Episode 32 Eggheads

These people are amongst the greatest quiz players in Britain.

Together, they make up the Eggheads,

arguably the most formidable quiz team in the country.

The question is, can they be beaten?

Welcome to Eggheads,

the show where a team of five quiz challengers pit their wits

against possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain.

Here they are, the Eggheads.

Feeling feisty?

-ALL:

-Yes. Ready to go.

I sense that.

Well, challenging our resident quiz champions today

are the Smithdown Five. Now, this team all met

while studying at the University of Liverpool

and reunite, when they can,

to attend the quiz at The Burnt Post pub in Coventry. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Sri. I'm a phlebotomist.

Hi, I'm Al, I'm a maths teacher.

Hi, my name's Joe, and I'm an internal auditor.

Hi, I'm Tom and I work in investment management.

Hi, I'm Graham and I'm a maths teacher.

So, Sri and team, welcome.

Great to see you. You feeling good about this, Sri?

Yeah, I'm quietly confident.

So, you met in Liverpool, but you reunite for the quiz in Coventry.

-How's that?

-Basically,

three of the people that we know and went to university with,

they live in Coventry.

Well, Al and Joe do, that's our main hub and we always try and meet up.

Oh, so you've done that thing where you all go to the same university

and then you just spread out around the country?

-Yeah.

-Right - but you keep in touch.

-It's easier these days.

-Yeah, WhatsApp, weddings...

-Stuff like that.

-WhatsApp - Judith, are you on WhatsApp?

-Yes, funnily enough.

-Are you?!

LAUGHTER

-So it's finally arrived.

-Yeah!

-Good luck against the Eggheads.

-Thank you.

Every day, there is £1,000 worth of cash up for grabs

for our Challengers - however, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, Smithdown Five, the Eggheads have won the last 16 games.

So there's good and bad there, they are on a roll,

but you get money if you stop it.

£17,000, in fact, which is on the table today.

-Do you want to get cracking?

-Yeah.

-Ready to go.

-I'm sensing hunger here.

LAUGHTER

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Music -

and just to say, you've got Judith, Dave, Kevin,

Barry and Lisa to choose from.

-Judith?

-OK, yeah.

It's me and I'd like to go against Judith, please.

Joe from the Smithdown Five versus Judith from the Eggheads.

To ensure there is no conferring,

please take your positions in our famous Question Room.

Joe, good luck on Music.

-Thank you.

-And just tell me why you're called the Smithdown Five?

So, we all went to university in Liverpool,

and Smithdown Road is the road which we all lived off.

We lived all together but not at the same time, if you know what I mean.

No!

LAUGHTER

-What am I trying to say? We've all lived...

-There's a road...

What, there's a road called Smithdown?

-Yeah.

-And you've all had something to do with it?

Well, we all lived on a road off Smithdown Road.

-Off it?

-Yes.

I see. So you didn't live on it at all?

No, there isn't any houses on it.

-Oh, I see.

-But there's lots of roads that go off it.

Have you ever lived on Smithdown Road, Judith?

No, I'm completely baffled by Smithdown...

It's a very mysterious way to begin, actually.

Anyway, it doesn't have houses on it.

No, but this could be quite deliberate.

He's taking you into the world of confusion here.

-It's definitely not...

-I don't know what you're doing, Joe,

but I can tell it's working already.

Can you see the look on Judith's face?

All right, Music -

-and, Joe, would you like to go first or second?

-First, please.

OK, here is your first question. Good luck.

"Well, since my baby left me,

"I've found a new place to dwell" are the opening lines

to which Elvis Presley song?

Well, I've definitely heard of the song, but I can't...

..put my finger on it.

I think I'll go for Heartbreak Hotel, please.

Let's see what your team think. Is he right?

-Yeah.

-Yes, yes, you've got it right, well done.

Were you tempted by Jailhouse Rock?

I was just trying to lull Judith into a false sense of security.

