market. Play for £10,000. Glen gives a clue, which will lead to an object, more clues, and more rules. It's a 45 minute game. How long was Treasure Hunt? How long was the endgame phase of Wanted? Treasure Hunt!
"In the old Townsend, you will find the diary of an elusive creature we're all chasing. Read it well. It is the first chapter of a long journey."
Start the clock.
"Is there a [well-known bookstore] around," asks David?
Look for the book about a mole. Gods, where's Anneka Rice, runner on Treasure Hunt - http://www.ukgameshows.com - when you need her?
A Mole. Adrian Mole. Sue Townsend. Got it. Ten minutes gone already.
It's a map. Blue dot is telephone box.
Treasure Hunt suddenly turns into Wanted.
Phone will ring for four minutes, someone needs to run to pick it up and get more instructions. Zi runs. So much for his pledge yesterday! Picks the phone up. There's another clue elsewhere in the phonebox. Treasure Hunt!
"A colourful garland can hide a multitude of fragrant sins. Route me out and go potty."
Garlands... flower stall... something behind one of the pots. David finds it. Just five more minutes down. Wanted! (You get the gist.)
They have to guide Anneka Zi to phone box 2. They both have a map, but neither has street names. David gives clear directions to the clue.
"You may reel around a fountain, but you'll need to cast further afield. You'll find me in water, but equally between bars. Scuttle for an answer - written in ink."
Written in ink... octopus... fishmongers... squid. Jen leads them to another market. Annie - sorry, Zi - waits. David has a brainwave. Scuttle - cuttlefish? Got it!
Zi Rice now needs to come back, and find another phonebox elsewhere. Jen's directions were less than brilliant, Zi finds a clue.
"If I knew you were coming... I'd have left my mark. Get stuck in."
Jen thinks it's a cafe, David isn't so sure. Split up, look for the Mole mark. Then David sees a big cake in a baker's window. With the Mole thumbprint on it.
Get stuck in. It's *inside* the cake! "Nice cake, actually," reports David.
Direct Zi to a final destination. There's someone with a ringing mobile phone sitting in a square behind a copy of the FT. No prizes for guessing who.
"Looking for someone?" asks Glen, checking his watch. "You're three minutes late."
They lost a lot of time on the opening clue, but good team work throughout.
Mole Hunt Clue: Whose idea was it to leave the bookstore at the start? The episode didn't make it clear.
£100,000 on offer, exactly half the £200,000 budget. Glen's brought a picnic, champagne, strawberries and cream.
This was a *brilliant* game. There could be a whole series out of this.
Zi will change his nomination again, from David to someone else. David is non-committal. Jen will stick with her nomination of Zi - it's served her since about week two.
The remainder reflect, and it's clear that the five (including Ollie and Sara) *really* bonded. Six, Glen is clearly firm friends with the survivors. The obligatory toast: absent friends.
obsoundtrack: Van Morrison and Tom Jones, duetting on "Sometimes We Cry."
obmontage: A million memories, seven exits.
The Finale: Nightfall. Gourey Castle. Each contestant is shown into their own cell. The person who gets the most of the 20 questions about the mole's activities over the previous three weeks wins the lot.
Wow! Glen can control the doors just by looking at them!
Questions... so many questions... 2 In the market game, was the mole the runner? 5 In the hostage challenge, where was the mole? 9 At the maze, which team was the mole in? 11 At the card game, how many passes did the mole win? 16 At the disguised person challenge, where was the mole? 20 Who is the mole?
Never mind that. Who is the winner? It's the clip we've seen on all the trailers. Glen asks, "Will you please open the winner's door. Now."
Cut to a pre-recorded film of a door opening. And a *very* cheesy shot of Glen with an arm outstretched. The winner is shown in photographic negative. They have curly hair.
Shock! It's Zi!
Cue mass celebrations, and Zi hugging Glen so tight their microphones don't pick up a sensible sound. Which leaves one question, rich boy, who is the mole? In a similarly over-cooked sequence, the door opens. Glen and Zi smile. Blow me down if it isn't David!!
Zi's clincher was the paintballing, when David had five passes and went out so soon. He really was a way cool mole. Which means apologies are due to Jennifer, and - for the third time - my nomination leaves the loser.
obsoundtrack: "Nobody Does It Better" - theme from "The Spy Who Loved Me."
Join us next week as we reveal How David Did It. Ponder the thought: if he *was* the mole, wasn't he rather ineffective. And did he go rogue on the producer after the interrogation challenge?
Debate these points after the season finale, in seven days.
