Episode 2 Celebrity 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 a special celebrity edition of Eggheads,

the show where five quiz challengers pit their wits

against possibly Britain's greatest quiz team.

You might recognise them. They've won some of the country's toughest quiz shows.

They are the Eggheads.

Challenging our resident quiz goliaths today are the Odd Balls,

team captain John Inverdale and four former sporting greats.

But as Mark Lawrenson might say when the final whistle comes,

will they be sick as a parrot or over the moon?

Let's meet them.

I'm John Inverdale. I spend my life talking about these guys playing sport.

I'm Dennis Taylor. I won the World Snooker Championship in 1985.

I work as a commentator for the BBC.

I'm Mark Lawrenson, ex-footballer, now BBC pundit.

I'm Graham Bell, former Olympic skier, now presenter of Ski Sunday.

I'm Bob Champion. I used to be a National Hunt jockey,

and I rode the winner of the 1981 Grand National on Aldaniti.

Welcome, Odd Balls.

We know you've got sport covered, but do you have any other specialities?

-No.

-Right, that's it.

-But we are supremely confident. I can say that on behalf of the other four.

-And we're going to cheat.

-DERMOT CHUCKLES

-What about you, Dennis? What do you like?

-Food and drink.

-We should be good at it. We eat a lot of food and drink a lot.

-We're going to have a drink.

Let's play the game and see where the money goes.

Every day £1,000 cash is up for grabs for our challengers' chosen charity.

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads, the prize money rolls over to the next show.

Odd Balls, the Eggheads won the last game,

so £2,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

Let's look at our first head-to-head battle. Work out who you want to play. It's Music.

Who is up for this?

Nobody. I'll volunteer.

What kind of music is it?

-I'll take the first penalty in the shoot-out.

-OK.

That's bravery. Then you can blame everybody else.

Who would you like to play from the Eggheads? Anyone you like.

We'll go for Chris.

Chris? OK. Chris it is.

All right. John against Chris. The subject is Music.

No conferring with your team-mates. Take your positions in the question room.

-What about your musical tastes?

-Ask me in five minutes.

-All right.

Do you want to go first or second?

I asked Mark Lawrenson about this, because this is effectively a penalty shoot-out.

He said, "Always go first. It puts the pressure on the other guy." So I'll go first.

Here's the question. Go Now, by the Moody Blues, and Reach Out I'll Be There, by the Four Tops,

were UK number one hit singles in which decade?

The '60s, the '70s or the '80s?

-'60s.

-John's gone straight for the right answer. Good start.

Chris, is that still too modern for you, the '60s?

-No, I like the Moody Blues.

-OK.

Let's have your first question.

Which Scottish female singer had a 1980 UK hit single with the song January February?

That was Barbara Dickson.

The answer is Barbara Dickson. Well done.

One each. John, your second.

"Sun is in the sky. Oh why, oh why would I wanna be anywhere else?"

is the chorus from which Lily Allen song?

LDN.

Got it straight away. Two to you.

Chris, which ballet is based on a short story by ETA Hoffmann

called The Sandman?

It's not Swan Lake.

I've an idea that it involves a wind-up doll that comes to life

when sand is sprinkled on it, and it's Coppelia.

Eggheads nodding like wind-up dolls there.

It is the right answer. Coppelia.

So you've got two, John's got two.

Next question each could decide who wins the round.

John, who composed the piece of music known as Soul Bossa Nova,

famously used as the theme

for the film Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery?

I can't imagine Randy Newman doing it.

Which leaves me between two.

Quincy Jones has a great litany of musical success over the years.

I'm going to go for...

Alan Menken.

-It is Quincy Jones.

-What an idiot.

I think he has a cameo in one of the Austin Powers films.

Chris, you win the round if you get this.

Who composed the millennial work Fall And Resurrection,

dedicated to the Prince of Wales?

All three modern British composers.

I'll go with Harrison Birtwistle.

OK, Harrison Birtwistle.

Well, it could be John's resurrection. It's incorrect.