LAUGHTER

You've got to sing it now, Judith.

-Somebody has to.

-Oh, well, Lisa can.

-Go on, Lisa.

-I was going to defer to you,

-because you're the one with the best Elvis voice.

-Well, it's...

IMITATES ELVIS: # Well, since my baby left me

# I've found a new place to dwell

# It's down at the end of Lonely Street...

# Heartbreak Hotel... #

Thank you!

OK. Judith, your question.

Whose acceptance speech for an MTV Best Female Video award in 2009

was famously interrupted by Kanye West?

Erm...

I can't remember this event.

I'm going to say Katy Perry.

Oh, I bet you know this, Joe.

-Yeah.

-Go on, tell me.

It's my namesake, Taylor Swift.

Yes, it is, yeah.

Because you're Joe Taylor. I was going to say, he's not Joe Swift,

he is Joe Taylor.

So, it was Taylor Swift, and it was all very embarrassing.

I think he came up on stage and what did he say?

Dave, you'll know. He was saying this should have been Beyonce.

Yes, yes, that's basically what he did, yes.

Joe.

In which of these venues would you find a 9,999-pipe organ

described as the voice of Jupiter?

Um... Not sure.

Trying to discount some of the others, but...

..I think I'm going to go for the Royal Albert Hall, please.

-Do you know this, Judith?

-Well, I don't think it's the Opera House,

because I don't think that has an organ -

and the Royal Albert Hall is the biggest.

Yeah, it is the Royal Albert Hall, well done.

It's there on display.

Amazing. If you ever go there, yeah.

OK, Judith. In a traditional drum kit,

which of these is another name for a bass drum?

-For a bass drum?

-Bass drum.

Oh, Lordy. I should think...

..the one that sounds most likely and the deepest is punch.

OK, have you ever played the drums?

No. I know you have, though.

I do, well, I used to, yeah -

but the bass drum, do you know where it is in the drum kit?

-On the bottom, I suppose.

-And what do you do when you...

I mean, which part of your body do you...

You kick it, probably. Oh, damn it,

yes, of course you do, with your foot.

You do, with your foot. I'm so sorry.

Kick drum, Judith - and I think you're going home.

-Yes.

-You're going to be in the sin bin.

Well done to our Challengers - what about that?

And that thing about the Smithdown Road was brilliant.

-No-one's ever done that before.

-Very eloquently put!

Totally threw her.

Maybe it'll stop them getting any questions right at all...

..in the contest. So Joe, you're in the final, Judith, you are not.

Please return to the studio.

Well done, Challengers.

The Smithdown Five have not lost any brains from the final round.

This is looking good now. We are playing for £17,000.

The Eggheads have lost Judith, which can be crucial in the final.

The next subject for you guys is Science.

Who would like Science?

Do you want to take it, or should I?

-You take it, you take it.

-You're good at science.

-Yeah?

-You take it, Tom.

-OK.

OK. I'll take science, please, Jeremy.

OK. Tom, our investment manager -

and who would you like to disinvest in?

Any one of those four on the left.

I think I'll go for Dave, please.

Tom, from the Smithdown Five, versus Tremendous Knowledge Dave,

from the Eggheads, on Science.

Please go to the Question Room.

So how come you are doing science, here, Tom?

Actually, science is not my forte.

It would have been Joe's subject, but he's already won Music,

-so now it's on to me.

-So were waiting for Sport or something else?

Food & Drink would have been my specialty, actually.

I do chef quite a bit, actually, so I do enjoy cooking.

Oh, that's nice. Any particular kind of world cooking?

Well, my wife's Mexican, so I do enjoy Mexican cuisine particularly -

but, yes, all sorts, all sorts.

We should get him to stay, shouldn't we, Dave?

Absolutely. No, Mexican food's good for me.

Same for you on Science. It wouldn't be your choice, Dave, would it?

It's just how the questions fall, really.

