Episode 30 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

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

You might recognise them as they are goliaths in the world of TV quiz shows.

They are the Eggheads.

And challenging our quiz goliaths today are the Mighty Minions.

They came together after team captain Clive ran a quiz

to find the best brains at his company to take on the Eggheads.

The Mighty Minions are the result.

Let's meet them.

Hi, my name's Clive, I'm 40 years old and I'm a managing director.

Hi, I'm Ali, I'm 26, and I'm a display coordinator.

Hello, I'm Simon, I'm 45, and I'm a membership recruiter.

Hi, I'm Mike, I'm 47 and I'm a membership recruiter.

Hello, I'm Alistair, I'm 33 and I'm also a membership recruiter.

So, you're Mighty Clive and the rest are the minions. Or is it the other way around?

-I consider myself to be a minion so these are my mighties.

-They're mighties, OK, I get you.

How did you get together? You put out a call for top quizzers and here's the result.

Did you then hold auditions or have a quiz? What did you do?

Well, I do a newsletter a few times during the year and I put the word out

that we were hoping to go on Eggheads.

I had about a dozen or more replies.

Beating the doors down!

So popular is the show.

I just ran a quiz and these are the guys that fought their way through.

OK, now did you just go for the best overall score in the quiz

or have you looked for... Because you know the different categories.

I picked the categories from the show,

asked them to identify their two strongest.

I ran a general knowledge as well, so it was a combined score of their two subjects and general knowledge.

Sounds like some quite meticulous preparation gone on there, Eggheads. I would fasten your seatbelts.

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

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads, the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, Mighty Minions, the Eggheads have won the last 27 games

which means £28,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

The first head to head, have you covered this subject?

Music, I bet you have. Who would like to play this? Any one of you.

We want to get Mike in early, music was his subject.

Want to go up against Kevin?

OK.

We're gonna put Mike forward, he'll go up against Kevin.

I saw that, Clive, as you were telling Mike he was playing Kevin.

It's easy for you to say! And Mike's going, "Yeah, well..."

-I'm just a loyal servant.

-Mike's got a target on his back.

Three-time world quiz champion Kevin against Mike. Could I ask you both to take your positions

in the question room just to make sure there's no conferring?

So, Mike playing music, what type of music do you most enjoy?

Well, Dermot, I'm really into my heavy metal.

-I'd never have guessed.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Old rock, preferably.

Let's hope some old rock type questions come up.

Now, do you want the first set or the second set?

I'll go for the second, please.

Kevin in first.

"Whoa, whoa, I never realised what a kiss could be"

is a line from which Beatles song?

I don't...

It's probably my... It's a kind of sound,

the first two words aren't words, it's "Whoa, whoa."

I hate these questions, "I never realised what a kiss could be."

Even if I know the tune, if I do it in the form of the tune,

I feel that's an extra clue so I'm trying to read it out straight.

"Whoa, whoa, I never realised what a kiss could be"

is a line from which Beatles song?

Day Tripper. It's a long time since I've heard Day Tripper

and I don't know I Should Have Known Better.

I'm going to have to go for I Should Have Known Better

on the basis that that's the one I don't know.

So, erm...

OK.

I really just don't know this so I will have to go for that.

So the riskier route of trying to half eliminate the other two

and therefore ending up with what must be the right answer, you think.

It is the right answer, I Should Have Known Better.

Tricky one there for Kevin, That tactic nearly worked, Mike,

of putting him in first. Nearly stumbled on it but used his emergency option to get it.

You can do that with multiple choices, clearly if you don't know the answer outright,

look at the plausibility factor and end up with the most plausible one, which is what Kevin just did there.

OK, Mike, your first question.

Who had a UK number one hit single in 1980 with Woman in Love which was written by the Bee Gees?

Well, I'm a big Kate Bush fan so I know it's definitely not Kate Bush.

It doesn't seem like a Diana Ross style.

I'm pretty sure it's Barbra Streisand.

Good start, Mike, it's right.

One each. Kevin, who kills Carmen in Bizet's opera of the same name?

