Episode 52 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.

They are the Eggheads.

-Full of facts today?

-Yes.

-Oh, yeah, definitely.

Always full of facts.

Challenging the might of our quiz Goliaths today

are the Aeolian Harpers.

Now, this team are all members

of the Aeolian Male voice choir, based in Kilmarnock.

Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Reg, and I'm a retired dentist.

Hello, I'm Al, and I'm a retired business director.

Hello, I'm Alex, and I'm a retired company director.

Hello, I'm Derek, and I'm a retired doctor.

Hello, I'm Douglas,

and I'm a semi-retired criminal defence lawyer.

So, Reg and team, welcome.

-ALL:

-Hello!

-Oh, lively, I'm feeling it.

And it's music that brings you together Reg, is it?

It is indeed, yes.

We're often asked where the term "Aeolian" comes from,

and it leads back to the Aeolian harp of Ancient Greek times.

When the wind produced a certain sound through this harp,

this led to the Aeolian mode of music from olden times,

and it was picked up as the name of our choir 84 years ago.

How interesting. Do you quiz at all, Reg?

No, not together, we don't quiz together,

but we're all very keen on quizzes over many years.

And great fans of this show too.

Well, it sounds like you do quiz in a way -

even just watching a quiz, I think, is a form of quizzing.

-Very much so, yes.

-OK.

Cos we want to scare them as much as possible,

that's the key thing here.

So - quizzers, singers... You're a golfer as well, I know.

Well, yes... It could be said.

JEREMY LAUGHS I wish you well. Good luck.

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

for our challengers -

if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

that prize money rolls over to our next show.

Now, Aeolian Harpers, the Eggheads have won

the last eight games, so they're really getting into

a bit of a canter here and you've got to stop them.

If you do, you'll win £9,000.

-Would you like to try?

-Oh, yes.

-Yes.

-I thought so.

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

you can choose between Beth, Dave,

Chris, Barry and Lisa.

You and Derek?

-I think Derek would manage. Go for Derek.

-Derek? Aye.

OK, Derek. Choosing among musicians, of course.

Against which Egghead? Who looks as if they couldn't sing for toffee?

Dave?

-Dave.

-OK. Good stuff.

The word "Dave" goes up on the Challengers' side.

It sounds ominous.

Derek from the Aeolian Harpers

versus Dave from the Eggheads.

First round, Music - please go to our legendary Question Room.

So Derek, you're on Music against Tremendous Knowledge Dave -

would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please.

Here we go. Good luck.

Which Lionel Richie song,

released as a single in the UK in 1986,

has a chorus that begins "Oh, what a feeling"?

1986, erm...

That's bound to be Dancing On The Ceiling.

And it also rhymes, which could be a help.

So, Dancing On The Ceiling.

"Oh what a feeling, when we're dancing on the ceiling",

that's quite right, well done.

Dave, your question.

Published in 2016,

Born To Run is the autobiography of which American musician?

It's got to be the Boss, Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce Springsteen's quite right.

OK, you're equal, the two of you.

Your question, Derek.

The songs There's A Sucker Born Every Minute

and The Prince Of Humbug

are from which stage musical?

Well, it's certainly not Les Miserables,

that's the only one of them I've seen.

Barnum was to do with circuses, a circus performer -

these songs sound a circus-type musical,

so I'll try for Barnum.

You've got it, Barnum is right, well done.

Dave, your question.

Which member of The Beatles wrote the songs I Need You

and You Like Me Too Much on their Help! album?

I'm not sure at all.

But I'm going to go...

Just got an instinct about George Harrison,

so that's my answer, George Harrison.

Yeah, George Harrison is the right answer.

So he did My Sweet Lord, and he did...

I suppose for them, he did Old Brown Shoe

and While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

I thought he wrote Something as well.

So he was no mean writer himself.

No, he wrote plenty. Wrote a lot.

OK, Derek, your question. You're absolutely level.

Dreaming Out Loud, released in 2007,

was which American band's debut album?

Very little idea. Don't think Kings Of Leon are American.

I'm afraid I'll have to go straight down the middle

and try Matchbox Twenty.

This is OneRepublic, Derek, that we're looking for here.

OK - your question, Dave,

you can take the round with this.

On which album by The Dave Brubeck Quartet

did the hit song Take Five first appear?

Right... Not sure about this at all.

