Duncan Bickley, a helicopter instructor from Brentwood, Essex, appeared as a contestant on the twenty-second episode of Series 8 of the UK version of the show on 21 October 2000. He became the first person in the UK to incorrectly answer the £500,000 question, thus losing £218,000 and walking away with £32,000. This was the highest amount of money ever lost on the British version of the show until Nicholas Bennett lost £375,000, as a loss on the million pound question by Laurence and Jackie Llewelyn Bowen was later reversed due to a Bad question.
Duncan's loss has only been repeated since by Rob Mitchell on 1 November 2003. Eleanor Ayres appeared on 1 January 2019 and incorrectly answered the £500,000 question, but lost £125,000 after setting her second safety net at £125,000.
Duncan also appeared on the BBC gameshow Wipeout in 2001 and the 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 |
| Out of the 10 contestants, 5 answered correctly with D-B-C-A, but Duncan did so in the fastest time of 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 | ⬥ B: Alfred Hitchock |
| ⬥ C: Howard Hawks | ⬥ D: George Roy Hill |
| Ask the Audience Results: A: 63% ⬥ B: 20% ⬥ C: 17% ⬥ D: 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. Expecting it to be A or B, yet concerned that Pegasus would be "the obvious choice", he used his final lifeline. Eventually, he felt he would have to answer, and felt the answer had to be Pegasus as Pegasus was a winged horse in Greek mythology, and Jason had nothing to do with flying. Right before his loss, he told host 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. Total Prize Money: £32,000 |
Trivia[]
- Jim Titmuss, the first contestant to lose £93,000 also used his 50:50 lifeline in which he coincidentally went for B and that the correct answer is also D.
- Duncan talked about his experience on the Channel 5 documentary When Gameshows Go Horribly Wrong, and said that by the time he got to the £500,000 question, his sights were set purely on the ultimate prize: as producer Colman Hutchinson said, even the most confident would walk away with £250,000.
- Host Chris Tarrant told Duncan he had also thought the answer was Pegasus, and was dejected to see a red square appear on his monitor, representing a massive loss.
- As Duncan leaves, Chris can be heard shouting a loud "Bollocks!" as he walks out of the studio, which wasn't censored in the final edit. Duncan confirmed he heard it.
Gallery[]
Duncan losing £218,000.
Duncan talking about his Millionaire run on Gameshow Losers.
Duncan talking about his Millionaire run on When Gameshows Go Horribly Wrong.
Sources[]
| Preceded by Steve Wayland |
UK Contestant (Series 8) Duncan Bickley |
Succeeded by Mike Hanson |