So we'll just see how it goes.

OK. So, Tom, you can choose whether you go first or second.

I think I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Good luck, Tom. Which of these is a chemical element with the symbol Li?

That is a big L and a small I.

Is it...

I'm pretty sure it's lithium, Jeremy.

It is lithium.

That's right.

OK. Dave, your question.

Which inert gas is the third most abundant element

in Earth's atmosphere after nitrogen and oxygen?

Right.

I don't think it's chlorine, I don't think it's argon.

I think it's helium.

Barry's... It looks like Barry's physically been attacked.

His expression. What happened, Barry?

Well, it's 1% of the atmosphere, so it's argon.

-Argon.

-Oh, I didn't think so.

Sorry. A blurt.

Because if it was helium, we'd all be laughing all the time.

-Yeah, we would be!

-We're not laughing now.

Yeah, you're not laughing now, Barry says.

OK. Tom, if you get this right, you're in a good position.

Which characteristic best describes the dinosaurs known as hadrosaurs?

Hadrosaurs are not a dinosaur I am familiar with.

I think I'll go for two-horned, please, Jeremy.

Yeah, what do you think, Barry, or Kevin?

They didn't quack, but they were duck-billed.

Yeah, it was duck-billed.

First sign of trouble on the Challengers' side.

Get this to draw level.

Dave, what name have US researchers given

to the theoretical Neptune-sized object

that may lie deep in the solar system?

Well. I've not heard of this.

Not having a good day today.

Have to go Planet X, but with no real certainty at all.

Planet X is the right answer.

Tom, get this right to keep control.

The Frenchman Evariste Galois, who died in a duel in 1832 aged 20,

became famous for his contribution in which field?

Galois. Could you spell the surname, please?

Yes. G-A-L-O-I-S.

I'm leaning towards astronomy.

I think I'll go astronomy, please, Jeremy.

Astronomy. Any Eggheads know this?

-Mathematics.

-Mathematics, apparently, Tom.

-Oh.

Dave, your question. Which of these Australian marsupials

is sometimes called the native cat?

And I can do them all in an Australian accent, if you want.

-Right. The native cat?

-Native cat.

I'm not going to go bandicoot.

I'm going to go dunnart, please.

AUSTRALIAN ACCENT: It's not a dunnart, fella.

-It's a quoll.

-OK.

OK. All right.

You just stayed in there, Tom.

That's quite good, actually.

It's been a rough old round.

OK, Tom, it gets a bit harder now.

We go to Sudden Death. I don't give you alternatives.

Here we go. Formed in 1788 and based in London,

what is the name of the world's oldest active biological society?

It's tricky without the options, Jeremy.

But I think it might be the Francis Crick Institute.

No. I wonder whether he's after 1788.

-The Linnean Society.

-OK.

Named after the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus.

-Right.

-OK, Dave, Sudden Death.

You can take it with this answer.

Which Oxford college is named after one of the first female members

of the Royal Astronomical Society?

-This for the round.

-Yeah, I know, I know.

Just trying to think who it is.

Not going to get there at all.

I should know this. Margaret Hall.

But I'm not going to get there.

-Margaret Hall.

-Do you know this, Tom,

because I know you're based in Oxford.

I do live in Oxford,

but, unfortunately, I do not know the answer.

OK. Somerville.

After Mary Somerville.

Tom, your question.

What spider of the genus Latrodectus,

famous for its distinctive abdominal markings,

is often said to be North America's most venomous arachnid?

I think I'll go for black widow.

Black widow's right.

Dave, your question to stay in.

-Yes.

-Which type of algebra,

basic to the design of digital computer circuits,

takes its name from an English mathematician born in 1815?

Right, this is going to be a difficult one.

All I can think of is...

How do I pronounce this?

I can't think it's Babbage algebra.

I've just got to go Babbage algebra.

Because that's all I can think of.

-Babbage algebra.

-Who knows on the Eggheads' side?

