Episode 7 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.

They are the Eggheads!

And taking them on today are the Globetrotters.

I hope these travel presenters and journalists can give me advice

because the Eggheads always go on an annual holiday together.

Don't you? But this year they're struggling for a destination.

Kevin chooses the itinerary, Judith sorts the spending money,

Pat's the tour guide, Barry arranges the karaoke and Chris handles the transport. A role for you all.

I just thought of the perfect place for you! Eggstonia!

I can only apologise. Let's meet our team.

Hi, I'm Nicki Chapman. I used to be part of the Holiday Programme team.

I now present Escape To The Country and Wanted Down Under.

Hello. I'm Martin Roberts. I used to present Wish You Were Here, was travel editor of Woman magazine

and for the last 10 years I've presented Homes Under The Hammer.

Hi, I'm Magenta Devine. The show everyone remembers me for is Rough Guide. I presented it for 8 years.

I'm Alex Riley. I'm a comedian and presenter. I present on the One Show and I once presented Globe Trekker.

Hello. I'm Simon Calder, travel journalist for the Independent and The Man Who Pays His Way.

I try to travel as cheaply as I can. I think I'm the first challenger to hitchhike to the Eggheads studio.

Globetrotters, good to see you. Simon, you hitchhiked here?!

I did. Trying to keep costs down. Very successful it was.

I travelled up from Preston. Three lifts, four hours to the minute.

-That's quicker than the bus.

-Door to door?

Yeah, very luckily, the chap said, "Go on, I'll drop you off," which saved even the bus fare here.

-My travel expenses so far - nothing.

-Do you see many people doing it these days?

As a student, I'd hitch every now and again. When you headed north,

at Brent Cross there would be a queue of people. You could even pick up a sign someone left behind.

-There's no one there now.

-That makes it really easy. There's no competition these days.

Because bus and train travel got cheaper and people worry about safety.

-I've been hitching for four decades and I'm still here!

-You are. I'm glad to say you're all here.

Some of you didn't hitch. Nicki, tell me about the quizzing.

-Have you thought through your tactics?

-I want to say I used his money allocation because I flew!

But we have been talking team tactics. We've all got experience about the travel business,

we've all travelled around the globe. Hopefully, we'll be a very strong team.

-As long as we get five travel questions.

-Strong on geography.

-We sometimes have a geography round. Let's hope that comes up.

-It will, let's be honest!

I can't tell you! But you're strong on many other subjects as well.

Every day there's £1,000 up for grabs for our challengers' charity. However, if they fail to win,

the money rolls over. The Eggheads have won the last six games,

which means £7,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads today.

First up is Food and Drink.

A very international category.

Who wants to take it on?

-Who wants it?

-Not me, not me. I'm stepping back from that.

-I've got stronger things I could do.

-I've got stronger things, but...

- You'd take it? - If I have to.

-I do eat food and I do drink.

-What would be stronger for you?

Well, you know, literature.

- Books would be better. - If they come up. - Exactly. We don't know, do we?

-Will you tell us what the other categories will be?

-No, that's the whole point.

If film and TV comes up... I'm better on film and TV.

- Anyone else on Food and Drink? - I'll be the sacrificial lamb.

- Thank you, Magenta. Well done. - Now who do we play against?

Now choose an Egghead. You can have any of them because it's the opening round.

I don't know. What do you think?

-Kevin.

-Kevin.

I've seen Kevin and that's his only chink.

- A tiny chink. Who looks worried? - They're not giving anything away.

- They're like poker players. Magenta, you should decide. - OK, I think Kevin.

We'll go for Kevin, then.

OK, let's have Kevin and Magenta into the Question Room, please, to contest the opening round.

OK, Magenta, volunteering for Food and Drink because no one else wanted to do it!

-But you must have eaten some weird and wonderful stuff.

-I have.

I've even been served up rainforest rat in Venezuela,

which I didn't eat. One of the only things I didn't try.

-It was probably quite flavoursome.

-I didn't want to find out!

-OK, Magenta,

-do you want to go first or second?

-Er...first, I suppose.

