Episode 68 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.

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 resident quiz champions today are

Four Teachers and an Engineer.

The team is made up of former work colleagues, friends and family.

Some of their many hobbies include marathon running,

British battle sites, fishing, bassoon playing and astrophysics.

-Let's meet them.

-Hi, I'm Steve.

I'm 51 and I'm a retired teacher.

Hi, I'm Nicola. I'm 33 and I'm a science teacher.

Hello, I'm Dave.

I'm 63 and I'm an engineer.

-Hi, I'm Arleen, 70 and I'm a language teacher.

-Hi, I'm Mike.

I'm 47 and I'm a science teacher.

Must congratulate you by the way on your team name.

It does what it says on the tin. Four teachers and an engineer.

None of this playing around with puns on Eggheads.

What you see is what you get.

Exactly. That's what I like.

Hopefully it's not astrophysics and bassoon playing at the same time?

I don't think so.

But we have quite a multiplex of talents between us.

And with a bit of luck that'll take us through to win.

Yeah. Well, I suppose, what four teachers...

Dave's there as the engineer.

So, you've a lot of different subjects covered.

Let's see a straightforward victory today.

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

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads, the money rolls over.

So, Four Teachers and an Engineer, the Eggheads have won just the last game,

which means £2,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

And our first head-to-head battle

is on Food and Drink. Who's down for that one?

-Who's up to this one?

-It's Nicola, isn't it?

-Nicola?

-Do you want to do this one?

-Yeah, OK.

-Go for it.

-I'll go for that one.

-Who would you like to play?

-Any one of the Eggheads.

-Can we go with Barry, please?

Yes. Let's have Nicola and Barry

into the question room.

Just to make sure you can't confer with your team members.

OK, then, Nicola, it's Food and Drink. Are you a keen cook?

I like to cook, yeah.

And eat out. But cooking mostly.

OK. Do you want to go first or let Barry begin?

I'll go first, please.

OK, good luck, Nicola. Here's your first question.

The name of which fortified wine is derived from that of a Spanish city

in the Cadiz province of Andalusia?

I'm really not sure what the answer is to this.

Possibly eliminate sherry

and maybe I would go for marsala.

It's sherry, Nicola.

It's the one you eliminated. Sherry. The old Spanish sherry.

So, Barry, chance for the lead.

Which type of bean's speckled skin is reflected in its name,

which is Spanish for painted or mottled?

I don't know the answer to this one.

But I do know that a pinto horse has a mottled appearance.

So, I shall go for pinto bean.

Pinto bean is correct. From...

from the horses there. Well done, Barry. OK, right.

Let's get you started, Nicola.

What type of food appears on a French menu as volaille?

Well, to me I would eliminate beef. Because I think that's boeuf.

And I think I would go with fish over poultry.

So, I'll go for fish, please.

It's poultry. That would be your poisson,

I think, on the fish. OK.

Barry, you win the round if you get this.

Kulcha is an Indian type of what?

-Kulcha.

-Kulcha. K-U-L-C-H-A.

Hmm. Well, I know most types of Indian bread

and I've never heard of that. So, I don't think it's a flatbread.

I think Kulfi is Indian ice cream.

So, on the basis that it might have a similar, similar root,

I will go for it being a dessert.

And go for rice dessert.

I see where you're coming from, Barry,

but it's not the right answer.

-It is actually a flatbread.

-Oh.

-Kulcha is a flatbread.

Tricky question. Well, glad to see it was a tricky one for you.

Because it keeps Nicola's hopes alive.

Right, Nicola. What phrase describes the principle in a restaurant

of presenting dishes one at a time in a set order?

I'll go for Service a la Suede.

Because I really... I don't know French at all.

So, I'm afraid I'm just going to guess at Service a la Suede.

OK. Suede. It's the Russian way.

Service a la Russe.

It is Service a la Russe is presenting dishes

one at a time in a set order.

You're not playing in the final round.

Barry doesn't need to face another question.

Would you both please come back and join your teams.

The challengers have lost one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads haven't lost any.

Next it's Music. Who'd like to play this one?

Can't be Nicola.

Any one of the other four, Music?

Music, guys.

Who's going to go for that? Mike, you're our musician.

As long as there's nothing modern, that's a... I'll give it a go.

Which Egghead would you like to choose?

-Chris?

-Take Chris, yeah. Take Chris on.

-OK. Take Chris.

-Shall I take Chris?

