Episode 54 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 taking on the awesome might of our quiz Goliaths today

are One Sense Less from Surrey.

The team are in the same deaf club and in 1998, Charles and Melinda

were part of a team who won the final

of the British Deaf Association's national quiz in Scarborough.

And assisting with today's programme will be Roger.

He'll be interpreting for the team

out here, and James, who together with the questions being displayed

on screen for the team, will be interpreting in the question room.

Well, let's meet the team then.

Hello, I'm Charles.

I'm 75, retired college lecturer.

VOICE OF INTERPRETER: Hello, I'm Richard,

I'm 64, and I'm a retired librarian.

VOICE OF INTERPRETER:

Hello, I'm Melinda, I'm 58 and I'm a senior lecturer.

Hi, I'm Judy and I'm 59 and I'm a retired civil servant.

Hello, I'm Martin.

-I'm 61 and I'm an accountant.

-Welcome to you, One Sense Less.

Thank you very much for playing Eggheads today.

Charles, tell me about your interest in quizzes and your success

in the national deaf quizzing championships.

My interest in quizzes

started with 15 to 1.

I remember Daphne very well.

And I watch all TV quizzes - 15 to 1, Weakest Link, Eggheads!

The National DBA quiz competition,

we were in the team that won the area final, then the regional final,

then the national final in Scarborough.

Charles, before we started, we were teaching the Eggheads...

I was trying to get you to teach the Eggheads to say,

"We are the Eggheads" in sign language.

Shall we test them, see if they've remembered? Come on, then, Eggheads.

We...are...Eggheads.

-How's that?

-Not bad!

Try again, with feeling!

We'll talk more about quizzing

and signing - it's very interesting - as the quiz goes on

-but right now, shall we play Eggheads?

-Please.

-Let's go for it.

Every day, there's £1000 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, One Sense Less, the Eggheads have won the last 22 games

which means £23,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

Our first head-to-head battle is on the subject

of Arts and Books.

Now, who wants to play this? It can be any one of you,

any one of the team members. It's the first round.

We already agreed.

VOICE OF INTERPRETER: What do you think?

Which is the weakest one?

CJ?

I think we will ask CJ to be with me.

OK, CJ. And they said, "Which one do we think

-"is the weakest one?!"

-Yes, thank you(!)

Let's see if that's proven to be true.

He's been playing well in Arts and Books lately.

So could I please ask Richard

and CJ to take their positions in the question room, please,

to make sure you can't confer with your team-mates, Richard.

Well, Richard, would you like to go first

or second in this Arts and Books round?

INTERPRETER: I think I'll dive in and go first, please.

Here's your first question.

Which detective features in the 1937 novel, Death On The Nile?

INTERPRETER: Well, it's not Sherlock Holmes.

That was long before 1937.

So I don't think that one, no.

It can't be Jules, no.

That was a Frenchman, so no, no, no, it can't be that.

Hercule Poirot. Now, he's Belgian,

so there's not much difference between those two.

I think I'll go for Hercule Poirot. Yeah, Hercule Poirot.

Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie.

It's the right answer. Well done, Richard. Good start.

Over to CJ.

OK, CJ, here's your question.

Which Poet Laureate's works include the collection, Birthday Letters

published in 1998, the year of his death?

Well, I think both John Betjeman and Cecil Day-Lewis were dead

quite a bit before that, so I will go for Ted Hughes.

Ted Hughes, Poet Laureate, died in 1998. It's the right answer, CJ.

One to you.

OK, Richard, your second question now.

Which artist produced a £1.5 million solid gold statue of Kate Moss,

unveiled at the British Museum in October 2008?

INTERPRETER: Hmm, all of those are foremost in the world of sculpture.

But I know Damien Hirst's work does sell for millions.

Antony Gormley...

Ah, yeah, the Angel of the North.

Hmm, yes, that's the one that did all those men. Right...

So which one should I go for?

Damien Hirst. I'm going for Damien Hirst.

OK, Damien Hirst. You know your sculpture there, Richard.

Um...but you haven't attached the right sculptor to Kate Moss.

It is Marc Quinn.

Bad luck. Bad luck there.

OK, well, a chance for CJ to take the lead.

Bathsheba Everdene is a character in a novel by which writer?

I think she's along with Gabriel Oak in Far From The Madding Crowd

which would be Thomas Hardy.

Well, that's back to the literature and CJ's got it.

Yes, it's the right answer.

Two to you, which means, Richard, you've got to get this one correct

to stay in the game. Which of Herman Melville's novels was his last,

left unfinished at his death in 1891 and not published until 1924?

INTERPRETER: Right, Moby Dick was his major novel.

So it's not Typee.

