Episode 1 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 there and welcome to a special celebrity edition of 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 challenging our legendary quiz Goliaths are Sporting Allsorts.

We've had sports teams in the past who've tried to tackle

the Eggheads but sadly they didn't get out of the blocks.

Perhaps they've been missing the proverbial "safe pair of hands".

So, in the case of this team we found five people whose hands

have literally defined their careers.

However, if things don't go according to plan,

at least we can say we gave the Eggheads the "Willies".

Let's meet them!

I'm Willie Thorne, a former professional snooker player

and now spend my time commentating on the sport.

Hi, I'm Peter Shilton, I played football for England

over 20 years, gaining a record 125 caps.

Hello, my name is Joe Egan, I was a heavyweight boxer

and now I'm an actor.

Hi, I'm Paul Nixon, ex-Leicester, Kent and England cricketer.

Hi, I'm Geoff Capes, former Olympian and World's Strongest Man.

Welcome to you. Did you like that introduction, Willie?

It was perfect. I liked it very much

and if we don't beat them, we'll sit on them.

Yeah, you might win that contest.

I've got to talk to you individually about your sports

and your achievements when we do the questioning,

but what about quizzing? What about you, Willie?

Are you interested, have you taken part in many?

I'm very interested but I even lost to CJ when he came to the Crucible.

So that was a very sad day. My quizzing days were over after that.

I remember that. What was the format of that? Obviously on snooker.

Well, in fairness, CJ answered all his questions on snooker

and we did other things. He knew more about snooker than we did!

-Probably knows more about you than you do!

-Probably does, yeah!

Well, let's play the game and see if you can give it to the Eggheads.

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

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads, the prize money rolls over to the next celebrity show.

So, Sporting Allsorts, this is the first of our celebrity

specials, £1,000 says you cannot beat the Eggheads today.

And we'll start the ball rolling straight away with our first

head-to-head battle and it's on the subject of,

well, stap me! It's sport.

Who'd like to play? Pick a player to take on the Eggheads.

-I think Willie, don't you?

-Get me out of the way early.

The captain's going first.

OK, captain's innings first.

Willie...do you want to

engage again with CJ or any of the Eggheads you could play.

I wouldn't think of anything better than playing CJ at this moment.

-CJ.

-Oh, rematch! That's what we wanted.

-LAUGHTER

-Willie and CJ.

Could I ask you to go to the Question Room so that you can't confer with your team?

Willie, as the challenger, you get to choose, do you

want the first or second set of questions?

I'll go first, please, thank you.

Best of luck to you, sir. Your first question on sport is this...

Linford Christie's best time for the 100 metres was how many seconds?

I'm not going to go for the lowest one.

I'm either going for 9.87 or 10.17.

-9.87.

-9.87.

Thumbs up from Geoff, he should know,

-you were probably there!

-I was.

It's the right answer. Well done, Willie.

Tough one to negotiate for the first question,

and, CJ, which rugby union team won the 2011 Six Nations Tournament?

Like a good little Egghead I did my list of all the 2011 sporting

winners - England.

It is the right answer, well done.

OK, Willie, here's your second question.

Which swimmer won a gold medal in the men's 400m Freestyle

at both the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games?

I know Ian Thorpe is probably the best of those three at swimming,

but I'm not too sure if he was that early.

Erm... Thorpe.

I'm still going to go for Ian Thorpe.

Thank goodness you did, it is right.

I was worried about the years.

Well, was that...

We'll ask the Eggheads, was the 2000 victory on his home turf -

was that a young Ian Thorpe coming good?

Showing his potential. Did he win other medals in the 2000 Olympics?

I think he did, he didn't just have a single.

Not the handful that he got later.

OK, Ian Thorpe identified there by Willie.

CJ, in total how many goals did Gary Lineker

score at the FIFA World Cup Finals of 1986 and 1990?

Well, he scored six in '86,

cos he won the Golden Boot that year.

In 1990, that was Italy, wasn't it?

That was the one where Paul Gascoigne got sent off.

So they must've progressed quite a way in the tournament.

So I think it's more likely he scored four rather than zero.

I'll try ten.

Gascoigne got booked which meant

he would've been banned for the final.

