Egghead challengers put up valiant fight

THEY didn't make the Eggheads crack, but the five-strong challengers from Alderney made sure they were certainly no yolk.

The Rockhoppers, aka States engineer Julie Turner, Tim Butler, estate agent Bridget Postlethwaite, States member and guest house owner Bill Walden and his sister, Bernice Miller, put up a valiant fight.

Pitted against resident quiz kings including Who Wants to Be a Millionaire winner Judith Keppel, they won just one of the first rounds in the BBC2 teatime show and lost in the final.

The team kept the results of their experience secret for almost a year until after the episode was aired this week.

'People may have noticed that we didn't all disappear on round-the-world cruises after the show,' said Julie. 'But our main mission was to promote Alderney – how lovely and safe and different it was and its old-fashioned values.'

The production team visited the Channel Islands last January on the hunt for contestants. The five passed muster at auditions in Guernsey and headed to Glasgow for their showdown.

First up was Bridget, who got food and drink as a topic. She explained that she picked Who Wants to Be a Millionaire winner Judith Keppel as her adversary because the local prep school had watched her win. She put up a good fight but stumbled on naming the vegetable that contained varieties Autumn King and Egmont Gold (carrots). Julie got art and books, Tim got music.

Rather to his own surprise, Bill Walden won his film and TV round and went through to the final, where he was flanked by sister Bernice, an avid quiz enthusiast at Alderney pubs such as the Coronation.

What did it feel like watching himself on TV? 'They put too much make-up on me,' he protested.

'I won my round more by luck and educated guesses than anything else. But I was very pleased not to have let the side down. Bridget nearly got through, but she got some tough questions.'

They were playing for £5,000 – but came away with nothing.

'We didn't win anything, that's true,' he said. 'But they're not called the Eggheads for nothing and they do know their stuff. We knew it was going to be tough and taking home any money was going to be a bonus.'

Quiz host Jeremy Vine seemed curious about daily life on the island. He asked Tim Butler whether he knew all 2,300 people on the island – 'you don't necessarily know everyone's name, but you recognise them' – whether bad weather cut supplies off – 'a few times a year, but it can't be helped' – and whether they got Radio 2 – 'when the wind is in the right direction'.

'Jeremy Vine had never been to Alderney but he was talking at length about it before the show started and said he was thinking about taking a holiday in Alderney,' said Bill.

'The Eggheads had heard of Alderney, of course. Chris Hughes is a former train driver and had lots of facts and figures about Alderney railway. He was trying to psyche us out, I think.'