Episode 122 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 Eggheads, the show where a team of five quiz challengers

attempt to beat possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain.

Their quiz pedigree is well known

as they've won some of the country's toughest quiz shows.

They're the Eggheads.

And challenging our resident quiz Goliaths today

are Simple Minds from Norwich.

Team captain Larry has assembled a team

comprising three of his colleagues,

plus Gary, who's the golf director at Larry's local club.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Larry, I'm 66 and I'm a company director.

Hi, I'm Gary, I'm 42 and I'm a golf director.

Hi, I'm Gerardo, I'm 52 and I'm overseas sales manager.

Hi, I'm Damian, I'm 51 and I'm marketing director.

Hi, I'm Paul, I'm 44 and I'm a finance manager.

So, Larry and colleagues, welcome.

-Thank you.

-And the golf club is actually owned by your company.

-Yes, it is.

-Which gives a sense of the company's success.

-Well thank you, yes.

-What does it actually do?

The company manufactures equipment for science and education -

-for science and technology, I'm sorry - for education.

-All round the world?

We sell all round the world, yes.

What's your quizzing background?

You don't have to have one, by the way.

Well we do quiz, we quiz together at the golf club.

The golf club has regular quizzes

and we come together at the golf club to quiz together.

And I guess the name Simple Minds was chosen

in a moment of unnecessary modesty.

No, I think it was very essential modesty.

Some of the team said they wouldn't show if we didn't indicate

a certain degree of modesty about our capabilities.

OK, well, that's quite a good way to start.

Every day there's £1,000 worth of cash

up for grabs for our challengers.

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the money rolls over to the next show. So, Simple Minds,

the challengers won the last game, which at least proves it can be done.

That means £1,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of music.

Challengers, put someone forward.

What do you think? Who's going to do music?

Gary?

I think Gerardo.

-It's going to be Gerardo.

-Gerardo against who?

Who are we going to take?

Judith?

-OK.

-Judith.

OK. Gerardo from Simple Minds against Judith from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in the question room.

OK, good luck in this round.

I'll ask each of you three multiple choice questions on music in turn.

Whoever answers the most questions correctly is the winner.

Gerardo, your choice, would you like the first

set of questions or the second set?

Can I have the first set, please, Jeremy?

Absolutely you can, here we go.

In the 1980s, who had number-one

singles in the USA with Together Forever,

and Never Gonna Give You Up?

Right, I believe I know this one.

Richard Marx doesn't ring a bell.

Rick Astley and Billy Ocean.

I believe it's Rick Astley.

Rick Astley is the right answer.

Judith, your question.

The word embouchure refers to the arrangement

of which part of the body, when playing a wind instrument?

Embouchure. Well, bouche is a mouth in French.

If it derives from bouche for lips...

..erm, for mouth, it must be lips.

Yes, your French background served you well. Lips, it is.

Question two for the Simple Minds.

What's the title of the 2008 album by Grace Jones,

her first album for 19 years?

Mmm. They're very close, I remember this one.

I believe it was Cyclone.

Cyclone.

I'm afraid that's wrong. It was Hurricane.

Sorry, Gerardo.

So back with you, Judith.

Against her family's wishes, the renowned concert pianist,

Clara Wieck, married which composer in 1840?

I don't think it was Beethoven.

I have a thing in my head which is saying Clara Schumann

so I think it's Robert Schumann.

Robert Schumann is correct.

Clara Schumann must be right.

Brilliant stuff, well played.

Over to you, Gerardo.

In 1997, which artist released covers of heavy metal tracks on

an album entitled In A Metal Mood, No More Mr Nice Guy?

Right, heavy metal.

One of these three guys.

Well, erm,

Pat Boone, I believe, is the one that released the album.

Hey, you got it right.

Pat Boone is the one.

That's unguessable!

I don't know how you did that.

-Don't tell us you guessed.

-OK.

Judith, your question.