-Yes! Love it!

-It's John Tavener.

Both missing that last metaphorical penalty.

So it goes to sudden death. John, we remove those choices.

Can you tell me this?

The singer born Shahnour Aznavourian in Paris in 1924

became famous under what name?

I think there may well be a clue in the name. Charles Aznavour?

It's not that different, is it?

Shahnour Aznavourian became Charles Aznavour.

-It's right answer. Well done, John.

-Yes!

-Hang in there!

-He was born of Armenian parents.

And your question, Chris.

Alison Krauss and which male vocalist

jointly won five Grammys in 2009,

including an Album of the Year award for Raising Sand?

Billy Ray Cyrus?

Billy Ray Cyrus? Is it, Eggheads?

-No. Robert Plant.

-It's Mr Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant.

That really was a resurrection.

John thought he was about to get knocked out.

You're through, John. You're playing in the final round.

Please both come back and join your teams.

He held his nerve spectacularly. John's through to the final round.

The Eggheads will be missing at least one brain - Chris.

We'll move on to our next subject. The next head-to-head is Science.

-Easy!

-You can't play it, John. It's Dennis, Mark, Graham or Bob.

-We have a scientific genius in our midst.

-Who's that?

-It's definitely not me.

-Come on, Graham, this is you.

-I'll take one for the team.

-OK, take it for the team.

Who would you like to play from the Eggheads? It can't be Chris.

I'll try the new boy - Pat.

-I'll take one for the team.

-You both can't take one for the team.

But one of you will emerge triumphant from that question room, where you must now go.

Graham, I'm searching for some scientific connections.

What about that amazing programme you did, High Altitude?

What speeds did you hit in that speed skiing?

I could tell you about velocity. 197km an hour, which is pretty fast.

Even for an experienced skier like you, an international-class skier,

weren't you terrified?

Yeah! Of course I was. You always feel the fear.

-The trick is managing it.

-Yeah.

Right, Science. Let's play. Do you want to go first or second?

I will go first.

What phrase is commonly used to describe

the solution of simple organic molecules that first gave rise to life on Earth?

I think I've got some prehistoric yoghurt in the back of my fridge.

But I can't see it sparking life on Earth. I'll go with primeval soup.

Primeval soup is the right answer. Graham, good start.

Pat, in chemistry, what name is given to the process

by which one substance collects on the surface of another

but is not incorporated into the structure of it?

Well... I don't know this for definite.

Of those three options,

adsorption sounds like a complement to absorption.

And I'm assuming that absorption means to pull in

and adsorption may mean to allow to sit on the surface as a deposit.

So I think I'll go with adsorption.

So you're going for the linguistic analysis there.

You've got the right answer. The Eggheads nodding as well.

Good start, Graham. Let's build on it.

The number of particles contained in one mole of a substance

is a constant which is commonly known as what?

Hmm. This one's stumped me.

Just trying to think back to those years and years ago

when I was actually in school.

I'll have to go with Torricelli's constant.

It's constant but not Torricelli's. It's Avogadro's constant.

You've got one. Let's see what Pat does with his next two.

By what more common name is the apis mellifera better know?

The apis indicates bee, which is common to all three options.

Mellifera, I think, is formed from the Latin words for carrying honey.

So I think it's the honeybee.

He's good at this. That is the right answer. The honeybee.

You've got to get this, Graham.

Which part of the human brain is the largest?

I'm just trying to think about that bit at the front there.

I'm going to go for the cerebellum.

With very well-developed brains over there,

which bit of your brain is the biggest?

-I'd have gone for cerebellum.

-So would I.

-But it's cerebrum.

-THEY GROAN

The answer is cerebrum, not cerebellum, so the round ends.

Pat sits impassive. He knows he's through.

That's levelled it up. Graham won't play in the final round.

Both please come back and join your teams.

It's one all. Both the Odd Balls and the Eggheads lost one brain from the final round.

Our third category today pops up, and it's Geography.