All right, best of luck.

What term is used to refer to a large joint of meat consisting of two loins and connecting backbone?

Well...

I know that a pommel is to do with a saddle,

but it's something that you sit on. So, yeah, it's saddle.

-It is indeed. Saddle. Right answer.

-Good start, well done.

Kevin...

Kibbeh, made with bulgur wheats, chopped onion and minced lamb, is a dish from which part of the world?

That's from the Middle East.

Yes, it is.

All square. Back to Magenta.

Second question. The habanero is a particularly strong variety of which ingredient?

This is something that I don't go anywhere near. They have contests about this in America

where they eat raw chilli and it blows their heads off.

-They seem to be able to cope!

-Indeed.

Habanero is a strong chilli. You're right.

You have two. Well done. Kevin,

what gives the black colouring to the Italian recipe risotto nero?

I think, if I remember correctly, they use the ink from cuttlefish or squid. So squid ink.

That's right as well. Both going really well.

Kevin's a mighty strong player,

-but he has had his odd wobble on Food and Drink.

-I hope it's today!

Exactly. Well, put the pressure on and let's hope he wobbles next.

Aligote is a type of what?

Oh, goodness.

I have absolutely no idea and I've never heard of it.

I'm kind of torn between a cheese and a kind of grape.

Oh, goodness.

I'll go for cheese. It'll probably be wine grape.

There was a groan, Magenta. It is the wine grape.

Oh, damn.

-I had a very bad feeling about that.

-Bourgogne aligote, things like that.

-I'm certainly not a wine buff, as you can tell.

-Don't worry.

Let's hope Kevin has his wobble.

If he doesn't, you'll not be in the final round.

Which London restaurant was the first in Britain to be awarded three Michelin stars?

Now I really don't know.

So...

Maybe sitting in the middle there it's meant to lure me in, but I'll go for Le Gavroche.

Le Gavroche.

Its the right answer, Kevin!

I was thinking he'll definitely get that wrong. It's Le Gavroche.

A one-in-three guess,

-as Kevin did admit.

-Absolutely.

-That's the thing with those three.

All right. No place for you, Magenta, in that final round. Both please rejoin your teams.

First blood to the Eggheads. The Globetrotters have lost one brain from the final round.

Let's get our second one out. This is Film and Television.

-Oh!

-Oh, wow.

-Who wants to play?

-Can I?

I don't mind.

-Martin?

-Either way.

-I think, what if...

-You've got other specialist subjects.

-What's your strongest?

-Science.

-I can pick up science.

-Which would you prefer?

-I don't mind.

-If you think you can do this one, do it.

-Guys?

-What if music comes up?

-I'm good on music as well. I'll not do as well as you!

Don't say that! Shall I play it?

-Go on, then.

-Go on.

-I'm going to play!

-All right, Nicki.

-It took a while!

I hope it doesn't take as long to get an Egghead. Who would you like?

I heard Barry say the other day, "I'm getting better at this, aren't I?"

I think it was Film and TV.

Shall we go for Barry? We'll go for Barry.

-A bit of information from Magenta! Barry worrying...

-Let's hope I got it right!

Well, let's find out. Nicki and Barry, into the Question Room.

Nicki, I've got a request. The Eggheads are too shy to ask, but they want to bring out

a Christmas album next year and want you to handle the PR. Could you work with this?

There's always a market. It might be niche.

OK, right. I won't ask you to allocate them different roles.

-You're very good at putting bands together.

-In the past. 20 years I worked in the music industry.

And a lot of them have come back, like Take That and the Spice Girls.

-Look at their success now.

-People might think this was the Spice Girls and Take That combined.

What a band. What a vision.

Yes, let's leave that vision out of our minds. Film and TV.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-First, please.

OK, good luck, Nicki. Which actor married the model and actress Shakira Baksh in 1973?

Mmm.

Well, we've got two Bonds there.

And Michael Caine. Michael Caine married a beautiful model.

I don't think she was an actress.

I bet my team are shouting out the answer to me now.

I'm going to go with... Roger Moore.