"Some talk of Alexander and some of Hercules",

are the opening lines of which patriotic song?

It's the British Grenadiers, I can hear it in my head.

These voices that keep speaking to me,

it makes me sound madder and madder.

The British Grenadiers,

-those voices have said to you the British Grenadiers?

-Yes.

Well done, voices.

The answer is correct.

It was one voice last question, now you've got multiple ones.

-Well, it's the British Grenadiers!

-It is.

Judith, you've won that round. Gerardo, sorry.

You were beaten by our Egghead. She played well, got all three right.

As a result, you won't be able to play in the final round.

Please, both of you, come back and rejoin your teams.

So, as it stands, the challengers have lost one brain

from the final round. The Eggheads have lost no brains.

The next subject is sport.

Which challenger wants sport?

Paul? It's going to be Paul.

Paul, OK. Against?

-Chris?

-Chris?

-Chris.

Not again, Chris.

The third time on the trot.

You unutterable coward. Don't want to face me in the final, eh?

I only did it for the rant.

He gets so angry about sport!

OK, Paul from Simple Minds versus Chris from the Eggheads on sport.

To ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions.

Paul and Chris, I'll ask each of you three questions on sport in turn.

Paul, you can choose the first or second set of questions.

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

So your question - which British boxer did Chris Eubank defeat

in 1990 to win the WBO world middleweight title?

I'm sure it wasn't Naseem Hamed, I'm sure he's a different weight.

Nicky Piper doesn't sound familiar.

I'm pretty certain it was Nigel Benn.

The answer is Nigel Benn, and it's right.

Here is your question, Chris. Just to make you really, really happy.

In cricket, depending on which side of the stumps they bowl,

bowlers deliver the ball either over the wicket or in which other way?

Through the wicket, they'd knock the stumps down, batsman would be out.

Under the wicket it'd have to travel underground,

so bowling the other way round, it's around the wicket.

Around the wicket is correct.

Paul, your question.

The American businessman Randy Lerner bought a controlling interest

in which football club in 2006?

Well, Everton and Arsenal are both still British owned.

It's Aston Villa.

Aston Villa is the right answer, well done.

Well done. Chris, over to you.

Cornerback, nose tackle and tight end

are all playing positions in which team sport?

It's not American football, they have a quarterback, not a cornerback.

Something is telling me it's lacrosse. So I'll say lacrosse.

The answer is American football.

-Did you know that, CJ?

-Tight end, yes.

So, challengers, you've got two points here, Paul.

If you get this right, you've knocked Chris out.

And I sense maybe some sporting textbooks

may be on their way to your home.

Yeah, there goes another flying pig.

Paul, when James Hunt won the 1976 Formula One title,

which driver was in second place only one point behind him?

I'm pretty certain that he won it

at a rain-drenched circuit in the Far East,

and I believe that Niki Lauda pulled out of the race on danger grounds,

so I believe it was Niki Lauda.

Let me ask your team-mates. Yes?

Got it right. Well done, Paul.

Niki Lauda.

Oh, Chris, what are we to do?

-Sport is not happening for you at the moment.

-Never has, never will.

So Chris is out of the final round. Paul, you're in it.

Please both of you come back and rejoin your teams.

Bad luck, Chris. I just noticed here

that I think what was happening a while back, Judith,

is that you were picked on sport again and again and again.

You then went away and read lots of cycling magazines or something.

You started winning,

so they have then moved on to Chris who's taking sustained fire.

He can have my cycling magazines.

You know what he's going to ask you to do with them!

I'll swap you for the complete back run of Steam World, how's that?

So in a very, very tiny Eggheady way, Judith,

it's a little bit of a victory for you

and your revision, isn't it?

Yes. Well, now I'm targeted for other things.

So as it stands, the challengers and the Eggheads

have each lost one brain from the final round.

The next subject is arts and books.

Which of you would like this?

And against whom?

-Larry?

-Larry.

