Episode 9 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?

Hello and welcome to a special celebrity edition of Eggheads,

where five quiz challengers pit their wits against possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain.

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

They are the Eggheads.

Tackling our awesome quiz titans today are The Ones.

Team captain Gyles walked among the various reporters from The One Show,

cherrypicking those people he knows have the brains to win. Let's meet them.

I'm Gyles Brandreth, on day release from The One Show.

I'm Lucy Siegle, and I am a journalist and TV presenter.

My name is George "Bug Man" McGavin. I'm an entomologist, explorer and author.

I'm Mike Dilger, natural historian, TV presenter and all-round charlatan.

-My name's Angellica Bell. I'm a TV and radio presenter and love The One Show.

-Welcome to you, The Ones.

Gyles, this is the cream of the show. A veritable brains trust.

We won't say it's the cream. We are the ones who are just sort of Dermot groupies

-and we wanted to throw ourselves against this extraordinary team.

-And we're available.

-Yes, we are.

Probably the key point there, but you do bring a range of skills and knowledge to this quiz.

-Do you know the different categories?

-We like to think we do.

I'm here in case we lose. I'm used to that. I was a Member of Parliament.

Rejection is part and parcel of it.

Let's play and see what comes up. Lots of different categories. Let's hope they fall to your advantage.

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

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

Eggheads have won the last two games

so £3,000 says you can't beat them.

Our first Head to Head today is on History.

Who's the historian?

-Well, we have a natural historian. Did you do "O" Level History?

-I did.

I did "O" Level History. The last year to do "O" Levels.

Team, what do we say? ALL: All for One, and One for all!

So you're playing any Egghead. Who isn't any good at history?

Or who do you want to knock out?

-I'm going to pick Pat.

-Pat.

-Yes.

-Let's see how you do, then.

Into the Question Room, please.

Lucy, you get to choose. Do you want to go first or second?

I would like Pat to start, please.

All right, then, off we go.

Pat facing the first question.

This is it. The historical duchy of Franconia was located in which modern-day country?

-Franconia.

-I think the region still survives

in northern Bavaria. So it's a rather historic part of Germany, in northern Bavaria.

OK. Very specific. That's right.

Germany. The historic duchy of Franconia.

Lucy, which area of London is named after a small battle that took place on 4th July, 1806,

between British and French forces in Italy in the Napoleonic Wars?

I used to live in Battersea and wish I'd paid more attention

when I was living there.

I am going to say...Maida Vale.

Maida Vale. We're looking for something that sounds a bit Italian.

You've got it. Yeah, Maida Vale.

OK, it's all square. Pat, your second question coming up.

During the 17th century, what radical agrarian group under the leadership of Gerrard Winstanley

assembled in Surrey and began to cultivate the common land?

Em, there were various groups of people at that time.

These chaps, I think, were Diggers

because they looked to plough the land and grow crops.

I think they were the Diggers.

It is the right answer. Well done, you have two.

Back to Lucy

to try to draw level. The Austrian statesman Metternich

is quoted as saying, "When France has a cold..." who sneezes?

Well, I would have assumed, geographically, it's Europe.

-OK. "When France has a cold, Europe sneezes"? Correct!

-Yay!

-Well done, Lucy.

-You did it in a very English voice. He didn't speak like that at all!

How would he say it?

-Ven France has a cold, all Europe schneezes.

-Very good.

Thank you. Pat,

these questions could sort it out. A very important one for you both.

During the First Republic of France, what was the name of the government from 1795-1799?

Those dates put it as some time after the excess of the Revolution.

I think I'll have to go with Directory.

The Directory is correct!

Three to Pat means he hasn't slipped up

as you hoped, I suspect, Lucy. It means you've got to get this.

Who was the first Angevin King of England?

The only one I can remember anything about is Richard I

and I don't remember that being applied to him. Actually,

I don't know about Henry I and II, so I'll go for Richard I,

which I just discounted.

Lucy, it's not Richard I. It's Henry II.

First blood goes to the Eggheads. Pat's in the final round, not Lucy.

Both please come back and join your teams.

First round gone and one of The Ones has gone.

Three more Head to Heads coming up. And the next one is Science.

Who wants to play this?

-Any of the other four.

-George IS a scientist.

I am indeed. And we may have Sport.

-I'm useless at sport. Totally useless.

-OK.

-Are we going to go with him?

-George.

-What do we say to wish him well?

ALL: All for One and One for all!

-Now who's your opponent?

-That's right. Choose an opponent.

-It can't be Pat.

-I'd go Daphne or Judith.

-Daphne.

