Episode 54 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.

-And dominant at the moment, I think, Eggheads.

-Yes, well fired up.

-Mm!

Good stuff. Taking on our quiz champions today are the...

Now, this team all met

at the University of Exeter and share a passion for politics.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm John and I'm a politics teacher.

Hi, I'm Alex and I'm a Masters student in international relations.

Hi, I'm David. I'm a Masters student in international relations

of the Americas.

Hi, I'm Tom and I am a history and Cornish studies PhD student.

Hi, I'm Max. I'm a health IT consultant.

-So, John, team, welcome. Good to see you.

-Hi, Jeremy.

Often when we have the Politics round come up,

we get Challengers say, "Oh, no! That's the one we were dreading."

I'm thinking that will be the best round for you.

-No, we're definitely dreading it as well.

-What, because...?

-We should know about it.

-Yes, your core area.

So tell us about the shared interest in politics

and what brought you together.

I lectured most of them in politics,

and they have carried on their interest after university,

but you should ask them.

Well, in 2016, were you guys focused on the American election?

-We were.

-Stayed up to watch it, yep.

John, were you all in the USA when the 2016 election happened?

Not all of us, three of us were.

We were out in Massachusetts, then New York, then DC,

then Virginia for the election itself.

So it was obviously an important swing state, in Virginia,

and unfortunately, it was a state

that wasn't a swing state in the end.

You know, places like Minnesota were.

So it all went a bit wrong, didn't it, for Mrs Clinton?

It did. But it gave us, I think,

-probably about 100,000 quiz questions, that election.

-Yeah!

We'll be answering questions about it for years to come.

Anyway, all the best. Good luck.

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.

Formalities out of the way, Exeter Exiles, let me tell you,

the Eggheads are on storming form at the moment.

They are going great guns. They've won the last ten games.

That means there's £11,000 for you to win today.

-Would you like to try?

-Oh, yes!

-THEY CHUCKLE

Since you're here!

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

You can choose between Beth, Chris, Pat, Steve and Barry.

-Tom, do you reckon?

-Yeah, so, I'll take it.

-Who do you want to take?

-Chris?

-I don't know. I think Chris is looking nervous.

-I think this is the time.

-Yeah, go for Chris.

-Yeah.

-He's squirming, go for it.

Tom from Exeter Exiles on Music against Chris from the Eggheads.

-Round One.

-Round One.

-Are you ready, Chris?

-Yeah, seconds out.

Seconds out.

Please go to the legendary Eggheads Question Room now.

Well, I feel bad about this, Tom.

You love your politics, we got you on Music.

Yeah, well, fortunately, I'd probably say other than...

Well, probably even better than politics,

it's probably my strongest subject,

but that could come back to bite me in the bum.

Any kind of particular music that you love?

Yeah, absolutely, indie music and rock music is something I go

and listen to regularly, so I kind of hope that

if we can get three questions on that, that would be great.

We can sail right the way through then.

JEREMY LAUGHS

-Well, there may be opera.

-We'll try and avoid those.

-All right.

Good luck. Against the great Chris Hughes.

And would you like to go first or second, Tom?

I'll go first, then, please.

Here we go.

Which Andrew Lloyd Webber musical opened at the Apollo Victoria

in London in 1984

and ran for over 7,000 performances

before closing in 2002?

I feel like, of all of them, I don't think I've seen

Jesus Christ Superstar on the West End too recently.

And I feel like Starlight Express has been touring for a while.

So for that reason alone, I'm going to try Evita.

OK, Evita. Let me check in with Beth here. What do you think?

Um, I actually saw it when it was at the Apollo Victoria,

and it's Starlight Express.

Yeah, it's Starlight Express.

Starlight Express is the answer.

Tom, over to Chris.

Eric Coates' theme tune for the radio show Desert Island Disks

is "By the sleepy..." What?

It's called By The Sleepy Lagoon, Jeremy.

LAUGHS: Lagoon is the right answer.