-Larry?

Reluctantly that's me, yes.

Against which Egghead?

CJ. CJ, please.

OK, Larry from Simple Minds versus CJ from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in the question room.

So, Larry, you're in charge of the company and the team?

Well, yes.

-Does that put the pressure on?

-No, not at all, really.

But usually I get to ask them to do things,

and in this category they've ended up asking me,

-so I've got art and books.

-Yep.

I'll ask each of you three questions on arts and books in turn and,

Larry, tell us whether you want the first or second set.

I'll go with the second set, please.

OK, CJ. The Renaissance artist Titian

famously worked and died in which city?

It was Venice.

Venice is the right answer.

Over to you, Larry.

The thrillers entitled Rage of Angels

and The Other Side of Midnight

were written by which best-selling author?

I'm not sure, but I'll say...

Sidney Sheldon.

Sidney Sheldon is correct.

I notice when they clap the boss,

they clap in a very kind of slightly fearful way.

They're worried about clapping in the wrong way.

CJ, over to you. Which author based his first novel,

entitled The White Peacock,

around his birthplace in Eastwood in Nottinghamshire?

The White Peacock was the first novel of DH Lawrence.

DH Lawrence is correct.

OK, Larry.

The Romanian-born artist Constantin Brancusi

is best known for which type of work?

Again, I'm not sure.

I will guess at...sculpture.

-Let's check with the Eggheads here. Is he right?

-Yes.

Yes, sculpture is right.

CJ, the painter and designer Edward Burne-Jones was born in which year?

I wouldn't have had a clue

but I know he's part of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood,

which would make it 1833.

1833 is the correct answer.

So, CJ has three.

That's the trouble with letting him go first, Larry.

You've got to get this right now.

Which poet's work entitled A Subaltern's Love Song

includes the famous character Joan Hunter Dunn?

Well, I don't think it's John Betjeman.

I'll say WH Auden.

Unfortunately it's the one you ruled out. It's Betjeman.

Auden is wrong, John Betjeman is the right answer. Sorry, Larry.

And well done, CJ. Arts and books, not your strongest subject.

But then, what is?

You've gone through to the final round and, Larry,

you won't be able to help your team in the final.

Please, both of you come back to the studio.

So, as it stands the challengers have lost

two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost just one. The last subject is science.

Which challenger wants science?

-That's got to be me then, hasn't it?

-Yes.

-Yes? That's going to be me then, Jeremy.

-Damian?

-Yes.

-The educational products are a bit scientific, so it's your field.

-It should be.

-Against who?

-Daphne?

-Daphne.

-Yes. Daphne, please.

OK. Damian from Simple Minds versus Daphne from the Eggheads

and to ensure there's no conferring, please go to the question room now.

OK. I'll ask you each three questions on science.

Damian, you can choose the first or second set.

I'd like to go for the first set please, Jeremy.

Damian, here we go.

Coal is largely or almost entirely composed of which element?

Well, it's certainly not boron. It wouldn't burn very well.

I think you're going to find it's mostly carbon.

Absolutely right.

Carbon it is.

Over to you, Daphne.

The gas ammonia is comprised of hydrogen and which other substance?

I'm hopeless at these!

Um...think...

hydrogen... I'm going to get it wrong.

Nitrogen?

-Eggheads?

-Yes. NH3.

You don't need to know anything, Daphne, do you?

-Cos you can guess everything accurately.

-Oh, God!

-Nitrogen is the right answer.

-Oh, thank you.

You're more likely to get it wrong when you know it. Damian,

for what does the letter B stand in the computing acronym - BIOS?

It's not beginners or band, so it must be basic.

Yes. It's Basic Input Output System.

Correct.

Daphne, your question.

"Redneck," "slavonian" and "little"

are three types of which bird found in the UK?

The only one I can relate any of those to adjectives is to the grebe.

I've heard of the little grebe, but that's all, I'm afraid.