Don Juan isn't in Carmen, he wandered in from various other operas.

Escamillo is the bullfighter with whom she's gone off

but her previous lover, Don Jose, in a fit of jealously, kills her.

Don Jose.

Don Jose is correct, Kevin.

OK, Mike,

what is the first name of the famous daughter

of singer Billy Ray Cyrus?

That's an easy one, if you know the answer.

As Kevin will confirm, that's one of his favourite phrases.

Lindsay doesn't sound right for some reason.

I'm not 100% but I think I'll go with Miley.

Miley.

You worked it out, it's the right answer, well done.

OK, it's two-all, it's all square.

Kevin, which band released the album Forth in 2008?

I think that's a comeback for The Verve.

Do you follow The Verve then, Kevin?

Finger on the pulse!

You certainly do.

Ear to the ground, that sort of thing.

The throbbing pulse.

-Popular beat combos, my lad.

-Yes, exactly.

It's the right answer! Well done, The Verve.

-It means you've got to get this, Mike.

-OK.

The Art of the Fugue, possibly left deliberately unfinished, is a masterpiece by which composer?

It's before the 1970s so it's going to be...

It is just a tad, I don't think I'm giving anything away to say that.

Right, I'm going to have a stab at...

Mozart, Why, I don't know. It jumped out at me.

Art of the Fugue, Mozart jumping out at you.

Eggheads, unfinished?

-I think it's Bach.

-Yeah, it's Bach.

It is Bach, it's Bach not Mozart.

And that one of the dangers of going second

being no chance of a reprieve.

Kevin has already got three out of three correct and you just slipping up on the last one there.

No place for you in the final round, sorry to tell you.

Would you please both come back and join your teams?

Well, first strike for the Eggheads,

Mighty Minions missing one brain from the final round at this point.

We'll play our second category today and this one's Sport.

Who'd like to play this? Can't be Mike.

-I'll take Sport, I'm OK with it.

-Are you OK with Sport? I'll do it if you don't want to.

You cover a couple more options than me.

THEY CONFER

OK, I am going to take Sport, Dermot.

And I am going to go up against somebody with the same initials as me - CJ.

CJ and CJ again into the question room, Clive and CJ, please.

Just tell us a bit about the company involved in the charity sphere.

Yeah, we fund raise by recruiting members and we work mainly for wildlife and environmental charities.

If ever you go to a show and you see a display stand

with people telling you about local nature reserves or something, that's our guys.

Are you involved in a specific charity?

No, we work within the wildlife and environmental.

We do a few that aren't. Our method works for most charities, really.

OK, Clive, would you like to go first or second in this Sport round?

Well, watching the show, it seems like the team that normally goes first loses.

I know Mike lost but I am going to go second as well, I think.

Yeah, it all depends on the questions and the ability of the player.

Boxing then. Which boxer, born in 1958, won world titles at all weights,

from welterweight up to light heavyweight during his career?

Well, the year of birth doesn't help me

although I think it's a bit too far back for Benn.

But isn't Hearns the one who's won titles at lots of different weights?

I don't know about Larry Holmes

but simply because I've got that rattling around,

I will try Thomas Hearns.

-Thomas Hearns.

-Yeah.

-The Hitman.

-Yeah.

It's the right answer, yes.

Well worked out, CJ.

OK, Clive the last stage of the Tour de France traditionally ends at which Parisian landmark?

OK...

I know that Alistair's sitting there knowing this.

The Tour de France is one of his real key interests.

-Yes.

-Are you a cyclist?

He's a keen watcher of cycling. I think cycling's too energetic.

I don't think it's the Louvre.

For some reason, it doesn't seem apt to be finishing at the Louvre.

It seems sensible to have a sprint finish on the Champs Elysees,

so for that basis, I will go for that one.

Top competition for that, it's the right answer, well done.

OK, CJ, Lasith Malinga, known as Malinga the Slinger,

has represented his country at which sport?

He's a cricketist.

Cricketist. Yes.

Lasith Malinga, known as Malinga the Slinger,

has represented his country at which sport?