I'm only laughing cos I'm thinking that's

a classic quiz question, isn't it?

-It is rather.

-Yeah. I thought you'd enjoy it. OK, back to you, Tom.

Which 2013 UK number one single begins with the line

"Like the legend of the Phoenix"?

I'm so glad to finally be able to get us off the mark.

I feel confident with this one.

So, Gangnam Style doesn't have too many English lyrics,

so I know it is certainly not that.

It's the band that I haven't yet seen that I definitely want

to see that perform the song.

It's the French duo Daft Punk and the song is Get Lucky.

Yeah, and that... You got it right.

Tricky that, because I'm getting Happy and Get Lucky

completely transposed in my mind.

Well, Pharrell did sing on Get Lucky, but...

-So Pharrell sang on Get Lucky and he sang Happy?

-Yeah.

That's his song, Happy, but he was like a guest vocalist on Get Lucky.

You haven't, got it straight on, well done, you got a point there.

So it's level. Chris, it's your question.

Made In The A.M. is a 2015 album by which group?

Made In The A.M. HE SIGHS

I haven't got a clue, Jeremy.

Long after my era. Um...

Oh, straight down the middle, One Direction.

Ah, you're right. One Direction it is.

That's cruel, Tom, isn't it?

I know. I thought I finally might have him on that one, but...

-I'll get him next time.

-You might do, you might do.

Just get this one right and you stay in.

At least for the moment.

Which American group topped the UK charts in 1979

with the song When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman?

-HE SIGHS

-Would have been nice if it was

a slightly easier question for the last one, in the multiple choices.

I feel inclined to say it's not Toto.

I think I would have known if it was Toto.

I tend to have heard a lot more of their stuff.

The Doobie Brothers, I don't really know a lot about.

And I don't really know too many tunes by Dr Hook either.

However, I do like Chris' technique of going down the middle,

so I think I'm going to try and do the same, and I'm going to go

-for the Doobie Brothers.

-OK.

What is the answer here, Chris?

-Dr Hook.

-Dr Hook did When You Are In Love With A Beautiful Woman.

I'm sorry, Tom,

we have to say well done to Chris. He's in the final round.

You've been beaten by our Egghead and been knocked out,

so you won't be in the final.

Come back to us, both of you, and we will see what happens next.

Starlight Express, Beth, you've seen it.

-I did, yes. Saw it.

-Age of?

-About ten.

-Ten?

-Yep.

-Chris, you've been?

-Yes, I was there at the first public performance.

-Oh, really?

-Yeah.

Well, the actual premiere was invitation-only.

Then the following night was the first public performance,

and I managed to get two tickets.

-How nice. So it was 1984, and you were...?

-1984, yeah.

That wasn't when you went?

-No, I went about 1989.

-OK. Gosh, we've all got a...

-Anyone here seen Starlight Express?

-I did, I think, way back,

probably in the last year, cos I'm young for that one.

Yeah!

As it stands, the Exeter Exiles have lost a brain

from the final round. The Eggheads are still sitting there.

So, see if you can take one down. The next subject is Science.

Who would like this?

-That's me, isn't it?

-Go on, Max.

-Who am I facing, do you reckon?

-We think Max will go for that.

Max, OK. A health IT consultant.

Any Egghead except Chris.

-Barry?

-Barry?

-Barry?

-OK, we'll go with Barry.

Barry, who famously blew up his lab at school.

THEY LAUGH

University.

-At university, was it?

-Yes.

-Both of them or just the one?

-Just the one.

-Oh, OK.

Max from Exeter Exiles playing Barry from the Eggheads on Science.

Please go to the Question Room now.

So, Science, Max.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please.

Here we go.

Which of these is the term for the study of the production

and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures?

Definitely not eugenics.

I don't think it's dysgenics.

I'm fairly sure that it is cryogenics.

It is indeed cryogenics, you're right.

Barry.

Which planet in the solar system, an ice giant,

was named after the Greek god who personified the sky?