And Lineker did that to Bobby Robson.

It's the right answer, well worked out.

Ten goals.

Number three for you, Willie, going strongly here.

It's 2-2.

Serena Williams completed a career grand slam in 2003

when she first won which of tennis' four grand slam tournaments?

It's going to have to be a guess.

Honestly, I think she would've won the US Open before the other two.

I think...because she was obviously world number one for many years.

I'm going to go for the French.

Oh! Unlucky!

Australian!

-It's Australian.

-My luck!

-Oh, no!

-You did so well there.

CJ, cricket, which Pakistani cricketer scored a 557 minute

Test Match century against England in 1977?

I don't know this but one of the names is ringing.

So let's hope it's this one, cos I've nothing else to go on.

Javed Miandad.

Javed Miandad, great player but not he.

It's not, do you know?

I didn't actually know it but I would've gone for Javed myself.

But Zaheer probably.

No, it's not, it's Nazar.

-So, great stuff, Willie, you're still alive.

-I'm pleased.

You might not be pleased to hear we're taking away all the choices.

-It's Sudden Death.

-OK.

You don't get anything to look at, we've just got to hear it from you.

Willie, before Lewis Hamilton's victory in 2008, who was the

last Englishman to win the British Grand Prix - the British Grand Prix?

I should know this.

I'm going to go for Mansell.

It's not. It was Johnny Herbert.

Wow!

-Johnny Herbert in 1995.

-Gee whiz.

OK, a chance for you again, CJ.

In 1954 Roger Bannister's sub four minute mile record was broken

only six weeks later by which Australian runner?

-John Landy?

-It's the right answer!

CJ, next time you turn up at the Crucible something very

heavy's going to drop, they'll just be winching the slate in there.

Willie's there at the controls, there's CJ!

How hard were those question?! Goodness me.

Bad luck. It means Captain Willie will not be in the final round.

Would you both come back and join your teams?

As it stands, the Sporting Allsorts are one brain down for the final,

and our next one is History. Who'd like to play this?

This is one we didn't talk about, isn't it?

LAUGHTER

I'll be the sacrificial lamb for this.

The best wicket keeper in the world!

Tethered goat, sacrificial lamb.

Paul, choose an Egghead - it can't be CJ.

Erm, I think I'll go Pat.

It's going to be Paul and Pat playing this round.

The Question Room for you both.

OK, let's play this History round.

Do you want to go first or second, Paul?

Er, I'll go first, please.

Best of luck, here you go.

Approximately how old was the outlaw Billy the Kid

at the time of his death?

Well, being an outlaw he needs to be experienced, a ducker and a diver.

Erm, they didn't live very long in those days.

Erm, can't imagine 21.

I think I'll go 31.

OK, 31. There's some discussion among your team-mates.

We all think 21. He was very young.

21 is the answer we're looking for, Paul.

21, hence "the Kid". He really was not much more than a kid.

Let's continue with the quiz. Pat's itching to face his first question.

Pat, which French historical figure was buried

in the Rupert Valley in a grave that bore no name, only the words -

"Ci-git" or "here lies".

Um...

Bonaparte's remains are now in Les Invalides in Paris,

but they could've had a burial somewhere else.

It could've been re-interred.

Louis - you would fancy such a heavy-hitting

king of France would be in some sort of royal tomb or,

mausoleum.

Whereas Robespierre is a more quirky figure, so I'll go for

Robespierre but I really don't know.

OK, Robespierre, ci-git. Buried in the Rupert Valley.

Other Eggheads, do you think...?

We agree with that one, yes.

Unless it's where Napoleon was originally buried.

-Oh, what valley?

-The Rupert Valley.

Rupert as in R-U-P-E-R-T?

Yeah, unless it was Napoleon buried in St Helena.

-That's Saint Helena.

-It is Napoleon! The Rupert Valley.

OK, nothing there for Pat.

Let's see if you can forge into the lead with this one, Paul.

The mounted infantry soldiers known as Dragoons,

took their name from a 16th French type of which weapon?

Dragoons.

I've got absolutely no idea. Team, sorry about that.

I'll go a guess at musket.

Musket. It's the right answer!

-Hey!

-Good guess.

Anyone give us the origin?

