Episode 8 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.

There is no possibly about it.

Oh, well, if you say so.

-You are amazing.

-You should get out more.

When you're on form.

Challenging the might of our quiz Goliaths today are The Governors.

Now, this team all met through

their involvement as governors at a school in Crewe.

-Let's meet them.

-Hello, I'm Peter.

I'm a retired railway manager.

Hello, I'm Ben and I am a lecturer.

Hello, I'm Dennis. I'm a retired postman.

Hi, my name's Damien and I'm a deputy headteacher.

Hello, my name's Gordon. I'm a retired insurance officer.

-So, Peter and team, welcome.

-Thank you.

-Good to see you.

And, of course, we've got a Crewe man over here, haven't we?

Indeed we have, yeah.

It won't make you any less ferocious in the quizzing room,

-will it, Chris?

-Oh, no.

No quarter will be given.

I could be roused to opening one eye, so watch it.

THEY LAUGH

So, tell us about... first of all how you all know each other.

We're all current or recent governors of a very good primary school in Crewe.

OK, and does the school have a quiz? Do you take part in that, or...?

No, we don't quiz together at all,

but Dennis organises music quizzes from time to time which are

good quality and a very good social.

OK. Well, 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, as you know,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, Governors,

The Eggheads were stopped a few days ago by one team rather dramatically.

And they've just got back into gear. They won the last game.

So, there's £2,000 to win today.

-Would you like to try?

-Oh, yes.

Brilliant. The first head-to-head battle

is on the subject of Arts & Books. So, who would like this?

-Who's Arts & Books?

-Shall I do that?

-Gordon?

-I'm up for that.

OK, Gordon. Against which Egghead?

They're all ready for you.

Let's get Chris out of the game immediately.

THEY LAUGH

Oh, well, that's one Crewe man to another, is it?

We see how it is now.

So, Gordon from The Governors versus Chris of Crewe

from The Eggheads. And to ensure that there's no conferring,

please take your positions in the Question Room.

OK, so it's Crewe on Crewe here.

Arts & Books, Gordon, would you like to go first or second?

First, please.

Here is your question.

Which work by Leonardo da Vinci is also known as Il Cenacolo?

C-E-N-A-C-O-L-O.

Last Supper.

Oh, straight there.

You're sure about that?

-That's my answer.

-That's your...

It's correct.

-Oh, well done.

-Chris, your question.

"Big Ger" Cafferty is the chief adversary of which literary detective?

Well, Andy Dalziel is the partner of Pascoe,

so I don't think it's him.

Inspector Lynley moves in

sort of genteel, country house sort of circles.

So, I don't think it's him. But John Rebus is an Edinburgh detective and

the character you named sounds like an Edinburgh thug.

So, I'll have to say John Rebus.

Yeah, John Rebus it is.

OK, back to you, Gordon.

"For alarmingly large chunks of an average day, I am a moron,"

is a quote from which Nick Hornby book?

That sounds familiar from when I read Hi Fidelity.

But, without confidence, I say Hi Fidelity.

Yeah, I know what you mean

because they all have that same sort of narrator's voice.

It's actually Fever Pitch.

Chris. The Beggar's Opera

is thought to be the first dated work

of which 18th century painter?

It's got to be Hogarth. William Hogarth.

Yeah. So, that and The Rake's Progress and all of that, isn't it?

-Marriage A-la-Mode.

-Yeah, Marriage A-la-Mode.

So, you need to get this one, Gordon.

When Will You Marry? which sold for almost 300 million in 2015

is a painting by which artist?

(Gauguin.)

The answer is Paul Gauguin.

OK. Again, straight there.

Paul Gauguin is correct. Well done.

You've got two out of three. Let's see if Chris trips up here.

Here's your question.

Chris, which author wrote the 1963 classic work of nonfiction,

The Making of the English Working Class?

Not Christopher Hill, not EP Thompson.

The social historian there is Eric Hobsbawm.

So, that's my answer.

Do you know this one, Gordon?

I think it's Hobsbawm.

No, it's EP Thompson.

-Oh.

-I didn't have to know!

No, you didn't have to know.

THEY LAUGH

After three questions each, it's level.

We go to Sudden Death.

Gets a little bit harder, Gordon.

I don't give you different options. Here's your question.

The World's Worst Children, featuring the characters

Dribbling Drew and Blubbering Bertha,

is a 2016 children's book by which author?