-George Boole. Boolean.

-Yeah. Boolean is the answer, Dave.

You've been knocked out. Well done, Challengers.

You're in the final, Tom.

Please return to us and we'll play on.

So our Challengers have not lost any brains from the final round,

the Eggheads have lost two,

and the next subject is Politics.

-Who would like this?

-I'm going to take it

-and I'm going to play Lisa, please.

-So, Sri against...?

-Lisa.

-Lisa. Who knows her prime ministers, I think.

And precious little else.

To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in the Question Room.

OK, so Politics for the team captain.

Sri, would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please, Jeremy.

Good luck against our Lisa -

and here we go. What term to describe supporters of Jeremy Corbyn

has become popular in the UK national press?

I think it's Corbynistas.

It is the Corbynistas. Well done, yeah.

I suppose... I guess this is some sort of idea

-that they are a bit like the Che Guevara...

-Sandinistas.

-Sandinistas.

-Yes.

Lisa Thiel.

In 2015, to what did David Cameron compare terms in office,

saying two are wonderful, three might just be too many?

SHE CHUCKLES

This passed me by...

..and to the best of my knowledge he's only been married the once,

so we'll go with pints of beer.

-Sri?

-It's a type of cereal, I think.

-Weetabix.

-It is a type of cereal, Sri.

It's not Weetabix. Shredded Wheat.

Oh, right, yeah.

Lisa. That idea that...

If I'd had the brand name, I might have got there.

OK, so something... I don't know what's happening to the Eggheads,

but it's as if the circuitry is scorched or blown.

Something has happened here.

So, Sri, take advantage,

because you're playing really well, your team.

Here's your question. Which former Mayor of New York City

declined the annual salary, choosing instead to be paid 1 annually?

It's Michael Bloomberg.

It is Michael Bloomberg, you're quite right.

OK, your question. Lisa, under the original Scotland Act of 1998,

Holyrood was given the power to vary the income tax rate

by how many pence in the pound?

I don't know. 13 seems like an awful lot,

because that's going to be a fairly hefty swing either way.

I don't know. Maybe Scotland have this power to swing it hugely

and just haven't done it, but I'll go with three.

-Three is right.

-Oh, good.

Well done. So you have got a point, there, suddenly.

Oh, the Eggheads roaring through now -

but, Sri, get this right, you're in the final round.

Which British Prime Minister was nicknamed the Mongoose?

I think it's between Disraeli and Palmerston.

I'm going to go Disraeli.

-Lisa?

-I thought it was Disraeli.

No, it's Palmerston.

So you have got it wrong.

So, Lisa, if you get this right, you're still in it.

If not, we know what happens.

Robert Rubin served as the

Secretary of the Treasury

in the administration of which US President?

No, I'm not connecting anything up with that.

That's bad.

Robert Rubin. Now, do I go slightly further back

on the basis I might have been more likely to hear of him

if he was Clinton administration,

or do I not?

Yeah, I'm really struggling to just grasp at anything

that will give me any sort of punt on this.

Let's go for George HW Bush.

It's not George HW Bush, it's actually Bill Clinton.

-OK.

-And that means, Sri, you've done it.

Another of our Smithdown Five in the final.

It's getting exciting, this, Lisa.

Well, it depends who's side of the table you're sitting on, Jeremy.

Let's see, are the Eggheads going to have one in the final?

We shall see. Come back and we will play the last round

before the final.

Well, this is looking really good for our Challengers now.

The Smithdown Five have not lost any brains from the final round.

I'm sorry, Eggheads, you've lost three!

And you've still got one more round to go before the final,

and it's on Sport. Now, is that good?

-Yes.

-It is good, isn't it?

-That's the right answer.

-That's what we needed.

-Is that you, Al?

-I'll take Sport.

Fantastic. You can go against either Barry or Kevin.

-Try, try...

-Go for it.