Erm... The one title that erm...

is begging me to say it is Time Changes

so that's my answer - Time Changes.

Time Changes - let's see, with the musical Eggs here. Anybody know?

-I might have been inclined to go for Time Out.

-Time Out.

That's what Takes Five means, Time Out, so...

Take Five means Time Out - yes, I suppose that's the clue.

-Time Out is the answer, Dave.

-All right. Right.

So, level after three, we go to Sudden Death -

you had a slight let-off there, Derek.

-Mm!

-And now it gets a bit harder, I don't give you alternatives, OK?

OK.

The American group No Doubt, who first had hits in the 1990s,

had which female pop star as their lead singer?

No, very little idea. Anastacia?

-Dave, you know this?

-Gwen Stefani.

Gwen Stefani. Gwen Stefani is the answer.

Dave, your question, to take the round.

Get It On was an 1971 UK number one single

for which band, fronted by Marc Bolan?

T. Rex.

In a million million zillion squillion years

you would never get that answer wrong.

Well, you never know.

JEREMY LAUGHS No, you wouldn't. T. Rex is absolutely right.

It was Tyrannosaurus Rex and they shortened it.

-Yeah.

-Dave, on Sudden Death, you've taken it -

Derek, you've been knocked out.

Please return to us, rejoin your teams, and we'll play on.

So our Aeolian Harpers have lost a brain from the final round,

the Eggheads are still just sitting there -

in fact, you didn't lose any in the last game

and I'm thinking we need to go back quite a way

to when you got knocked out, any of you.

-Ooh, don't say things like that!

-That's jinxed that.

Just doing my best for you guys.

The next subject is Geography.

Who would like Geography?

-I fancy that.

-Do you want to do it?

-Do you mind?

-Aye, on you go.

-OK.

Alex, Geography?

Choose an Egghead, Alex. Anyone but Dave.

Chris, please.

Very good, Chris has been er...

Certainly travelled a lot around Crewe.

So Alex from the Aeolian Harpers, versus Egghead Chris...

Let's go to the Question Room again.

Alex, I know you been keeping a diary since the '60s.

-I have, Jeremy, yes.

-Not many people can say that.

And what is it, your life, or the world around, or...?

It's a little bit of the weather,

what happens in the world, and what I do myself, family, etc.

But do you go back in it and read a previous year's entry?

I do look back when I find something interesting, yes.

I draw in it, I put little artefacts in it -

recently it was the old tax disc that had been discontinued.

Things like that that are just very interesting.

What's the most common word in it?

The most common word?

"Showery."

JEREMY LAUGHS Why am I not surprised?

-West coast of Scotland.

-In Kilmarnock, yeah.

OK, so Geography, Alex - speaking of the coast,

maybe a coast or two'll come up, do you want to go first or second?

First please, Jeremy.

Alex, your question.

What is the capital of the US state of Hawaii?

Jeremy, I have by my bedside my little book of reference

and I've been studying US state capitals for the last while.

The state capital of Hawaii is Honolulu.

Superb! Brilliant.

Is that because you were ready for this round, then,

-studying your capitals?

-Absolutely. I prayed for it.

Cos Eggs... Well, Chris, you'll know -

the capital is not always the obvious place, is it?

No. They tend to have capitals

in funny little out-the-way places in America.

OK, your question,

Chris Hughes - Lord Hughes of Crewe.

In which country

does the most northerly point of mainland Africa lie?

Well, it's Tunisia.

That's right. Well done.

Alex, your question. You're equal.

With an area of about 56 square miles,

Achill Island is which country's largest island?

It's not Scotland.

Anglesey for Wales...

Jeremy, I'm guessing Ireland.

You're guessing well,

Ireland it is. Alex, well done.

You take the lead,

let's see if Chris can catch up.

The demilitarised zone, or DMZ,

that separates North Korea from South Korea,

is roughly 160 miles long.

How wide?

Ah...

Well, they can actually watch each other, can't they,

from their respective halves?

So it's two-and-a-half miles.

Yes, it is two-and-a-half miles. And presumably you can't

wander across it or anything like that?

You can try it, but you wouldn't make it back.

JEREMY LAUGHS

Two-and-a-half miles is the right answer. You're level.

So this could be crucial, Alex, this third question.

Completed in 1794,

the Glamorganshire Canal connected which of these places to Cardiff?

I would imagine it would be

probably the biggest of the three places,

and I hope I'm guessing right when I say,

carrying coal etc, to -

hopefully - the port of Swansea.