What are the names of the horrible children again?

Dribbling Drew and Blubbering Bertha.

I have no idea.

Dribbling Drew and Blubbering Bertha...

I can only guess at Roald Dahl.

-Yeah, but the date was 2016, so he's long dead.

-Yeah, OK.

David Walliams is the answer.

You have a chance to take the round, Chris, with this question.

The Romford Pele is the autobiography

of which former Arsenal footballer?

Oh, jings.

Charlie George.

No, Ray Parlour.

Still in it here, Gordon.

Arts & Books. Your question.

Which American novelist, short story writer and socialist

was born John Griffith Chaney in San Francisco in 1876?

Would you repeat the question, please?

Which American novelist, short story writer and socialist

was born John Griffith Chaney in San Francisco in 1876?

1876...

John Steinbeck comes to mind, but I don't say it with confidence.

Jack London.

Chris, your question for the round.

Which pop artist's first use of the silkscreen print method

was a series of dollar bills beginning in 1962.

Well, the silkscreen exponent was Andy Warhol.

Andy Warhol is quite right, you've won on Sudden Death.

Sorry, Gordon. You won't be able to help your team in the final round.

Please come back, rejoin your team-mates and we'll play on.

OK, The Governors have lost a brain to the governor over here.

Chris Hughes, known as The Locomotive.

The Eggheads there sitting pretty, all five of them.

But it's early days, guys.

So, you can come back now.

And it's Science.

-Who would like this?

-I'll take it.

To you? That's Ben.

OK, going to be Ben on Science against which Egghead, Ben?

Anyone but Chris.

-Try Judith?

-Judith.

Yeah, Judith has had a famous moment on Science.

Oh, yes. There's one I cling to.

SHE LAUGHS

She beat a rocket scientist once.

THEY LAUGH

It was on a question about wasps, so...

She'll never get tired of telling that story.

Ben from The Governors versus our own Judith from The Eggheads.

Please go to the Question Room now.

So, Ben, good luck on Science.

And, Judith, you were saying you'd like a sort of an Eggheads' style

-nickname. And we think you should be The Rocket.

-Please, no.

Because of the rocket. It was not a question about wasps, it was a question about hedgerows that...

-Oh, was it?

-That caused the rocket scientist to lose to you on Science.

-I know.

-One of the great moments in the history of Eggheads.

It just shows that there's so much luck in it all.

Oh, come on. Don't be modest.

So, Ben, you're against The Rocket.

Do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

OK, good luck to you, Ben. Here we go.

What name is given to a planet outside our solar system

that orbits a star other than the Sun?

Ex means outside of, so I'd go for exoplanet.

Yes, well done, Ben. Good stuff.

Exoplanet is right.

Judith, approximately what percentage of the night

is spent in REM sleep in an average adult?

Oh, that's interesting.

I would think probably either 25 or 50%.

I should think 50%.

-I don't know. 50%.

-50%.

-Yes.

-In an average adult.

-Yes.

-Do you know this one, Ben?

-I think it's less than that, actually.

25, I'd go for.

25. Yeah, you'd be right, actually.

Judith, it is less than you think.

-Oh, really?

-You're already ahead, Ben. Here's your second question.

What is the term commonly used

to describe a form of malicious software

that locks a user's PC until a fee is paid?

Well, they're holding you to ransom, so that would be the obvious thing.

But I don't know.

It depends who's named it. If it's the people who are doing it,

they'd call it releaseware, because it's...

I'd go for releaseware.

Let's just check with your team here. Is it releaseware, guys?

-Well, that's what I'd go for.

-I thought ransomware.

Same here, ransomware.

-No, it's ransomware, Ben.

-Oh, I was right.

Here's your second question.

Judith, what is the symbol for

the artificially created element technetium?

I think it might be... Oh, dear.

-Tc.

-Tc.

Well, here I have to go to Barry. He will know.

-I think it's Tn.

-Tn? OK.

I thought that Tn was further back.

Barry, you know the periodic table back to front.

How can you have slipped up on this?

-Have I got it wrong?

-You got it wrong and Judith is right.

Tc, Judith.

Oh, has Barry got it wrong?

-Yes.

-Oh! That's made my day.

-That's why we call you The Rocket.

-I'm The Rocket!

