Episode 138 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 might of our quiz champions today are Archery GB.

This team are all part of the Grand National Archery Society, the recognised governing body

for all forms of archery in the UK, so let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Hilda. I'm 52 and I'm Team GB archery team leader.

Hi, I'm Ollie. I'm 28 and and I'm a project manager.

Hi, I'm Naomi. I'm 25 and I train full-time as an Olympic archer.

Hi, I'm Graham. I'm 48 and I'm an international archery judge.

Hi, I'm Dani. I'm 20 and I'm a Paralympic gold medallist.

Welcome Archery GB, welcome Hilda and the crew.

-And you're all, obviously, archers.

-We are, indeed.

And at the end we have Dani, and you won your gold medal where?

-In Beijing at the Paralympics.

-Tremendous.

-Thank you.

-Does that mean archery is full time for you now, or not?

No, I'm doing a law degree at the minute.

I deferred it so I could concentrate fully on Beijing but back to studying now.

OK. When I was at school we had a blue fibreglass bow.

Have things moved on since then?

Indeed they have. There's a lot of technological advances, although that was a beginner's bow and we still

start with much simpler bows but then we add sights and stabilisers and things to the bows these days.

So Eggheads, you know what's going to happen if you look like winning!

THEY LAUGH

Every day there's £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, Archery GB, the Eggheads have won the last 16 games.

That means £17,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

£17,000. First head-to-head battle is on the subject of politics.

Challengers, which one of you wants to play this category,

and against which Egghead?

Politics, I think we agreed that would be you, Graham.

-Yes.

-OK.

That's fine, yes.

And who did we decide that would be?

Did we decide we'd go for...

-A strong person.

-A strong person.

-You've got a plan, haven't you?

Did we decide Chris?

You just can't remember it.

-Yes.

-I think so. Yes, we select Graham to cover politics against Chris.

Graham from Archery GB verses Chris from the Eggheads.

And to ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions in the question room.

Three multiple-choice questions on politics in turn.

Whoever answers the most questions correctly is the winner.

Graham, your choice.

Would you like the first or the second set of questions?

I'll have the second set, please.

We start with you, Chris.

Who, in a speech in 2000, said, "Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning?"

Is you is or is you ain't my baby? It sounds like George W Bush.

I'll say George W Bush.

It is indeed George W Bush.

Anyone want to give us another classic line?

-"There's no French word for entrepreneur."

-Yep.

Over to you now, Graham.

Which European country did not become a member

of the United Nations until 2002, having previously stayed out because of its commitment to neutrality?

I'm not entirely sure but I don't think it's the Republic of Ireland.

Switzerland have always been quite a neutral country.

And I'm not sure whether Norway have but I think in this instance

I'll plump for Switzerland because I know it's always remained neutral.

Very good answer. Switzerland is correct.

Well done.

Over to you, Chris.

Who was leader of the Labour Party group in the Scottish Parliament

until a scandal over donations to her leadership campaign forced her resignation in June 2008?

Whoa.

I think that was Wendy Alexander.

The other two names don't really ring any bells.

Wendy Alexander is the correct answer.

So you need to catch up here, Graham. Good luck.

My Life In The Bear Pit is the subtitle of the political diaries of which former Home Secretary?

Ooh. That's quite hard.

I haven't read the book so I don't really know.

I think I'm going to plump for David Blunkett in this instance.

David Blunkett is right.

What made you plump for him?

I think I was aware that he might have written a novel or written

a book of some description and I just think he had quite a hard time.

And the bear pit sounds like he had a bit of a hard time.

Yeah, he had a very rough time.

Chris, your question.

Kevin Rudd, who became Prime Minister of Australia in 2007, is the leader of which political party?

The party labels over there mean rather different things

to what they mean over here.

I think he was elected on a bit of a landslide for the Nationals.

There is a slight rise of nationalism in Australia.

I'm going to say it's the Nationals.

CJ, you know this.

-It's the Labor Party.

-It is Labor. It's one of the main two parties.

Labor is the answer, Chris.

Where are they in the spectrum in Australia?

Labor is pretty much where you would assume Labor was, in the spectrum.

But the Liberals and the Nationals are two

more or less conservative parties, who have often been in coalition.

So you're wrong there, Chris, which gives Graham a chance.

In October 2008, alleged conversations about party donations

on a Russian billionaire's yacht in Corfu dropped which Tory front-bench politician in hot water?

I don't believe it was William Hague.

Liam Fox...

I'm pretty sure it wasn't Liam Fox either

but George Osborne rings quite a strong bell on this one.

