Episode 6 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 a team of five quiz challengers

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

They are the Eggheads.

And taking on the might of the Eggheads today are On The Ball.

Now, this team of sporting greats share a common bond.

Not only have they made a lasting impression in their chosen fields,

but they have also been part of some amazing sporting upsets,

scoring winning goals in crunch football matches,

beating world champions in snooker matches

and giving the Aussies a right good sledging.

But will they cause an upset today? Only time will tell.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I am Rodney Marsh, ex-footballer

for Fulham, Queens Park Rangers, Manchester City and ex-England.

And, during my career, I scored over 200 goals.

Hello. I am Joe Johnson.

I won the World Snooker Championship way back in 1986.

I am also the current Pot Black champion.

Hi. I'm Matthew Hoggard.

I played for England for eight years

and I'm now the current Leicestershire county cricket captain.

Hi. I'm David Fairclough. I spent ten years at Liverpool Football Club.

You might remember me as Supersub.

Hi, I'm John Virgo.

I was UK snooker champion...

a long time ago.

I now sit in the commentary box, criticising other snooker players.

Well, welcome to you, On The Ball.

How honoured are we, Eggheads,

to have such a clutch of sporting greats in the studio here today?

Rodney, how did you get your arm twisted to come

and take on the Eggheads? Are you a fan of theirs, as they are yours?

Well, I am, but the real reason is because we all found out

that we could raise some money for charity and that was my main reason.

Let's just talk about...

I mentioned in the introduction,

some of these great sporting turnarounds.

Rodney, Manchester City, Queens Park Rangers, but, of course, those

of us that are of a certain age remember that 1967 League Cup final.

I mean, that was a turnaround, wasn't it? QPR, was it West Brom?

Absolutely. We were playing...

We were a third division team playing in the first Wembley final

of the League Cup.

West Brom were top of the First Division, the old First Division.

We were 2-0 down at half-time and we came back at Wembley,

100,000 people, and won it 3-2 and I scored the equaliser,

so, yeah, a great day for me and the team.

Listen, I won't keep you waiting. I know you're eager to try

and get your hands on this money for your charities.

Let me tell you, every day, there is £1,000 worth of cash

up for grabs for our challengers' chosen charity.

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, On The Ball, the Eggheads have won the last five games.

That means £6,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

Our first head-to-head battle is going to be the subject of Sport.

There we are. It's up straightaway.

Now, we all know you know so much about your own sports,

probably one or two others, but this is a very broad category.

Choose carefully. Who would you like to pick to take on the Eggheads?

-Yeah, I'll do it.

-OK.

Right, well, then, if that's agreed by the rest of the team?

Obviously, having watched the programme...

Sorry, Judith, but, you know what I mean?

We've got to do a bit of research, haven't we?

The only problem is if you beat me, then I am really under pressure.

-I'll take on Judith.

-That's bigging you up, Judith.

-Oh, dear.

OK, let's have JV, John,

and Judith into the question room please.

That is to make sure you can't confer, John.

All right, John, you're taking on Judith there on Sport.

You want go first or second?

Well, being a gentleman, ladies first.

OK, Judith, here you go.

What is a golfer usually said to do to the ball

when taking a stance and placing the club head behind it?

I think that means he addresses it.

OK. Do you play?

No, never managed to hit a golf ball in my life. I have tried.

OK.

But you got it, address it is correct.

OK, John, your first question.

The playing surfaces of which piece of sporting equipment can be

covered in either sandwich rubber or ordinary pimpled rubber?

Is this what Boris calls ping-pong?

I'd say a tennis... A table tennis bat.

Table tennis bat is, of course, correct.

So it's all square after the opening exchanges.

Judith, how many hurdles does a competitor

in a 110-metre hurdles race typically have to jump?

They take three paces between each, don't they? I now remember.

Um...

One, two, three, so that's probably about four metres between each.

Um, and there are something like 13 metres before they hit the first one.

Four 10s are 40. I think it's 10.

OK, 10.

So you've taken four metres times 10, plus 13.

So you've got, actually, 73.

Yes, exactly. It doesn't quite get there.

You're a bit short.

I'm a bit short. This is why I'm saying 10.

It is the right answer.

Well, there you are. Maths helps a little bit.

-I don't think the maths helped at all.

-I promise you, it did.

I think the guessing...

I used to count the number of paces

they took between the hurdles in the Olympics.

OK, John. Reading, Southampton and which other football team

were promoted to the Premier League at the end of the 2011 season?