Can I take Kevin on, please, Jeremy?

You may indeed, yes. Great sort of sounding confident voice, there,

from Al, from the Smithdown Five.

He will take on the legendary Kevin from the Eggheads.

Please go to the Question Room for the last time.

Al, you like your sport, I know.

-I do enjoy sport.

-And you're a maths teacher?

-I am, yeah.

-What sort of sports do you do

when you're not teaching maths?

I play a bit of football, I like to do triathlons,

quite a lot of running.

I do the well-known Parkrun, stuff like that.

Kevin, on Sport - I think you're good on Sport, Kevin,

but you don't do Sport very often.

No, that's probably fair to say.

I mean, I do it sometimes,

but it doesn't tend to come round for me that often.

I'm OK. I'm currently a little bit rusty, though, I have to say.

Again, it's sounding good, Al,

but you have to press the advantage here.

Would you like to go first or second?

Can I go first, please, Jeremy?

OK, you're playing for £17,000.

If you all get into the final, you've got a lot of firepower.

Here is your first question.

What is the maximum number of golf clubs

that a player is permitted to carry in his or her bag

during a round of professional golf?

Well, I'm pretty sure it's not eight.

25 seems like quite a lot to carry.

I'm going to go 14, please.

14 is the right answer.

Well done. It's an easy one to trip up on, that.

Kevin, which phrase is normally used

to advise darts players and the crowd

that a match has started?

Well, bully off is a term that's used,

or used to be used, anyway, in field hockey.

Is that used for...darts, as well?

I don't think it's throw away.

I don't recall ever hearing that.

I think the logical one to me,

because I associate bully off with hockey...

..is game on - but I'm just having a...

Yeah, I will say game on.

Game on is quite right.

So, one each.

OK, Al, what cricketing term is used to describe a delivery bowled

that has no runs scored from it?

I'm pretty sure it's dot ball, Jeremy.

Yeah, no hesitation, you're right.

You've got two right. Dot ball.

Kevin, for which of these, during a match at Wimbledon in 2016,

was tennis player Pablo Cuevas fined?

No, that's an incident that passed me by, I'm afraid.

I'll try the sit down protest, but I have no confidence whatsoever.

I just don't know.

Yeah, you're right, Kevin.

Sit down protest. 2-2.

Third question, Al.

The opening stage of the 2016 Tour de France

began at which famous landmark?

OK, I'm edging towards...

I don't know this one. I should do, because I watched the whole thing,

but I'm edging towards...

Out of the Mont Saint Michel and Pont du Gard,

I'm edging towards the Pont du Gard.

I'll take the Pont du Gard.

I'm afraid it's wrong.

It's Mont Saint Michel.

Mont Saint Michel is the right answer, so Kevin has a chance now.

What is the name of the German football team

wholly owned by the car company Volkswagen,

that won its first Bundesliga championship in 2009?

It's one of those teams, there are two or three of them, now,

in the German First Division that have been quite controversial

with a lot of the fan-owned clubs

because they don't like the idea of corporate control.

This one is Wolfsburg.

Are you sure about that? You are sure, I can tell you're sure.

Wolfsburg is the right answer.

Well done. Three out of three, Kevin.

Suddenly Kevin comes through.

Is the tide turning?

Sorry, Al, you've been knocked out.

Kevin will be in the final.

Come back. We'll play the final round and we'll find out.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

Brilliant game, this, isn't it? It's time now for the final round,

which, as always, is General Knowledge -

but I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads won't be allowed

to take part in this round.

So it's Al from the Smithdown Five

and also Lisa, Dave and Judith from the Eggheads.

Would you please now leave the studio?

So, Sri, Joe, Tom and Graham,

you are playing to win the Smithdown Five £17,000.

Barry and Kevin, you're playing for something which money cannot buy -

the Eggheads' reputation -

and look at the damage they've done to the Eggheads already.

As usual, I will ask each team three questions in turn.