What's the French musket?

-A dragon.

-A dragon. OK.

Pat, to catch up, how were the English kings,

Richard I and John related?

I think they were both the offspring

of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Which would make them brothers.

Richard I and John.

Richard I spent his time in foreign fields

and in the Robin Hood legend John prospered in his absence.

I think they were brothers.

Yeah. Robin Hood there.

Richard and John there, so, it's all square.

One apiece, third question apiece.

Paul, what name was given to President Eisenhower's 1955

proposal that the United States and the USSR should be allowed to

conduct aerial surveillance on each other?

Friendly Skies, Open Skies or Parade Skies?

Bit pompous. Erm...

Whoo. Let's go...Open Skies.

Open Skies...is the right answer!

Well done, Paul, really hitting form now.

OK, you're in the lead, if Pat gets this wrong,

you're also in the final round.

Pat, the 142 books which comprised Livy's History Of Rome,

covered a period stretching from the city's founding until what date?

I think Livy was sort of a contemporary of Augustus.

I think, I'm not certain.

Let's see, Caesar is assassinated in 44BC.

Christ was born. Was the census in the reign of Tiberius?

Hm... Is there anything significant about the dates?

59 BC.

15 years before Caesar's death.

I'll have to go for 9BC, but I'm not confident.

You've never lost at History, have you?

I don't think so.

DERMOT LAUGHS

Wondering what I'll say. You still haven't, it's the right answer.

You did work that out but you were sorely tempted by 59, weren't you?

Sorely tempted. It's all square.

We go to Sudden Death again. We know that, having seen Willie's attempts.

And very good attempts they were.

Erm, let's see if you can go one further and knock Pat out.

Paul, Durovernum Cantiacorum was the Roman name for which English city?

York comes straight to me.

Erm...

Canterbury, possibly.

Erm...

I'm going to go with York. York came straight into my mind.

OK, York. It's the other one.

Canterbury - Cantiacorum in Latin.

OK, well, will that let Pat in?

The Hay-Herran Treaty of 1903

between the USA and Colombia was a milestone in the history of what

major civil engineering feat?

My first thought is that back then

Colombia owned a good chunk of what is now present-day Panama.

I'm not sure what other major engineering activities

would've taken place down near Colombia.

I think I have to go for the Panama Canal.

Panama Canal - between USA and Colombia - it's the right answer.

You're in the final round. Bad luck, Paul, but for Billy the Kid,

you'd've been in there.

-Yeah.

-And indeed Caesar as well, he was a problem,

Pat finally managing to work out that question.

Anyway that's all water under the bridge, you're not

in the final round, Paul, would you both come back and join your teams.

As it stands, the Sporting Allsorts have lost two brains,

the Eggheads are all still there but we have two more head-to-heads

to play and the next one is Geography.

Who'd like to play this? We have Peter, Joe or Geoff.

You've travelled the world, eh?

Yeah, I've travelled.

You have travelled all over. Who are you going to take with you,

which one will it be? Remember that CJ and Pat have played,

so Kevin, Judith or Barry.

Tough choice, but I think I'll go with Barry.

Just because I like his shirt.

That's a Notts Forest shirt.

You see a bit of Notts Forest in there with the red.

Peter and Barry into the Question Room, please.

Peter, good to have you here.

Not a bad choice for this Geography round with all the travelling

you did during the course of that magnificent career,

all those England Internationals and

all those European games you played with your clubs.

Let's try and test your knowledge of Geography.

You get to choose, first or second?

Being number one, I think I'll go first, Dermot.

Why did I ask?!

Let's hope you finish in number one position against Barry.

Yeah, I hope so as well.

Here's your fist question.

Faisalabad is a city in which country?

Turkey sort of comes to me. I think it's either Pakistan or Turkey.

I think I'm going to take a little bit of a guess,

on...

Pakistan.

Yes, indeed, it's the right answer.

Whoa, we were holding our breath, weren't we?

-He was heading towards Turkey!

-There was no-one breathing here.

Faisalabad in Pakistan. Good.

You're off the mark.

And, Barry, what's the official language of Liechtenstein?

Liechtenstein is between Austria and Switzerland.