Well, it's certainly not Coventry

and I think Blackburn just got rid of their manager

because they didn't get up, so it's Big Sam and West Ham United.

Yes, it is. Yes, well done. You have two.

And third question, Judith,

which position in American football is abbreviated to DT?

I don't think it would be Drive Target.

It could conceivably be Down Tapper.

Or it could be Defensive Tackle.

I rather like the idea of Down Tapper, so I'm going to say that.

OK. Down Tapper.

It's a fine phrase indeed,

-but absolutely nothing to do with American football.

-Could be.

-It is Defensive...

-Could've been.

-Defensive Tackle.

It means you've got a good chance to get through here, John,

just got to get a correct answer here.

In 2012, who did Graeme Smith of South Africa replace

as the most-capped test cricket captain?

Hmm.

Well, I'm not certain about Stephen Fleming.

That name doesn't really ring a bell.

I'm certain he's been a captain for a while.

I'm going for the Australian.

I've just got a feeling that Ricky Ponting broke a record.

Allan Border, it could be, but I think I'll go for Ricky Ponting.

OK, John's going for Australians.

Choosing between Ricky Ponting and Allan Border.

-What do you think, Matthew?

-I haven't got a clue!

-So good luck, John.

-OK, good luck, John.

Well, I am afraid it's bad luck, you're not through,

-it is Allan Border.

-Allan Border...

Allan Border. So a chance spurned there. Judith's still alive.

And, John, we go to Sudden Death

if it is all square after three questions, which means we take

away the options, so the answers just have to come from you.

There's nothing there for you to work on or have a guess at.

And, Judith...

which British Olympic medal-winning swimmer

is known as the Mansfield mermaid?

I think it's got to be Rebecca Adlington.

Rebecca Adlington...

is correct, yeah.

OK, it means you've got to get this, John.

In which British future Formula One driver's autograph book

did team boss Ron Dennis write, "Call me in nine years," in 1995?

Well, I think it is a choice of two, so I picked the wrong one last time.

-I'm going to go with Jenson Button.

-OK. What we are choices?

-Who else were you thinking of?

-I was thinking of Hamilton.

DERMOT SIGHS

It is Lewis Hamilton.

No! Judith's beaten me at Sport! No!

-That is a disgrace!

-My goodness me.

Yeah, Lewis Hamilton was ten at the time

and Dennis actually called him three years later.

It is a nice story, but not one that John wants to hear again.

It means you won't be in the final round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

As it stands, On The Ball have lost one brain for the final round.

We all know who he is. The Eggheads all there.

And we move on to our next subject today, it's History.

Who fancies that? It can't be John.

I'll do History.

OK, and choose an Egghead. Any of them apart from Judith.

Er...we'll go with Chris, I think.

-OK.

-Let's have David and Chris into the question room, please.

OK, well, David, let's hope you strike here on History.

You get to choose - do you want the first set or the second set?

I'm going to jump in at the deep end, Dermot, and go first.

OK, good luck, David. First question on History.

Which political party came to power in the UK general election of 1945?

Umm...

-I will say Labour.

-Labour?

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

Post-war election, of course,

which saw Winston Churchill pushed out of office.

And your first question, Chris. What collective name was given to

the countries of South-east Asia which were colonies of France?

Before it all got split up, it was French Indochina.

That is correct.

David, second question. On his deathbed,

Robert the Bruce requested that his heart be taken where?

Well, I can't imagine him saying the Tower of London.

I would say the Holy Land.

That's correct. Two to you. Well done, David.

And, Chris, Grace Drummond-Hay a British journalist,

was the first woman to travel around the world by what means?

I've seen a programme on television about her quite recently, actually.

She circumnavigated the globe on the Graf Zeppelin. So it's a Zeppelin.

It is. That's correct.

Well, as in the previous round,

both racing up to 2-2.

And let's see what happens on the third questions, then.

David, at the outbreak of World War I,

Earl Kitchener was in charge of where?

I would have said he was...

..in charge of South Africa at the time.

And the answer is Egypt.

Egypt, OK, well, a slip-up there.

But it may not be terminal, depending on Chris's answer here.

Chris, who was the king of the Ostrogoths,

who captured Rome in 546 AD?

Well, the Goths, the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, etc,

tended to have I-C-ending names, didn't they? Like White Star liners.

So it's Eraric.

And it is NOT Eraric.

It's the one in the middle. Totila.

Well, David, they're all rooting for you here.

This is like a penalty shootout now

and it's down to the goalkeeper, really.

We're in Sudden Death. So one question can win it for you.