We'll try Chris, please.

Let's have Mike and Chris into the question room.

Mike, you've been or are a conductor, aren't you?

I have done a bit of conducting.

I used to conduct the Wolverhampton Symphony Orchestra.

Which is an orchestra of amateur musicians

and music teachers in the Wolverhampton area.

That was a privilege. Did that for ten years.

And since then I've just been playing in the local area.

Playing in shows and concerts.

-What do you play?

-I'm a bassoonist.

-As we mentioned.

That noble instrument, yes.

-I am that bassoonist.

-Good.

-OK. Well, bassoonist Mike, would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please.

Good luck and here we are.

Well, this might suit you then. The percussion instrument the triangle

is usually made of which metal?

The percussion instrument the triangle

is usually made of which metal?

-I'm going to go for steel, please.

-It's steel.

It's right. Yes, well done.

Good stuff, Mike. Good start. OK, Chris.

Who had a best selling album in 1985 with No Jacket Required?

I think I've actually got this album somewhere.

It's Phil Collins.

That would just be on the cut off point for you?

That would be extreme modernity '85.

That is postmodern as far as I'm concerned.

Oh, I see. It's the right answer.

No Jacket Required by Phil Collins. OK, Mike.

Since the 1980s Chas and Dave have lent their vocal and instrumental

talents to a number of singles recorded by which football team?

Right. I'm not very sure about this one.

I would have said, of course, a London club,

but they're all London clubs. So, I'm a bit stuck at the moment.

I don't think it's Spurs

or West Ham.

I'm going to say Chelsea.

OK, Chelsea. Steve, you're the Chelsea fan.

Do Chas and Dave sing paeons of praise to Chelsea?

I am, I am a big Chelsea fan and no,

Chas and Dave have never sung any songs about Chelsea, I'm afraid.

Maybe abusing Chelsea.

They're big Tottenham fans.

It's Spurs. Yeah, Tottenham Hotspur, Mike.

They're from my neck of the woods.

-Of course they're Spurs supporters.

-Did they?

-Yeah.

-You like a Chas and Dave number?

-Now and again, yeah.

Right, OK. Well, chance for the lead for you, Chris.

Which singer's first hits in the UK included Ain't That A Shame in 1955

and Long Tall Sally in 1956?

Oh, good grief!

Well, it's not Andy Williams. They're not his sort of material at all.

Long Tall Sally.

Don't think it was Pat Boone either. Must have been Frankie Avalon.

It ain't a shame for Mike. That's incorrect.

-It is Pat Boone.

-Is it?

-Yeah, it's Pat Boone.

But it stays all square, of course.

Mike, third question. Which Billy Joel song,

a UK Top 40 single in 1978 is subtitled Anthony's Song?

Right. I've heard this song and I can hear it going through my head.

-I'm going to go for Movin' Out please, Dermot.

-Movin' Out.

Subtitled Anthony's Song. A hit for Billy Joel in 1978.

It's the right answer. Well, done, Mike. Movin' Out.

Well, Chris, which French composer was appointed organist

at the church of La Trinite in Paris in 1931,

a post he held until his death in 1992?

Well, surely Pierre Boulez was a conductor not a composer.

I think Poulenc was earlier. So, it must have been Olivier Messiaen.

Olivier Messiaen...

It's the right answer, Chris, yes.

Worked that out and was able to eliminate Boulez

and give him a 50/50 there.

And it means we go to sudden death, Mike.

We remove the choices you've seen up to this point.

Got to hear an answer from you. Same applies to Chris.

And this is your question, Mike.

Which Queen song was the UK Christmas number one single

in both 1975 and 1991?

I think this is the finest single ever written.

I think it's Bohemian Rhapsody.

Bohemian Rhapsody is the right answer. Yes.

Chris, you've got to get this then.

"I'm just a poor boy though my story's seldom told,"

is the opening line to which Simon & Garfunkel song?

# I have squandered my resistance for a pocket full of mumbles

# Such are promises. #

-It's The Boxer.

-And Barry was singing along as well.

-One of my favourite songs.

-Do you practise this together?

-We should!

-Correct. "I'm just a poor boy, though my story's seldom told."

Right, another question each.

Mike, which musical instrument invented

in the Soviet Union in the 1920s is played without being touched?

Played without being touched?

I'm thinking of the wand thing where you move your hands in and out.

But I think that's a bit later and I don't know what it's called.