Chris, you know this one?

Well, I think it immediately predates the railway era

and it was from Merthyr Tydfil down to Cardiff.

Merthyr Tydfil is right.

Alex, you've got two out of three - back to Chris.

It's not over yet.

Chris, this for the round.

Which of these French cities

is home to one of the best preserved Roman amphitheatres in existence?

Er...

That's down the south, in Nimes.

Nimes is right, well done - he's taken the round, Alex,

I'm so sorry.

-That's a diary entry right there, isn't it?

-It sure is!

JEREMY LAUGHS

Please come back, rejoin your teams and we'll see what happens next.

Well, the Eggheads are playing well at the moment -

not just in this game but preceding games.

You've lost two brains, Aeolian Harpers,

and the Eggheads have not lost any yet.

The next subject is Film & TV,

which Harper would like this?

-I'll take that for the team.

-Right.

-Douglas?

-Go for it.

And you can have - let's see - Beth or Barry or Lisa.

-Lisa.

-Fine. Douglas from the Aeolian Harpers,

versus say probably one of the most musical Eggheads, Lisa.

Loves to sing, loves to dance...

I don't do either very well but it doesn't stop me enjoying 'em.

To ensure there's no conferring, please go to the Question Room.

So you're from the town that gave birth to Robert Burns, Douglas?

Yes, that's right.

I live round the corner from Burns' cottage,

and not half a mile from Brigadoon and Alloway's old haunted kirk,

where probably Robert Burns' most famous poem came from,

Tam O'Shanter.

Really? I'm feeling like you could be the tour guide,

you've brought it alive there.

I'm not so sure about that,

I don't profess to be a complete Burnsonian.

But it's Alloway in Ayrshire right?

-That's correct.

-Aren't you feeling, Lisa,

we need to get down there and have a look?

-It sounds amazingly atmospheric listening to Douglas talk about it, it really does.

-Yeah, it does.

OK, Film & TV, Douglas -

would you like to go first or second against great Lisa?

I'll go in to bat first.

Here is your first question.

For what does the first A stand in the abbreviation BAFTA?

I can't see it being either Associated or American,

it will be Academy.

Academy's right. British Academy of Film and Television Arts,

-Is that right?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-What, you haven't won one, Jeremy(?)

HE LAUGHS

Waiting for this show to suddenly be noticed by them!

OK, your question, Lisa.

In which country is the 1980s sitcom 'Allo 'Allo! set?

That's France.

That's France. So, you're equal at this stage, Douglas,

questions may get a little bit harder.

Here is your question.

In what year was the comedy series

"Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?"

first broadcast?

Likely Lads was on first...

I don't think it would be as late as 1983...

So I think 1973.

Well done, Douglas, you're right. '73 it is.

Lisa, back to you.

Who co-starred as Denys

alongside Meryl Streep as Karen

in the 1985 film Out Of Africa?

Might help if I knew who Denys was, I don't know if he was

Karen's husband or Karen's stern elderly mentor, or...

SHE EXHALES

I'll try Robert Redford.

Yes, Robert Redford it is.

-Oh, yay.

-Great movie. So where are we here?

Where are we here? We're equal after two questions.

Douglas, the third question can be crucial, as you will know.

And here it is.

Who plays Dallas, the commander of the spaceship Nostromo

in Ridley Scott's classic 1979 science fiction film, Alien?

Do not remember Kris Kristofferson being in it.

Nor James B Sikking.

Tom Skerritt?

Tom Skerritt is the right answer as well, that's good quizzing.

So three out of three - is this enough,

or will Lisa be the first Egghead

to fall out of the contest for quite a while? Let's see.

Bubba Smith, who played Hightower in the Police Academy films,

had earlier had a career as a professional in which sport?

He was a very, very big man, Bubba Smith,

I think sadly no longer with us, but...

I thought he was a football player.

There's this brilliant gag in the first Police Academy movie

where he sits down next to Steve Guttenberg

and they're talking about their past lives,

and Steve Guttenberg asks what he did before he joined the police,

and he says "I was a florist."

And there's this sort of...

enormous seven foot guy, with a vase in front of him...

All of which is a very long-winded way of saying

-I'll go for American football.

-JEREMY LAUGHS

From the florist to American football.

You have got it right, Lisa, well done.