HE LAUGHS

OK, Ben. Your third question.

The cascabel is an alternative name for which creature

found in South America?

-Cascabel...

-Cascabel.

A casque is French for a helmet, a steel helmet.

I would guess armadillo.

But that is a guess.

Rattlesnake is the answer.

-Blimey.

-So, Judith, you have a chance to take the round

with this question.

To which group of islands, Judith, is the rare,

wild goose called the nene native?

It's just spelt N-E-N-E, but it is pronounced "neh-neh".

I always associate geese with cold places,

so I'm not sure that they would live in Hawaii.

But on the other hand, nene sounds rather like a Hawaiian word.

I think I'm going to risk Hawaii.

Goodness me.

SHE CHUCKLES

Let's be really brave.

-You're really having a really edgy day to day.

-Yes.

-Hawaii's right.

-Is it?

-Yes.

-Because of the nene.

-It's the nene that's done it.

-Yeah.

The nenes have it. SHE CHUCKLES

Sorry, Ben.

You've been beaten on Science, but she's very good on Science.

It's her new field, I think.

Well, it has been for a long time.

Come back to us. Rejoin your teams and we'll see what happens next.

So, the goose we were talking about in Hawaii is called the nene

because that's the sound it makes.

-Oh, I see.

-It's one of those really simple things.

-That's its... What's called its soft call. Nene.

-Nene!

-Go on.

-Nene!

-Yes!

That's it. That's the very call. If only there were bonus points!

The talents on this team!

Oh, dear. Anyway, the fun we have.

But The Governors are right here and they're intending to win,

are you not? So, don't let us put you off.

The Governors have lost two brains, but they are not out of this at all.

Not by any manner of means.

And the next subject for you is Music.

I think it's... Is it you, Dennis?

-Here's your moment, Dennis.

-Oh, it's Dennis!

OK, is there any particular Egghead you'd like?

I know after Judith's goose call, you might want her,

but she can't be chosen.

Have a go at Kevin.

-Yeah?

-Decapitation.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-OK.

As much as I don't want to do this, Kevin.

Right. I can see what you're doing.

Hurling yourself at the grandmaster, and that can work.

Dennis from The Governors versus Kevin from The Eggheads.

The subject, Music.

Dennis has a collection of 2,000 LPs, I'm told.

Please go to the Question Room and let's see what you're made of.

Well, it's great to hear how fanatical you are about music, Dennis.

Did I say... Was it 2,000 CDs, is that right?

No, LPs.

LPs, right. And how many singles?

Over 10,000.

-Lovely.

-Wow!

-The wife doesn't think so.

THEY LAUGH

You are also the former Mayor of Crewe.

-Last year, yes.

-So, you could, if The Eggheads win,

you can have Chris removed from the city?

THEY LAUGH

I don't have to be mayor to do that. I know a few people.

JEREMY LAUGHS

All right. you're up against Kevin.

It's a good thing to try and get Kevin out before the final.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

So, here is your first Music question.

"When this old world starts getting me down

"and people are just too much for me to face"

are lyrics from which song by The Drifters?

I don't think it's Down Under and Out In The Country doesn't sound...

I think it's Up On The Roof.

Yes, you're right.

Kevin, your first question.

Which synthpop group had a 1981 UK hit single

with The Model?

I think it was...

Just The Model?

-The Model.

-Yeah.

I think this is Krautrock.

I think it was a double-A side with Computer Love.

It's Kraftwerk.

Yeah, it is Kraftwerk.

Great band. And Krautrock? I don't know.

I wouldn't call them that, really.

-No, OK.

-They're the defining electronic band of the age.

-Krautrock is more like Scorpions, isn't it?

-Yeah.

OK. Dennis.

Slap and pop is the name for a method of playing which instrument?

I'm not sure about this.

I'd tend to go for piano.

I'm not 100% sure, but...

OK. Piano.

I think your team-mates are troubled by that.

-Go on, team.

-We're veering towards bass guitar.

Yeah, I think it's that thing where...

And I guess maybe Mark King of Level 42,

It's that thing where he's

banging it with his thumb almost and his little finger.

-Bass, yeah.

-Bass guitar.

Kevin. Mozart's Symphony number 31

is better known by the name of which city?

I believe that's Paris.

Paris is the right answer.

Back to Dennis. You need to get this one right.

What was the title of Fleetwood Mac's first UK top 40 single?