-George is playing Daphne. The subject is Science.

Please take your positions in the Question Room.

-George, would you like to go first or second?

-I think I'll go second, actually.

Your first question, Daphne.

The wattle is a piece of skin normally found hanging from or near which part of certain birds?

That's what you see on the throat of a turkey.

So throat.

It is the right answer. Throat.

George,

in mathematics, what number can be expressed as 10 to the power of 3?

10 to the power of 3...

..is...is a thousand.

10 to the power of 3 is 1,000. Eased you in there, George.

Daphne, second question.

The name of which part of the body comes from the Latin for "basin"?

Well, I think it's something to do with the shape. The pelvis.

Yeah, it's the right answer.

The Latin for basin is pelvis. George, your second question -

what type of creature is Acanthaster planci

or Crown of Thorns, whose sudden growth in the 1960s threatened the coral on the Great Barrier Reef?

The great thing about being a chap like me is I can recall names of things.

Not the ordinary names. I remember the long-winded name.

That is definitely a starfish.

OK. Yes, it is. Not going to argue with you on that!

Right, two each.

Both going really well.

Daphne, Buran, developed in the 1970s and 1980s, was the Soviet Union's attempt

to create an equivalent of which American space travel achievement?

It's not Skylab.

They had Soyuz.

I think it might be... Space Shuttle?

Oh, Daphne! It's the right answer.

-Oh!

-She keeps landing them. OK.

Well...

You have the lead like Pat did. Lucy slipped up on her third one. Let's hope it doesn't happen to George.

-No pressure(!)

-None at all.

What substance was first scientifically described by Charles Marie de La Condamine

and Francois Fresneau of France following an expedition to South America in 1735?

Ugh!

Well, it's not the one in the middle.

I wouldn't have thought it's petrol.

So it's either rubber or mescaline, which is a drug.

Rubber...

No, I think it's the drug. It's the one at the end.

OK, mescaline.

It's not mescaline - it's rubber!

Oh!

Some of your teammates thought that.

George, you're not playing in the final round.

Daphne, you are. Both please come back and join your teams.

Let's hope The Ones aren't down to one player after these.

Two of you gone, no Eggheads gone yet.

Now it's Film and Television.

I'm going to turn to Angellica.

She has the looks of an international movie star

and she appears on television. So Angellica.

-It's made for you.

-Who's the Egghead going to be for you?

Daphne and Pat have played. So it's Judith, Barry or Chris.

I think maybe Barry. He's got a lovely smile... I know I'm going for the wrong reasons,

but it's a process of elimination.

Barry looks like a middle-aged geek with no time for television and films.

When he's not playing postal chess, he sits alone in his shed recreating the Titanic with matchsticks.

So it's Angellica and Barry heading for the Question Room, please.

OK now, Angellica, another hurdle to negotiate is do you want to go first or second?

I want him to go first so I can see where I'm at

and if it's all over, I can leave without answering the third question.

-So Barry's kicking off.

-Yes. After all that!

First question, Barry.

Which US TV sitcom first aired in 1984 and was centred around a family whose children included

Denise, Vanessa, Theo and Rudy?

I think that was The Cosby Show.

Yes. Right answer. The Cosby Show.

OK, first question to you.

Let's hope you know this. Emma Thompson was married to which actor between 1989 and 1995?

Well, it's not Richard E Grant.

He lives near me. Daniel Day-Lewis, great actor,

-but it is Kenneth Branagh.

-Right.

-Well done!

-One-all. Now, Barry,

what was the name of the character played by Jack Ryder in EastEnders?

Beppe di Marco I'm sure was Italian.

He certainly looked Italian. That leaves me Ashley Cotton or Jamie Mitchell.

This has to be a 50/50. Sorry, Judith, I'll go for Jamie Mitchell.

It IS the right answer. You got it, Barry.

Angellica knew that.

Your second one is this. What was the subtitle of the first Pirates of the Caribbean film?

I did go to the cinema and see this. I'll say Curse of the Black Pearl.

I think it is right, I hope it is, but when you're in these positions you question yourself.

-Curse of the Black Pearl.

-Those were all the Pirates films.

The first one was The Curse of the Black Pearl. The right answer, well done.

It's two-all.

Barry, who did Forbes magazine reveal as the highest-earning Hollywood actor

in the year from June, 2008, to June, 2009?

I think that's a little late for Harrison Ford. And I don't think it's Matt Damon.

I'll go for Denzel Washington.

Denzel Washington. It was Harrison Ford!

Harrison Ford. So, first Egghead to get a question wrong.