Yeah, that wasn't the last novel.

I think White Jacket. Yeah, White Jacket.

Herman Melville's last novel, not published until 1924,

long after his death, was Billy Budd!

Billy Budd. I'm sorry about that, Richard, but it means CJ

doesn't need to face another question.

Two incorrect from you and two right from CJ means you won't be playing

in the Final Round and, CJ, you will be there. Place booked for you.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

As it stands, One Sense Less have lost one brain from the Final Round,

lost Richard. The Eggheads are all still there, but we've got

plenty more rounds to play.

This one is Sport. Who'd like to play this one? It can't be Richard.

Any of the rest of you. Sport.

INTERPRETER:

Who shall we play against? Shall we pick a strong one? Judith?

-Judith.

-OK, let's have Martin and Judith

into the question room, please.

Martin, would you like to go first or second?

INTERPRETER: I think I'll go first, please.

Good luck, then, Martin. Here's your first Sport question.

In gymnastics, what word means

"to leave an apparatus at the finale of a routine"?

INTERPRETER: Gymnastics is not something I'm particularly keen on.

Having said that, unpeel doesn't sound really gymnastic.

Rappel? Sounds like a foreign word that.

Personally, I think dismount.

Yeah, that's the right answer.

OK, dismount.

Yes, all important, whether you land on your feet

or you see them sometimes stumbling in the Olympics.

You feel so sorry for them after all the hard work.

Hard work repaid, though, with the right answer from you, Martin.

Dismount is correct.

OK, Judith, first question for you.

-Looking forward to it, are you, Judith? You love sport(!)

-As always.

Here you go. Harrod's Repository and Chiswick Steps

are features on the course of which annual sporting event?

Now there's one I think I do know. It's the boat race.

Um, it is the right answer.

The University Boat Race. Correct.

OK, second question for you, Martin.

Which year saw the start of football's UEFA Cup competition?

INTERPRETER: There have been several competitions in Europe over the time.

UEFA... Right, let's have a think.

Er...I think I'll go for 1961.

OK, '61. The UEFA Cup started in...1971.

1971, Martin.

So not the right answer there

from Martin and a chance for the lead from Judith.

The Federation Internationale d'Escrime

is the world governing body of which Olympic sport?

And forgive my French. I know you speak it a lot

better than I do, Judith, but I'll read it again should you need it.

I think it might be fencing but I don't really know.

Federation Internationale d'Escrime,

probably the FIE, I suppose, shortened to,

is the governing body of...

..fencing.

It's the right answer.

Martin, you need to get this.

In 1999, whom did Sports Illustrated magazine name the best individual

male athlete of the 20th century?

Sports Illustrated is a well-known American magazine.

Then, all three of those are Americans anyway, I suppose.

Jack Nicklaus was a golfer, top golfer, over 30 years.

Sampras was the tennis player,

over the last ten years... yeah, of the 20th century.

And Mike Tyson.

He was the world champion in the '90s. Yeah.

So, based on the length of winning titles,

I think I'll go for Jack Nicklaus.

OK. Going for the golf.

And sheer length and breadth of his achievements. It's the right answer.

Jack Nicklaus, yes.

So that keeps your hopes alive, Martin.

Got to hope that Judith doesn't get this, though.

Judith, James Hunt made his Formula 1 debut

driving for which constructor?

I haven't heard of either Lola or Shadow, but I know

that he was associated with Hesketh, um...so I think I'll go for Hesketh.

Hesketh is the right answer, Judith.

You've done it. Unlucky there again.

Another unlucky one for One Sense Less. Just the one in it there.

That slip-up in the middle. It means, Martin, you won't be

playing in the Final Round. Would you both please come back

and join your teams?

OK, as it stands now, the challengers have lost two brains

from the Final Round. The Eggheads are all still there,

but we've got two more head-to-heads before that Final Round,

so it could be all square by the time we get there.

Our next subject today is Geography.

I know you're a well-travelled bunch. Who'd like to play this?

Geography. It can only be Charles, Melinda or Judy.

Yes, I'll do Geography. Yes, OK. Which one? Which one?

Just to remind you, CJ and Judith have played, so it's Kevin,

-Daphne or Chris.

-I'll take Kevin on.

Take Kevin on. Certainly.

Picked one of the stronger ones, that's for sure!

Let's have Judy and Kevin in the question room, please.

Would you like to go first or second, then, Judy?

Um, I think I'd like to go first, please, Dermot.

Best of luck, Judy. Here's your first question, then.

Which English seaside town is known as the Queen of the English Riviera?

Um...I think Padstow's a bit quiet and, um...

..I can't imagine Blackpool being called

the Queen of the English Riviera. I'll go for Torquay.