OK, you've gone for Roger Moore. It's like Magenta with aligote.

It seems the people here know.

-It's Michael Caine.

-Aww!

I thought you were going to do it.

It's early days yet, Nicki.

Which British actress played Emily, the second wife of Ross Geller, in US sitcom Friends?

The only one of those actresses that I know was in Friends was Helen Baxendale, so I'll go for her.

And you're right to do so. So you have a green one on the board.

Nicki has yet to score.

In 2008, who took on the role of Gaius in the BBC series Merlin?

Am I allowed to confess that I've never seen it? And it's a huge show.

I am going to have to guess, I'm afraid.

Richard E Grant.

-Oh, no!

-Richard E Grant?

There's consternation down here in the studio. It's not right.

Oh, sorry, team!

-Sorry, Globetrotters.

-It is, Barry...?

-Richard Wilson.

-Richard Wilson, yes.

Nicki confessed she hadn't seen it. A chance for you, Barry.

Who played the principal villain in Die Hard With A Vengeance?

Ooh, gosh. There's so many of these Die Hard films, they merge into one.

I don't think Ben Kingsley's been in a Die Hard film.

And I can't recall Gary Oldman.

I think it was Jeremy Irons.

For a while he was the go to English baddie.

It is the correct answer. Jeremy Irons in Die Hard With A Vengeance.

That's not happening to you, Nicki,

but you aren't appearing in the final round. Bad luck.

Come back and consult on their dance moves when they form the band.

-Come back and join your teams.

-Thank you.

Well, the Globetrotters have lost their way at the moment. They've lost two brains.

We've got two more Head to Heads, so plenty of time to put things right.

Our next Head to Head is Geography.

-Simon!

-Mr Calder!

-You are the man.

-Yes, there's no debate on that.

-OK.

-Much-travelled Simon.

OK, my daughter, her one word of advice before I hitched up here

was pick the youngest, so it has to be Judith.

OK, right, yes, good. Indeed, let's have Simon and Judith then into the question room, please.

Simon, I wouldn't know where to begin or indeed end

if I asked you how many countries and cities you've visited,

so let's play the quiz. Tell me about them as they come up.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-Ladies first, if I may, Dermot.

-Judith, you like that Simon. He's being very nice to you.

-He's being very kind so far.

Let's see how it goes in the quiz.

First question, Judith. English and which other language are the official languages of Canada?

I think that must be French.

It is indeed, yes, French.

And Simon, your first question.

Which of these Australian cities is furthest west?

They are all, of course, state capitals,

but the clue is in the name of the state that Perth is the capital of,

so Western Australia. The answer is Perth.

-Have you been to them all?

-I've been lucky enough to.

I must say, of them, my favourite is most definitely Perth, luckily.

Darwin is very tropical, very hot, very strange, but very good fun.

Did you hitch between Brisbane and Perth? It's not far(!)

I hitched from Perth up towards Darwin. It was very, very hot.

And I ended up in a truck with several punctures along the way.

I bet you've got some stories. We'll put you and Chris together.

He can tell you about some of his train journeys. We'll run away.

Perth is the right answer, as you know. OK, Judith...

The panoramic spot Verdens Ende, which translates as "the end of the world",

is located on an island in which European country?

I think that sounds more Norwegian than anything else,

so I'm going to say Norway.

-OK, Norway. Simon, is it?

-That sounds pretty good to me, yes.

The southern one tends to be sort of Finisterre or a derivation of that.

OK, Judith is right, Norway, and confirmed by Simon.

So you have the lead, Judith.

Simon hasn't faced his second question. Here it is.

The traffic black spot Cemetery Junction is in which English town?

Look, I have not hitch-hiked to, from or through Cemetery Junction,

and it is one of those ones

where I'm going absolutely to have to take a guess.

Reading I've travelled through a fair bit

as it's on the way to lots of places, the same with Luton.

I've not come across it there. I'll say Basildon, but I may be wrong.

OK, Basildon.

Well, we went there from the vast sweeps of Australia

to the townscape of...

-Reading.