Who's going to play this? Graham would like to play but he can't.

-I'll go.

-There we go - Mark.

Pick an Egghead. Chris and Pat have played. So Judith, Barry or Daphne?

-Take Judith.

-You've been eyeing Judith up for the entire programme.

-She's my girlfriend.

-OK, Mark and Judith into the question room.

-Mark, do you want to go first or second?

-First, please.

Which US city has run a famous cable-car service since 1873?

San Francisco.

It's the right answer. Good start, Mark.

Judith, Chile shares a border with Peru, Bolivia and which other country?

It's definitely not Venezuela.

Peru... Oh, it's Brazil.

-Brazil?

-Yes.

We're going to have to get Barry some painkillers,

he's hit himself so hard on the head.

-Is it Argentina?

-It is.

-Come on, Mark!

-He's one up.

You're in the lead. Let's see if you can go further ahead.

Thanks for the pressure.

Brunswick and Kemp Town are areas of which British seaside resort?

Brighton & Hove.

-Do you know that from playing them?

-From playing for Brighton & Hove.

THEY LAUGH

I forgot about that!

Mind you, it was in the '70s.

It couldn't have worked better for you.

Brighton & Hove. Brunswick and Kemp Town.

So he's 2-0 up. Judith needs to score here.

La Gomera is part of which island group?

Absolutely no idea. La Gomera?

La Gomera. L-A, another word, G-O-M-E-R-A.

I don't know.

This is awful! I was thinking, "Thank God I'm not doing sport",

-and look what's happened.

-Thinking, "What does that oaf know of geography?"

-No, I wasn't thinking anything of the kind.

-I was.

I don't know. Um... Balearics.

HE PRETENDS TO CRY

Oh, Balearics! It's the wrong answer.

It's one of the smaller Canary Islands. La Gomera.

You've sailed through there, Mark. Didn't even break sweat.

You're playing in the final round. Would you both rejoin your teams.

The Odd Balls have the lead. Two Eggheads will be missing from the final round.

It's 2-1. Our last head-to-head before that final round is Sport.

It has turned up.

Only Dennis or Bob can play.

-We'll say Dennis, shall we?

-You want me to do it? All right.

-Dennis, your choices are...

-Can I have Judith?

-THEY LAUGH

-Yeah, because she didn't really play in the last round.

-Take Barry.

-Because he's wearing green, and I like the name Barry,

-so we'll have a go with Barry.

-He might take pity on you with the green, the Irish link there.

Let's have Dennis and Barry into the question room.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-Like Lawro, I'll go first as well.

It worked successfully twice. Will it work again?

Dennis, "onion bag" is a slang term for what item of football equipment?

Onion bag would have to be...

It wouldn't be a referee's shirt, I wouldn't think.

I'm not sure, but I'm going to...

Shin pad.

Goal net?

Yes, because of what it looks like. That's the right answer.

You should see Mark's face!

It's not your sport, is it?

Anyway, you've got it on the board. Barry, your first question.

In 1984, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award was given to which two people?

1984 was the year of the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo,

so it must have been given to Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.

The answer, of course, is Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.

So you both got one.

Dennis, your second question. Which tennis player

became the owner of an Olympic medal of each colour

after he won gold in the Men's Doubles and bronze in the Men's Singles in 2004

and then silver in the Singles in 2008?

HE GROANS

Not one of my strongest sports. That's a toughie for me.

-HE WHISPERS

-I'll go for Fernando Gonzalez.

OK, a complete guess at Fernando Gonzalez. John?

-He's right.

-It's the right answer.

Well done, Dennis.

Barry, which driver won the Formula One World Championship in 1982

in between two championship wins for Nelson Piquet?

Hmm.

I think Jody Scheckter. I'm pretty sure he won one in the early '80s.

'82 sounds early '80s, especially if it's between two for Piquet.

I shall go for Scheckter.

It's Keke Rosberg.

So, Dennis, you had a bit of a guess at the last one,

but it gives you a real chance now to join your colleagues in the final round.

