Episode 124 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 are the Eggheads.

And taking on the awesome might of the Eggheads today

are the Irregulars. This team all know each other

through the Sherlock Holmes Society of London

and take their name from the gang of young street urchins who helped Holmes

solve many of his cases. Let's meet them.

Hello. I'm Roger, I'm 61, and I'm a retired librarian.

Hello. I'm Guy, I'm also 61, and I'm a retired solicitor.

Hello. I'm Catherine, I'm 52, and I'm a librarian.

Hello. I'm Nick, I'm 57, and I'm a freelance journalist.

Hello. I'm Antony, I'm 46.

I'm a crystallographer and publisher.

-Welcome, Irregulars.

-ALL: Thank you.

-Good to have you with us.

-Sherlock Holmes is the connection here?

-Absolutely.

-And a love of those stories?

The stories...and general friendship.

Which story were the street urchins most significant in?

They first come up in the very first story, which is A Study In Scarlet,

where they help track down a murderer.

And then in the next one, which is called The Sign Of Four - and I think that's the one

in which the phrase "the Baker Street irregulars" is first used -

again, they help track down a murderer,

-and then there is mention of them later on in the series.

-Great.

A great team name. Good luck to you, tracking down the answers here.

Every day there is £1,000 worth of cash

up for grabs for our challengers. However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show. So, Irregulars,

the Eggheads have won the last two games,

which means £3,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

-Are you ready to try?

-ALL: Yes.

-Magnifying glasses out.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Music,

so who would like Music?

ROGER SIGHS

-Catherine?

-I think we said that perhaps Catherine was...

-our best at music.

-OK.

-I think so.

That's not saying much! All right, that's down to me.

Catherine, which one of these looks vulnerable?

They all look pretty good on Music, don't they?

Yes, unfortunately.

Shall we go for Barry on this one?

Yeah, OK.

OK, so Catherine from the Irregulars against Barry from the Eggheads, and to ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in the Question Room.

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

Whoever answers the most questions correctly is the winner.

Catherine, you can chose whether you want the first or the second set.

I think I'll go first, please.

Here we go and good luck to you.

Catherine, the song Radio Ga Ga features in which stage musical?

Well, I have to admit, I've never seen any of them!

But Wicked is based on The Wizard Of Oz, so...

Radio doesn't really sound as if it's going to be for that.

"Mamma Mia!" is ABBA

and that doesn't sound like an ABBA track to me,

so I'll go with We Will Rock You.

We Will Rock You is correct.

APPLAUSE

The band in question, Queen, of course. Well done.

OK, Barry. Baby One More Time

was a UK 1999 number one hit single for which singer?

Well, Hit Me Baby One More Time was by Britney Spears.

Britney Spears, it was. The words "hit me"

were missed out. Were they in brackets?

-It's not part of the actual title.

-It's not part of the title?

It's like that song by Tina Turner.

People think it's called Simply The Best. It's not.

It's called The Best. "Simply" is part of the chorus.

-How do you know that?

-Because I'm a sad, lonely man.

Good. We like that confirmed early on in every show.

Catherine, your question. In the so-called Battle of the Bands

in 1995 which Blur single went up against the Oasis song Roll With It?

Again, this isn't exactly my area,

and I can't think of any way to work this one out, so...

I think I'll just go for Charmless Man.

It was not. Eggheads, do you know?

-Country House.

-Country House.

-Yeah.

You got that wrong, Catherine.

It was Country House. Barry, your chance to pull clear.

Who wrote the opera The Tales Of Hoffmann

in which the hero is tricked into falling in love

with a mechanical doll called Olympia?

It was Offenbach.

-You said that with great certainty.

-Yes. I enjoy the opera very much.

Offenbach is the correct answer.

So, that means, Catherine,

you need this. What are your strongest areas of Music, Catherine?

-It would be classical music.

-You'll enjoy this question, then.

The bands My Chemical Romance...

-LAUGHTER

-..and "Panic! At The Disco"

are associated with which genre of music?

JEREMY LAUGHS You're enjoying this!

I'm going to go for grime.

-Grime music...

-JEREMY LAUGHS

-Is there such a thing as grime music?

-Oh, yes.

-Absolutely.

-Well done on that!

-I think it's emo.

-Judith's right.

Emo is the right answer, Catherine.

That means it is well done to our Egghead

cos there's no way back for you, Catherine.

You won't be joining your team in the final.

Barry, you will. Please, both of you come back and rejoin us here in the studio.

As it stands, the challengers have lost one brain from the final round

while the Eggheads have lost no brains...so far!

Our next subject is Science.

I feel you'll be good on Science,

-you Holmesians.

-Well, I think we know who it's going to be.

-There's no doubt about who it's going to be.

-The one person who knows about Science.