They speak almost exclusively German there

so I guess the official language is German.

It is, yes. The official language is German so, back to you, Peter.

What is the capital of the US State of Maryland?

I've got to take a wild guess.

I've got absolutely no idea but I'll go for Persepolis?

The capital is not Persepolis. Barry?

-It's Annapolis.

-Big naval base, isn't it?

A very big naval base indeed.

OK, nothing there for Peter.

Let's see how Barry goes with his second one.

To what height does Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales, rise?

Snowdon I know is higher than Scafell Pike which is

the highest mountain in England.

Er, which would I think rule out 1,085 metres.

1,685...?

That would put it higher than Ben Nevis so I shall go for 1,355.

1,385! Going down the middle anyway.

-Um, it's wrong. It's not.

-Oh!

-CJ?

-I think it's 1,085.

It is, it's 1,085.

Good, good, good, for you, Peter.

All square and your third question.

Cabinda is a northern exclave of which African country?

Really...for some reason I don't think it's Cameroon.

I don't know why, just the feeling I get.

The one that springs to me, a pure gut feeling -

hopefully I'm right and I guessed right for a change - is Angola.

It's the right answer, you guessed right.

OK. Angola.

Well, Barry.

If Annapolis had gone in for Peter, you'd be out already,

this to save yourself.

In which sea are the islands of Salina and Lipari located?

I believe these are just off the toe of Italy.

So, if they're at the toe, they would be in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

-Tyrrhenian.

-Yeah.

You've got the right answer. Well done.

You worked it out there.

So, it's Sudden Death again, Peter.

You know all about that with penalties.

-Like a penalty shoot out, this is!

-Absolutely.

Except it might just be one shot here.

If you get this and Barry doesn't, you're through.

A controversial bridge linking which Hebridean island to

the Scottish mainland was opened in 1995.

I've got to say nothing springs to mind.

I think I'm struggling on this one, Dermot.

Er... Hebridean bridge?

-Not the Orkney Islands? No, is that Hebridean?

-Barry, do you know?

Being born in Scotland and lived all my life in Yorkshire,

I can understand that locals wouldn't want to pay the toll

over the bridge to Skye.

That's right, Skye and it was a toll bridge.

-That's why it was controversial. Free now, though?

-Yes, it is.

They've changed all that. OK, well, nothing there for Peter.

Let's see how Barry does.

Barry, Thunder Bay - created in 1970 by the Union of Port Arthur

and its twin city Fort William is located on which of the Great Lakes?

I don't think it is the smaller ones.

I don't think it is Ontario,

which leaves us with Michigan, Hudson, or Superior.

Well, Michigan is totally in the US

and those two cities sound Canadian.

So on that basis alone, I will go for Superior.

Mmm, OK.

Superior because they sound Canadian. You have got it, Barry!

Well worked out.

The Egghead there and his finest work.

It means you will be in the final round, Barry. Just squeaked through.

Bad luck, Peter. Got a hand on the ball but it crept over the line!

-Again!

-Would you both please come back and join your teams.

Well, Sporting Allsorts, 3-0 down, but you won't take it lying down.

Last chance to knock out an Egghead and this category,

our last head-to-head, is on Food & Drink.

-Joe or Geoff, one of you to play. Food & Drink.

-Get ready, Kevin.

-Joe does not drink.

-He wants to play tactically here.

I think we have to take a chance.

-I'll have a go.

-Trust me, Kevin is nearly as bad as you think you are!

Very few teams, I don't think any other team have done that,

where you pick the opponent before you decide who is going to play!

OK. Joe and Kevin into the question room, please.

-All right. You get to choose, first or second, Joe?

-I will go first.

OK, Joe. First question on Food & Drink.

A shallot resembles which vegetable:

This is only going to be a guess.

-I'll go for the middle one, I will go for onion.

-It is an onion.

It is the right answer, yes. A little onion, really. Well done.

So you are off the mark.

Kevin, Frascati is a wine from which country?

That is an Italian wine.

-My goodness.

-What?

-It's right!

-I'm sorry if I shocked you.

-Yes, you have.

OK, back to you, Joe.

Yorkshire squares are traditionally used in the north of England

in the production of which beverage?

It's a guess again. Um...