Well, the Greek god who personified the sky was Uranus.

You say Ur-AN-us, I say U-ranus.

I don't know which... Do we know which is the right way to say it?

I don't know, I think it's personal choice myself.

OK. Uranus is the right answer, well done. OK.

Back to you, Max.

How many humours were central to the teachings of the Greek

physician Hippocrates?

I'm pretty sure it is four.

Phlegmatic...

Something else, something else and something else.

But I am definitely... I am pretty sure it is only four.

-I will go with four.

-All right, four is right.

Well done. Let's see if we can work these out.

John here was nodding when you said phlegmatic.

Barry, can you help us?

Sanguine,

choleric and the last one might be bile, but I'm not sure.

-Ask the other Eggs.

-Eggs?

Yeah, bile was one of them.

-Bile, sanguine...

-Choleric.

-..choleric, phlegmatic.

Phlegmatic, yeah.

We'll have a little check on that, but thank you. All right.

So, Max in the lead.

Barry with his second question to come.

Barry, the computing abbreviation URL stands for

uniform resource what?

Well, I can assure you, Jeremy, there is absolutely no levity at all

in computer science.

But the answer to this is locator.

Uniform resource locator.

It is locator.

I get confused when I see URL,

Barry. Is that just mean the sort of web address of something?

-Yes, it's part of it.

-OK.

You're level. Max, get this right,

put some pressure on an Egghead.

They've been playing far too well recently. They need a shock.

-I'll try.

-No pressure.

What did NASA call the space probe they launched in September 2007

with the mission of the exploring Vesta and Ceres,

two bodies in the asteroid belt?

I don't know this, I don't think. Let me think.

I'm pretty sure it's not Twilight.

Sunset can make sense cos you're going very,

very far away from the sun.

Dawn, not so much. I'll try Sunset.

Barry, you're shaking your head.

No, I was pretty certain it was Dawn.

It is Dawn. Max, never mind, you got two out of three.

But Barry can knock you out now with his third question.

The American engineer Willis Carrier

is best known for inventing which of these?

Oh, I have sent many a grateful prayer to Willis Carrier in

the past, because he invented air-conditioning.

Air-conditioning is the right answer, Barry, well done.

You've got a place in the final there.

-Sorry, Max.

-Oh, well.

-Knocked out.

Just like Tom. So you've been beaten by our Egghead, you are out

of the contest, he's in the final. Let's see how we go from here.

Please return, rejoin your teams.

Bad luck, Max. Got a bit of information on the humours.

So it's blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm,

so you are absolutely right.

Phlegmatic. They all have

a particular associated characteristic.

So blood is sanguine and I think black bile is melancholic and so on.

OK, as it stands,

the Exeter Exiles have lost a couple of brains

from the final round. This is like your...

the Electoral College, isn't it, where you've...?

Not doing very well.

You've lost Ohio, but you might get Pennsylvania.

The Eggheads have not lost anything so far.

They have taken California. The next subject is Politics.

Ah!

This is going to work.

-You could do someone like Steve. I think you can...

-Steve, I think.

-You're doing it?

-I'll do it.

-OK, go on.

I was going to say, you have to do it, you are a Politics teacher.

-Right, against which Egghead? Steve, Pat or Beth?

-Steve, I think.

Right, John from Exeter Exiles,

he's going to play Steve from the Eggheads.

To ensure there is no conferring,

please take your positions in the Question Room.

So where did your actual interest in politics come from originally,

-John?

-Well, I got involved in politics in the 1990s.

So a very long time ago when I was also, like Max, a parish counsellor.

And then I worked for a political party for

a long time, then I got involved in American and elections abroad,

and now I go around the world observing elections,

so that's what I do and that's why I lecture in it.

And some work and some don't,

and the overall theme seems to be that the polls are always wrong.

The polls aren't always wrong,

it's just that I think there is too much reliance on polls,

so people believe what they want to see,

and politicians are very unwise to believe polls, I think.