-I will volunteer for that one.

-OK, Antony against...?

Who shall we take out? Sorry. Not "take out"!

"Take out" is good! Not Barry.

Judith's smiling rather nicely at us.

I would suggest Judith.

I would love to contest against Judith, then.

I wasn't smiling cos I wanted to do it! I was trying to put you off!

She's smiling because she got the emo answer right, that's it!

-She's smiling because she has a beautiful smile!

-That won't help when you get her in the booth!

It's Antony from the Irregulars

versus Judith from the Eggheads, and to ensure there's no conferring, please go to the Question Room now.

Antony, you were the obvious choice for Science, I know.

Well, apparently, yes. I do have a little knowledge of Science,

-but not that much.

-Because you are a crystallographer?

-That's right.

-What's a crystallographer, Judith?

-It's a person who studies crystals,

-or the structure of crystals.

-Brilliant(!) Brilliant logic. Sherlock Holmes-level logic!

-Is she right?

-She's absolutely right.

-It is in fact the elucidation of structures, of things like drug design.

-OK.

I'll ask each of you three questions on Science. Antony, choose the first or second set.

The first set.

OK.

What is the chemical symbol for sulphur?

Well, this one I will hopefully get right

because Na is sodium, Ag is silver,

so S must stand for sulphur.

Yes, you're right. Well done.

Judith, your question.

In physics, what term is used to describe the rate at which velocity changes with time?

I don't know what the question means!

Um...

I don't think it's gravity.

I don't know what vector is, so I think it's acceleration.

-Acceleration is your answer?

-Yes! Is it not?

-It's not that!

I was laughing that you got the answer without knowing

what the question meant! You're right. Well done.

One point each. Antony, back to you.

How many inches are there in eight feet?

Well, this one's more of a Mathematics question!

There are 12 inches to a foot

and if I multiply 12 by eight I should get 96.

If I've done it right! LAUGHTER

There is always that moment of doubt.

-96 is correct.

-ANTONY SIGHS

Back to you, Judith.

See if you can understand this question.

Which creatures collect a resinous substance called propolis

and use it to repair their habitat?

-Propolis?!

-Propolis.

-Oh, that's all right.

-It's P-R-O-P-O-L-I-S.

Yeah. What I heard was "cropolis" and I couldn't think what...

That's bees.

Very good. It is bees. Well done.

OK. So 2-2.

Antony, you get this right, you put Judith under pressure.

What was the surname of the two crystallographers...

-LAUGHTER

-It's not fair! It's not fair!

-..who, in 1915...

-Got the Nobel Prize?

..became the first father and son to be awarded a Nobel Prize?

Over to you.

Well, I don't know of the other two,

but I do know of William and Lawrence Bragg

who partly did their work at the Royal Institution in London

on the structural elucidation of common salt. Sodium chloride

is what they did it on.

It was completed in 1914 and they got the Nobel Prize in 1915.

So it's William and Lawrence Bragg.

For that, you get eight points!

LAUGHTER

Well done. Bragg is correct.

That is extraordinary.

Judith, if you recover from this, that'll be something.

Here's your question. Good luck.

In 1884, which Danish bacteriologist

devised one of the most important staining techniques in microbiology?

I have absolutely no idea.

Erm...

What about Carsten Olsen?

Eggheads? Right answer?

No, it's Hans Gram.

Hans Gram is the right answer there, Judith.

Antony played very well.

Well done. You will be in the final

with the Irregulars.

Judith, you'll be in the Sin Bin.

Please rejoin your teams.

-Well done, Antony. The fates were with you.

-They certainly were!

The Eggheads and the Challengers have lost one brain each

from the final round.

Next subject, Film & Television. Which one of you would like this?

It can't be Catherine or Antony.

-Who do we say for this?

-You or me, I think.

-I don't know much about this. I think you watch more.

-Yeah.

-OK, I'll take this one.

-All right, Roger. Against?

-Ah...

They're all so blasted clever!

I will try my hand against CJ.

OK. Roger from the Irregulars against CJ from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, please go to the Question Room.

In this round, three questions. Film & Television.

-Roger, you can choose the first or second set.

-I'll go first, please.

Good luck.

Who won the Best Director Oscar for the 1992 film Unforgiven?

They were all three in the film.

I'm probably wrong but I don't think Gene Hackman or Morgan Freeman

have directed much in the way of movies.

But Clint Eastwood has and he did direct Unforgiven.

It's Clint Eastwood.

Clint Eastwood is the right answer.

He's still directing to this day. An amazing career he's had.

CJ. "In a world of ones and zeros, are you a zero or the one?"

is the tagline for which 1999 Keanu Reeves film?

I haven't heard the tagline but neither Speed nor Point Break

have anything to do with computers and I have to assume that tagline

is associated with the computers so that would be The Matrix.

