Pat Gibson, a software developer and professional quiz player originally born in Ireland but at the time living in Wigan, Greater Manchester, was a contestant on series 15 of the UK version of the show on 3, 24 April, 2004. He became the fourth contestant in the United Kingdom to win £1,000,000.
He is currently a panellist on the TV quiz series Eggheads.
WWTBAM Run
Fastest Finger First
| Fastest Finger First Question | |
| Put these inventions in chronological order. | |
| ⬥ A: Microwave oven | ⬥ B: Escalator |
| ⬥ C: Microscope | ⬥ D: Catapult |
| From the 8 remaining contestants, 5 got it right, but Pat (with a time of 4.56 seconds) was the fastest to correctly answer D-C-B-A, making it into the Hot Seat. |
Pat's Run to the Million
| £100 (1 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| In children's stories, how many wishes are traditionally granted by a genie or a fairy? | |
| ⬥ A: One | ⬥ B: Two |
| ⬥ C: Three | ⬥ D: Four |
| £200 (2 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| Which phrase refers to a discussion about work outside working hours? | |
| ⬥ A: Talking factory | ⬥ B: Talking store |
| ⬥ C: Talking shop | ⬥ D: Talking mill |
| £300 (3 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| What is the colour of the front door of Number Ten Downing Street? | |
| ⬥ A: Red | ⬥ B: Blue |
| ⬥ C: Yellow | ⬥ D: Black |
| £500 (4 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| Complete TV presenter David Dickinson's famous catchphrase: 'Cheap as.... '? | |
| ⬥ A: Cheddar | ⬥ B: Chowder |
| ⬥ C: Chips | ⬥ D: Chilli |
| £1,000 (5 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| What is the first word in the phonetic alphabet? | |
| ⬥ A: Apple | ⬥ B: Alpha |
| ⬥ C: Armadillo | ⬥ D: Amazon |
| £2,000 (6 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| Which girl's name is the title of a song on The Beatles album 'Rubber Soul'? | |
| ⬥ A: Mandy | ⬥ B: Michelle |
| ⬥ C: Madeleine | ⬥ D: Marianne |
| £4,000 (7 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| In 1581, Sir Francis Drake became mayor of which city? | |
| ⬥ A: Hull | ⬥ B: Glasgow |
| ⬥ C: Plymouth | ⬥ D: Bristol |
| £8,000 (8 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| The Walrus and the Carpenter' is a well-known verse in which children's novel? | |
| ⬥ A: Swallows and Amazons | ⬥ B: The Hobbit |
| ⬥ C: Through the Looking-Glass | ⬥ D: Stig of the Dump |
| £16,000 (9 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| In heraldry, a lion standing on one or two hind legs with one foreleg raised above the other is described as what? | |
| ⬥ A: Dormant | ⬥ B: Passant |
| ⬥ C: Couchant | ⬥ D: Rampant |
| £32,000 (10 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| What is the name of the world's highest active volcano? | |
| ⬥ A: Etna | ⬥ B: St Helens |
| ⬥ C: Cotopaxi | ⬥ D: Krakatoa |
| £64,000 (11 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| In Welsh place names, what does 'afon' mean? 'Ask The Audience' lifeline used | |
| ⬥ A: Fort - 12% | ⬥ B: Meadow - 16% |
| ⬥ C: Pool - 10% | ⬥ D: River - 62% |
| £125,000 (12 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| Which king wrote a famous denunciation of smoking? | |
| ⬥ A: Richard I | ⬥ B: William I |
| ⬥ C: George I | ⬥ D: James I |
| £250,000 (13 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| What is the female equivalent of the Oedipus complex? | |
| ⬥ A: Electra complex | ⬥ B: Athena complex |
| ⬥ C: Diana complex | ⬥ D: Pandora complex |
| The klaxon called time and Pat would return on £250,000 with 2 lifelines still available. |
| £500,000 (14 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| Which of these creatures are most associated with the naturalist and artist John James Audubon? | |
| ⬥ A: Beetles | ⬥ B: Butterflies |
| ⬥ C: Birds | ⬥ D: Bats |
| £1,000,000 (15 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| Which of these is not one of the American Triple Crown horse races? '50:50' and 'Phone-A-Friend' lifelines used | |
| ⬥ A: Arlington Million | ⬥ B: Belmont Stakes |
| ⬥ C: Kentucky Derby | ⬥ D: Preakness Stakes |
| Pat had an idea of what the answer was, but decided to use his 50:50, eliminating B and D. His answer still showed up, but decided anyways to call his friend and former contestant Mark Kerr, who was 90% certain it was the Arlington Million. That was his idea as well, so after a few moments, he decided to lock in his answer, and won £1,000,000. |
Post-WWTBAM
- Pat has taken part in mutiple occasions of BBC's TV quiz show Mastermind.
- He became the 2005 Mastermind champion after swotting up on an array of specialist subjects from Father Ted to the books of Iain M. Banks and the films of Quentin Tarantino.
- He returned in 2010 for a chance to be crowned Mastermind's Champion of Champions. He qualified to the finals with his specialist subject of 10 animated Pixar films, and for the finals he chose Lives of Great Mathematicians as his subject. By virtue of his amazing scores on both the specialist subject and general knowledge rounds, Pat Gibson took the title of Mastermind's Champion of Champions.
- In 2006, Pat won the BBC Radio 4 quiz show Brain of Britain.
- In 2008 and 2009, Pat competed in both the first and second series of 'Are you an Egghead?' – a series which sought to find a new panellist to join the resident team of the BBC Two/12Yard show 'Eggheads'.
- In the first series Pat was beaten in the quarter finals by his friend Mark Kerr, but he returned the following year and won the final broadcast on 23 November beating fellow 'Mastermind' and 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' winner David Edwards.
- In 2010, he won the International Quiz Association World Quizzing Championship, achieving an all-time high score of 180 out of 210.
- Pat has won the British Quiz Championship four times (2007, 2010, 2014, 2015) and the World Quizzing Championship four times as well (2007, 2010, 2011, 2013).
Trivia
- The contestant that played before Pat Gibson, Bill Copland walked away empty-handed, the polar opposite of Pat's winnings.
- Pat served as a phone-a-friend of former contestant Mark Kerr, and helped him reach £64,000. Mark later retributed the favour, by serving as his phone-a-friend during Pat's million pound question.
- Pat's run was split into two parts, in order to make room for the Celebrity Easter special shows.
Sources
Pat Gibson's run to the million (Part 1)- Pat Gibson's run to the million (Part 2)
Pat Gibson's run to the million (Part 3)- Pat Gibson's run to the million (Part 4)
- Pat Gibson's run to the million (Part 5)
| Preceded by Bill Copland |
UK Contestant (Series 15) Pat Gibson |
Succeeded by Jon Snow & Tony Slattery (Celebrity Easter Special) |
| Preceded by Tim Rice & Alice Beer (Celebrity Easter Special) |
UK Contestant (Series 15) Pat Gibson |
Succeeded by Lesley Cook |