OK. So, good luck here. Can't wait to see the outcome.

Steve, you're playing well since you joined Eggheads.

You've had 26 head-to-heads. How many have you lost?

Well, there is about to be one more.

-I don't know. I think I've lost a couple.

-A couple, yeah.

You have won 24. You're playing very well indeed.

You don't see the sin bin very much.

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

I'll go first, Jeremy.

OK. Here we go.

Which American president was assassinated by the anarchist

Leon Czolgosz in Buffalo, New York, in 1901?

Well, Theodore Roosevelt replaced him.

Abraham Lincoln was obviously killed by John Wilkes Booth,

so it's William McKinley.

It is indeed William McKinley, you're right.

Steve, your question.

In September 2016, which former prime minister announced that

he was standing down as an MP?

That's David Cameron.

David Cameron is the right answer.

John. St Andrew's House, which serves as the headquarters

of the Scottish Government, is in which city?

I'm not actually sure.

But it can't be Aberdeen.

So it's got to be where the First Minister has their office,

surely, so Edinburgh.

Edinburgh is right, where the Scottish Parliament is, yes.

So, back to you Steve.

Tight round.

The so-called Carnation Revolution

took place in which European country in 1974?

Yeah, I think that's Portugal, Jeremy.

Portugal's right. No messing about. Straight there.

They might get harder. You're level,

and we go back to you, John.

Enrique Nieto was the elected president of which country in 2012?

-Did you say President?

-President, yeah.

OK, I'm pretty sure it's not Spain.

Um...

And Argentina, is that Kirchner?

I'll say Mexico.

Mexico is correct.

Making light work of these questions, I must say.

Steve, to stay in, your third question.

David Howell, who served as a Secretary of State

under Margaret Thatcher, became the father-in-law

of which future Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1998?

I think that one's seen me off.

I don't know.

Um...

I'm not even sure George Osborne is married, to be fair.

Um... So I'm going to dismiss him, rightly or wrongly.

I'm torn between the other two.

Probably going to go the wrong way

but I'm going to say Alistair Darling.

Alistair Darling? OK.

-You're wrong.

-Yeah.

-You're out, Steve.

-George Osborne is the answer.

-There we are.

-Knocked out by George Osborne, how about that?

-Yeah.

And you've added a rare loss to that catalogue I mentioned.

So, well done, John, you won, you will be in the final round.

Please return to us and we'll play the last round before the final.

So, as it stands, the Exeter Exiles have lost two brains

from the final round but they're hitting back now

through John, the skipper.

The Eggheads have lost one, they've lost Steve.

And the next subject is Arts & Books.

So, last time before the final, who wants this?

-I think it's Alex.

-I'll do it.

-OK, Alex, against which Egghead?

-Who have got left to choose from?

It can be Beth or Pat.

-I think we go for Pat.

-Yeah.

-Pat.

-Very good.

So Alex from the Exeter Exiles is playing Pat from the Eggheads

on Arts & Books.

Please, for the last time, go to the question room.

Arts & Books against Pat.

And Alex, would you like to go first or second?

I would like to go first, please.

And here is your first question on Arts & Books, Alex, good luck.

In literature and the arts,

a pentalogy is a work divided into how many parts?

Well, by the logic that a pentagon has five sides,

I'm going to go for five.

And five is quite right, well done.

Pat, on to you.

In which country was the art journal De Stijl first published in 1917?

I think Piet Mondrian was one of the leading lights here.

And it was in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is quite right, Pat, well done. Back to you, Alex.

Nutshell is a 2016 novel by which author?

Um, I...

I'm not entirely sure about this one.

I'm pretty sure it's not JK Rowling.

I think

I'm going to try Will Self.

Sounds like one of his, in a way. Any of your team-mates know?

-We'll pass on that one.

-Anyone here know?

I tend to read Ian McEwan stuff, so unless I've missed it,

but I would have gone Will Self myself.

Yeah, we all agree with you but it's wrong.

