The Einstein Factor is a gameshow on Australian network ABC – the tagline is ‘For the person who knows everything about something and something about everything’. I first applied to go on in the middle of 2004 with VFL/AFL Grand Finals as my special subject. The audition was on December 2, and a few days beforehand my mother suggested to me – tongue-in-cheek – that I ask if I can change my subject to Thomas the Tank Engine when I got there.

I took her seriously.

Google led to TV Tome, which led to the Sodor Island Fansite, which led to the Clearwater Forum and finally Sodor Island Forums. But let’s not go nuts just yet. I couldn’t change my topic, and I didn’t get on the show. Ah well, maybe later.

In the middle of 2005, brain packed full of awesome Thomas stuff thanks to SiF and SiFS, I applied again on a whim, this time with Thomas as my special subject. A few months later (in the middle of a storm while I was driving home, no less) ABC called up saying I had gotten through to an audition again. I wasn’t 100% certain I could make it, due to having just started a new job, and said as much – I’d try, but no promises.

Turns out I had plenty of time to get there. Also turns out they’d banked on me NOT being able to arrive, and so didn’t have anything prepared for me. Lovely.

The audition consists of a chat about the special subject and a General Knowledge quiz of 25 questions. I got about 19 right, which was a bloody good result considering the difficulty of the quiz. I talked for a while about Thomas with a producer, and they promised to call me later with some proper questions.

They did, and I answered them appropriately. The following day – December 2, funnily enough – I got the call. I was going to be on the Einstein factor with Thomas the Tank Engine. Awesome.

The episode was filmed on the 25^th of January. Jim522, Jarrah and The old Bean were in the studio audience. I was given the option of meeting them pre-filming, but opted out due to being as nervous as…well, a really nervous thing. After a short while in the green room alone, I couldn’t take it anymore and went to watch the first episode being filmed.

The first contestant was Scott Elliott with DC Comics. He got about 12 right in the first round, and I was really packing it down – how would I manage to go THAT well? Scott ended up winning the heat and going through to the playoff. My episode was next. Here we go here we go here we go…

Turns out the questions were surprisingly simple and based almost wholly on the first season. I got all but one right – “When James stops spinning in Tenders and Turntables, what keeps going around?” – didn’t think of the eyes. Ah well. Veronica and Grant – the other two contestants, both did OK, but I had a healthy lead going into round 2.

I kept it pretty much, but I was dirty on myself for getting a question about Australians of the Year wrong – I had read an article about the exact thing in the newspaper not two hours before hand…! Round 3 was where things got interesting. Grant jumped in whenever he could, and overtook me at one stage. Happily (well, for me at least) he got the last 2 questions wrong and I won through to the playoffs! WOO!

But then the downer. Jim, Jarrah and the Bean scarpered immediately to catch their train, so I didn’t get to see them at all. Bugger. Still, I won, and that was cool. Certainly wasn’t expecting it.

OK, a little more, but not much.

Again, I missed only the one question in the opening round – and again I knew it (having two numbers, 8 and 5741, which Great Western Engine also has 2 names? Duck and Montague – I jumped in too early). It was a lot closer though – David was only 100 points behind at the end of the round.

We all scored 300 points in the second round, and the third round was nowhere near as nerve-wracking for me – I didn’t fall behind and won by 200 points after getting the last question right. The first person into the SERIES FINAL was I. The winner of that would be in the Einstein Factor Grand Final.

The series final was filmed on March 31 – 2 days before my 20^th birthday. Good omen, perhaps? It started out that way – I nailed every single question in the opening round to have a 200 point lead at the end of it. In the interim between rounds, I heard a young boy talk earnestly about the episode ‘The Dieseasel’, which was the answer to one of the questions…and a nice tongue-twister when you’re under pressure. :P

I kept my 200 point lead through round 2 against Virginia (Greek Mythology) and Kevin (Australian Horse Racing of the 1960s), but Round 3 was a different story. Virginia was a former Sale of the Century champion, and one of my father’s workmates had played off against – and beaten – her in a Champion of Champions thing. The advise I had been given was “Keep the lead – she’ll get rattled.”

It didn’t quite turn out that way. She erased the deficit in 2 questions and kept pipping me by the tiniest amount of time. Added to that, Kevin stole a Thomas question from me. The dastardly fiend! Never mind that I stole a horse racing one off him later, he just SHOULDN’T do it! :P

Anyway, I pulled back and the lead switched over a few times. It came down to the last question (again). Virginia got in first.

She got it right.

So I lost in the Grand Final Qualifier on the last question to a former Sale of the Century champ. I suppose that’s not too bad. Especially when she ended up winning the Grand Final. But that wasn’t the end of it.

The young boy I had heard earlier – and his family – had traveled from Tasmania to watch me be filmed in the Grand Final Qualifier. Tasmania! I was amazed that they would go to such effort basically for me, simply because I like Thomas the Tank Engine. We had a good little talk about Thomas and stuff – I was especially pleased that he knew of Ivo Hugh even though he was about 6 at the most – and I gave his parents the URLs to Sodor Island Fansite and Forums. I don’t think they ended up joining, though. Shame really, I’d have liked to hear from them again.

So really, that’s the story of Thomas on The Einstein Factor. But it’s not all for SiF…

Sodor18 applied with Round the Twist late last year and had an audition, sadly not getting through. As for me, I applied on a whim with the Ronnie Barker comedy Porridge as the special subject this time around, and had an audition on March 28. Turns out I wasn’t the only one going back for a second dip either – a woman who had used Stargate in 2006 was there with Orlando Bloom as the subject of choice as well. If we could both get on the same show…

I haven’t heard back yet, but I’m not really holding my breath. I applied for Porridge on a whim, really. Doesn’t really matter what happens.

But then, look what happened when I had that attitude for my Thomas application.