-Sorry, everybody.

-Cemetery Junction.

OK, Simon, you're in peril here.

Judith has a chance to clinch the round.

What is the largest of the British Virgin Islands?

Hmm. Um...

That I don't know. Um...

I'm going to go for Tortola.

You've won the round. It's the right answer.

Well done, Tortola. And look who you've knocked out -

Simon Calder with that curve ball from Reading, Cemetery Junction.

It means no place for you in the final round, Simon. Would you both come back and join your teams?

Globetrotters, you've lost three brains from the final round. The Eggheads are all there.

This is your last chance to get rid of one of them and it's a Politics round.

-Oh, no!

-Martin or Alex?

Who is better at Politics? That was good - delegation!

-I'll do it, I'll do it.

-Alex, you go for it. And take your time.

-Take one for the team.

-I'll take my time.

-Feel the vibes.

-It's not about what you know about the subject. It's if you know those three questions.

-It's the luck of the draw.

-Exactly.

-Alex.

-And you can choose Pat or Chris.

-Which one of them is worse on this kind of question?

-You can never say. It's down to the three questions.

Who do you want to play against?

-Just whoever...

-Chris.

-Chris.

It's going to be Alex and Chris playing this last head-to-head. Into the question room, please.

You've been very unlucky up to this point.

You're not to know what categories are coming up, but you didn't fancy a go at Food & Drink, did you?

You presented that stuff about Britain's Really Disgusting Food.

It wouldn't have done me much good in the quiz

because that was all about sausages and breast milk, things like that, pies.

No, I don't know anything about proper food.

On that note, let's play the round - Politics.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-Boy, do I want to go first!

And get it over with. Let's hope you get it over with with a success. First question.

What first name did David and Samantha Cameron give to their daughter born in 2004?

It's not a story that I followed particularly closely,

I've got to be honest with you.

I'm thinking...Georgina brings to mind British tradition,

Georgian kings, etcetera.

Nancy, no, it's not going to be Nancy.

So it's Georgina or Felicity.

-Georgina.

-Georgina...

Well, it is Nancy.

-No?!

-Nancy.

OK, right, nothing there.

In which decade was Chairman Mao's Little Red Book first published?

I remember people standing outside the Chinese Embassy in London,

giving away copies of this in about 1965,

so it must have been published in the 1960s.

I remember that newsreel footage of them waving the Little Red Book.

And it was, of course, as you've identified, in the 1960s.

Alex, what name is given to the desk made from the timbers of an abandoned British ship

that has been used by most US Presidents since the 1880s?

Well, I'm guessing the desk is named after the ship

that it was made from.

However, they all sound like the names of ships, so that's no help.

OK...probably not Intrepid.

I'll say not Intrepid which probably means that's the right answer,

so Adamant or Resolute...

Resolute Desk. That sounds American.

All Presidents want to sound resolute. It's the right answer.

Well done. You're off the mark.

Chris, which former MP became Chairman of the BBC Trust in 2011?

Hmm... Well, I don't think it would be Neil Hamilton.

I'm pretty certain it's not Jonathan Aitken.

It must be the last Governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten.

It's the correct answer. Yes, well done.

You need to get this, Alex.

Which senior Labour figure became the MP for Holborn and St Pancras South from 1979?

Well, it's not David Blunkett...

..because he's an MP in Sheffield.

I don't think it's John Reid because I think he's now left Parliament,

so I think, correct me if I'm wrong, it's Frank Dobson.

-And you've got it. It's correct.

-Well done.

OK, but you need to hope Chris doesn't get this.

Which explorer born in 1861 gave his name to a passport for stateless refugees,

introduced after World War One?

Hmm, because they're all polar explorers.

I seem to have read somewhere

of stateless persons in 1919, '20, '21, '22,

floating around on Nansen passports, so it's got to be Fridtjof Nansen.

Nansen... You've got it, Chris.

Yes, well identified.

Just squeezed Alex out.

3-2. It means no place for you, Alex. Would you both please come back and join your teams?