Well done indeed. So three out of three for you both -

we go to Sudden Death, Douglas.

Gets a bit harder, I don't give you alternative choices.

Published in 1990,

Little Girl Lost is an autobiography of which Hollywood starlet,

which tells of her difficulties

coping with fame at a young age in the 1980s?

1980s...

Drew Barrymore.

Drew Barrymore is quite right.

Cos she was in ET at the age of seven.

Lisa, which Doctor Who actor

provided the voice of Spotty

in the 1980s animated children's TV series Super Ted?

Oh, no, I read this the other day!

I read this the other day and I can't remember.

Oh...!

No, no, no, this is awful.

My first thought was Peter Davison,

and then I suddenly thought "Now, hang on..."

Is it Colin Baker?

I remember reading it and being really surprised.

Which would probably lead me slightly more

towards Peter Davison than Colin Baker.

After all this it's going to be neither of them, and I'm going to look like a right wally.

Erm...

Right, come on -

-Peter Davison.

-JEREMY LAUGHS

-Neither.

-Oh, go on, then.

-Jon Pertwee.

-Oh, right!

-Yeah.

So, well done, Douglas -

you've knocked out Lisa.

-And that's the first time we've seen an Egghead knocked out for a little while in this contest.

-Yeah.

So you will be in the final round, Douglas, that's really good news.

-Good.

-Robbie Burns is cheering somewhere.

Come back to us please, both of you,

and we will play the last round before the final.

Is this the turnaround moment?

The Aeolian Harpers have lost two brains from the final round

but the Eggheads have lost Lisa.

The next subject is Politics.

So one more round before the final - who wants this?

-Have to be me!

-Good man.

-I'll take that one.

-OK, Reg, our retired dentist,

against either Barry or Beth...

I think I would like to take on Beth.

OK. Reg from the Aeolian Harpers

plays Beth from the Eggheads on Politics.

Please go to the Question Room for the last time.

So Politics, Reg, would you like to go first or second?

Er...I would like to go first, please, Jeremy.

And here we go.

What was the first name

of the 19th-century prime minister Disraeli?

Well, Disraeli was possibly one of the most famous

of the 19th-century prime ministers,

so I would be thoroughly ashamed of myself

if I didn't know his name was Benjamin.

Benjamin is right.

OK, Beth, on to you.

Who did Denis Healey once describe

as having "the face of a man who clubs baby seals"?

("The face of a man who clubs baby seals"....)

He probably said this about John Prescott.

Well done, John Prescott it was. On his own side!

OK, over to you, Reg.

After leaving office, which British prime minister

took up the post of Distinguished Global Leader In Residence

at New York University?

Now...trying to remember,

it must have been a considerable news item at the time...

I think that was an activity

which was a relatively short-term appointment

for Margaret Thatcher.

No, you've gone astray. It was Gordon Brown.

Much more recent, actually.

OK, Beth, your chance to take the lead.

From 2008 to 2013, Lee Myung-bak

served as president of which country?

And it's M-Y-U-N-G hyphen B-A-K.

Doesn't sound a Japanese name.

I'm not sure it's South Korea...

But I'll go with Thailand.

-Ooh!

-An Egghead made a noise. Barry?

That sounds very South Korean to me.

It sounds South Korean to Barry...

-Ooh...

-It is South Korean.

-Ah.

Reg, that was a little bit of a mercy.

-Certainly was.

-You need to take advantage now, your third question.

In September 2016, who did William Hague describe

as "a living, breathing advertisement

"for unrelenting stamina"?

I don't remember him actually saying this,

but the date may be a clue

inasmuch as the lady was expending

a lot of energy at the time,

so this may very well be Hillary Clinton.

Yes, it is Hillary Clinton. Well done.

Well done, you could have gone wrong there.

OK. Beth, your question.

You need this to stay in.

The politician Angela Eagle

was elected in 1992 as MP for which constituency?

I'm trying to think of whether I've heard her speak

and whether her accent

gives me a clue to where she's from.

I think she might be for...

Wolverhampton South West.

It's not her seat.

-Wallasey.

-Oh...

That was my second choice.

Wallasey is the answer - well done, Reg,

you've levelled it up nicely here.

You've taken on an Egghead and emerged triumphant,

and you will be in the final round,

so the skipper goes through to the final.

If you come back to us, both of you,

we will play the final round, for £9,000.

So, this is what we have been playing towards -

it is time for the final round,

which, as always, is General Knowledge.