This is a band I went to see in Woolwich in about 1968

before Albatross came out. I don't think Black...

I think it's Need Your Love So Bad.

That's my answer, anyway.

-Lisa?

-I'd have gone for Need Your Love So Bad

because I think the other two would be when they were

slightly better established. But difficult.

Yeah, that's a really tricky question.

The actual answer is Black Magic Woman.

So, no way back, Dennis.

The music round didn't quite fall for you there. Kevin, in the final.

Come back to us, gentlemen. And we'll play another head-to-head.

As it stands, The Governors have lost three brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost any so far.

And we have Politics for you

as your last head-to-head before the final.

-So, who would like this?

-I'll do that.

Peter? OK. Against which Egghead?

You can either have Lisa or you can have Barry.

-One on the end.

-I'll chance my arm against Barry.

Good stuff. So, Peter from The Governors who...

I think you like your politics, don't you?

Only for the last 50 years, yeah.

OK, versus Barry from The Eggheads.

And to ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions now.

On Politics, Peter, would you like to go first or second?

I'll probably kick myself for this, but I'm going to go second.

So, we start with you, Barry.

What name is given to the method of uprating the basic state pension?

Ah, this was the famous triple lock of David Cameron.

The pension had to be raised by the higher of various indices,

of which there are three of them.

Triple lock is right.

Over to you, Peter. Good luck.

Which of these is another name for

the Republican Party in the United States?

I was a bit... I was thinking about elephants and donkeys for a moment,

but I think it's the Grand Old Party.

Yeah, GOP is Grand Old Party.

For some reason, I always thought it was God's Own Party.

But I've been misled somewhere along the way.

Barry, your question.

What name was often given to former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain?

Ah, now I have heard this.

I just need a moment's thought.

But for some reason, The Coroner is coming to mind,

so I shall go for that.

The Coroner is right.

I don't know where that came from, I really don't.

Your question, Peter.

Who became the MP for Tooting in 2005?

Without a doubt it was Sadiq Khan.

Sadiq Khan is correct.

Barry,

The Lagting was the name of the upper house of the Parliament

of which European country?

Could you spell that, please?

The Lagting. L-A-G-T-I-N-G.

Well, I know the names of

all the lower houses of those three countries.

Norway is the Stortinget.

Denmark is I think the Folketing.

I can't... Or that may be Finland. I'm getting confused now.

Lagting. It doesn't sound particularly Danish.

All the Finnish words I've ever come across seem to have more syllables

than are good for themselves.

So, on that very specious argument, I shall go for Norway.

Dave did say to me the other day

his great tip is always choose Norway.

Oh, is this another Eggheads tip?

No, this is one of Dave's ideas.

Norway's right.

HE LAUGHS

There we go!

Always go Norway.

Right. So, your third question,

you've got to get this right now, Peter.

To which UK Parliament post was David Natzler appointed in 2015?

I don't think it'll help, but could you spell his surname?

Yeah, N-A-T-Z-L-E-R.

To which UK Parliament post was David Natzler appointed in 2015?

I think I might have heard of him if he was Black Rod.

Not at all clear on this, which is a shame.

Wish I'd gone first now.

I haven't got a coin handy to toss it,

but I will say Clerk of the Commons.

-Clerk of the Commons is right.

-Oh!

Well done.

Not easy. Those administrative jobs,

which of them are ceremonial and which of them are real?

So you're level after three questions.

We go to Sudden Death.

I don't give you different options.

Barry, Yevgeny Ivanov was a major figure

in which British political scandal of the 1960s?

Yevgeny Ivanov?

Ah, name rings a bell.

If it's of the '60s, it has to be the Profumo scandal.

Profumo is quite right.

-Well done. Presumably, he was the one who slept with Christine Keeler.

-Christine Keeler.

Do you know, I actually met Mandy Rice-Davies once.

-Really?

-And of all the places to meet her,

I was in Israel in a Chinese restaurant

and she owned it and was behind the bar.

And I had a lovely chat with her.

And she was the most delightful person.

Brilliant. I didn't know she was running a Chinese restaurant in Israel.

-Strange.

-That'll be a quiz question one day.

OK. So, to stay in, Peter,

the 1918 Representation of the People Act

gave the vote to all males in the United Kingdom over what age?

I don't think it was 21.

