Episode 29 Eggheads

These people are amongst the greatest quiz players in Britain.

Together, they make up the Eggheads,

arguably, the most formidable team in the country.

The question is, can they be beaten?

Welcome to the show where five challengers

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

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

They are the Eggheads, and challenging our champions today are...

The team know one-another

through Ardglass golf club, County Down, where John and Gareth alternate running the quiz.

-Let's meet them.

-Hello, I'm John. I'm 66, a retired head teacher.

Hi, I'm Gareth. I'm 61 and I'm a retired maths teacher.

Hi. I'm Cormac. I'm 55 and I'm an accountant.

Hi. I'm Brian. I'm 55 and I'm a retired company director.

Hi, I'm Ciaran. I'm 33 and I'm an editor.

Welcome to you, Tee To Green.

Is that how good you are at golf? Green to tee? Tee to green!

-In one shot.

-In one shot. Sometimes, four shots!

-Or maybe more!

-What's the golf club like in Ardglass?

It's a links course. Not particularly difficult but it's very pretty and challenging at times.

Tell me about the quizzing, then. You run it?

Gareth and I run quizzes in the winter time every fortnight

and we take it in turns to set the quiz.

Every day, there's £1,000 of cash up for grabs for our challengers.

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads, it rolls over to the next show.

Tee To Green, the Eggheads have won the last 26 games.

£27,000 says you can't beat them.

The first head-to-head battle will be on the subject of food and drink.

Who'd like to play this?

Anyone can play.

ALL DISCUSS

-Unfortunately, it's me!

-Which Egghead would you like to take on?

Any one of them.

-Go for Barry. See what he's like.

-We'll have Barry.

He's very good! Let's have Cormac and Barry into the question room,

just so you can't chat with your team mates.

Cormac, I can imagine what answer's going to come. What's your handicap?

-It's 12.

-A straight answer, then!

-Well!

-That's not bad!

-It's OK.

-Are you happy with that?

I'd like to be lower but it's good enough to take the money off these boys every Saturday!

There'll be plenty to play for if you win today.

-Cormac, would you like to go first or second?

-First, please.

Good luck. First question.

Proving or proofing is a stage in the making of what?

Bear, bread, yoghurt.

The only time I've heard of "proofing" is to do with alcohol.

So I would have to go for beer.

-I'll go for beer.

-OK, proving or proofing

is a stage in the making of...

bread.

What name is given to butter from which all milk solids have been removed, leaving a clear yellow fat?

I'm trying to think what it would be like to eat calcified butter!

You'd need a strong digestive system and teeth!

And it wouldn't be a very edifying occurrence.

The answer must be "clarified".

The answer is "clarified". We've got to get you started, Cormac.

Which vegetable consists of leaves that resemble petals which can be picked off and eaten,

leaving a bristly inedible base inside which is the tender heart?

Oh, once again...difficult. Difficult.

I'd be tempted to say artichoke.

-Artichoke. Is that your answer?

-It is.

It's the right answer. Well done, Cormac. You're off the mark.

Second question, Barry. The Sangiovese grape is the basis of which famous wine?

I'm partial to a flask of chianti!

I'm pretty certain that's made with Sangiovese.

Is the right answer! Chianti is correct.

Cormac, what is the name of the dish originating in west Africa

consisting of rice, tomatoes, onion, spices and chilli pepper?

Oh, Dermot! Once again, um...

They all look the same to me from where I'm sitting.

I think I've heard of jollof so I'll go for jollof.

-Jollof?

-Yeah.

It's the right answer. Delicious it sounds, as well!

So, Barry's got a chance to win the round.

What type of food is the Mexican dish menudo?

Hm.

Don't think it's ice-cream.

I can't think of Mexicans as great ice-cream makers or lovers.

So it must be soup or pancake.

I know Mexicans make all sorts of pancake - fajitas and tortillas.

For some reason, I think menudo is a soup so I shall go for soup.

It is the right answer! Cormac, you won't be in the final.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

First hole to the Eggheads.

One member of Tee To Green will be missing from the final round. We'll play our next subject, music.

Who knows their music?

-I'll give it a shot.

-OK, Ciaran.

From the Eggheads? Can't be Barry.

CJ? < Yeah.

-I'm CJ, too, so two CJs!

-Two CJs.

-What's your middle name, Ciaran?

-John.

-John! CJ! Like mine!