I'm stuck on that one.

I really don't know.

-Any ideas? Going to have a guess or anything, Mike?

-I really don't know. Sorry.

OK, it's a pass. Do you know, Chris?

I can visualise it. It works by passing your hands over it rather than touching it.

-But what's it called I don't know.

-Anyone? I'll throw it wide open.

-It's a theremin.

-A theremin.

-It was used to wonderful effect on The Beach Boys' Good Vibrations.

-Was it?

-It made all that strange sound.

A chance for Chris to win the round. Chris,

who composed the music for the 1976 opera, Einstein On The Beach?

It's Philip Glass, isn't it?

-Is that your answer?

-Yep.

It is. Philip Glass is correct, Chris.

Bad luck there, Mike.

Means you won't be playing in the final round.

Good player, good round, Mike.

Would you both please rejoin your teams?

You've lost two brains from the final round.

Four Teachers and an Engineer down to two teachers and an engineer.

Our next category today is Arts and Books. Who'd like to play this?

Arts and Books?

Steve, Dave or Arleen?

What do we reckon?

-The language teacher, we think.

-She's doing it all in sign language there.

Who would you like to play from the Eggheads, Arleen?

And it can't be Barry or Chris.

-So, that leaves Judith, Daphne or CJ.

-Judith, please.

Let's have Arleen and Judith into the question room then, please,

to play Arts and Books.

Well, Arleen, in the introduction I mentioned

bassoon playing and astrophysics amongst the team's many talents.

We've met the bassoon player and you're the astrophysician?

I've had a lifelong fascination with astronomy and the stars.

And all the things that go on in astrophysics. But please, please,

please, please understand I really know so little about it.

I really do. I don't profess to understand anything.

But it does fascinate me.

Luckily, you're not playing the Science category.

So, I don't think too many questions along those lines will crop up.

Arleen, would you like to go first or second?

May I go first, please?

Of course you may and here comes your first question.

The Vicar Of Nibbleswicke, published in 1991 shortly after the death of the writer is by whom?

Well, I would put my money on it being Roald Dahl,

simply because of the date of the death of the author.

So, may I choose please Roald Dahl,

even if it is wrong?

You may choose it and it isn't wrong.

It's the right answer and you got it for so many reasons there.

On the dates. The Vicar Of Nibbleswicke, by Roald Dahl.

So, Judith, your first question. Bloomsday,

held on the 16th of June every year, commemorates the day on which

the events in which famous novel took place?

Bloomsday, held on the 16th of June every year, commemorates

the day on which the events in which famous novel took place?

-Well, I think that must be Ulysses.

-Why? Just explain the link for us.

Because Bloom is a character in Ulysses.

-Leopold Bloom?

-Yeah.

-OK. Yep, it's the right answer.

It's correct. There we are. OK, so it's one apiece.

And your question now, Arleen.

The Winds Of War, which was adapted as a successful

TV miniseries in the 1980s is a 1971 novel by which author?

A loud silence greets this question from me.

For some weird reason James Michener is going through my head.

But I couldn't tell you why.

And that's purely just a, just a thought.

I think again, for no apparent reason, I'll choose James Michener.

But it could be wrong.

A TV miniseries in the '80s written in 1971 by Herman Wouk.

All right. But didn't get the right answer from Arleen.

A chance for Judith to take the lead with her second question.

Which singer commissioned the US artist Stephen Hannock

to paint Northern City Renaissance, unveiled at the Laing Art Gallery

in November 2008?

Well, it must be someone with connections to the North. And I...

somehow I think of Sting and Bryan Ferry as being sort of Southerners.

So, perhaps it's Jimmy Nail.

OK, Jimmy Nail on that list of very proud Geordies...all.

-Are they all?

-Yes.

-Oh, dear!

Well, in that case I wouldn't have chosen him. I'd have chosen Sting.

That's right. That's who it is. It's Sting but it's too late now.

Northern City Renaissance was commissioned by Sting

and created by Stephen Hannock.

There we are. It's all square still.

Arleen, third question for you.

The Painted Word is a 1975 book of art criticism by which writer?

Again, spoilt for choice. Ha-ha.

Gore Vidal?

OK, you're going for Gore Vidal?

It's incorrect, I'm sorry.

It is Tom Wolfe.

Tom Wolfe wrote The Painted Word.

So, a chance for you, Judith, to take the round. Halvard Solness

is the central character in which of Henrik Ibsen's plays?