Angellica, you just have to get this.

Who starred opposite Tony Randall in the 1970s US TV show The Odd Couple?

This will have to be a guess. I don't know who Peter Falk is, or Jack Klugman.

But Dick Van Dyke played quite odd characters.

So that's...

..where I'm going to go.

-Do you know, Eggheads?

-Jack Klugman.

OK, not too much damage done there, Angellica.

It's all square, so we go to sudden death and remove the choices

you've been able to have a look at, so it's a lot harder.

Barry, who plays Phillip Vandamm, the enemy agent pitted against Cary Grant in North By Northwest?

Oh. I only know two things about this film - the crop-dusting scene and the scene on Mount Rushmore.

I'm trying to see who the agent was.

I'm not sure, but I'll have a shot at James Mason.

It's the right answer! James Mason it is.

Got to get this, Angellica.

The technique of induction of psychoneuroses by conditioned reflex under stress

is central to the plot of which 1965 film?

I don't know many films from the '60s.

I've no idea.

Psycho. Don't know. I know it's not that, but...

This is an acronym. Induction of Psychoneuroses by Conditioned Reflex under Stress.

I-P-C-R-E-S-S. The Ipcress File.

That's what Ipcress stands for.

OK, well,

-Angellica, what's happened there?!

-I knew Harrison Ford!

-You should have gone first.

-Yeah.

-Oh, dear. Both please come back and join your teams.

There's only two of The Ones left. Three have been knocked out of the final round.

The last chance now to knock an Egghead out and this subject is Sport.

Gyles or Mike to play Sport.

-Despite the fact that I'm clearly a natural athlete...

-Like Chris.

-I think we'll go for Mike.

-That might be a wise choice. Sport and natural history,

-pretty good. Everything else, rubbish.

-Who are you going to play?

There's a certain person left who might just be slightly weaker. Judith.

On this sport subject. I do apologise.

-This is where you get your second player.

-We're desperate!

-OK.

Mike versus Judith. Into the Question Room, please.

-Mike, first or second?

-I'll go first, please.

Changing it round.

The first of The Ones to go first.

This is your question. Good luck. Which Formula 1 driver is nicknamed The Frome Flyer,

after his Somerset home town?

I come from the West Midlands, but now live in the West Country.

Bristol's effectively in Somerset,

so I know the answer is definitely, 100%, Jenson Button.

It's the right answer. Jenson Button.

Judith, your first question.

Where was the First Test of the 2009 Ashes cricket series held?

I don't think they play cricket in Glasgow, do they? Or Belfast.

So I sort of know it's Cardiff.

Our apologies to Northern Irish and Scottish cricketers...

I thought it was an English game.

Judith! Cardiff is the right answer. The First Test in that Ashes series.

It was in Cardiff.

Mike, which boxer retired three times in 1996

after being defeated by Thulani Malinga and Steve Collins twice?

Boxing is not my strongest suit, I have to say. Dear me.

I'll go with Lloyd Honeyghan.

It's not! It's Nigel Benn.

Nigel Benn retired three times.

So, momentum with Judith.

And here's your question. What's awarded to the opposing team in a football match

when a goalkeeper handles an intentional back pass in the penalty area?

An intentional back pass?

That sounds very, very naughty. I think it might be a direct free kick.

It's an indirect free kick.

So bad luck, Mike,

getting that one wrong, but it's all square.

One-each, third question each.

Up to and including Rafael Nadal in 2008,

how many left-handed male players have won the Wimbledon singles?

It's pick a number, I think. John McEnroe was left-handed.

Boris Becker is left-handed. I'll go with the middle number, six,

but that is pick a number, really. Only Dan Maskell would know that!

4, 6 or 8.

It is...8.

8. Well, Judith has a chance

to take the round with this. Which athlete ran the final leg

of the 1991 World Championships mens' 4 x 400 metre relay final to win gold for Britain?

It's no good asking me questions like this.

I think it might be Roger Black.

The anchor leg in the 4 x 400 in the 1991 World Championships...

was run by Kriss Akabusi.

-Hooray!

-All square. We go to sudden death again.

Just the one right there.

-To remind you, Mike, no more choices for you to look at.

-OK.

This is yours. Galactico is a term used to describe a superstar footballer signed to which team?

That is Real Madrid from the Bernabeu!

-It IS Real Madrid! Well done, Mike.

-Way-yay-yay!

Thank you, Gyles!

We're behind you.

Judith, on which Scottish golf course would you come across Tel-El-Kabir,

named after an 1882 battle?

Well, St Andrews is a very old golf course.

So St Andrews.