Which London station, designed by Philip Hardwick, was

opened in 1837 as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway?

Not being an expert on railways...

um, I'd go for Euston station.

OK, not being an expert on railways and you're sitting

in the Question Room there with one who most certainly is.

He wouldn't have hesitated to give me the answer here. Is David right?

He is absolutely right, yes. 1837, Euston.

-Go on, David!

-Come on, old son!

Chris, Mohammed Zahir Shah, who was deposed in a coup in 1973,

was the last king of which Asian country?

Er, they used to have kings of Afghanistan, so...

..'73. Yeah, I'd go with Afghanistan.

It's the right answer. Afghanistan, Mohammed Zahir Shah.

We go on to another pair of questions, then.

And, David, the infamous robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow

were shot dead at a road ambush in 1934 in which US state?

HE SIGHS

-I'm going to go for Ohio.

-That's incorrect. No. Do you know, Chris?

Just out of interest, we're not passing it over.

-It was Texas, wasn't it?

-No.

-Other Eggheads?

-Louisiana.

-Louisiana from Barry.

Louisiana.

OK. A chance then for Chris.

In which city was a treaty signed by Joseph Bonaparte

and Marquis Cornwallis in March 1802,

which promised to be a definitive treaty of peace between Britain

and France, but which, in the end, lasted only about a year?

That was the Treaty of Amiens, was it not?

It sure was. Yeah. The Treaty of Amiens,

which means you've got through to the final round.

But, my goodness me, that was close. Bad luck, David.

It means you won't be able to come on as a Supersub in the final round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Well, surely the breakthrough must be coming.

David and John both got really, really close,

but it didn't happen for them.

So On The Ball have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads haven't lost any,

but we've got two more head-to-heads to play before that final round

and the next one coming up is Geography.

Three of you left there, Rodney, Joe or Matthew?

I'll take it if you want.

-I want you to take them all!

-You want it?

Well, I don't want to be left by myself at t'end, so...

You'd rather be put to the sword in the Question Room, I see.

We're going to go with Matthew.

All right, Matthew. And choose an Egghead.

Let me remind you, Chris and Judith have played from the Eggheads,

so you have Pat, Barry or Daphne.

Well, I'd quite like to take Daphne just cos she's a great-grandma

and I can't be scared of the great-grandma.

Just wait till you get there.

OK, Matthew and Daphne, into the Question Room, please.

So, Matthew, I love your reasoning about playing this round.

You don't want to be left on your own.

So if you're going to get knocked out, better do it now.

But Geography, I was thinking

you must be really well-qualified for that.

You know, we have a mix

between UK questions and international questions.

Your life as a cricketer, you must been everywhere?

I've been to quite a few places in the world,

so hopefully the questions will be on countries that play cricket.

Yeah, that's true, it is actually quite narrow, isn't it,

when we get down to the international side of it.

But let's see if you find a few UK ones,

counties you've visited over the years.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'm going to have a guess first.

All right. Let's hope you don't have to guess at this.

First question, then.

Flatbush is a district of which city?

Flatbush. It's all one word - F-L-A-T-B-U-S-H.

It's fantastic, that every city on that list plays cricket.

I haven't got a clue, so in previous times,

-I'm going to go for the middle and say New York.

-New York.

Flatbush in New York is correct. Well done.

I'm sure... I bet you'll find cricket teams in all those cities.

Bet there's a bit of cricket played there. Over to you, Daphne.

First question. Musselburgh looks out over which body of water?

Musselburgh looks out over which body of water?

Oh!

I think it's in Scotland, so it must be the Firth of Forth.

The penny dropped!

Yes! SHE LAUGHS

I thought, "Where is it?"

Yes, it is the right answer, of course. OK.

And second questions for each of you.

Matthew, during its planning stages,

the M6 toll road was often referred to by what name?

For having been stuck on the M6 going to the airport this morning,

I wish I'd taken the M6 toll road, but it went in the wrong direction.

I'm going to go for the Birmingham Northern Relief Road.

You see, all that aggravation was worth it in the end.

It got you the right answer there, the Birmingham Northern Relief Road.

That's where it is, obviously.

So, Daphne, Madrid's Atocha railway station

contains which unusual feature?

No idea.

Um...

A railway station?

Well, if it's unusual...

Um...planetarium?

OK, going for the unusual. It's not a planetarium.

It is an indoor garden.

Right, it means you have a chance here, Matthew.

You'd go through to the final round - your worst fear, really -

if you give me a correct answer here.

Which major river runs through the Polish city of Krakow?