But those of you who lost your head-to-heads

won't be allowed to take part in this round.

So Alex and Derek from the Aeolian Harpers,

and also Lisa and Beth from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

Here we are. You've fought hard, gentlemen, and you've done well.

Reg, Alan, Douglas,

you are now playing to win £9,000 for the Aeolian Harpers.

Barry, Chris and Dave - we've taken a bit of a hit in this game, haven't we?

But you're playing for something very precious,

which is the Eggheads' reputation.

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

this time, they are all General Knowledge.

You may confer. So, Aeolian Harpers, the question is,

are your three brains better than the Eggheads' three?

I'm sure you can do this. I wish you all the best.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-We'll go first, Jeremy, please.

OK, Al and team - here we go, your first question.

The pharynx is a cone-shaped passageway

located in what part of the human body?

-It's the head.

-It's the head.

It's the head, Jeremy.

Head is correct.

Eggheads...

What type of military vehicle was the Fairey Firefly?

-Fighter aircraft.

-Fighter aircraft, yeah.

A Fairey was a famous design of fighter aircraft,

so that's our answer.

Fighter aircraft is quite right.

Back to you, Challengers.

In the books by JRR Tolkien, the city of Minas Tirith

is the capital of which kingdom?

The Riders of Rohan...

And Mordor, definitely not. So...

-Gondor.

-You have great knowledge of this, so we'll go with that.

It's Gondor, Jeremy.

Gondor is correct.

Playing well. Cos that could be

an absolute stinker, that one.

OK, Eggheads, I sense you

shaking and quaking a little bit.

Whole lot of shaking going on over here underneath the desk...

Yeah, they're shaking, under the desk.

Who was the Roman equivalent

of the Greek goddess Athena?

-Minerva.

-Minerva.

Well, Venus was the goddess of love

and Juno was the wife of Jupiter,

but the equivalent of Athena was Minerva.

-Minerva's right. It's the goddess of the Eggheads, isn't it?

-Yeah.

So, Challengers, this is quite good.

It would have been nice if they'd got one wrong.

They're playing with certainty,

but they can just suddenly fail.

So keep plugging on here. You're playing for £9,000.

In 1981,

Mohammad-Ali Rajai was assassinated

only a few weeks after becoming president of which country?

There's something ringing a bell...

-I don't think he'll be India.

-No.

-No.

I don't think he'll be Iranian. I would go for Indonesia.

-Yeah, it's ringing a bell here as Indonesia.

-Yeah.

-Indonesia, Jeremy.

-Indonesia is your answer,

let's check with the Eggheads...

I think it's Iran -

I think a bomb was placed in a Cabinet office

and Mohammad-Ali and some of the other Cabinet members

were assassinated.

We're talking about post-Shah,

so there was a lot of turbulence -

I was just wondering whether '81

was a tricky time in Iran.

Iran is the answer. Not Indonesia.

You've let the Eggheads in, let's see

how much damage they can do with their third question.

If you get this right, it's over.

His Bloody Project,

nominated for the Man Booker Prize in 2016,

is a novel by which author?

Well, it's not Paul Beatty cos he won it.

That's something else.

I'm not sure about Hilary.

I don't think it's her, she's won it twice.

-I'm inclined to go with Graeme.

-So would I.

Well, we think Paul Beatty won the Booker Prize with a different novel

which we can't recall at the moment,

and Hilary Mantel's won it twice.

I don't think she won it again.

We'll go for Graeme Macrae Burnet.

If you've got this right, the contest is over.

His Bloody Project is a novel

by Graeme Macrae Burnet -

we say congratulations, Eggheads,

you have won.

Well, you've been a little bit more successful

than other teams recently, but they are on this storming form.

And well done, Eggheads, you had a moment there

where I thought you might go down

but actually you won well,

and commiserations to the Aeolian Harpers.

-I hope you enjoyed that.

-We did.

Meeting these great Eggheads over here.

It's sometimes good to see them in imperious form,

and they are at the moment.

Their winning streak continues -

it does mean you won't be going home with the £9,000,

so we take that money and we're going to roll it over

to the next show.

Jackpot is getting bigger and bigger.

Congratulations - I don't think anyone will EVER win it.

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

can have a bash at winning £10,000.

Maybe Pat will do the shoulder roll.

Till then... ALL LAUGH

Until then - goodbye.