The Matrix is the right answer. Groundbreaking film.

OK, Roger. Back to you.

The world's oldest film festival has been held since 1932

in which Italian city?

I...don't know the answer to this one. I do know

that every year, one hears of the Venice Film Festival,

rather than Rome or Milan so I will go with Venice.

Venice is right.

CJ.

Paul Bradley, who joined the cast of the TV drama Holby City,

as Elliot Hope in 2005, previously played which role in EastEnders?

I don't know him. I've never watched Holby City

and I've never watched EastEnders.

I'd be much better on this subject if it was just film.

Erm...

I sort of recognise the surname Wicks.

I think there were some Wicks in EastEnders but I don't know

how long ago that was.

I don't recognise the other names. I'll pick one at random. Steve Owen.

-Judith, are you a big EastEnders fan?

-Not in those days.

Can you take a stab at it? He's right. Wicks is an EastEnders name.

I'd have gone for Wicks.

That's wrong, too.

-Nigel Bates.

-It's Nigel Bates.

-Nigel Bates is the answer.

Irregulars, you're pulling clear here.

Get this right, Roger, you'll be in the final, CJ won't.

And he'll probably cry.

Here's your question.

How many of the four Indiana Jones movies,

starring Harrison Ford, were directed by Steven Spielberg?

I'm trying to remember whether Spielberg directed

the most recent one,

The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skulls.

I think he did so I think it's four.

-So you think he directed all of them?

-Yes.

-He didn't sub-contract any of them?

-As far as I know he didn't.

In a way, it's the least obvious answer

but it is the correct answer. Well done. Four is right.

Your team are going crazy.

LAUGHTER

I think I heard an applaud!

CJ, you will not be in the final.

You have been beaten by our irregular, Roger.

Great news for the Challengers. Roger, you will be in the final

Please rejoin your teams.

Things are hotting up here.

The Challengers have lost one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost two brains.

There is still a round to go before the final. This time it's Geography.

Where is the Geographer?

It's got to be Nick or Guy.

THEY CONFER

OK, Guy.

You can take Chris or Kevin.

Kevin is looking confident. Chris is looking anxious.

We'll try Chris.

It's Guy from the Irregulars against Chris from the Eggheads

Would you please leave the studio.

Three questions on Geography.

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

I'd like to go first, please.

Burma is an alternative name for which country?

I think I know the answer to this one.

Iran was previously known as Persia.

Sri Lanka was previously Ceylon.

It's the one in the middle. Myanmar is the currently-preferred name

for Burma.

Myanmar is correct.

Well done. Your question, Chris.

After Jersey, which is the largest of the Channel Islands by area?

Sark is tiny and Alderney is not much bigger but Guernsey

is almost as big as Jersey so it's Guernsey.

Guernsey is correct as well. Whipping through these.

Back to you, Guy. The Aran Islands

are situated at the mouth of which bay?

Well, the Aran Islands are...Irish.

Of the three bays that you've got there, Galway is the only Irish bay.

So, it's Galway.

It is Galway. Well done.

Very convincing so far.

Let's see how Chris does with this.

Victoria, Chris, is the capital of which Canadian province?

Like a lot of American states,

it's in a rather out of the way little place

but it's the capital of British Columbia

which you think is Vancouver but it isn't.

British Columbia is the right answer.

OK. Not a hair out of place so far. Let's go back to Guy.

In which Indian city would you find the neighbourhoods

of Malabar Hill and Breach Candy.

Ah. I know India a bit.

But I've not been to either Chennai or Lucknow.

I don't think the two neighbourhoods are in Mumbai.

So I'll have to guess.

Erm...I think I'll go

for Chennai.

-You've been to Mumbai, have you?

-Yes.

But you missed Malabar Hill and Breach Candy

in Mumbai which is where they are. Not Chennai.

I wasn't looking carefully enough.

Now, Chris has a chance to go through on Geography.

Chris, in terms of area,

what is the largest of the six states

that comprise the region of the USA known as New England?

Well, Connecticut's relatively small, jammed up there under Massachusetts.

New Hampshire's really quite small,

you can drive end to end in half a day,

but Maine is actually quite big

cos it wanders all the way up to the Saint Lawrence

north of the 49th parallel, so it's Maine.

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

You've taken the round, so, Chris,

you'll be in the final. Guy, I'm sorry, you won't.

Both played well, though. Please come back and re-join your teams.

This is what we've been playing towards, our final round, which 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,

Guy and Catherine from the Irregulars

and also Judith and CJ

from the Eggheads, could you please now leave the studio?

Roger, Nick and Anthony, you are playing to win the Irregulars £3,000.

Barry and Kevin, you're playing for something money can't buy, the Eggheads' reputation.

