Duncan Bickley, a pilot from Brentwood, Essex, was a contestant on the show on October 21, 2000, and achieved the unfortunate distinction of becoming the first person in the UK to miss the 14th question. Rob Mitchell and Eleanor Ayres repeated this feat on November 1, 2003 and January 1, 2019 respectively (although the latter only lost £125,000 after setting her second safety net at £125,000) . Duncan also appeared on BBC gameshow Wipeout in 2001 and Sky One show Dirty Money in 2002.
WWTBAM Run
Fastest Finger First
| Fastest Finger First Question | |
| Starting with the earliest, put these explorers in the order they were born. | |
| • A: Captain Scott | • B: Christopher Columbus |
| • C: David Livingstone | • D: Marco Polo |
5 from the 10 contestants got correctly D-B-C-A, but Duncan did it the fastest (5.08 seconds), making it into the Hot Seat.
Duncan's Run to the Million
| £100 (1 to 15) - Not Timed | |
| What is a popular name for a fictional murder mystery? | |
| • A: Whatsit | • B: Whodunnit |
| • C: Whodoeswhat | • D: Whatchamacallit |
| £200 (2 to 15) - Not Timed | |
| Bungle, Zippy and George were in which TV series? | |
| • A: Songs Of Praise | • B: Blind Date |
| • C: Rainbow | • D: Newsnight |
| £300 (3 to 15) - Not Timed | |
| Which of these is a musical term? | |
| • A: Risotto | • B: Stiletto |
| • C: Staccato | • D: Blotto |
| £500 (4 to 15) - Not Timed | |
| Pitta, Focaccia and Naan are all varieties of which food? | |
| • A: Cheese | • B: Sausage |
| • C: Seafood | • D: Bread |
| £1,000 (5 to 15) - Not Timed | |
| T.E Lawrence was known as Lawrence of where? | |
| • A: Africa | • B: Arabia |
| • C: Algeria | • D: Abyssinia |
| £2,000 (6 to 15) - Not Timed | |
| In which European country does over half the population live on reclaimed land? | |
| • A: Belgium | • B: The Netherlands |
| • C: Luxembourg | • D: Liechtenstein |
| £4,000 (7 to 15) - Not Timed | |
| What does an anthropologist study? | |
| • A: Coal | • B: Poetry |
| • C: Dyes | • D: Human Beings |
| £8,000 (8 to 15) - Not Timed | |
| Which nuts are used to decorate a Dundee cake? | |
| • A: Walnuts | • B: Hazelnuts |
| • C: Brazil nuts | • D: Almonds |
| £16,000 (9 to 15) - Not Timed | |
| Which author used the pen name Boz? 'Phone a Friend' lifeline used | |
| • A: Shakespeare | • B: Rudyard Kipling |
| • C: Thomas Hardy | • D: Charles Dickens |
| Duncan used his Phone A Friend lifeline and called Tim who knew immediately it was D: Charles Dickens |
| £32,000 (10 to 15) - Not Timed | |
| Who directed 'The Maltese Falcon' and 'The African Queen'? 'Ask the Audience' lifeline used | |
| • A: John Houston - 63% | • B: Alfred Hitchock - 20% |
| • C: Howard Hawks - 17% | • D: George Roy Hill - 0% |
| £64,000 (11 to 15) - Not Timed | |
| What colour is 'cochineal'? | |
| • A: Blue | • B: Green |
| • C: Yellow | • D: Red |
| £125,000 (12 to 15) - Not Timed | |
| In the Bible, which prophetic book of the New Testament details the Apocalypse? | |
| • A: Revelation | • B: St John's Gospel |
| • C: Acts | • D: Jude |
| £250,000 (13 to 15) - Not Timed | |
| What type of growth is a potato? | |
| • A: Bulb | • B: Taproot |
| • C: Corm | • D: Tuber |
| £500,000 (14 to 15) - Not Timed | |
| What was the name of Amy Johnson's plane in which she flew solo to Australia in 1930? '50:50' lifeline used | |
| • A: Achilles | • B: Pegasus |
| • C: Hercules | • D: Jason |
| Duncan didn't know, so he used his final lifeline, he said that the answer had to be Pegasus as Pegasus was a winged horse and Jason had nothing to do with flying. Right before his big loss, he told Chris Tarrant in his own words "It's only money, innit?". He then went with his instinct, but this was incorrect and he lost £218,000. |