Halvard Solness is the central character in which of Ibsen's plays?

I think it's The Master Builder.

Halvard Solness is in The Master Builder. It's right, Judith.

So, it means you're through to the final round. Bad luck, Arleen.

No place for you, sorry to say.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Down to a teacher and an engineer. Three brains

gone from the final. The Eggheads are all still in.

Here's your last chance to knock one of them out.

This category's Film and Television.

And Steve or Dave to play Film and Television.

Well, the...the plan was to leave Dave till the end.

So, I was going to pick up whatever came. So, I'll do that one.

-So, this is it, then?

-Yep.

-OK.

And which Egghead would you like to play?

It can be... Look at Daphne and CJ.

Wouldn't it be just so nice to play both of them?

-Such a winsome couple.

-I'll take Daphne on, please.

-Daphne.

-Yes.

-Daphne and Steve into the question room, please.

Steve, would you like to go first or second?

Ladies first, Dermot.

Change in tactics from Four Teachers and an Engineer.

Putting the Egghead in.

That's Daphne.

What is the surname of Betty and Barney in the TV cartoon series The Flintstones?

Rubble. And they have a little boy called Bamm-Bamm.

Betty and Barney Rubble. It's the right answer.

OK, your first question, Steve.

Nicole Kidman won an Oscar for playing which author in the 2002 film The Hours?

The last question Daphne's just got I would have gone yabba-dabba-doo,

because I knew the answer to that.

But looking at those, I don't think it's Sylvia Plath.

I'm pretty sure it's not Iris Murdoch.

I'm shall we say semi certain it's Virginia Woolf.

You can say yabba-dabba-doo here. It may not be appropriate but

I won't stop you. It is the right answer.

Virginia Woolf.

OK, Daphne,

the cop dramas McQ in 1974 and Brannigan in 1975

were two of the last films starring which actor?

I don't think it's Henry Fonda.

Well, I hope it's John Wayne.

It's the right answer. Yes, John Wayne, yes.

Steve, here's your second one.

What is the first name of Hopkirk, the character played by Kenneth Cope,

in the TV series Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Well, I used to watch this a lot, Dermot.

I keep remembering in the back of my mind

where the mind Marty keeps coming up.

-So, I'm going to go for Marty.

-Marty Hopkirk? Well, done, Steve.

You've liked all the questions, all four.

Daphne, which town is home to Arkwright's shop

in the Ronnie Barker and David Jason TV sitcom Open All Hours?

I have absolutely no idea.

-I almost feel sorry for you, Daphne.

-Almost? Couldn't you be completely?

Because I really don't know. Right, say it again.

Which town is home to Arkwright's shop

in the Ronnie Barker and David Jason TV sitcom Open All Hours?

It's Doncaster.

Yes, it is.

You should see the Eggheads. Oh, my goodness me.

One out of three. Well, means you've got to get this, Steve.

Who directed the 1978 film Convoy starring Kris Kristofferson and Ernest Borgnine?

I know Rubber Duck came into it,

but I never looked at the score as it went up.

Tobe Hooper, Sam Peckinpah, Paul Schrader.

I'm going to go with my first gut instinct and go for Sam Peckinpah.

Sam Peckinpah, Convoy.

It's the right answer. Well, done.

-Thank you.

-Well picked out. Just looking at that I was

a bit surprised. It's a bit of a bubble gum film.

The man who directed Straw Dogs and all that.

And The Wild Bunch. Well played there, Steve, picking that one out.

Tricky one, the Eggheads agree. You got it, so we go to sudden death.

And Daphne's question.

Which actor appeared in the films Mean Streets,

Sister Act and Pulp Fiction?

Steve Bus-cemi?

-Something, yeah.

-Yeah. I mean, if it was him, I would accept that,

because you got the letters in there and the pronunciation

may be different. How... It's Buscemi, isn't it?

Steve Buscemi. But it's incorrect. It is, other Eggheads?

-Harvey Keitel.

-Harvey Keitel.

-Oh, well.

-Harvey Keitel.

Steve, the plan is going to work if you get the right answer here.

It's going to have turned out to be a very good decision

if you get this. Which former member of the Monty Python team

made a 2002 TV documentary about his trek across the Sahara desert?

I'm going to go for Michael Palin.

It's the right answer. Yes, Michael Palin.

Steve, you're in the final round. Would you please rejoin your teams?

