Hywel Carver, a computer software engineer living in Archway, London (despite being announced and captioned as being from Wiltshire), appeared as a contestant on the eighteenth episode of Series 25 of the UK version of the show on 27th October 2009. He won £20,000.
Put these actresses in the order they first portrayed Miss Marple on film or TV.
⬥ A: Geraldine McEwan
⬥ B: Joan Hickson
⬥ C: Julia McKenzie
⬥ D: Margaret Rutherford
Of the nine remaining contestants, five gave the correct order of D-B-A-C (Rutherford first portrayed Miss Marple in 1961, Hickson in 1984, McEwan in 2004, and McKenzie in 2009). Hywel was the fastest of the five, with a time of 4.28 seconds.
Hywel's Run to the Million[]
£500 (1 of 12) - Not Timed
It is common for a child to use stabilisers when learning to do what?
⬥ A: Cycle
⬥ B: Tie shoelaces
⬥ C: Read
⬥ D: Write
£1,000 (2 of 12) - Not Timed
The ability to do several things at the same time is usually known by what name?
⬥ A: Multiworking
⬥ B: Multitoiling
⬥ C: Multijobbing
⬥ D: Multitasking
£2,000 (3 of 12) - Not Timed
What surname is shared by comedians Katy and Jo?
⬥ A: French
⬥ B: Eclair
⬥ C: Brand
⬥ D: Tate
£5,000 (4 of 12) - Not Timed
Which of these creatures does not have a shell? 'Ask the Audience' lifeline used
Hywel had a hunch that the answer was echidna, but he could not picture a whelk. He decided to ask the audience, 89% of whom went with echidna. "That would be an awful lot of people to not know what a whelk looks like," said Hywel, as he went with the 89% and won £5,000.
£10,000 (5 of 12) - Not Timed
"Kia ora" is a greeting in which language? '50:50' lifeline used
⬥ A: Maori
⬥ B: Cantonese
⬥ C: Swahili
⬥ D: Gaelic
After ruling out Swahili (as he could speak some of this language), Hywel used his 50:50, which left Maori and Gaelic. He decided to go with Maori. "Final answer?" asked Chris Tarrant. Hywel contemplated for a few more seconds, then said "Yeah, go for it" and doubled his money to £10,000.
£20,000 (6 of 12) - Not Timed
Which country's Formula One circuit features the Senna 'S' bend? 'Phone-a-Friend' lifeline used
⬥ A: Spain
⬥ B: Italy
⬥ C: France
⬥ D: Brazil
Hywel phoned his friend Josh, who did not know for sure but guessed Brazil as Ayrton Senna, for whom the bend is named, was Brazilian. Hywel asked Josh, "If you were sat here right now, what would you do?" Josh replied, "I probably wouldn't go for it", which disappointed some of the audience. After the time ran out, Chris said sarcastically, "Aw, good choice of Phone-a-Friend!" Hywel decided to go for it, however, as he himself thought Brazil was the answer and he knew he would only be in the Hot Seat once. After Brazil went to orange, Chris called the final commercial break of the episode, before telling Hywel that he had doubled his money again to £20,000. The bend is part of the Interlagos circuit, in Ayrton Senna's home city of São Paulo.
Money won
£50,000 (7 of 12) - Not Timed
The singer Jade Jones is known as the boyfriend of which former Spice Girl?
⬥ A: Melanie Chisholm
⬥ B: Emma Bunton
⬥ C: Geri Halliwell
⬥ D: Melanie Brown
"I've got absolutely no idea, so I'm going to take the money," said Hywel. Jones was the boyfriend of Emma Bunton (and later became her husband). Total Prize: £20,000
Later quiz show appearances[]
Having previously studied at Cambridge, Hywel started a PhD at University College, London following his Millionaire appearance, and made that institution's team for the 2011–12 series of University Challenge. The team reached the semi-finals, beating York, Warwick, Manchester and Balliol College, Oxford along the way, before finally being knocked out by Pembroke College, Cambridge.[1]
In late 2013, Hywel was part of the Board Gamers team that won the eighth series of Only Connect. The captain of this team, Jamie Karran, had also been the captain of the aforementioned UCL University Challenge team.[2]
