Episode 57 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've won some of the country's toughest quiz shows. They are the Eggheads.

And taking on our quiz champions today

are the Loiners By Proxy, from Leeds.

Team captain, Rob, recruited friends and colleagues to challenge the Eggheads,

including someone who hosts four quiz nights a week. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Rob. I'm 32 and I'm a trainee manager.

Hello. I'm Lisa. I'm 53 and I'm an education adviser.

Hello, I'm Paul. I'm 41.

Part-time accounts assistant and pub quiz master.

Hi, I'm Steve. I'm 56 and I'm a financial analyst.

Hi, I'm Kevin. I'm 56 and I'm a retired police officer.

We'll talk about quizzing in a moment.

Welcome, Loiners By Proxy. Explain the team name. What is a Loiner?

If you come from Leeds, you're a Loiner.

And we're all there for various reasons.

Only a couple of us Leeds born-and-bred,

but some of us are here for marriage purposes,

university, that kind of thing.

Now, tell me about the quizzing. Who's the four-times-quizzing-a-week person?

-That's me.

-Paul, you're a quizmaster?

I am, yes. Four evenings a week. Two general knowledge, a music, and a sports quiz.

Excellent. That fits the bill here. Do you write the questions yourself?

Yes, I do most of the questions myself.

I compile my music quiz myself, so if there's any dispute, it all comes down to me.

-That's what I like. You crack the whip?

-Yes.

-The answer is what I say it is.

-Absolutely.

-No disputes. Excellent. That's how we do it here.

-Well, if the music round comes up, will I expect you to have a go?

-I would hope so, yes.

Well, let's see what happens.

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

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

So, Loiners By Proxy, the Eggheads have won the last four games,

which means £5,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

And the first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Music.

I didn't know it was coming up. It's turned up.

So do we need to go through the discussion about who's going to play?

-We're good for that, thank you.

-I'll go for that.

-Yeah.

-OK.

-We'll have Paul.

Paul. And which Egghead would you like to play?

-Right, I would like to take on Daphne.

-Daphne.

-Oh, God.

-Well, at least you match, don't you?

Yes, exactly. They're both visions in yellow.

OK, could we have Paul and Daphne into the Question Room,

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

OK, Paul, let's get straight on with it.

We know about your expertise in music. Would you like to go first or second?

I'll bite the bullet and go first, Dermot, please.

Good luck.

Here's your first question.

"Do you believe in life after love?

"I can feel something inside me say, I really don't think you're strong enough,"

are lyrics from a 1998 UK number one single by which singer?

That was one of her comeback singles.

That was a number one, I believe, as well.

And I'm plumping for Cher

because I think it was a bit of an upbeat record for her at the time.

"Do you believe in life after love?" It's right. Yep. Well done.

Simply called Believe.

Believe. OK, Daphne.

Love In An Elevator was a 1989 UK Top 20 single by which band?

I've got no idea. Aerosmith.

A great gasp from Loiners By Proxy.

It's the right answer. Well...

A guess there.

Complete knowledge there from Paul, and Daphne just a blind stab in the dark.

Anyway, you've both got a point.

Paul, in which year did Elvis Presley score his first UK number one single with All Shook Up?

Well, by a process of elimination, in the late '60s,

his popularity had waned a little.

In the early '60s, he was really popular

because he'd just come out of the Army.

And I think...

it was 1957 because he had several songs before he went into the Army.

So I'll go for 1957.

57 is the year All Shook Up topped the UK charts.

It's the right answer. Well done.

Two to you and over to Daphne

for her second question.

Strange Days, Waiting For The Sun and The Soft Parade

were 1960s albums by which group?

The Eagles.

-No.

-No. The Doors.

Yes, The Doors.

-Second guess but that doesn't count.

-No, no, no.

On the rebound. Right, well,

that's a fantastic point

for her to slip up from your point of view, Paul,

because you go straight into the final round if you give me the correct answer here.

Which opera features the famous barcarole entitled, Belle Nuit, O Nuit d'Amour?

I was hoping there was going to be no opera or classical music,

so it's going to be...a lucky guess.

And...

I'm just going to plump for A - The Bartered Bride.