It is the grebe.

You haven't heard of the slavonian grebe then?

No, or a redneck one.

Two points each. Doing well, Damian.

Get this right and you never know,

Daphne might suddenly just fall apart.

The 4.2 metre reflector telescope,

named after William Herschel is located in which group of islands?

It's going to need to be near the equator,

so I would say it's in the Azores.

It's not. It's the Canary Islands. Canary Islands.

Back to you, Daphne.

Between 1865 and 1869, Joseph Lister made pioneering steps

in antiseptic techniques on patients in a hospital in which city?

I think Joseph Lister was Scottish, so I hope it's Glasgow.

If you've got this right, you're through to the final.

Glasgow is correct.

So, Daphne, Glasgow beats the Azores.

Daphne is through to the final.

Damian, sorry. You won't be joining your team in that final round.

Would you please, both of you, come back and sit with your teams.

CJ, what do you think Daphne's secret is?

Um...probably having been around for literally hundreds of years.

When you've been around that long, you're bound to know a few things.

Nefertiti's in better condition than she is.

Ooh! But they're very good friends. They are very good friends.

It's all right. I get him after the show,

when there aren't any witnesses and my word against his.

OK. Final round, before we have a fight breaking out on this side.

This is what we've been playing towards.

As always, the final round is general knowledge.

I'm afraid those of you who lost your head to heads

won't be allowed to take part in this round.

So, Larry, Gerardo and Damian from Simple Minds

and Chris, again the Egghead who's gone down on sport,

would you please now leave the studio.

Gary and Paul, you're playing to win Simple Minds £1,000.

CJ, Daphne, Barry and Judith,

you are playing for something that money can't buy, of course.

The Egghead's precious reputation.

As usual, I will ask each team three questions in turn.

This time the questions are all general knowledge.

You're allowed to confer.

Simple Minds, the question is

are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

Gary and Paul, do you want to go first or second?

We'll go first, please.

First question for the Simple Minds.

Which character in the TV series Friends gave birth to triplets?

It wasn't Rachel.

Or was it? No, it wasn't Rachel.

I didn't know any of them.

Um...Phoebe acted as a surrogate mum

for her brother and his wife...

Monica finished the series...

They moved, they'd had a baby, but I think they adopted, didn't they?

Didn't they adopt? I think it was Phoebe.

I think Phoebe acted as a surrogate mum.

OK, we'll go with that.

We'll go with Phoebe?

I'm glad you did. I'm glad you did.

Phoebe is right. Well done.

It's sad, I used to watch Friends.

Eggheads, your question.

The tight-fitting silk dress called a cheongsam

was originally a traditional form of clothing in which country?

-China.

-China. Yes. China, no doubt.

China is right.

I tried to read that without an accent, but it's not easy.

Over to you. The flag of St Piran,

consisting of a white cross on a black background

has been adopted by which English county?

-Cornwall?

-Definitely Cornwall.

-Cornwall.

Cornwall is correct.

Eggheads, your question to keep up.

Which American city is known by the slang name of Beer Town?

It's Milwaukee. Cheers.

It is Milwaukee, cheers!

Third question. This can be very important, if you get this wrong

and they get theirs right, that's the end of the contest.

In a standard pack of playing cards, which Queen faces to the right

and is the only Queen pictured with a sceptre?

I don't know why, just the Queen of Hearts...

That was my, that was my first inclination.

-But I can't, I can't...

-I don't think it's the Queen of Spades.

My first inclination was for Hearts.

That was mine, but I've no particular reason

other than that's the one that sprung to mind...

-OK.

-..or popped in.

So, hopefully it was one of Judith's little voices.

-Yes. We'll go for Hearts.

-You think the Queen of Hearts?

I don't know why this would be...

But it's the Queen of Spades. Why is it?

Because the Queen, in playing bridge, spades is the highest suit.

-So that might be it.

-So she faces to the right?