Cricket is correct.

OK, Clive, second question for you.

Hong Kong was the venue for which sport in the 2008 Olympic Summer Games?

OK, I don't think it's equestrian.

Hong Kong does have Hong Kong Harbour so sailing could be a possibility.

Beach volleyball. I think beach volleyball was made

on an arena where they just bunged a load of sand on.

I'm not sure about this, I think I am going to go for sailing.

OK, certainly by the sea,

Hong Kong Harbour is not the right answer.

No. It was... You are shaking your head there, CJ.

-Equestrianism.

-Equestrianism was the answer we were looking for.

So, a slip there by Clive and a chance for CJ.

CJ, bed and breakfast is a term used in darts to describe which score?

Bed and breakfast is a term used in darts to describe which score?

Now one of those immediately stands out

and I'm trying to think why it does.

It's not 106, it's one of the others.

26 was the first thing that appealed to me,

but why would that mean bed and breakfast?

Is it some, erm...

I am trying to dig it out here.

Is it some old reference to 2/6d?

That was the cost of bed and breakfast

even when Daphne was young.

I'm going with my first instinct and go for 26.

-26.

-Yeah.

Cost of a B&B when they coined the phrase, yeah, it's the right answer!

Well done. It's because you are aiming at the treble 20,

you get one in the 20, and one either side in the five and the one.

26 is correct which means you are through to the final round, CJ.

No place for you there, Clive.

It hasn't worked, the tactic of going second for either you or Mike.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Not going too well, Mighty Minions.

Two rounds gone, two of you gone, all the Eggheads still there but a chance still.

Two more head-to-heads coming up, a chance to level it up in the final round

Let's see if you can start the fightback with this category. This one is Science.

Not too keen on it. Well, Ali, Simon or Alistair to play it.

Can I have another crack at this one?

Alastair, how do you feel about Science?

I'm not good on Science, but I'll do it because there's nobody else.

I'm happy to take one for the team.

OK, should we put you up against Daphne then?

Oh, it's me and you, Daphne.

Is she your idol, Ali?

Yes, next to you of course.

Oh, the buttering up!

Get some special questions for Ali.

Could I ask Ali and Daphne to take their positions in the question room?

So, Ali, what are team orders here? Do you go first or second?

I always thought I'd go first to get it over and done with but I've got a gut feeling about second.

I'm going second.

And that wasn't team orders, that's just the gut feeling.

Yes, definitely, I don't think it's going to make too much difference to be honest though.

We'll soon find out. Here's Daphne's question that would have been yours if you'd gone first.

So, listen to see if you would have known it.

Daphne, ochre - a mineral form of iron oxide - is commonly used as what?

It's a pigment, Dermot.

Pigment, so used in painting.

-Yes.

-What kind of colour, iron oxide - reddish, brown?

Yes, reddish brown, isn't it?

There are various kinds of ochre, red and yellow ochre.

-Different shades of it.

-You can have a yellow one as well.

Anyway, you've got it, it's a pigment.

Good start, Daphne. Let's have a good start for you, Ali,

good luck with this.

The medical practice of acupuncture was first developed in which country?

Japan and China are very known for their alternative therapies.

Should have gone first.

I think I am going to just going to go for India.

India it is.

OK, Indian acupuncture,

I'm sure it's practised but Chinese.

Genuinely believed to have started it all.

China and you would have been OK with ochre as you say.

Let's see how Daphne does with her second.

In which part of the body would you find the limbic system?

Well, I think it controls the emotions

which is probably why I cry a lot. It's in the brain.

It is the brain. It's the right answer, Daphne.

So, two to you.

Right, maximum concentration, Ali, and best of luck.

-No pressure(!)

-None at all.

Here's the question.

Which scientist, born in 1822,

took the name Gregor on becoming an Augustinian monk?

I didn't think I had a clue but I've got a funny kind of inkling

that it could be Pasteur and I am just going to go with it

because it feels right.

Gregor, Gregor Pasteur.

Oh, now Mendel seems right. Oh, I've gone Pasteur now anyway.