It's the right answer, yes.

-Torquay is correct.

-Thank you.

Good start, Judy. Kevin,

Szechuan is a province in which country?

It's in south-west China,

-so China.

-China is correct.

OK, Judy, your second question.

What is the capital city of Georgia?

Um, that's... My boss, he used to go to Georgia quite a lot,

so he used to talk about Tbilisi, so I think it is Tbilisi.

Tbilisi. Correct.

OK, Kevin, the River Piddle is in which English county?

You can't say that and not giggle.

Of course, Dorset is... It's Dorset.

That's next door to where I grew up, so that was the source of occasional

hilarity when I was a kid. Yeah, it's Dorset.

It's the right answer, Kevin. Two each.

Very good round. Now, be careful with this one, Judy.

Very important. If you get it, lot of pressure on Kevin.

If you don't, of course, that is all reversed.

Here you go.

The Mourne Mountains are located in which county in Northern Ireland?

Um...I don't think it's County Tyrone.

Um, and I'm thinking it's just south of Belfast,

and I think it's County Down.

The Mournes...are in County Down.

Well done, Judy.

Now, a real prospect here. There's the scoreboard. 3-2.

If Kevin doesn't get this, he's not playing in the Final Round.

What a scalp that would be. Here you go, Kevin.

With which geographical process is the term plucking associated?

Hmm.

Not one I'm particularly familiar with, I must say.

I'm tempted to think about long-shore drift because...

The idea being that stones,

other material, is taken off by wave action and deposited elsewhere

further along the coast.

So, in the sense of the material

being plucked off from the shore and taken along...

But it could one of the others, but I'm going to go for long-shore drift.

OK, long-shore drift.

Well, Kevin, the process you described - if you think about it

over a much longer period, it's also achieved by...

-Glacial.

-Glaciers, yes.

-Yeah.

And that would've been the correct answer. Glacial erosion.

Which means, Judy, hey-hey!

You are through to the Final Round, and knocked out the three-times

World Quiz Champion, four-times European Quiz Champion.

Well done. What a scalp.

Fantastic stuff for you and for One Sense Less.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Well, Judy, let's just reflect on that victory for a moment because

it doesn't happen often. How does that feel?

Wonderful.

Fabulous. I can't believe it. I'm just shaking.

Kevin can't believe it.

But let's see if the team can go all the way.

Our last subject today is Food and Drink.

Food and Drink, and Charles or Melinda, one of you two.

INTERPRETER: It's Melinda.

-Who shall we go for?

-Chris or Daphne?

Chris? Yes, I'll choose Chris.

OK, let's have Melinda and Chris into the question room, please.

Melinda, do you want to go first or second?

INTERPRETER: I think I'm going to go first. Get it over with.

Here you go, Melinda, first question. What is the American term

for what Britons call potato crisps?

Hmm, I know, in Britain and America, they're very different words.

I know they've got quite different

words for crisps and chips, so I would go for chips.

That is the right answer, yes. Chips.

Chris, blue vinney is a type of which food from Dorset?

I remember the Monty Python cheese-shop sketch. It's cheese.

It is the right answer. Yes, it's a cheese.

OK, Melinda.

Bird's-eye is a particularly strong variety of which food stuff?

Oh, I've never heard of that word, bird's-eye.

Um...

Sounds kind of foreign so it's probably something quite...

I think I'll go for chilli. Yeah, chilli. That's what I'll go for.

Bird's-eye chilli...

You picked the right one out. Well done, Melinda. Two to you.

Chris, which spirit is mixed with lime juice and fresh mint to make

a mojito cocktail?

Hmm... Well, Bourbon and lime would be rather nasty.

And I don't think it's white rum, but mojito sounds Spanish or Mexican,

so it must be tequila.

That wouldn't be bad, but you wouldn't call it a mojito

-because you'd have left out the white rum.

-Oh?

Look at the position we're in here. A real chance for Melinda here.

Get this, Melinda, and you're in the Final Round.

Which French town is at the heart of the Champagne region

and is famous for its many miles of cellars and tunnels?

Oh, really, I don't... I'm not a drinker, really. Um...

Yes, I'm going to go for Narbonne.

OK, Narbonne.

It's a missed opportunity.

It's Epernay.

OK, still go out, though, Chris, if you don't get this.

What is the British equivalent of the French drink called a panache?

Hmm. Well, I don't think it's perry...

because that's pear cider.

I think it's the equivalent of Buck's Fizz, orange juice and champagne.

OK. Orange juice and champagne, Buck's Fizz.

-It's shandy!

-Oh.

-You're through anyway, Melinda,

in spite of that slip-up on the third question.

Chris got two wrong. You're through to the Final Round.