So this is what we've been playing towards, the final round, which, as always, is General Knowledge,

but those of you who lost your head-to-heads can't take part

in this round, so I'm afraid we have to say goodbye to most of the Globetrotters.

Nicki, Magenta, Alex and Simon, would you leave the studio?

Bye, guys!

So, Martin, you're playing to win the Globetrotters £7,000.

Chris, Barry, Pat, Judith and Kevin, you're playing for something which money can't buy - your reputation.

I ask each team three questions in turn. This time, they're all General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer. Martin, the question is, is your one brain better than the Eggheads' five?

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

I've got a lot of pressure. My team-mates did a fantastic job.

I've got a fantastic charity or two that we'd love the money to go to. All eyes are on me, so no pressure(!)

I think I'll go...home.

-OK, that's a novel one - just not play the round!

-OK, no, I'll go first.

Martin, here's your first question.

Which fitness guru wrote the best-selling Hip And Thigh Diet in 1988?

Well, I know Jane Fonda did fitness videos.

I'm not sure she wrote a book.

Lizzie Webb...

Doesn't ring a bell.

The only one I really recognise is Rosemary Conley.

I know she did a diet plan, but I don't know if she did anything else.

But it's the one I'll go for - Rosemary Conley.

And it is the right answer. Well done, Martin.

Get in! All right, Eggheads,

according to the saying, what "is as good as a rest"?

-A change?

-A change.

-A change.

-A change, Dermot.

-A change is as good as a rest,

so we're not lingering on that question. It's the right answer.

Straight back to Martin.

In 2004, Didier Drogba joined Chelsea from which other team?

Do you support a team, Martin?

No.

Football, it could not have been a worse question for me.

-Ah!

-I have absolutely no idea.

There's no clues in the name,

so it's...

going to be a complete guess.

Marseille, are they a good team?

Didier Drogba is a good player, isn't he?

So he would have come from a top-rated team.

Marseille not as good as AC Milan? AC Milan are quite good.

PSV Eindhoven?

I think he would have come from...

-..PSV Eindhoven.

-Any of you Eggheads know? Is that right?

-Milan?

-I suspect it's Marseille.

It's Marseille. Marseille is the answer we were looking for.

The Eggheads can take the lead.

Black Grape was a band formed in the 1990s by former members of which other band?

-Happy Mondays?

-Happy Mondays.

-Shaun Ryder and various others.

-Yeah.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yeah.

It comprised Shaun Ryder and other former members of Happy Mondays.

Happy Mondays, which is a question you would have liked, Martin.

You like music, but the Eggheads got it. Happy Mondays is correct.

You need this, Martin.

What was the name of Hannibal's younger brother who died fighting the Romans in 207 BC?

We had a little discussion before we started today

to say which categories we should not have.

I said absolutely not Sport and History,

so this has not really played to my strengths.

They all begin with H. That doesn't help.

If you were a mum or a dad then, what would you call your children?

-What's the surname?

-It's just Hannibal.

You've got to think about how the name is going to sound.

Maybe the Eggheads will be able to tell me if Hannibal had a surname.

-Hannibal.

-Um...

Random... "Hamno".

Random, "Hamno".

"Hamno". I know the answer - "Hamno".

Hanno. Double N. Hannibal's younger brother, let's ask the Eggheads.

-Did Hannibal have a surname?

-Probably Barca.

Hamilcar Barca was his father.

OK, so what do you think the answer is?

-Hasdrubal.

-Hasdrubal.

-It's Hasdrubal, Martin.

You put in a gallant effort, but it means, Eggheads, you've won.

-I hope it hasn't been too painful, Martin.

-Yes, it has. Thanks for asking(!)

Those head-to-heads, you weren't to know what categories were coming up.

I just wonder if you had the right players in the right places.

-You're all very good players.

-It's all easy-peasy in retrospect. We all did well.

-You all did fantastically.

-Yes.

-It's so nice to see you all.

Best of luck with the travels.

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

You haven't won the £7,000, so the money rolls over to the next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

Join us next time when we'll see if a team from The Archers have the brains to defeat our Eggheads.

£8,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

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