-Ali, and it is Mendel.

-It is! Oh gosh!

Oh, that's awful! It's just one of those appearances

in the head-to-heads, Ali, where it just all went so horribly wrong.

It did. At least it's over now!

I just feel awful. How were you with limbic system?

I wouldn't have got that one, I have to admit, yeah.

And we don't get to look at any more questions now because it is over.

There's Daphne smiling - a bit of empathy I can see there, Daphne,

the limbic system welling up there, is it?

Bad luck, Ali, you won't be in the final round. Would you both please come back and join your teams?

As it stands, the Mighty Minions have lost three brains from the final round.

The Eggheads haven't lost any.

This subject, and our last subject before the final round, is Politics.

Alistair or Simon which one of you fancies this, Politics?

THEY CONFER

-Would you like to announce it?

-Sorry? What, announce taking on Judith?

Dermot, I'm going to do Politics and I'll take on Judith.

Let's have Alistair and Judith into the question room, please.

So, Alistair, when you're not following the Tour de France, are you keen on politics?

I think I have an OK knowledge of politics

but it's a bit of a lottery, really, because it's such a long period of time.

-A bit of history in there and of course different countries.

-Yeah.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-I am going to put the marker down and go first please, Dermot.

-OK.

Let's hope it works for you, Alistair, best of luck.

For what does the letter L stand for in the name of the union ASLEF?

Oh, God, I think... I'm pretty sure it's not legal.

I am going to go for locomotive.

I have a feeling that might be the one.

OK, gone for locomotive in ASLEF, L,

and Chris Hughes, what does it stand for?

Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen.

There we are, it's the right answer.

The game starts here.

It does, the fightback starts here.

OK that's good to see, nice early score on the board.

Judith, what name is given to the tax levied on excessive profits?

I think that might be a windfall tax.

-Windfall tax?

-Yes.

Windfall tax is the right answer, Judith, well done.

Back to you, Alistair, second question.

How old was Tony Blair when he was first elected Prime Minister?

I know he was young

but 33 is too young and 53 is definitely too old, so I am going

to plump for 43 please, Dermot.

Right answer, well done.

Judith, in September 2008,

Condoleezza Rice became the first US Secretary of State to visit which country for over 50 years?

I should think that's probably Vietnam. I'm trying to think.

I think it might be Vietnam.

-Going for Vietnam?

-Yes.

Well, obvious reasons why there should be a long gap,

but it's the wrong answer.

-Oh, is it?

-It's not Vietnam, it's Libya.

-Libya.

Libya is the first country visited by a US Secretary of State

for 50 years.

A chance for Alistair to go through to the final round.

Judith is ejected without answering another question if you get this correct.

Which Chancellor's budget plans were famously leaked in full to the Daily Mirror the day before his speech?

Well, I don't think it's Kenneth Clarke

because he's too suave and calculated

to lose or let them out of his sight.

I think Nigel Lawson resigned on a different issue altogether.

So, I'm going to say...

Norman Lamont please, Dermot.

It's the wrong answer.

Oh, close! It's the man who took over from him, Kenneth Clarke,

the suave, Hush Puppy wearing, jazz loving,

cigar smoking Kenneth Clarke.

Well, you get another chance to get through if Judith gets this wrong

you still go through, but if not, we go to Sudden Death.

Judith, in the British parliament, how many minutes do MPs have

to get to the chamber to vote once the division bell sounds?

Well, there's a whole area of London, isn't there,

where people live within the division bell

and given the state of the traffic, I think it is probably ten.

-OK, ten.

-Yes.

-It's only eight.

-Oh.

Eight minutes.

So, there we are! You are through, Alistair. Great news for the Mighty Minions.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

This is what we've been playing towards. It's time for the final round which is general knowledge.

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

won't be able to take part in this round,

so Clive, Ali and Mike from the Mighty Minions

and Judith from the Eggheads, would you leave the studio, please?

Simon and Alistair, you are playing to win the Mighty Minions £28,000.