Good name. Let's have CJ and CJ, then, into the question room.

Ciaran, I believe you like to write in your spare time?

-I do, yeah. I write short stories and other fiction.

-Novels? Is there something in the bottom drawer?

I've written a few. They're all still in the bottom drawer!

-What genre?

-Fantasy, science fiction. Anything I can come up with.

What about a murder mystery involving a team of expert quizzers who lose a lot of money?

Then somebody's found mysteriously...

-I might be able to get some inspiration from...

-Today!

-Yeah.

-Ciaran, would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first.

Best of luck to you, Ciaran.

Ray and Dave Davies were the singer and lead guitarist, respectively, in which 1960s group?

I'm lucky enough that my dad has played a lot of his music to me!

-I'm pretty sure it's The Kinks.

-We'll ask your dad. John?

I think so, too.

It is The Kinks.

Good start.

Joe Le Taxi was a UK hit single for Vanessa Paradis in which decade?

I knew it was Vanessa Paradis. I think it's '84, '85.

She's now the partner of Johnny Depp, but it's the '80s.

-'80s?

-Yeah.

-It is the right answer. Well done, CJ.

Ciaran, second question.

The first guitar to be set alight on stage by which musician

sold at auction in September 2008 for £280,000?

Again, it's a bit before my time!

I'm pretty sure it's Jimi Hendrix. I've seen videos of that incident.

It's the right answer. Well done.

Jimi Hendrix's singed guitar sold £280,000.

The Viscounts' 1961 hit, Who Put The Bomp?

asks, "Who put the bomp in the bomp-a bomp-a bomp?

"Who put the ram in the...?" Sing along!

The only one I've heard of is rama lama ding dong.

So that's the one I'll go for.

Thank God you didn't get me to read it again! It's correct.

Fantastic question! How does the tune go?

# Who put the bomp in the bompty-bompty-bump

# Who put the ram in the rama lama ding dong? #

Very good, Barry.

OK, Ciaran, a heckelphone is similar to a baritone version of which instrument?

Well... I know what a sousaphone and a saxaphone are.

I haven't heard of a heckelphone.

I'm going to guess...oboe.

Because that seems...seems in that kind of area.

Guessing at oboe. A kind of informed guess.

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

Kurt Elling and Mark Murphy are leading vocalists in which genre?

Mark Murphy? Does that ring any bells?

How is Kurt spelled?

K-U-R-T, yeah, with a K.

K-U-R-T E-L-L-I-N-G.

Mark Murphy as you would imagine.

They seem the sort of names that should ring a bell,

and they're not at the moment.

I don't think it's hard rock.

Blind guess. Jazz.

A blind guess from CJ. Correct.

Guessing gets an awful lot harder. We go to sudden death.

And remove those choices, so the answer has to come from your own head and here's your question.

Which band are known by the abbreviation NKOTB?

My dad wasn't the only person who played music at me. It was also my sister!

So I'm pretty sure it's New Kids On The Block.

NKOTB, thanks to your sister, is the right answer, New Kids On The Block.

OK, CJ, Phil Lynott came to prominence as the lead singer of which rock band?

I always get this the wrong way round.

I'm going to get this... I'm going to pick the wrong one.

I have to go with my first instinct but I get this confused with another band.

-I'm going to have to go with 10CC.

-10CC. What was the other band?

No, T-Rex is Marc Bolan, isn't it? No, yeah... Yeah.

-10CC. Not T-Rex.

-No.

-Not either of them is the answer.

-Oh.

-Ciaran, you must know this.

It's a Dublin band. Thin Lizzy.

In a way, Dublin's Jimi Hendrix.

Ciaran, you're through to the final round. Please join your teams.

Tee To Green strike back. It's now all-square.

Both teams have lost one brain so far.

The next subject today is arts and books.

Blank faces!

-Stunned silence!

-This wasn't part of the strategy!

Who wants to play? John, Gareth or Brian?

-I'll be the sacrificial lamb?

-Go for it, Brian.

-This is going to be a nightmare.

-Maybe not. You never know.

What was the most recent book you read? How To Improve Your Swing?

-Yeah. Jack Nicklaus's book.

-I bet it was.

Well, then, from the Eggheads, Barry and CJ have played.

Daphne, Kevin or Judith.

-Just pick my favourite Egghead?

-Yes!

-Kevin.

Kevin! OK, why not? Let's have Brian and Kevin into the question room.