So I will go for George Osborne.

He'll be pleased you couldn't remember too clearly

but it was George Osborne.

So that means

not just the point, the round to our archery team, Archery GB.

Well done, Graham. You took on an Egghead and emerged triumphant.

So Chris, you won't be in the final round. Graham you will.

Please come back to us.

As it stands, the Challengers have lost no brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost one brain. Our next subject is Arts & Books. Is this a good one for you?

We'll see!

So Arts & Books, who's that?

-I'll take that.

-Naomi, OK.

-And who in the Eggheads?

-Which Egghead?

Which Eggghead?

Kevin.

-Yes.

-OK.

-Kevin.

All right, Naomi from Archery GB versus Kevin from the Eggheads,

and to ensure there's no conferring please take your positions in the question room.

Three questions on Arts & Books in turn and Naomi you can choose the first or second set of questions.

I'll go first, please.

Here we go, good luck.

Where Eagles Dare and The Guns Of Navarone are adventure books written by which author?

I really haven't got a clue. I'm going to

have to just guess. I'll go for...Alistair MacLean.

Alistair MacLean is right. Well done.

Kevin, your question.

Mrs Warren's Profession and Candida are plays by which Irish dramatist?

They're by George Bernard Shaw.

They are.

By George Bernard Shaw. Well done.

Back to you, Naomi.

What was the title of the short-lived Vorticist literary magazine of 1914-1915,

edited and mostly written by the painter and author Wyndham Lewis?

Um...

The most likely to be the name of a magazine,

I would have to guess at...

Smack.

You think so?

Blast, it was.

Vorticist? Anyone?

A very short-lived movement, done by Wyndham Lewis,

and it basically subsumed itself into surrealism.

Sort of verging on nihilism.

There we are.

Your question, Kevin.

Aravind Adiga's novel The White Tiger,

which won the 2008 Man Booker Prize, is set in which country, Kevin?

He's the third Indian writer to win the Booker Prize within

a relatively short spell. It's India.

India is correct.

So Kevin is in the lead.

Naomi, you need this one.

Otherwise he's through.

In 1916, at the height of the First World War,

which artist painted Merry-Go-Round, in which people are trapped, screaming, on a revolving machine?

Erm... I'm going to go for David Bomberg.

It's actually not him.

It's Mark Gertler.

So that's Merry-Go-Round. Mark Gertler was the right answer.

Sorry, Naomi. Kevin has taken the round. He often does.

Naomi, you were beaten by our Egghead, so you won't be in the final and he will.

Please, both of you, rejoin your teams.

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

The Eggheads have also lost one. Next subject is music.

Which Challenger wants to play this round, and against whom?

Now, our choices for music have gone, haven't they?

-I'm happy to do that.

-Ollie?

-I'll go for music.

-Who were we going to have?

-Daphne.

My nemesis? Shall I go for Daphne?

-OK.

-Daphne, your nemesis?

Ollie from Archery GB against Daphne from the Eggheads.

Please take your positions in the question room.

-So Ollie, I'm thinking you might be another archer.

-Yes, that's right.

And at university you taught somebody very famous?

Yes, I taught Chelsea Clinton when she was studying at Oxford for a year.

And two of her bodyguards, who are pretty big, pretty strong and also a very good shot.

Daphne, you done any archery?

I did try it about 30 years ago but I haven't got very strong upper-body.

And I couldn't pull it

hard enough.

There must be a solution to that, Ollie, is there?

There's definitely a solution. We can make sure we get a bow

of the right size that will suit Daphne and then get her in the middle in no time.

OK, on that note I'll ask each of you three questions

on music in return and Ollie, you can choose the first or second set.

I would like to go first, please.

Here we go. The piece of music commonly known as Chopsticks is usually played to what rhythm?

I don't automatically know the answer.

Chopsticks makes it sound like it would be sort of quite

a sharp set of sounds or beats,

which I would have thought is perhaps closer to a march than

any of the others, so I'll go for march on this occasion.

It's waltz, actually.

How do we know it's waltz?

You can dance to it, in your head.

-Does that help, Ollie?

-It does. I'll remember that one.

Daphne, your question.

Under what name did the comedian Peter Kay release the single Once Upon A Christmas Song in 2008?

It was the name of the female character he played, didn't he?

And I think... I think it got into the top ten, and it was Geraldine.

Geraldine is the right answer.

Your question, Ollie.

Which singer-songwriter won a Golden Globe in 2009 for the song he wrote for

Darren Aronofsky's film The Wrestler?