In 2002, the former England Rugby Union coach, Jack Rowell,

became director of rugby for which union team?

I don't think it's Bath. It's going to be another guess.

I'm going to go for Harlequins.

John, what do you think?

-I think he's wrong.

-Yeah. It's Bath, not Harlequins.

Barry still has to get this if he's to save the round.

Barry, in February 2008, cricketer Shane Warne joined which Indian Premier League team?

I feel I'm about to pot the cue ball here

because I'm not really sure.

I've heard of all three of those teams

and, for some reason, Rajasthan Royals rings a bell.

So I'm hoping, I'm praying it's Rajasthan Royals.

Otherwise, I'm off the table.

Thanks for the snooker references. But you're still on the table.

It's the right answer. Rajasthan Royals. Shane Warne joined them.

So we go to sudden death,

as happened in John's round, but he won through eventually.

So, Dennis, here's your question.

In which sport did the Hungarian, Agnes Keleti, win ten Olympic medals during her career,

including four golds at the 1956 Games?

I would think it would be... She sounds a very strong person to me.

THEY CHUCKLE

So I'm going to go for - a complete guess -

I would say something like...

the shot put. THEY GROAN

Shot put. Strong girl, but not in that way, Dennis.

Supple and small. Gymnastics.

Oh, sorry. Sorry, boys.

No worries, Dennis. You're still in it.

Let's see how Barry does.

Barry, what's the name of the only horse to have completed the Champion Hurdle-Gold Cup double

and to have won the full set of English, Irish and French hurdling championships?

I'm about to expose my ignorance here.

-I'll try Desert Orchid.

-Desert Orchid it is not. Bob?

-I think we'll try Dawn Run.

-Dawn Run.

The only horse to have completed those races. Great record.

So you're still in it, Dennis. Here you go.

The Formula One team, formerly called Honda,

was renamed what in 2009?

Was it... um...

I should know this but...

Brain's gone. I'm going to go with Red Bull.

When you said, "The brain's gone", I thought, "What else do you have mixed together with brains?"

You get brawn! Brawn is the team. Brawn GP.

-Ringing a bell?

-Yeah, now it does.

Jenson and all that.

Barry, in which sport is catching the ball and taking a high mark

commonly known as taking a "specky" or a "screamer"?

I think that may be Australian Rules Football.

-It's the right answer!

-THEY CHEER

Aussie Rules.

Which means, Barry, you've won the round.

Two exhausted players, drained by quizzing.

Never seen it before. Both please rejoin your teams.

This is what we've been playing towards. Time for the final round, General Knowledge.

Those who lost the head-to-heads can't take part in this round.

So Dennis and Graham from the Odd Balls

and Chris and Judith from the Eggheads,

please leave the studio.

John, Mark and Bob, you're playing to win the Odd Balls £2,000 for your chosen charity.

Daphne, Barry and Pat, you're playing for something which money can't buy -

the Eggheads' reputation.

I'll ask each team three questions in turn, all on General Knowledge. You may confer.

Odd Balls, the question is: are your three brains better than the Eggheads' three?

-Would you like to go first or second?

-First.

Here you go. First question.

Popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, the pavane is an example of what?

Popular in the 16th and 17th centuries,

the pavane, P-A-V-A-N-E,

is an example of what?

It's not going to be a poem, I can't think. But a collar?

-One of those ruff things that people used to wear?

-No.

Pavane sounds a bit like a dance.

-"Would you join me in the last pavane?"

-No thanks.

We'll go for dance.

Did I just hear you inviting him for a dance?

Did my ears deceive me? Going for dance.

Pity old twinkle-toes Dennis isn't here to tell you all about this.

I'm sure he hasn't danced one of these, though it is a dance.

It's the right answer. Good start.

Right. Eggheads, over to you.

The new building of the British Library, completed in 1997,

is immediately adjacent to which London mainline railway station?

St Pancras.

The new building of the British Library, completed in 1997,

is immediately adjacent to which London mainline railway station?

