People today who compete in general knowledge professionally (semi-pro to be fair) do learn all these things just for the action. Steven actually knows all this stuff just because he's incredibly clever, knowledgeable and believe it's important.
These are some incredibly difficult questions. Even Arthur Conan Doyle couldn't have answered these, he couldn't even remember Dr. Watson's first name or injury...
agreed. There's a lot of scope for obscure details in the Sherlock Holmes stories, and given Stephen Fry's reputation for erudition, I think the question-setters figured they should err on the side of tricky. I only got 6 right myself. I only read the complete works once about 14yrs ago, and listened to them all on audiobook 2yrs ago, so they weren't as well lodged in my memory as they were in his. I seem to remember once my late father told me that back in the days of Magnus Magnusson, someone picked these stories as their specialist subject and he was a fan so he had a go at answering along as he watched it on TV, and he didn't get any right.
A fun curiosity. Thank you. Such a quintessentially, “British,” institution, made even more so by Fry, of all people, taking the trophy home. BTW, I got toboggan right, so that makes my mind officially more masterful than Stephen Fry’s . . . 😉
Can't give this a thumbs up. I feel sorry for the disabled lady. I wish her better luck next time. I'm sure Stephen would have let her win if he had known.
I don't think he claims to have a photographic memory tbf. He also mentioned not reading Homes since he was a boy so he likely didn't revise the subject.
If you believe the god of the bible is 'perfect' you obviously haven't read the book, or read it whilst wearing rose-tinted spectacles, or have had it 'interpreted' for you by some self-proclaimed 'spokesman for god' religious charlatan. The god of the bible is the most despicable character in all of literature!