Ian McEwan is the right answer.

It sounds like a Will Self-y title, doesn't it?

Pat, your question.

In Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice,

what is the name of the Bennet sister who marries George Wickham?

Unless on this I'm confusing things, Elizabeth...

Bennet is the central character, so she ends up with Fitzwilliam Darcy.

George Wickham, is he the slightly racy military man?

That Lydia sort of half elopes with?

Um...

I should know this, it's such an important book.

But I think George Wickham is the cavalry officer type

and I think I can remember a TV dramatisation

where Julia Sawalha played Lydia

and disappeared off, giggling,

with the cavalry officer so I'll go for Lydia.

Good memory, Lydia is right.

All right, so he does pull into the lead there.

Alex, that means you need to get this one right.

Which American artist, who died in 1986 aged 98,

was married to the photographer Alfred Stieglitz?

Well, um...

I...have no idea on this one. So...

I think I'm going to go utterly randomly,

and pick Georgia O'Keeffe.

-Eggheads?

-Absolutely correct.

-You're right, Georgia O'Keeffe it is.

So, level, but Pat can take the round

with this question.

The Pigeon Tunnel is a 2016 memoir by which writer?

I do have a preference.

I think John le Carre.

I think he was the subject of a biography,

and then six months later, an autobiography.

And I think it's a very elusive, he's...not a slippery man,

but he's, he's quite teasing with the facts about his life.

His rather extraordinary life.

Frederick Forsyth, I think, in recent times,

has brought out a memoir.

It's also quite extraordinary, the things he got up to.

Pigeon Tunnel, I think The Pigeon Tunnel was a John le Carre book,

so I'll go for John le Carre.

The Pigeon Tunnel, is it John le Carre?

If it is, you've won the round and you're in the final.

You played well there, Pat, it is John le Carre, well done.

Sorry, Alex. Always costly, one wrong answer against Pat.

Can be fatal.

So you're out, I'm afraid, and Pat is in, and if you come back to us,

we will play that final round.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for our final round. As always, it's General Knowledge.

But, I'm afraid, those of you who lost your head-to-heads will not

be allowed to take part so that's Alex, Tom and Max

from the Exeter Exiles, and Steve from the Eggheads.

Would you please now leave our studio?

John and David, you're playing to win the Exeter Exiles £11,000.

Barry, Pat, Chris and Beth,

you're playing for something that money can't buy,

the Eggheads' reputation.

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

this time the questions are all general knowledge.

You are allowed to confer.

So, Exeter Exiles, the question is,

can your two brains defeat these four in a famous victory?

And would you like to go first or second?

We'll go first, please, Jeremy.

OK, David and John, here we go. Your first question.

In 1978, who played the role of Eva Peron

in the West End premiere of Evita?

Well, Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson were pretty much

at the same time because they were always on The Two Ronnies together.

Um, my instinct is Elaine Paige, but I don't know.

I don't know either.

So, we can eliminate... It's definitely one...

I've never even heard of Ruthie Henshall.

-But that doesn't mean it's wrong.

-That's true. OK.

But you're edging towards Elaine Paige? Why?

-She's a woman and she sings.

-That's a good point.

I just don't know the answer. I think I'd probably go Elaine Paige.

We're going to go with Elaine Paige, please, Jeremy.

Sometimes you sort of know and there's no reason.

Elaine Paige is the right answer, well done. First point to you.

Over to the Eggheads.

Let's see if you can catch up here.

According to the character played by Michael Douglas

in the 1987 film Wall Street, which meal is for wimps?

-Lunch.

-Lunch is for wimps.

-Lunch is for wimps.

-Yeah, lunch is for wimps.

I don't think that we would say that this meal was for wimps,

we think lunch is for wimps.

HE LAUGHS

Lunch is for wimps.

You're right. OK, second question, Challengers.

Who carried the flag for Team GB

at the opening of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio?

I instinctively thought it might be Andy Murray. But...

