Scots prove to be the brains of Britain in television quiz

SCOTS proved themselves to be the brains of Britain as they saw off the competition to take the top spot in the BBC’s Test The Nation quiz on Saturday night.

The Scottish TV presenter Jenni Falconer was the highest scoring celebrity in the show, which tests the nation’s general knowledge with a total of 75 questions.

The country’s national team knocked Northern Ireland off the top spot with a high score of 38.

Brain-teasers from topics including entertainment, food, sport, music, history, geography and people were put to the seven teams taking the test live in the studio.

A further 67,000 members of the public tested themselves simultaneously online and thousands more texted with mobile phones to pit their wits against the groups of celebrities, tour guides, accountants, truckers, chefs, B&B landladies and ‘record-breakers’ who took part on the BBC1 show.

With a score of 51 out of 75, Jenni Falconer beat musician Myleene Klass and Casualty actor Chris Colquhoun, who both scored 49 points, into second place.

Former Fame Academy and Eurovision hopeful James Fox scored 48 points, and the BBC sports presenter Clare Balding and chef Paul Rankin each got 46 points. Roberta Taylor, from the police drama The Bill, answered 45 questions correctly, and the former England cricket captain Adam Hollioake came last of the celebrities, with 42 right answers.

Both the celebrity team and the tour guides had the highest average team scores of 47. The overall studio winner was a lorry driver, Simon Dean, who correctly answered 63 of the questions.

Men just pipped women to the post in their general knowledge know-how, with an average of 38 points to 36.

The brainiest age group was 55-69, with 44 points, compared to teenagers (16-19) who scored an average of just 32 correct answers.

The Test the Nation format has proven highly successful around the world, drawing huge audiences and very high ratings wherever it has screened.

Developed by Dutch company Eyeworks, Test the Nation has been broadcast in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, USA, Japan, the United States, the UK and Australia.

The test can be taken online for the next two weeks at www.bbc.co.uk/testthenation.