I've got a feeling that it was somewhere in the mid to late 20s.

One of these moments when I wish I could have a walk around the block and a think.

OK, I'll take a stab and see if my luck's still in and say 28.

28. Do you know, Barry?

I think I would have gone for 30.

Oh, OK. You would have gone higher.

-The answer is 21.

-Oh!

Sorry, Peter. Knocked out by Barry on Sudden Death.

So, if you come back to us, we'll play the final round.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time 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 final round, so, Peter, Ben, Dennis and Gordon

from The Governors, would you please leave the studio?

OK, Damien. I know this wasn't quite the plan.

No. But you can do it.

-It's been done before, Eggs, hasn't it?

-A few times.

One person against five.

You're playing to win The Governors £2,000.

Barry, Judith, Kevin, Chris, Lisa,

you are playing for something that money can't buy.

Trying to somehow restore 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.

I'm sorry, that doesn't help you. So, Damien, the question is,

can you with your one brain defeat these five?

And would you like to go first or second?

I'll go... I'll go first.

Damien, good luck. Here's your first question.

Which of these is a nomadic people

that inhabit areas in North and West Africa?

The first answer... I'm torn between Sami and Tuareg.

Did you say North Africa?

-North and West Africa.

-North and West Africa.

OK. The first answer I thought of was Tuareg.

I'm going to stick with Tuareg.

Tuareg is correct. Well done.

Not an easy first question.

And Qashqai and Sami, whereabouts are they?

-The Sami are from Finland.

-Finland.

And the Qashqai are Central Asia.

OK. Eggheads, Omni Consumer Products,

or OCP, is a fictional corporation

that features in which series of films?

I thought that was RoboCop.

-Yeah, that was my immediate thought.

-Can we just have that again, Jeremy?

Omni Consumer Products, or OCP,

is a fictional corporation that features in which series of films?

That's the only one that's got a major multinational company in it.

Well, yeah... Omni seems to ring a bell.

I'd have to do it by elimination as I don't remember it in Terminator

-or Back To The Future. I don't think I've ever seen RoboCop.

-No,

I have a mental image of the RoboCop throwing directors of a company

through a plate glass window on the 60th floor or something.

Yep, it is... The evil villains in it are the corporate.

So, I think, yeah...

Yeah, I'm reasonably sure on that one.

Go for RoboCop then, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Everyone happy?

-Yeah.

-Cool.

OK, we reckon that's RoboCop.

Well, OCP is an anagram of cop, so yes, you're right.

RoboCop it is.

-Oh, yeah.

-I never picked that up!

THEY LAUGH Sorry.

I didn't mean to point that out.

That would've got you there too quickly.

OK, Damien, your question. What name is traditionally given

to a rigged two-masted sailing vessel,

the forward mast being taller than the after one?

Again, the first answer that pops out to me there would be...

It would be a sloop. I'm going to go with sloop.

OK, I'm looking at the faces behind you.

Team-mates not sure.

They were doing a lot of hand signals there,

just to try and describe the shape of the boat in their minds.

Ketch is the right answer.

Eggheads, to take the lead.

"Can this cockpit

"hold the vasty fields of France?"

is a quote from which Shakespeare play?

It's in the chorus in the beginning, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Henry V.

-The intro part.

-"This wooden O" and all that jazz.

-Yeah.

-Yes.

Memorably spoken by - I think it's Derek Jacobi in the film,

it's Henry V.

Henry 5 is quite right.

Here's your third question. Get this right to stay in.

Damien, according to Roman writers,

what was the first settlement to be destroyed by the Britons

during Boudicca's revolt?

The first to be...

Destroyed by the Britons during Boudicca's revolt.

I don't think... I don't think it was London.

I think it was St Albans.

It's certainly a name that comes up a lot

with Roman occupation of Britain, St Albans.

As is London. As is Colchester.

The correct answer is Colchester.

So, we say congratulations, Eggheads. You have won.

Ah, it's so hard to survive two wrong answers in the final round.

-Absolutely.

-That St Albans is... I know the logic of that.

There was a lot of stuff going on there.

Commiserations to The Governors.

The Eggheads have done what normally comes naturally to them.

And you do reign supreme again over Quizland. No question of that.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £2,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done. Who will beat you?

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

have the brains to do it. Take them down.

£3,000 says they don't.

Until then, goodbye.