It's what we've been playing towards. It's the final round, General Knowledge.

But I'm afraid those of you

who lost your head to heads can't take part in this round.

So, Nicola, Arleen and Mike from Four Teachers and an Engineer

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

So, Steve and Dave, you're playing to win Four Teachers

and an Engineer £2,000. CJ, Chris, Barry and Judith, you're playing for something which money can't buy -

the Eggheads' reputation. I'll ask each team three questions

in turn and this time the questions are all General Knowledge and you are allowed to confer.

-Steve and Dave, first or second?

-We'll go second.

-We'd like to go second, please, Dermot.

Right, Eggheads, first question to you then.

In America, button is the name given to what decorative item?

Everyone happy with badge?

-We are.

-They use it in electioneering.

-We think that's a badge, Dermot.

-It's the right answer.

Well, done, Eggheads. Badge. OK, Steve and Dave,

what British venue was the world's first

purpose-built motor racing circuit, when it was opened in 1907?

Santa Pod is banger racing. It's Brooklands.

It's an oval circuit, banked.

-It's Brooklands.

-You sure?

-It's Brooklands.

-Brooklands?

-Brooklands.

The man on my left is pretty assured that it's Brooklands.

-Brooklands. OK.

-So, we'll, we'll, we'll defer to his knowledge.

Brooklands is correct.

-Well, done.

-OK, right.

One each. Eggheads, second question.

Magnox was an early type of what kind of power station?

Magnox was an early type of what kind of power station?

We think that was a nuclear power station.

Yeah, it's the right answer.

Magnox, correct.

Second question to you, Steve and Dave. On Scott's ill-fated Antarctic

expedition of 1910 to 1912, what was Captain Lawrence Oates

chiefly tasked with looking after?

-You got me on this one.

-I don't know but we'll have to try and...

I mean, Oates was the last one out of the tent, wasn't he?

Yeah. But they took ponies...

Took ponies and shot them.

-For food.

-What do you think?

I don't think food supplies would be down to one man. So, I think ponies.

-Go for ponies, shall we?

-Yeah, I think so.

-Yeah?

-Yeah. Ponies.

-We're going to go ponies, Dermot.

-Captain Oates.

It's the right answer.

Yes, well done, ponies.

Worked it out...and just explain to the audience...Captain Oates

became famous for his enormous sacrifice on that expedition.

-His popping out. Went out the tent, didn't he?

-I might be some time.

-I might be some time.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Would've been a good excuse to look after the ponies.

-I think they'd died by then.

If they were still alive, yeah.

Well, third question each. Both teams quizzing well.

Eggheads, what is the name of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's ship,

launched in 1843, that was the first to have an iron hull and screw propeller?

What's the name of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's ship, launched in 1843,

that was first to have an iron hull and screw propeller?

We are all agreed, that it's the SS Great Britain.

The SS Great Britain.

It's the right answer, Eggheads. The SS Great Britain.

Have you been to see her, Chris?

-I have.

-They have restored her very well.

-Yeah.

Well, consider the state she was in in '70, yeah.

She had been a wool and coal store in the Falklands.

And she got damaged

and got quite a nasty split right down her hull.

They beached her in Sparrow Cove and she was going to be left there to rot.

Then somebody thought, "Let's get her back to the UK.

"Can't let this just rust away."

I'm sure you would have got that, Dave, as well.

The engineer there. This is where you have to dig in. You have to get this to take us into sudden death.

What is the real name of the satirical cartoonist known as Trog?

What is the real name of the satirical cartoonist known as Trog?

What do you reckon, Dave?

You're going to tell me you don't know, aren't you?

I'm telling you I don't, just milking it. I don't know.

I'm not up on cartoonists, I'm afraid.

Alex Graham. I don't know. It's just a name that I've heard

and it's jumping out at me.

Well, Alex Graham. We'll try that.

An educated guess as I think it's got to be in this particular case.

Fingers crossed and toes crossed and everything else... It's Alex Graham.

In contortions, waiting for the answer. Alex Graham known as Trog?

-It's the not the right answer.

-Oh, well.

-The answer is Wally Fawkes.

Which means, Eggheads, you've won.

Well, that final round,

Dave and Steve, was really just about which order you went in.

Thanks very much for playing Eggheads. It's been a pleasure.

Thanks for being such game competitors.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally and they still reign supreme.

You won't be going home with the £2,000, 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. £3,000 says they don't.

Until then, goodbye.

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