Again, it's another place that plays cricket,

so I'm going to go for the middle one and give the Oder.

Oder - oh, dear! No, it's not.

You know, Daphne, don't you? You know all these.

-Vistula.

-Vistula.

OK, well, you're still in it, whatever happens.

You're through, in actual fact, if Daphne gets it wrong.

But you're still in it, of course, if she gets this one.

So, Daphne, which is the most densely populated region of France?

Um... Um...

Well...

Ile-de-France is near Paris, so I'll go for Ile-de-France.

Yeah, right answer. So it's back to all square. Oh, dear.

Right, Matthew, into Sudden Death again. You know what that means.

Omdurman in the Sudan stands on which river?

It's spelt O-M-D-U-R-M-A-N.

Omdurman in the Sudan stands on which river?

Thanks for spelling it out - it makes all the difference(!)

I don't know, I'm going to guess at Jordan.

OK, the River Jordan...

-is incorrect. Daphne?

-Nile.

Two river questions and two incorrect answers from Matthew.

It's the Nile, as you heard from Daphne.

So, Daphne, a chance to win the round.

Saunton Sands, which has become a favourite spot for surfers,

is on the coastline of which English county?

Um...

I think they had a big World War II tragedy there, didn't they?

Lots of American soldiers got drowned.

-Er, Devon?

-Devon...

..is the correct answer, Daphne.

Ohh! Bad luck, Matthew.

And I bet you probably would have got that one, then.

More of a UK one.

Well, that means no place for you in the final round, Matthew.

You got your wish.

Would you both, please, come back and join your teams?

Yet another unlucky round.

Yet another chance to knock an Egghead out went begging.

She was out of the crease and you threw at the stumps and missed.

Yeah, but you talked about water.

Everybody knows, if it starts raining, we run for cover.

LAUGHTER

Very good point. Well, as it stands,

On The Ball have lost three brains from the final round.

The Eggheads haven't lost any.

We've got a last chance to knock an Egghead out,

to TRY to knock one out. This one is Music.

And Rodney or Joe?

Play this, Joe? You said you...

Well, yeah, we decided that if Music came up,

seeing as nobody else knows anything about it, I'd have a go.

OK, well choose from the Eggheads

and you've got Pat or Barry in the middle there, those two.

-Take the shirt on!

-Yeah, yeah, we will take the shirt.

-Take the shirt on, that's right! The two shirts!

-The shirt.

-The battle of the shirts.

-A shirt-off, yeah.

That'll make it difficult at home, watching these two shirts.

Let's have Joe and Barry into the Question Room, please.

Well, "Come on, Joe," is the refrain in the studio.

Joe, do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first. Put him under pressure.

All right, Joe. And the first question is this.

Liam Gallagher, the former lead singer of the band Oasis

was born in which city?

I should get this one, being a Northern lad. It's Manchester.

Of course it is, yeah. Manchester is correct.

And of course, they love you, Rodney, don't they?

The Gallagher boys put you on one of their albums.

Definitely Maybe, yeah.

George Best and myself were on the cover, yeah.

Immortalised there.

A correct answer which gives you one point, Joe.

Let's see what Barry does.

Who is described in a song as "a fat and jolly red-faced man"?

Oh! That's an interesting question.

I don't think it's Burlington Bertie.

"A fat and jolly red-faced man."

I've heard Ernie a few times and I can never recall those lines,

so I shall go for Charles Penrose's The Laughing Policeman.

Chris?

He's right. Most definitely.

It's correct, yes, The Laughing Policeman.

And, Joe, over to you again.

Who had a UK number one single in 1980 with Feels Like I'm In Love?

It's going to be a guess, I'm afraid. Kelly Marie.

A guess at Kelly Marie. What we think there?

Yeah, he's right.

Yeah, it's correct. Well done, Joe.

Barry nodding too. This is your second question, Barry.

In 2012, which singer released an album called Apres,

which included several covers of French songs?

Haven't a clue.

But I can't imagine Iggy Pop could sing in French,

so I shall discount him immediately.

I hope I'm not doing him an injustice.

And...I don't know.

I have a sneaking suspicion

it's the sort of thing Tom Jones might have a try at.

-So I'll go for Tom Jones.

-OK, Tony Jones, you think.

You know what, though,

as well as advertising car insurance, he can sing in French.

-Iggy pop.

-Really? Wow.

There we are.

Well, again, this has happened so many times,

so I'm not going to jinx it.

You know what happens if you get this right, Joe.

Prior to forming Motorhead, the rock musician Lemmy

was a member of which influential rock band during the early 1970s?