-I'll go beer.

-Beer?

-Yes.

Is the right answer!

How did you work that out, Joe? Do you want to share that?

-Was it a pure guess?

-When you said "production".

-There's not really much to produce in water, it produces itself.

-Yeah.

-Just a guess.

-That's it.

Brilliant working out by Joe.

Taking the lead. And Kevin,

Lucques and Manzanilla are popular types of what?

Lucques, I've never heard of Lucques...

and Manzanilla I've only heard of in relation to Sherry.

Popular... I don't recognise those as being popular types of cheese.

So I'm going to go for olive.

OK, they are. They are olives. Well done, Kevin.

Working it out there again

with one of the words in the question, like Joe.

Taught him a thing or two there, Joe.

Ahem!

Now, Joe. Your third question. It is all square.

The avocado is native to which region of the world?

I think it is a pear, an avocado is a pear. Is it?

Um... It's just a guess again.

Australasia.

-OK. Kevin?

-They come from the Americas originally.

-The Americas

is the answer we were looking for.

But it's not over, because Kevin has to face his third question.

Kevin, which herb is an essential ingredient of maitre d'hotel butter?

Right, there is a maitre d'hotel sauce...

neither mint nor rosemary rings any bells with me

in relation to maitre d'hotel at all.

-I will have to go for parsley.

-OK.

Maitre d'hotel sauce you think has parsley butter.

It's the right answer, Kevin. Yes, it is parsley.

It means you're through to the final round.

No place for you, Joe, which is a terrible pity

cos the Eggheads were very impressed by that Yorkshire squares answer

but you are not playing in that final.

Would you both please come back and join your teams.

This is what we've been playing towards.

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, Willie, Peter, Joe and Paul from the Sporting Allsorts,

would you leave the studio, please.

So, Geoff. You're playing to win the Sporting Allsorts £1,000.

Barry, Pat, Judith, Kevin and CJ, you are playing for something

which money can't buy, it is the Eggheads' reputation.

I ask each team three questions in turn.

This time, the questions are all General Knowledge, as you know,

Geoff, and you are allowed to confer.

Geoff, is your one brain better than the Eggheads' five?

Geoff, would you like to go first or second?

I think the whole team has gone first every time. I'll have a crack at it

and see if I can get the first points on the board.

OK. Here is your first question.

General Knowledge, anything can come up.

21 was a UK number one album in 2011 for which singer?

Now, this is something... I will get killed back home.

I was wondering about that.

-Um... I think I'm going to go for Rihanna.

-OK.

Rihanna, 21. A UK number one album in 2011 for, CJ...?

-Adele, I'm afraid.

-Adele, Adele. OK, nothing there for Geoff.

Let's see how the Eggheads go

in their first question.

In a standard game of Scrabble,

how many points are the letters F and Y worth?

-Four?

-Four?

-Yes.

-We think it is four.

-Four is the right answer, Eggheads.

So, Geoff, let's get you on the board here.

What is the meaning of the word avarice?

Again, this is going to be a guess.

It's...a word I'm not au fait with.

Pride.

Avarice means...greed.

Not pride.

So a chance for the Eggheads to wrap it up.

Eggheads, in 1980, the Californian businessman Dennis Hope

laid claim to, and began to sell, title deeds to what?

This is he one who tried to sell the Moon, isn't it?

-I'd fancy the Moon.

-OK, Moon?

-Yes.

-We think it's the Moon.

-The Moon.

-Yes.

Dennis Hope laid claim to and began to sell title deeds to...

The Moon is the right answer, Eggheads! You have won!

-Well, Geoff.

-I did actually know that!

-You did know that one?

Oh, dear! Well, it's the way the questions fall, as we always say.

We had a question there about Hope, all hope began to go

when member after member of your team lost those head-to-heads,

-so many of them in Sudden Death, as well.

-Absolutely.

-They all did very well.

-It's just...

-It's a shame I have let them down!

-You haven't!

It's been great. The point is the taking part and having so much fun.

-We have had a ball today, haven't we, Eggheads?

-Absolutely, yes.

Thank you once again, Sporting Allsorts.

But the Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £1,000.

That means the money rolls over to the next show.

Until then, goodbye.