This time the questions are all General Knowledge.

You can confer.

So, Smithdown Five, the question is,

are your four brains able to defeat these two?

And beware, they're very good.

Would you like to go first or second?

-First.

-First, yeah.

-First, please.

-First, please, Jeremy.

So, General Knowledge, final round, good luck.

What is the common name

for a moccasin-like leather shoe for casual wear?

-Yeah, loafer, isn't it?

-Yeah, it's a loafer.

It is loafer.

Might have been tempted by sneaker, there.

Well done. Eggs -

who plays the title role in the 2016 film The Legend Of Tarzan?

Well, I saw this on the plane coming back from holiday recently

-and I think it was Alexander Skarsgard.

-It was, yeah.

-You happy with that?

-Yeah, it is him, yeah.

Funnily enough, it was on the plane I came back on, as well.

-It was the same.

-Oh, so we've both seen...

-I'd already seen it, anyway.

-We've both seen this film recently -

and it was a very, very good film, most enjoyable,

and Tarzan was played by Alexander Skarsgard.

Alexander Skarsgard is the right answer.

I love the fact that Kevin's seen it twice.

-No, I didn't watch it the second time.

-OK.

-It was on on the plane but I didn't watch it.

-Right.

I have to say my opinion of it differs from Barry's.

Well, you're just upset they didn't ask you to play Tarzan in it.

Yeah, I know, I'd done all the work...

-You didn't get a call back?

-No, no, no.

No. OK.

You're equal. Challengers, your question.

Which New York street is the official address

of the Chrysler building?

It's not Wall Street, because that's down south.

Avenue of the Americas...

Straight away write off Wall Street.

-Yeah.

-So between the other two.

For me, I thought Lexington, but you said...

I reckon Avenue of the Americas.

I know it's not Wall Street,

but I don't know between the other two, so...

I'll take Avenue of the Americas.

-OK.

-Are we sure?

Yeah. No. Well, we're not sure, but...

-It's better than nothing.

-OK.

We're not sure, but we're going to go for...

..Avenue of the Americas.

It's Lexington Avenue.

-Ah!

-Sorry.

OK, Eggs, your chance to take advantage.

What is the carving of vertical ornamental grooves

on columns in Classical architecture called?

-Fluting?

-Fluting.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-OK. Well, we're both agreed on that.

The carving of the vertical grooves is called fluting -

and the interesting thing about fluting is -

in probably the most famous building with flutes, which is the Parthenon,

you would think that the columns would be the same width

all the way up the height,

and they're actually a little wider in the middle,

so that people who are viewing it from a distance see a perfectly

straight column and not a bent column,

as an optical illusion.

-Really?

-So the ancient Greeks even understood

that they had to do things like that,

to make buildings appear beautifully symmetrical

-from a distance.

-That's amazing.

Fluting is the right answer.

They've just put you on the back foot here.

You must get this right.

By what nickname were Victorian-era postmen known?

-No idea.

-No, I don't have a clue, either.

I thought puffins first, but I have no basis for that.

I don't think it's robins.

I'm not sure.

It would be just a pure guess.

Go for it.

We don't know, so we're just going to take a guess at puffins.

Puffins.

The answer is robins.

I'm sorry, Challengers. No way back.

We have to say - congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

You know, and it was the simplest reason,

they basically wore red tunics.

Goodness me, you played a very good game, Challengers.

Commiserations to the Smithdown Five.

You took them right to the edge.

Maybe it was that definitive moment where the Tour de France question

went wrong and Kevin stayed in, I don't know,

but the Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

They reign supreme over quizland.

If Pat was here, he would do that famous shoulder roll.

It does mean you're not going home with the £17,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done. Well done, you two,

you somehow shored up the defence there,

and I wonder who will ever beat you.

Join us next time to see if a new team of Challengers have the brains

to defeat the Eggheads. It's going to be £18,000 to win.

Until then, goodbye.