Can you beat a Brain of Britain?

[R4]

Heard this question on the lunchtime broadcast today. None of the contestants knew the answer.

"Who met his wife Jill at a village fete opened by Humphrey Lyttelton some time in 1957 and died peacefully, after 52 years of marriage, at Glebe Cottage in February 2010?"

i don't know the answer either.

who is it?

Michael Foot?

I was quite suprised they didn't know that. Did you yell the answer at the radio too?

Am I right? Think he died in Feb and his wife was Jill.

Michael Foot died in March but he was married to a Jill wasn't he?

had to google it.

it's from the archers!

Oh! Glebe Cottage, of course...

Unless mistaken, it is surely 'Phil Archer'

Of course it's Phil Archer. I can't believe that none of the contestants on BofB (a Radio 4 programme!) knew it. They all seemed flummoxed by the reference to Humph and were guessing at RL people.

Just noticed this thread. BofB does seem to attract people who want you to know that they don't sully their minds with popular culture. Who are the Beatles?

I was in the car listening to that episode - shouting "PHIL ARCHER, PHIL ARCHER, IT'S PHIL ARCHER" in an increasingly rabid voice at the radio !

To be fair, if you've never listened to the Archers, you'd never get that. I only know because I was forced to listen to it by my parents and vaguely remembered Phil being married to Jill.

I remember my mother tutting and saying "that's not worth knowing, it's not fair to penalise them for not knowing that", the first time a pop music question appeared on BoB!!

I am so sad. I know it was the Archers. Hardlu counts as 'Brain or Britain' though, does it?

Harrumph UQD.
It is the world's longest running soap opera. Norman Painting/ Phil Archer was the longest-serving actor in a soap opera, he had been in it since its inception in 1950.
It's not exactly an obscure topic (especially on Radio 4!).

Yes, but Coronation Street is the longest running soap on TV, and I expect some people (me included) would be hazy on the details of that, never having watched an episode...

I expect some people know nothing about Doctor Who...

...or football, or pop music... all big areas of "general knowledge"...

As they always say: "only easy when you know the answers..."

"I expect some people know nothing about Doctor Who..."

You are just being silly now.

gasp!
shockingly ignorant
I don't watch corrie but even I know there was a tram crash which killed loads of people.
Definitely that is general knowledge for any culturally aware person, esp on R4 FGS

It's an interesting question: how much do we absorb about radio /TV shows which we have never heard or watched?

I've not heard The Archers much in the last 20 years but could probably still tell you bits and bobs about various members of the family, Nigel Pargetter, Jack Woolley and that Hebe woman (?), the various Clarries, Sid Perks's dead wife and so on.

I've never seen Coronation Street but I could name the key places in it and probably a few of the characters, and of course I know all about the tram crash.

I've never seen a full episode of Eastenders, but again could name some of the key characters and could give a run-down on some of the most high-profile storylines: Den and Angie's Christmas divorce (highest viewing figures ever), Dot Cotton, the Slaters and "You're not my mother" etc.

Quite frightening, really.

I don't think it is frightening, UQD. I like to think that it shows an interest in the world - I may not be that fussed by Corrie or football but I know that lots of others are, so if I want to keep in the loop then it is an idea to have a vague notion of what is going on; and if it is that popular then often you don't get much of a choice anyway, with trailers and suchlike force fed to you.

Here's a quiz question:
Who was Dan Dare named after?