I mean, spades is the highest suit in the order of suits.

-And generally...

-And therefore would have the sceptre, I suppose.

-All the other queens hold flowers.

-Yes.

OK, Eggheads, third question.

If you get this right, you've won.

You're back in the harness with your winning ways.

During the First World War,

children helped to collect thousands of tons of what in order to assist

in the production of explosives?

Not blackberries. My first thought was acorns.

-I think it was acorns.

-My first thought was acorns.

-Yeah.

I suppose of the three, acorns might be the most nitrogenous...

Which would make some sense.

-What? The most nitrogen in them?

-Yes.

You'd need a nitrogenous compound or something for, for explosives.

I can't go with this from the science.

All I'm going for is I thought there were children collecting acorns.

That's all I can say, but...

-All right.

-Bear in mind what I did last time.

Well, two half reasons might make a whole reason.

-Yes.

-We've decided to go for acorns.

We have visions of all these children in oak woods.

-Acorns is wrong.

-Oh, Lord.

Conkers.

-Oh well.

-We've done it again!

-You haven't lost yet.

-No.

-No, but...

That third question in the final round,

they're getting a little bit worried about it now, aren't you?

So...Simple Minds, you're still in and fighting. It's Sudden Death now.

Bit harder, not multiple-choice.

Get this right...

Which slightly derogatory term for a policeman was inspired

by a character in the Noddy books by Enid Blyton?

-Plod?

-Plod, yes.

Plod. PC Plod?

PC Plod, or Plod is correct.

Eggheads, if you get this wrong you've gone.

In Roman mythology,

who was the chief goddess and female counterpart of Jupiter?

-Yes, we like this.

-Yes. We like mythology questions.

That was Juno.

Juno is correct.

So there, unlike the last game where you lost,

somebody said the right answer and they were ignored,

on this occasion...they were listened to. It does help.

Paul and Gary, in which year

did the 20th Century poll tax riots take place in London?

-Who was, who was Prime Minister at the time?

-Thatcher.

Definitely, right. She came in in '79.

-Came in '79...

-Wins the second term.

It was tested in Scotland...

-I don't believe...

-'85 came in my mind at the time.

What do you think?

I'm trying to think when I left home.

That's when...

It was round about the time

that it was introduced.

And....that's going to be about '85 or '86.

You thought '85, I'm saying '86. '86?

1986?

Is that your answer?

-Yes.

-It's wrong.

It was right at the end of Thatcher's time...1990.

Eggheads, you have a chance to take the contest now.

Which word describing a street hooligan or sometimes a gangster

is thought to have originated in 19th century San Francisco

from the German word for ragamuffin?

A gangster was a hood, but it won't be that.

-Hoodlum?

-Hoodlum.

Hoodlum. Ah...

That sounds quite good.

-Would that be it?

-What's the German word?

I don't speak German, so I don't know.

-What's another word for a hooligan? How about ruffian?

-Mmm...

No, I prefer hoodlum. Especially for 19th century San Francisco.

Hoodlum sounds like it could come from German and...

-19th century certainly. San Francisco?

-Mmm.

Shall we go for it?

We'll go for it. All right.

We're not sure on this one, but we've come up

as a joint effort with hoodlum.

If you've got this right, you've won the contest....

and the money is snatched away from our Simple Minds.

You did toy with ruffian, didn't you?

-It can't be ruffian.

-Ruffian is wrong.

Hoodlum is right.

Very relieved Eggheads.

Congratulations, you have won.

Bad luck, the two of you. You can see how it's on a knife-edge.

Yes, absolutely.

And when they have to supply the answer and they can discuss it,

they can go round in circles, they can move off the right answer

and on to the wrong one and it's anyone's game.

-Great team.

-Well done to you.

Commiserations as well.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them

and they reign supreme over quiz land once again...

after a little glitch that we won't mention.

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

so that means the money rolls over to the next show.

Eggheads, very well done. Who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£2,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

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