The International Mastermind, proudly wearing his Mastermind shirt today, bites the dust.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

This is what we've been playing for.

It's time for the Final Round which is General Knowledge

but those of you who lost your head-to-heads

won't be allowed to take part.

So Richard and Martin from One Sense Less,

and Kevin and Chris from the Eggheads,

would you leave the studio, please?

Charles, Melinda and Judy,

you're playing to win One Sense Less £23,000.

Judith, CJ and Daphne, you're playing for something

which money can't buy - the Eggheads' reputation.

I'll ask each team three questions in turn.

The questions are all general knowledge and you are allowed to confer.

That is the big difference from those head-to-head rounds.

One Sense Less, the question is - are your three brains better than the Eggheads' three?

And Charles, Melinda and Judy, would you like to go first or second?

We've agreed. It worked for them so we'll go first, please.

Well, best of luck.

Let's see if you can win £23,000 today. Here's your first question.

Sir Ian Blair resigned as head of which organisation in October 2008?

Sir Ian Blair resigned as head of which organisation in October 2008?

We're all agreed. It's definitely the police.

OK. The Metropolitan Police.

You all agree on that.

It is the right answer, yes. Well done.

Sir Ian Blair resigned as head of the Met in October 2008.

Well done, good start.

Eggheads...

in 2008, Princes William and Harry

took part in a charity ride across South Africa on what form of transport?

In 2008, Princes William and Harry took part in a charity ride

across South Africa on what form of transport?

Motorbikes, Dermot.

Motorbike...is the right answer, yes. Well done, Eggheads.

Back to you, One Sense Less. Second question.

In classical mythology, satyrs are often depicted as having the legs

of which creature?

In classical mythology, satyrs are often depicted as having

the legs of which creature?

We're agreed again. Goats.

Eggheads? It's the right answer. Well done.

OK, then, Eggheads, second question.

The Venus flytrap plant is native to which continent?

The Venus flytrap plant is native to which continent?

-Oh, dear.

-I don't think it's Australia.

-No, that's one I'm...

I don't think it's North America. I really don't know.

Africa's the logical answer.

I actually thought it was South America.

There are a lot of carnivorous plants in Africa.

-I... I...

-I don't think it's North America.

-No.

I don't think it's Australia because I've been there and I think it's...

I think we have to go for Africa

simply because of the abundance of food supply

and it does have a lot of carnivorous plants.

-We're going to go for it? Yes.

-Well, I think we have to.

I don't know.

OK, we don't know this.

-We don't know. We're going to try Africa.

-Africa?

With all our fingers crossed.

OK, Venus flytrap. I call you the Venus flytrap of quizzing, don't I?

I know, but I don't know where they grow!

Kevin, Chris, you saw the question there. Do you think it's Africa?

We think it's North America, Dermot.

The only place it grows wild is a meteor crater in Arizona

which lends some credence to the notion

it might be of extraterrestrial origin. It's North America.

Just goes to prove the value of those head-to-heads.

It's North America.

North America. And if you had not knocked Chris out, Melinda,

he would have provided the correct answer,

as he knows it's grown in some crater and they think it might be extraterrestrial.

It's not over yet but you have a major, major opportunity.

We will not hear from the Eggheads again if you give me a correct answer to this.

All you will hear will be the sound of cheering and somebody writing you a cheque for £23,000.

So it's a very, very important question. No pressure at all.

What name is given to the group of peers that,

with the Lords Spiritual,

makes up the membership of the House of Lords?

What name is given to the groups of peers that,

with the Lords Spiritual,

makes up the membership of the House of Lords?

INTERPRETER: I would say temporal.

Er, no, I'm not 100% sure, though.

-I'm 75%.

-I don't know.

-I don't know.

-We'll leave it to you.

We'll leave it to you, Charles.

I think it's the middle one.

INTERPRETER: I think it's the Lords Temporal.

You're going for that?

For £23,000...

The House of Lords is made up of the Lords Spiritual...

and the Lords...

Temporal. It's the right answer! You've won £23000!

Well, what a game! What a game! That was a roller-coaster, wasn't it? You started off...

You started off and Richard and Martin played very well.

They were just unlucky with their questions. They didn't suit them.

They lost, you were looking down in the dumps.

I thought, "Oh, what's going to happen?" Then you turned it round.

First of all, Judy, with a storming victory against Kevin there.

That was very lucky questions for me.

I think you handled them very well. And then Melinda backed you up there and kicked Chris out.

As we heard there in the Final Round,

what a crucial victory that was. You are officially cleverer than the Eggheads.

You've proved that they can be beaten.

Join us next time on Eggheads to see if a new team of challengers will be just as successful.

Until then, goodbye.

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