Again, I'm not immediately sure of the answer.

The only one that jumps out to me would be,

well, I hope, is Bruce Springsteen.

It's a complete guess, though.

Bruce Springsteen is the right answer. A very good guess.

And a very good film.

Daphne, your question.

Catfights And Spotlights is a 2008 album by which girl group?

You ought to have Chris here.

-Because the answer is always the Sugababes.

-How funny.

The correct answer is the Sugababes.

Well done.

So you go ahead and that means you need this answer, Ollie.

Which composer, following his move to Paris in 1823, was affectionately

known as Monsieur Crescendo, after a characteristic of many of his compositions?

Again, this will have to be a mixture of guess and elimination.

I have heard of Franz Schubert.

I have also heard of

Gioachino Rossini.

Berlioz is a bit familiar.

But Schubert is quite...

Perhaps a better-known composer name.

On this occasion, I'll go with Gioachino Rossini.

I don't know how you got there but you are right.

Naomi, you know about this, because you love your music?

Yes, I studied music.

Would you have got that? Yeah.

Well done, Ollie. Rossini is correct.

You're still in there but if Daphne gets this one right, ouch -

you're not in the final.

Daphne, in what role was Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf,

who died in 2006, a famous name in classical music?

Well, when I was a little girl,

I used to go and stay with my Uncle Jimmy and he had every single record

that Elisabeth Schwarzkopf had ever issued.

And she was a soprano.

And she was the person on Desert Island Discs...

All the discs she chose were of her own voice.

-Is that right?

-Yes.

You have got it right, soprano. Thank your uncle, was it Jim?

Uncle Jimmy.

Uncle Jimmy got it right, really.

Daphne, well done. Ollie, sorry, you were beaten by our Egghead and so

you won't be able to help your team, Archery GB, in the final round.

Please both of you come back to the studio.

As it stands, the Challengers have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost one brain. The last subject is Sports.

Which Challenger wants to play in this round

and against whom?

-I'll take it.

-OK.

-We'll go with that.

-Which Egghead?

-I think you should take Judith because CJ is good at sport.

OK, that sounds like a good plan.

You're going to go with Judith? OK.

And Dani will play Judith.

Dani from Archery GB versus Judith from the Eggheads, and to ensure

there's no conferring, please take your positions in the question room.

-So you won your gold in Beijing?

-Yes, I did.

And when you were on the winner's rostrum were your relatives there or were they watching on TV, or what?

No, no. I rang my parents up after I won, before I got the medal.

It was quite funny.

My sister picked the phone up and she was like, "Oh, what do you want?"

I was like, "Well, you know, I just won gold medal at Beijing."

She was like, "Well done. I got my university accommodation sorted out."

LAUGHTER

-I'll ask each of you three questions on sport in turn, and Dani, would

-you like the first or the second set of questions?

-I'll go second.

OK, you first, Judith.

Which national team did Luiz Felipe Scolari

manage from 2001 to 2002, just before managing Portugal?

Was it Russia, Scotland or Brazil?

-Did you say before managing Portugal?

-Yes.

Panic. Portugal was what I was hoping the answer was.

I think it might have been Brazil.

He could speak the language.

Brazil is the right answer.

OK, Dani.

The Australian rugby union player David Campese

is best known for playing in which position?

I've never heard of him, so this is going to be good.

We'll go with flanker.

It's not flanker.

It's wing.

OK, Judith.

In 2004 the England cricketer Ryan Sidebottom joined which county side?

Oh, gosh. I haven't got round to county sides.

So, this is a pure guess.

I'm going to do my lucky side on the right, Leicestershire.

I thought you were.

And it's run out of luck?

You have run out of luck. Judith had a streak on the right.

It was always the right answer. And I knew you were going there again.

-Nottinghamshire, actually.

-I must try the next left.

Yes, start going on the left.

And you know what's going to happen.

Dani, your question.

What colour are the dots on the polka dot jersey worn by the king of the mountains in the Tour de France?

Wow.

I haven't a clue.

I'll go with red.

-You've gone down the right as well.

-Yes.

-Successfully, red is right.

Well done.

So, one point each.

Third question for you, Judith.

In 2006, 2007 and 2008,

the IWAF world athletics finals were held in which German city, Judith?

I don't know.

Erm, Berlin.

Should have gone down the right.

-The left has failed me.

-You've gone down the left.

-And it's failed me.

-We had a premonition of that, didn't we?

We did. We should have paid attention.

-Where should you have gone?

-I think I should have gone down the middle.

No. Try again.

-Stuttgart.

-Down the right. Just stick with down the right.

It's much easier.

Stuttgart is right.

Your question, Dani. If you get this right,

you're in the final round.

When they joined the NFL in 1937, what was the name

of the American football team now known as the St Louis Rams?

I'm going to go Boston.

I don't know why. I'll just go with that one.

The answer is actually Cleveland Rams. So we go to sudden death now.

And that means we don't have multiple-choice.

It gets that bit harder.

Judith, which German golfer won the US Masters title in 1985 and 1993?

Is Bernhard Langer German?

I'll try him. He's got a German sounding name, anyhow.

-Bernhard Langer.

-Yes.

-Correct.

Gosh. Something's gone right.

Your question, Dani, to stay in.

Sudden death, remember.

Nellie Kim was a leading name in which sport in the 1970s?

I haven't a clue.

I don't know. I'll go gymnastics.

-Is she right? Eggheads?

-Yes.

-Really? Wow!

Nice one.

Judith. How many players per side are there in a game of Eton fives?

Well, I suppose it can't be as obvious as five, can it?

I think it's two.

-Is that your answer?

-Yep.

Two is the right answer, well done.

So, if Dani gets this wrong, Judith, you'll be in the final.

Dani, your question.

What type of three-sailed racing boat takes its name from the Norwegian word for youngster?

A yacht?

-Not a clue.

-Not yacht.

It's actually a name that came up in the Olympics and a lot of people

spotted it for the first time. Yngling.

Bad luck there, Dani.

Judith, just squeezed you out in the sudden-death section on sport.

And so Judith is in the final and Dani you are not, I am sorry.

Please, both of you, come back to us.

This is what we've been playing towards.

It's time for our final round, which as always is general knowledge.

But I'm afraid those of you who lost your heads to heads won't be able to take part in this round.

So Ollie, Naomi and Dani from Archery GB,

and Chris from the Eggheads, would you please leave the studio.

Hilda and Graham, you're playing to win Archery GB £17,000.

Judith, Kevin, CJ and Daphne, you're playing for something that 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 are allowed to confer.

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

Hilda and Graham, do you want to go first or second?

Can we go second, please?

All the best, and have fun.

Eggheads, Plymouth Rock, a granite boulder at Plymouth in

Massachusetts USA is traditionally seen as the disembarkation point for the travellers on board which ship?

-I think that might be the Mayflower then.

-Yes, we all agree. Mayflower.

We think that might be the Mayflower, Jeremy.

Mayflower is quite right.

Over to you.

The term bascule, which comes from the French for seesaw,

is a technical term that describes which bridge across the Thames?

-OK, So

-... Tower Bridge is the one that opens.

The other two are static bridges.

OK, so do we think it will be Tower Bridge?

-Cos it moves.

-Yes. OK.

Tower Bridge.

Tower Bridge is the right answer.

Well done.

First point to you, and to the Eggheads.

Second question to the Eggheads.

What name is given to a cabinet that has a fold-down section which forms a writing desk?

Escritoire.

-Secretary.

-Yes.

The only one we think we've heard of is secretary desk.

That's the correct answer.

It never gets less tense than this, I'm afraid.

During World War Two the Moroccan city of Tangier was occupied by which country?

Tangier.

Morocco. North Africa.

-Spanish doesn't sound right.

-No. So it's either Germany or Italy.

Germany did most of the occupying, didn't they, during the war?

They were the ones that seemed to go into countries.

OK. So we'll go with Germany.

Actually, it's Spain.

-Spain? My goodness.

-Spain.

-Eggheads, background?

Spain was officially neutral, but Tangier is just across from Spain.

Morocco was French territory, and of course France had

surrendered under the Vichy regime, so some of these coastal places were up for grabs.

-There we are.

-Now we know.

Thank you for your knowledge.

It does mean if you get this answer right you have taken the contest, Eggheads.

The English author CP Snow who wrote a series of novels collectively

entitled Strangers And Brothers had a parallel career as a what?

-Scientist.

-At Cambridge.

Yes, he introduced the famous idea of the two cultures

of the arts and literature and science,

which is reflected in Strangers And Brothers.

He was a scientist, I'm afraid, Jeremy.

Scientist is correct. Congratulations, Eggheads.

You have won.

-They just play with some assurance, don't they?

-They do.

And the Morocco stuff was an example of that.

So, commiserations to you.

-Thank you.

-The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

Their winning streak continues.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £17,000, so that 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.

£18,000 says they don't.

Till then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]