That is St Pancras.

I've got a very nice photograph of me outside

by the statue of Isaac Newton.

-I won a trophy.

-For what?

It was Whitaker's Almanack,

and it was just a quiz.

So, Eggheads, people like you, just go in the British Library

and hoover up the knowledge?

-Well, yes.

-Yeah, right.

St Pancras is the right answer.

The new British Library is beside that mainline railway station.

We move on to the second question for each team.

This one for you, Odd Balls. Which renowned poet

lived in a riverside villa at Twickenham where he created a famous grotto and gardens?

Which renowned poet lived in a riverside villa at Twickenham

where he created a famous grotto and gardens?

Maybe he loved rugby, John.

-There's a pub called Pope's Grotto in Twickenham.

-Ah!

-Is there?

-So I am guessing that that's it.

-Is that your answer?

-Yes.

-Alexander Pope, on Pope's Grotto?

You guys are on fire! Alexander Pope is the right answer.

That scrap of knowledge, John, is how the Eggheads do it. Well done.

Two to you.

Eggheads, Joshua Nkomo was an important figure in the politics of which country,

spending several years as one of its vice presidents?

Joshua Nkomo was an important figure

in the politics of which country,

spending several years as one of its vice presidents?

That's Zimbabwe.

-Zimbabwe?

-Yep.

He fell out with Robert Mugabe - inevitably, one would suspect.

It is the right answer. Joshua Nkomo.

The Odd Balls playing really well.

Will they get one hand on that money with this question?

Who directed the 2000 film What Lies Beneath?

Who directed the 2000 film - released in the year 2000 -

What Lies Beneath?

THEY CONFER

Why do you say Robert Zemeckis?

It's just a guesstimate, but...

-Robert Zemeckis.

-Yeah, we'll go with it.

-That's your answer?

-Yeah.

"Say Robert Zemeckis. Who cares?" It's the right answer!

Well done, that man there.

You do have one hand on the money.

Eggheads, you've got to get this.

De Telegraaf and Algemeen Dagblad

are national daily newspapers in which country?

-Could you spell Dagblad, please?

-D-A-G-B-L-A-D.

Sounds like the Netherlands to me.

Yeah, it sounds Dutch to me. I was originally thinking Scandinavian.

Yeah.

We've decided it sounded Dutch,

so we're going for the Netherlands.

De Telegraaf and the Dagblad are newspapers in the Netherlands.

We go to sudden death again.

Do we always get questions this easy?

-Why? Do you subscribe to those papers?

-Ja.

For the football. Find out what Feyenoord are doing.

It's sudden death, so no choices, just to remind you, Odd Balls.

Which iconic car does Steve McQueen drive in the famous car chase in the 1968 film Bullitt?

-Camaro?

-Ford Camaro, wasn't it?

I'm passing on that. Go on.

-Shall we...?

-It's another guesstimate.

-The Camaro?

-Ford Camaro?

-Ford Camaro?

-Yeah.

It's not that. It's close. It's not the Ford Camaro. Do you know, Eggheads?

-Is it a Ford Mustang?

-It's a Mustang.

A Ford Mustang in that famous car chase.

We had a San Francisco question ages ago.

Eggheads, what's the common name derived from the French for "green of grease"

for the green-blue coating of copper carbonate

that forms naturally on copper, bronze and brass?

Sorry, guys, but verdigris.

Verdigris is the right answer. Eggheads, you've won.

They gave you a run for their money!

-They did.

-They certainly did.

In this game, you get no prizes for coming second.

We'll give you prizes for being such a fantastic team and having so much fun with us.

And to Graham and Dennis back there,

their wonderful rounds will live in the memories forever more of all of us here,

perhaps not always for the right reasons.

OK, guys, thank you very much for playing Eggheads today.

But the Eggheads still reign supreme over quiz land.

I'm afraid you haven't won the £2,000, so the money rolls over to the next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if a team from the Antiques Roadshow can defeat the Eggheads.

£3,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

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