OK, St Andrews. Tel-El-Kabir.

-It's the seventh hole at... Royal Troon.

-I knew it.

Not St Andrews. You're through!

With the last question,

we've got one of The Ones through. Would you both please come back and join your teams?

This is what we've been playing towards - the final round, which is always General Knowledge.

Those who lost your Head to Heads

won't be allowed to take part,

so Lucy, George and Angellica

and Judith, would you leave the studio, please?

Gyles and Mike, you're playing to win £3,000 for your charity.

Daphne, Chris, Barry and Pat, you're playing for the Eggheads' reputation.

I'll ask each team three questions. They're all general knowledge and you can confer,

which is why Mike's victory was so important.

The question is, The Ones, are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

-Gyles and Mike, first or second?

-First. Get the humiliation out of the way.

-Make a statement.

Good luck.

It's General Knowledge. In which country in 1980 did Vigdis Finnbogadottir

become the first woman in the world to be elected head of state in a national election?

In which country in 1980

did Vigdis Finnbogadottir become the first woman elected head of state in a national election?

-WE think... Together?

-We said the same answer.

BOTH: Iceland!

-Correct! Well done!

-Thank you very much. It's been lovely.

-Good night.

-Is that it?

-If only. I'd better ask the Eggheads.

If they don't get this, you have every chance.

Summer With Monica is a work by which of the so-called Liverpool Poets?

I'm tempted to say Roger McGough.

-He's the most prolific.

-By far.

-Happy with that, Pat?

-Yes.

-I've no idea.

-No idea?

-No idea.

-Summer With Monica.

-The three lads are happy with our answer.

Daphne admits she has no idea, so we'll say Roger McGough. He's the most prolific.

OK, on the basis of output. You've got it - Roger McGough!

So, it's one-all.

The Ones, your second question. "I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you," is the parting remark

of which Shakespearean character?

Well, the play is almost my favourite play.

-I'd be delighted to let you take over.

-It's called Twelfth Night.

The answer is Malvolio. I've actually played this part

in a straight version of the play and, indeed, in a musical version.

It's a wonderful part to play... when it's well done.

The answer is Malvolio. You have two points.

So, over to the Eggheads.

Which letter of the Greek alphabet do astronomers use to represent the density of the Universe?

I know that omega is a very important cosmological constant.

I've forgotten what it is, whether it's the density,

but it's a really key value.

It wouldn't be gamma. Stars and constellations are called gamma

and probably epsilon. So on that basis, I'd go omega.

We think the density of the Universe is omega,

that thing that looks like an O on a pedestal.

That is the correct answer. Well done, Eggheads.

You kind of got it.

You've been a bit rocky on both your two.

The Ones are rock solid. Just batting them away. Third question.

Getting closer to the money.

The song The Great Pretender, covered by Dolly Parton, Roy Orbison and Freddie Mercury,

was a UK hit in 1956 for which group?

Em, I don't know. We don't, do we?

-I think The Ink Spots sounds...

-No. They were a wonderful group,

but... Oh, what did it say?

-It said The Platters.

-It does!

I think it says The Platters. We're going to say The Platters.

First guess...and you got it!

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

-Oh, my gosh!

-Imagine if they win!

-This is bad for the heart.

-I can't take it.

-It couldn't go better.

You are in pole position.

The Eggheads have to get this.

Eggheads, what type of pasta shares its name with the Italian word for corkscrew?

-I honestly don't know on this one.

-Well, you tap into things.

Yeah. Would that be a corkscrew?

You cut a screw thread inside a nut with something called a tap,

-but I'm going off on engineering tangents.

-I don't think it's as complex as that somehow!

I would go...

-My gut feel is casoncelli.

-Casoncelli?

-It sounds more like a pasta.

-Yes, than the other one.

-Are you happy with casoncelli?

-I don't know, so I'll go with it.

-Daphne?

-Yeah.

-Casoncelli.

The Italian word for corkscrew... It's cavatappi!

-Which means you have won!

-YES!

-YES!

-All for One, and One for all!

-Congratulations.

-You've won the £3,000. Who will you give it to?

-This is the centenary of Sir Peter Scott,

born in 1909,

a great man who founded the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, now all over the United Kingdom.

-It's got a wonderful London centre.

-It gets people out of the city to look at wildlife,

-which is a lovely idea. So Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.

-Wonderful.

Congratulations to you once again. You've just won that £3,000 and that means you are, officially,

for today, smarter than the Eggheads. They CAN be beaten!

Join us next time to see if a team of former Apprentice contestants will be just as successful. Goodbye!

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