I'm going to go with Hawkwind.

BARRY LAUGHS

You sound like you're sure of that.

Well, you tell me.

DERMOT LAUGHS

I tell you, you're right!

-THEY ALL CHEER

-Go on, Joe!

And Barry is...

Look at that - what a break that was!

Look at that, three in a row.

Which means, Barry, you're not playing in the final round,

which will be a relief for our eyeballs, anyway.

Would you both, please, come back and join your teams?

And so this is what we've been playing towards,

it's 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 round.

So Matthew, David and John from On The Ball

and Barry from the Eggheads,

would you all depart the studio now, please?

So, Rodney and Joe, you're playing to win On The Ball £6,000.

Daphne, Chris, Pat and Judith,

you're playing for something which money cannot buy -

it is your very reputation.

And, as usual, I'll ask each team three questions in turn.

This time, the questions, guys, are all General Knowledge,

so anything could come up. And you are allowed to confer.

Which is why Rodney was so relieved, Joe,

when you won that round, he's not there on his own.

So, Rodney and Joe,

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

And, Rodney and Joe, you get the choice again,

do you want to go first or second?

We're going to defer.

I get you. You're deferring.

Letting the Eggheads start.

OK, Eggheads, it's your first question then.

Which sportswoman appeared in the television show Gladiators

in 1995 under the name Amazon?

Sharron Davies is very tall, she's six foot tall.

So she would fit the title Amazon, wouldn't she?

It is the right date for her.

Sally Gunnell and Kelly Holmes are standard height.

I'm sure I've heard Sharron Davies was in Gladiators.

Well, let's go for it.

-OK, let's go for it.

-You happy with that?

-Yeah.

We think that was Sharron Davies.

Sharron Davies as Amazon in Gladiators.

It's correct, Eggheads.

So one to you.

And, Joe and Rodney, first question.

The Silver Wolf is awarded by which organisation

for exceptional service?

Wolfpack?

-Yeah. That makes sense.

-Makes sense.

-That would be good. Yeah.

I'd know it then.

But it's... I've no idea, really, Rodney. What about you?

Silver Wolf, I've got no idea whatsoever,

but you've got to figure that maybe Scouts and wolves and...

-I'll stand on you.

-Yeah?

-Are we only going with Scouts?

-Silver Wolf?

-Yeah, we're going to go with Scouts.

-OK.

Wolfpack, yeah.

It's the right answer, well done. Scouts.

OK, all square.

Eggheads, Plailly, near Paris, is the site of an amusement park

dedicated to which French fictional character?

-There is definitely an Asterix...

-Asterix, yeah.

-Yeah, there is an Asterix theme park.

-Near Paris?

-Mm.

-Mm.

-Asterix? I don't know.

-Well, it wouldn't be Quasimodo.

-It'd be stretching it a bit.

-Likewise D'Artagnan.

-Yep.

-We're fairly happy that that's Asterix.

-Asterix the Gaul. Um...

It's correct, yes, Eggheads. You've got two.

And we go back to Rodney and Joe after that nice, solid start.

Second question.

Who directed the 2012 film Ted

and provided the main voice for the title character?

Not sure. But I think it was Adam Sandler.

But I'm not sure.

Well, we know who it's not. So it's...

-Happy?

-Mm.

Adam Sandler.

Adam Sandler is...

-not the right answer.

-Oh!

Unlucky. Do you know, Eggheads?

-ALL: Seth MacFarlane.

-It's Seth MacFarlane.

So the Eggheads have a chance to win it here.

Eggheads, the ocelot is a cat native to which part of the world?

-It's an American cat.

-A lynx.

-American cat. South America?

It's a beautiful, small leopardy sort of thing.

-OK if we go with America?

-Yes.

-We are going to go with the Americas.

The Americas for the ocelot.

It is correct, Eggheads. You've won.

Well, bad luck, guys.

We'll never know if you would have got that that third one correct

or not, because it would have made no difference to the end result.

So thank you very much indeed for taking on the Eggheads today.

We have been delighted, overjoyed to have you here.

It's been a lot of fun, playing as it went through those head-to-heads.

I must say, with all sincerity, you know,

all three that failed to get through, John, Matthew and David,

were really unlucky in those head-to-heads,

it could've been a different balance in this final round.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally and their winning streak continues.

I'm afraid you haven't won the £6,000.

That means the money rolls over to the next show.

So, Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

And join us next time when it is the turn of a team of travel presenters

and journalists, to see if they have the brains to defeat our Eggheads.

£7,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

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