I think you're right, because he got the flag in

-with Princess Anne's...her face, in the photographs.

-I think so.

I think you're right, I think it's Andy Murray.

I don't really know who Katherine Grainger is.

-She's the rower, the Scottish rower.

-Ah, OK.

-Justin Rose is the golfer.

-Yeah.

-So it's Andy Murray.

-We're going to go with Andy Murray, please, Jeremy.

Andy Murray is right.

Two out of two, well done.

Eggheads, are you under pressure?

Let's see.

In Greek mythology, who was the founder and first King of Thebes?

-Cadmus.

-Cadmus?

-Yes.

-Of Thebes?

Of Thebes, yeah.

Oedipus was Corinth,

and Orpheus isn't really a city founder, is he?

-No.

-Absolutely sure?

-Yeah, it's Cadmus.

I'm reliably informed by my colleagues that it is Cadmus.

Of Thebes.

I thought this was going to be a tricky one for you,

but of course I forgot you were Eggheads. Cadmus is right.

So, the third question could be crucial.

Get this right and then you're just one wrong answer by them

away from £11,000. Here it is.

Which English actor's roles have included Al Capone

in the TV series Boardwalk Empire and Combo in This Is England?

-I never watched Boardwalk Empire, did you?

-I have, yeah.

As part of Chris' course?

-A little bit of the crime in the USA course.

-And what's the answer?

-I haven't seen much of it. Um...

-Who was in it?

Any of those? Dominic West seems quite upper-class.

-Have you seen This Is England?

-No.

-I haven't seen it either.

Ian Hart's sort of quite versatile.

Dominic West strikes me as being a bit too Cambridge Spies-y.

-For Al Capone.

-For Al Capone.

-What is, who's in the middle? Stephen...

-I don't know who Stephen Graham is.

-And Ian Hart?

Ian Hart, wasn't he in Harry Potter

as Quiddic... What's the name? Quirrell, is that right?

-That rings a bell. Ian something.

-I don't know the answer.

-You don't think it's Dominic West?

-I don't know.

I mean, it could be Dominic West.

It could be one of those three answers there. I don't know.

OK.

Have you watched Boardwalk Empire?

A long time ago, and I didn't watch that much of it, so... Um...

-I would say Ian Hart as a guess.

-OK, I'll go with that.

-Ian Hart, please, Jeremy.

-Ian Hart.

You were right to rule out Dominic West

who I think might have been busy with The Wire at the time.

And he doesn't always play posh people,

he played an American in that. But it's not Dominic West.

It's also not Ian Hart. It's Stephen Graham.

Eggheads, this question to take the contest.

Potters Bar is a town in which English county?

-That's Hertfordshire.

-My old stomping ground.

-You must know that!

About 10 miles where I live! Yeah, yeah.

About five miles from where I used to live.

Definitely Hertfordshire.

Yeah, so, I live near there now, Chris used to live near there,

-and it's in Hertfordshire.

-Your answer is Hertfordshire.

-Did you know the Stephen Graham question, by the way?

-I did.

-You did.

-I watched Boardwalk Empire.

You knew all the answers to everything, basically, didn't you?

-Why wouldn't we?

-You are Eggheads!

The answer is Hertfordshire.

We say, congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

-Stephen Graham, bah! Commiserations.

-I'll watch it now.

Yeah, I had seen Boardwalk Empire

but I wouldn't have been able to answer that question.

Just like you, David, sometimes you see it but the actors don't

-necessarily, the names don't jump out.

-Yeah, that's true, sure.

Commiserations.

Well played on Politics, John, that was a great moment,

Steve doesn't lose very often.

But overall, the Eggheads have done what comes naturally

and this impressive winning streak continues.

Barry, we may have to ask you to do a special jazz hands move

if it gets to 12 or 13,000, OK?

We'll save that for the next show.

It does mean you're not going home with the £11,000,

the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, I say again well done and I wonder, who will beat you?

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

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

There will be £12,000 to play for.

Until then, goodbye.