Brian, do you want to start or let Kevin, your favourite Egghead, begin?

No, I'll go first, please.

All right, Brian. Good luck.

The title of a Dr Seuss book is How The Grinch Stole... what?

Well, I'm certainly happy to be here(!)

I'm glad Ciaran's done well in the music round.

-But I'll go for Christmas.

-Is the right answer.

Kevin, Equity

is the UK union for which professionals?

I think that would be actors, wouldn't it? Darling! Actors.

First time I've had Kevin call me darling.

-Don't get used to it!

-Actors is correct.

The Private Patient is a 2008 best seller by which crime writer?

I've never heard of Jake Arnott.

So, um...

PD James? Ian Rankin?

I've read some of Ian Rankin's books.

So I'll go with Ian Rankin.

The Private Patient.

-It's PD James.

-Ah.

PD James wrote The Private Patient.

Kevin, the Bloomsbury Group writer Lytton Strachey's book Eminent Victorians

contains short portraits of Cardinal Manning, General Gordon,

Thomas Arnold and which figure?

It was quite a controversial set of biographies.

It was debunking, which wasn't done with great figures at the time.

It did prove to be quite controversial.

Florence Nightingale was the other member of the quartet.

And it is the right answer.

It means, Brian, you've got to get this one.

The French author Georges Perec's 1969 novel, La Disparition,

translated into English under the title A Void,

is written entirely without using which letter of the alphabet?

Right.

I'm not terribly sure.

I wish Kevin could give me the answer.

But...I'll go for...Y.

It's not correct. Kevin, could you have given him the answer?

It's E.

It's one of these exercises in writing an entire novel

without using the most common letter.

Two thoughts occur. The translation must have been difficult.

-Yes.

-Leaving the letter E out.

And Georges Perec has four Es!

-Didn't stick the name on the front?

-That's a good point.

There we are. It's the wrong answer, Brian.

Your favourite Egghead is continuing. No place for you in the final round.

Would you come back and join your teams?

Swinging around, this game.

First the Eggheads. Then you. Then the Eggheads.

You've lost two brains. The Eggheads have lost one.

You can level it up with this last head-to-head, film and television.

Who likes their film and television?

John or Gareth?

I will go.

-From the Eggheads it is Judith or Daphne.

-Judith, please.

-Judith.

Let's have you both into the question room.

John, do you watch much TV or go to the pictures much?

I would watch a little television and go to films occasionally.

But TV would not be my great hobby.

-It's getting outdoors, isn't it?

-It's getting outside, yes.

-Let's see how you do. First or second for you, John?

-I will go first, please.

Good luck.

Which Dr Who actor played Worzel Gummidge in a TV series first broadcast in 1979?

I was watching television at that time. I think it was Jon Pertwee.

Jon Pertwee is correct. Good start, John.

On a film set, what does the boom operator normally have at the end of the long pole he or she holds?

I really should know that by now, shouldn't I?

Well, it's not scenery. I think it's a microphone.

-It is a microphone.

-Phew.

In the 1953 film, The Wild One,

how does Marlon Brando's character respond to the question, "What are you rebelling against, Johnny?"

I remember the film. I don't remember a lot of dialogue.

I don't think it's, "What is it to you, daddio?"

That's a bit... "Whaddya got?"

The one I thought it wasn't is maybe the very '60s,

"What's it to you, daddio?"

-I'll go for that.

-"What's it to you, daddio?"

"What are you rebelling against, Johnny?"

The laconic response is...?

As when the teacher asks Lisa Simpson,

"What are you rebelling against?" She says, "Whaddya got?"

"Whaddya got?" from Marlon Brando's character, Johnny.

Which Little Britain character is the leader of Fat Fighters?

I think Bubbles Devere is that appalling one in the fat suit

in the health farm, isn't it?

So it's either Emily Howard or Marjorie Dawes.

Marjorie Dawes.

I do know this character. I think it's Marjorie Dawes.

-Do you watch Little Britain?

-I do. I love Little Britain.

Marjorie Dawes.

In charge of Fat Fighters. Yes. She is.

John, you've got to get this.

Who directed the 2004 comedy drama Melinda And Melinda,

with Will Ferrell in one of the main roles?

I haven't seen the film.

And it's not one that I would be...

Woody Allen, I think, comes to mind.

-Woody Allen?

-Woody Allen.

The answer's Woody Allen. Well done, John.

Judith, which silent film star was known in France as Malec?