Kevin, CJ, Daphne and Chris,

you're playing for something which 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,

which is why that victory by you, Alistair, at the last time of asking was so, so important.

And Simon and Alistair, the question is...are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

Simon and Alistair, do you want to go first or second?

Well, I think the tactic worked for first so...

I think we are going to go first.

Best of luck to you, Simon and Alistair, £28,000.

Which phrase is used to describe something unconventional or out of the mainstream?

-Are we going to go for that?

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

Left field, it's gotta be. I like to think of myself as a bit...

-Bit of a left fielder?

-That's it.

It's a term that I often use for my taste in music,

maybe shirts sometimes.

I think it's left field.

OK, it's the right answer. Well done, Mighty Minions. Good start.

It's an American football term, isn't it?

Baseball.

Eggheads - first question.

Who played the Allied goalkeeper

in the 1981 film Escape to Victory?

I don't think either Willis or Schwarzenegger

were in it, so it was Sylvester Stallone.

Sylvester Stallone, what a fine role it was.

What a cast! Pele was in it, wasn't he?

-Yes.

-Bobby Moore.

Ardiles.

And Sylvester Stallone in goal is the right answer, Eggheads.

The Minions would have easily got that as well

if they had gone second.

But on the first set and this is your next question then.

Captain Matthew Webb, the first man to swim the English Channel,

died in 1883 during an attempt to swim across which body of water?

-Any idea of this.

-Body of water so that could be...

The Bay of Biscay, there's probably quite a swell there,

it's pretty hard to swim across it, I would have thought.

He didn't swim across Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls is going to be even harder, yeah.

But that could be why he was taken to his untimely demise.

What did you think it was?

I'm looking at the most bizarre one being possibly the one.

I'm leaning towards the Bay of Biscay.

You thought that as well, didn't you?

Bay of Biscay, I think.

We both thought it but we are gonna go for the Bay of Biscay.

OK, Bay of Biscay.

Matthew Webb died in 1883

attempting to swim across Niagara Falls.

I think Captain Webb was trying to swim below the falls

rather than above because he would just have been swept over

if he was swimming above. Still pretty turbulent.

The current was coming in at right angles to what he was trying do.

So, he wasn't going over in a barrel?

It was a woman who did it first, the first one to do it

was a 63 year-old woman.

-And survived.

-And survived.

-Yes

-Many others failed.

-Yes.

Lots of Niagara Falls facts there

but didn't get that, Mighty Minions. Chance for the lead for the Eggheads.

Second question for you.

Leatherneck is a US nickname for a member of what?

It dates back to the day when the uniform used to include

a very uncomfortable leather stock. It's the Marine Corps.

The Marine Corps. And why was that collar leather?

It just was.

Well, the idea of a stock is to keep your head up of course.

All right, Marine Corps is correct, Eggheads, leathernecks.

So, you've got to get this. Time to dig in, mentioning the Marine Corps.

Now, do you know this?

The naira is the monetary unit of which African country?

Do you have any idea about that?

I thought he was going to mention...

There's a project of that name planned for an outdoor aquarium.

-Is there?

-Yes.

I think that possibly the ex-colony ones

would be sounding a bit more like a shilling or a bit of a...

so the strange country that we wouldn't expect

might be it, possibly.

-Niger.

-Niger. I don't know, what do you want to go for?

Stab in the dark, I'm not too sure.

Shall we say one, two three and say it? One, two, three...

OK, let's go with Namibia.

OK, the naira is the monetary unit...

..of Nigeria.

Third on your list, Nigeria.

Which means, Eggheads, you've won.

Well, it just didn't seem to work out for you today.

It was just one of those days - you went first, you went second, the questions didn't suit you.

We wouldn't have got the Marine Corps one.

Well, you never know until you are forced to guess at it.

Those were some tricky questions all round but of course the Eggheads have done it.

Congratulations to you for playing so well and being such fun.

Thank you for joining us here to play Eggheads,

we've enjoyed having you.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

their winning streak continues.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with £28,000

which means the money rolls over to the 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.

£29,000 says they don't.

Until then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

Email [email protected]