Bloody hell…

[LimeShade]

The woman on Tipping Point just stated that CS Lewis wrote 50 Shades of Grey

and

Ophthalmology was the study of the skeleton

and

The Royal Mile was one of the key streets in London

Where do they find these people?

But with regard to the quiz contestant, you might know full well there is a very famous Royal Mile in Edinburgh, you might have been there many times - but not know there isn't also one in London. Place names are not copyrighted to a given area. There's a road called The Mall in the town I grew up in, for example, and probably many other towns besides London.

I wouldn't say they're basics.

I imagine it could be because it was written by EL James. And they’ve got mixed up between two authors with two initials and a surname that’s also a first name.

I remember Mark Wright on I am A Celebrity he had never heard of 1066 and The Battle of Hastings

She said she’d never heard of any of them.

Bloody hell…

Not one but two young men on Millionaire Hotseat didnt know that Hogmanay was New Years Eve in Scotland. Jeremy was scathing.

No, The Royal Mile is The Royal Mile.

It’s world famous, and is the route between the two royal residences, Edinburgh Castle, and The Palace of Holyroodhouse.

You don’t need to have ever visited Edinburgh to know that.

Reminds me of the Family Fortunes question “name a bird with a long neck” and one of the contestants said Naomi Campbell!

I know where The Royal Mile is so I must just be arrogant rather than ignorant too.

Watched Millionaire fastest finger first tonight and two people didn’t know when Hogmanay is celebrated in Scotland 🤦🏽‍♀️

It is useful when you've entered a general knowledge quiz on television.

😄 i'm really no smarter but its fun to judge

I don't know this, not being from the UK. It's not world wide knowledge, why would it be?

The other ones are more general knowledge

I quiz a lot and it's known as "black chair syndrome" on (and in honour of) Mastermind, because the pressure of the situation and being in the studio with loads of people watching makes you fall apart. Its like how your typing or driving or doing your normal job somehow is worse when you know you are being watched.

You and your brain work well together, you know lots of stuff so you say "oh I will go on The Chase/Mastermind/etc" and when you stand there safe in the knowledge of your knowledge your brains shouts "FUCK OFF!!!" and legs it, so you just say the first thing that makes it to your mouth.

I remember watching one poor bloke on MM who really couldnt get a single fact from his brain to his mouth, I felt so bad for him.

I misread that as whoever gets one wrong gets shot!
I thought wow, that's a bit harsh! 🤣

Why the hell do these people decide to go on quiz shows when it’s clear they aren’t going to be very good at it. Or are they taking the piss? This cant be a one off if those are the answers to questions.
Also don’t the shows themselves do some due diligence? Surely they don’t just go ‘Sandra in Rhyl has applied, get her on the show next week’. Or are they doing it because its what amounts to ‘good’ entertainment these days… like Family Fortunes ‘Turkey’ woman or ‘my cardigan’

Some of my favourites.
Name a dangerous race. ‘The Arabs’
Name something red. ‘My cardigan’
Name a famous royal. ‘Mail’
something you open other than a door. ‘Bowels’

The producers pick them to allow the viewers to feel superior and despair at the 'thick' people. They want to be on telly so they let them.

Indeed and we wonder why we have a class of unemployable people who need to exist on benefits. The education system in parts of the Uk is woeful. I say that having started life in a council flat and free school dinners. My teachers were my heroes. I cannot fathom what the f*ck has happened to our education system, except that it clearly contributed to Brexit and a raft of idiots and nonentities being elected as PM in the last 20 years.

I agree. But the quiz question was apparently along the lines of

'What is the road in London leading to Buckingham Palace called?'

A. The Royal Mile
B. The Mall
C. Albert Square

The contestant answered 'A'.

If the question had been 'Where is the Royal Mile?'

A. Edinburgh
B. London
C. Little Tidding-on-the-Wold

And the contestant had answered 'B' I would agree with you. But answering 'A' to question one doesn't preclude the contestant knowing about the Royal Mile in Edinburgh because there might be more than one place in the UK called that.

Tbf I’m Welsh and didn’t know this! But now I do :)

I'm not sure you can blame the education system. I think most of stems from younger people on the whole not reading for pleasure and generally dumbing themselves down with endless screen time. Parents are also to blame if they don't encourage a learning mindset or invest in their children's cultural capital as best they can. There seems to be a certain pride in being thick and poorly educated with some groups of people.