As usual, I'll ask each team

three questions in turn.

This time, the questions are all General Knowledge and you can confer.

Irregulars, the question is are your three brains better than the Eggheads' three?

It's elementary. CHUCKLING

-It had to be mentioned.

-It did! We don't have a Watson on set, sadly.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-I think we'll go first. Keep the tradition going.

Your first question, Irregulars.

Who was the mother of Cupid, the Roman god of love?

Diana was the virgin huntress. Minerva was the goddess of wisdom.

Venus the goddess of love.

And Cupid was her son.

Er, we're fairly sure. My friend here

is fairly sure that it is Venus.

Venus is correct. Well done.

It's always a blow if you get the first one wrong.

So, good stuff.

In 2008, Eggheads,

who won the Ballon d'Or

and the title of European Footballer Of The Year?

-Something's telling me it was Ronaldo.

-Yeah...

-He had a fantastic year.

-I'm a bit torn between him and Torres.

I don't think it's Messi... I don't think it's his...

I don't think it's Messi.

Torres got the winner in the Euro 2008 final.

He had a great season at Liverpool 2007, 2008.

I'd say they'd been trying to go for Ronaldo.

OK. Shall we go for that one?

We're not certain on this one, we should be but we're not.

Erm...we don't think it's Messi.

We're a bit torn between Ronaldo and Torres,

but we'll go for Ronaldo.

Ronaldo is correct.

Just squeaked it. Frustrating.

Your question, Irregulars,

the 1979 film The China Syndrome

starring Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon

is based around the disaster caused by what?

It was the nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island.

-No, that came after.

-Oh, that came later.

Yes, you're quite right. Nuclear reactor.

China Syndrome, definitely, nuclear reactor.

Nuclear reactor is correct. Well done.

Eggheads...

We're on your tail.

In which month of the year is Trafalgar Day celebrated?

October 21st.

It's October 21st.

October's the right answer.

OK, your third question, get this one right,

you put the Eggheads under pressure

and under pressure they can crack. The name of the bank

HSBC is derived from that of which banking corporation?

It's the bank that PG Wodehouse worked for for a while

before he became a professional author,

it's the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.

That's your answer?

Hong Kong and Shanghai is correct. Well done. Three out of three.

Three out of three.

Eggheads, if you get this one wrong, they walk away with the money.

And you have to repair your reputation another day.

Pillar to post...is an expression

derived from which sport?

THEY CONFER

..Hit the post with the ball...

My instinct is saying real tennis but I couldn't tell you why.

There's that sort of shed thing, which is on pillars.

I suppose I'm only thinking in the sense that real tennis

you use the whole court including all the features of the court.

The sloping roof, everything, but I don't know.

The more I think about it, the more polo seems unlikely.

There's nothing like pillars or posts...

There are posts. There are goalposts.

Where's the pillar?

Polo only came over here in the 19th century from India.

I mean, real tennis courts have pillars...

-because of...like the one at Hampton Court...

-Yeah.

We'll have to go for real tennis.

We don't know, as you may possibly have guessed

by this stage and you can make a case for either of the others in some way.

We haven't heard the origin of this phrase,

but in the sense that real tennis uses all the features of the courts

including things like pillars...

I don't know where the post bit comes in, but...

Pillars and all the features of the architectural features,

we'll go for real tennis.

If you've got this wrong...

then they win and they are the 50th team of challengers

to win if you have got it wrong.

But you haven't got it wrong, it is real tennis, well done.

Good logic by our Eggheads. Three out of three for both teams.

After three questions each, the scores are level.

We now go to Sudden Death.

To make it that bit harder, these questions are not

multiple choice.

So, Irregulars, here we go.

What nationality was the UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold

who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961?

-I think he was Danish...

-Danish.

-THEY CONFER

All three of us feel that he was almost certainly, but not totally definitely...

Danish.

-Dag Hammarskjold was actually Swedish.

-Ah.

Did we fly at that too quickly?

-No.

-We all thought the same.

You would not have changed your minds even if you'd thought about it for longer? OK.

Sudden Death it is. Eggheads on the verge now of winning

if they get this right.

In ancient Egypt,

what were the large structures known as mastabahs

primarily used as?

THEY CONFER

They were essentially the precursors of the pyramids, tombs.

They were flat, a rectangular flat structure.

They were very early structures that subsequently in some senses, evolved into the pyramids.

-What is your answer?

-Tombs.

-Tombs is your answer.

If you've got this right, you've won. IF you've got it right.

The word I have here is...

..tombs.

Eggheads, congratulations,

you've won.

Commiserations to our challengers. Dag was Swedish, not Danish.

So, the Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

They still reign supreme over quizland.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with £3,000, Irregulars, which means

that the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, congratulations, who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£4,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.

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