I don't know. I'm going to bet on Harold Lloyd.

OK. Malec.

-It's not Harold Lloyd.

-Buster Keaton?

-Yeah.

-That was my other thought.

-You don't get two goes, Judith!

Malec is Buster Keaton in France, which is great news for you, John.

We go to sudden death, though, so can you tell me this?

"He's the only kid ever to get into trouble before he was born"

is the tagline for which 1985 movie?

Again, I don't know the film,

but it sounds like something like Home Alone.

Home Alone? A lot of trouble in that and a lot of children.

-Back To The Future.

-GROANS

Let's see if Judith gets this.

Zen and Orac were the names of computers in which television science fiction series?

I've no idea. I don't watch those kinds of things.

It can't be Dr Who.

It's too easy, that, isn't it?

What about the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy?

-Is that your answer?

-Yeah. Why not?

-Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

It could fit the bill but it doesn't. Ciaran, do you know?

-I think it's Blakes 7.

-It is! Blakes 7, from Ciaran on Tee To Green.

More questions, then.

See if this will sort out a winner. John, this is yours.

Which 1987 film starring Steve Martin

is a modern retelling of the 19th-century play Cyrano de Bergerac?

I know the film. I can't remember the title.

I can picture the film but I can't...

Was it just called Cyrano?

-Is that your answer, John?

-Yes.

-Cyrano? You're on the right track.

It's the wrong answer. It is one word.

-Roxanne.

-From Judith, Roxanne.

You could see one word, but it wouldn't come to you.

Roxanne,

starring Steve Martin, so a chance for Judith.

Pan's People appeared regularly on which TV show during the 1960s and 1970s?

Is it Top Of The Pops?

Is the right answer, Judith.

You are through.

-That category just didn't suit you.

-It definitely didn't.

You'll be a loss to the team in the final round.

Would you both please join your teams?

This is what we've been playing towards, the final round, which is general knowledge.

Those who lost your heads-to-heads

won't be allowed to take part.

John, Cormac and Brian from Tee To Green, CJ from the Eggheads,

would you all leave the studio?

Gareth and Ciaran, you're playing to win Tee To Green £27,000.

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

I'll ask each team three questions in turn, all general knowledge, and you are allowed to confer.

Tee To Green, are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

-Gareth and Ciaran, would you like to go first or second?

-We'll go first again, please.

Best of luck. £27,000

might just be there for you!

First question, which car is the creation of the designer Sir Alec Issigonis?

Which car is the creation of the designer Sir Alec Issigonis?

We're agreed that it's the Mini.

Quick conflab. It's the right answer. The Mini. Correct.

Which French tennis player was nicknamed the crocodile?

That's Rene Lacoste.

-Is this why we have the crocodiles on the clothing?

-Yes.

He went into clothing, like Fred Perry.

Rene Lacoste is the right answer. Well done.

Gareth and Ciaran, the mezzanine level is typically situated between which two levels?

The mezzanine level is typically situated between which two levels?

-I think it's ground and first.

-OK. Ground and first.

Ground and first. It's the right answer.

Which artist's turbulent life was the subject of the 1998 film

Love Is The Devil, starring Derek Jacobi?

Francis Bacon.

Is the right answer, Eggheads. Two to you.

It's getting very interesting, Tee To Green.

What do Americans celebrate on the first Monday in September?

I think it's Martin Luther King.

Martin Luther King Day was an issue in the election.

But I don't know.

You think Labor Day might be closer to 1st May?

I'd think so.

So we'll go with Martin Luther King Day?

My American friend's going to kill me! Yeah. Martin Luther King.

-We'll try Martin Luther King Day.

-The first Monday in September.

It's incorrect. Your first wrong answer.

-Eggheads?

-ALL: Labour Day.

I didn't hear that from Tee To Green.

A chance for the Eggheads to win.

What type of creature is a galliwasp?

What type of creature is a galliwasp? G-A-L-L-I-W-A-S-P.

ALL CONFER

It's a lizard, Dermot.

Lizard is correct. You have won.

They're just so good at the moment!

When we reach this level of money, it shows they're really in the groove.

Four of them against two of you nicked it on the last question.

Thanks once again, Tee To Green.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

You won't be going home with £27,000.

The money rolls over to the next show. Eggheads, congratulations.

Join us to see if a new team has the brains to defeat the Eggheads. £28,000 says they don't. Goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd