Programme 9, 2022

Going into today's programme, the Round Britain Quiz league table for 2022 stands as follows:
1 South of England Played 3 Won 3 Drawn 0 Lost 0 Total points 67
2 Midlands P3 W1 D2 L0 Pts 61
3 Wales P3 W1 D1 L1 Pts 58
4 Scotland P2 W1 D0 L1 Pts 40
5 North of England P2 W0 D1 L1 Pts 37
6 Northern Ireland P3 W0 D0 L3 Pts 55

Last week Kirsty asked what kind of person might look after the Hindu creator of the universe, a high quality coffee, a yellow flower from Palermo and a water fairy that takes human form on land?
The answer is a poultry farmer or breeder, because these are all clues to names of chicken breeds. They are, respectively, Brahma, Java, Sicilian Buttercup and Silkie.
Well done if you made that connection. There'll be another puzzle to ponder at the end of today's show.

Q1 (from Terry O'Brien) What might be the preferred tipple of Eric's porcine dictator, Ilya's singular companion, Elvis's explosive alter ago and Arthur's devious villain?
Q2 How might a fruit notoriously scarce at Christmas, a Scottish dessert of raspberries and oatmeal, and a town that became a Household Word, have their origins in raw fish? 
Q3 Why might this voice also make you think of a Pirate of the Caribbean, an early circumnavigator and his original mode of transport, a royal physician, a cannibal's confidante and a speedy gardener? 
Q4 (from Emily Burns) Several hundred years ago you might have taken a walk along the coast and seen a feline, a beer glass, some fluffy ice crystals and a flower. What were they all doing there?
Q5 Explain why you might want to let go of a confectionary treat mentioned by Dorothy, a cryptic tool of fake news, and a tadpole-shaped piece of glass?
Q6 Music: Why might you find these three together in Tate Britain beside a tin of evaporated milk?
Q7 How is Jenny Hanley's perfect score matched by a resort in Pembrokeshire, the fall of Singapore on BBC1, and the hedgehogs of Madagascar?
Q8 (from James Tween) Why are the wearing of a botanical love token as expressed in a folk song, and a nonsensical voyage to which Beatrix Potter wrote a prequel, linked to a former possible lifeline for a murderer?

Why might Countdown's original arithmetician, a breakfast DJ who later dominated Saturday night, an actor who's neither a fool nor a horse, and a canny Shawshank strategist, all have cause to feel their careers had taken off?
Kirsty will unveil the answer next time.