The Bartered Bride for Belle Nuit, O Nuit d'Amour.

Do you know it, Daphne? Is it that?

-The Tales of Hoffmann.

-The Tales of Hoffmann.

So, both having to guess on your last questions

and both not getting it.

So, a chance for Daphne to come back.

Which Black Eyed Peas song

reached number one in the UK singles chart in May 2009?

Boom Boom Pow?

Is the right answer. You're back in the game!

Oh, Paul.

You had her by the throat there - in quizzing terms - and she's back and we're into Sudden Death.

That means we remove the choices, the options

you've seen up to this point and this is your question.

In 1987, The Irish Rover was a Top Ten hit in the UK

for The Pogues and which traditional Irish folk band?

This rings a bell because I think they had several hits in the '60s,

and it might have been a bit of a comeback.

I think the group are The Dubliners.

The Irish Rover, featuring The Pogues and...

The Dubliners.

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

Back in the lead and Daphne again to try and stay in it.

Which group had a Top 20 single in 1981

with The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum?

I've got no idea, so it's a pass.

It's a pass.

-No idea.

-Paul, you know what that means.

We'll go through that in a minute, but can you cover yourself in more glory?

Do you know the answer?

I think it's the Fun Boy Three.

Yes, it is. Fun Boy Three.

Well, he's won it by two.

You're in the final round. Well done, Paul. Even without that answer.

Fun Boy Three, which were part of an offshoot from The Specials, wasn't it? Terry Hall.

-Teamed up with Bananarama.

-And Bananarama, yes.

Fun Boy Three, that's how they started. So, no place in the final round for you, Daphne.

Vision in lemon, there. You'll just have to sit it out.

Well played, Paul. You're through. Would you both come back and join your teams.

Well, a fantastic start for the Loiners By Proxy. Their quizmaster,

Paul, now guaranteed a place in the final round and he's knocked out that Eggheads player, Daphne.

Our next subject is Film & Television. Who'd like to play?

Can't be you, Paul. I'm sure you're good at that.

Do you want me to go for it?

-Yes, captain.

-I'm happy to take it on.

-OK?

Going to be me, please, Dermot.

Which Egghead would you like? Can't be Daphne.

Erm...

I'm tempted to go for CJ.

-So many people are.

-LAUGHTER

-So, yes.

-It is? You are going to do it, OK.

I'm taken. I'll go with CJ.

On second thoughts, you will. Let's have Rob and CJ to the Question Room.

Rob, would you like to go first or second?

I'll keep with the trend, I'll go first, Dermot.

Good luck. Let's see if you can follow Paul into the final round. Your first question.

Which former England rugby union player was a regular captain

on the TV quiz show, A Question Of Sport, from 1982 to 1996?

Right, well for Christmas I was bought the Question Of Sport game,

many moons ago. And on the front, there was

Emlyn Hughes and there was Bill Beaumont.

So I'll go with Bill Beaumont, please.

Bill Beaumont is right. Well done.

OK.

CJ, in which year was the Oscar-winning film,

Terms Of Endearment, starring Jack Nicholson and Shirley MacLaine, released?

I wasn't sure of the exact year. The year I had in mind was '82.

-So, as I had that in mind, I'll go for 1983.

-OK go for '83.

'83 is correct. Well done, CJ.

And there we are, 1-1.

Second question each.

Rob, which actor has appeared in the films Snatch, Death Race and The Italian Job?

OK, they're...

I think they're Brit flicks.

So I'm going to go for Jason Statham.

Jason Statham is correct. Yes.

It's 2-1 to Rob,

and CJ's second question.

Which comedy duo received a Bafta Fellowship at the Academy's Television Awards in April 2009?

That was Dawn and Jennifer, French and Saunders.

Yes, it was. The right answer. 2-2.

Back to Rob.

What is the name of the character played by Tom Oliver in the Australian soap, Neighbours?

Harold Bishop was, I think, Ian Smith,

and Paul Robinson was Stefan - Don't It Make You Feel Good - Dennis,

and so it must be Lou Carpenter.

All this extra information I'm getting, Loiners.

You're Egghead-like.

And it's the right answer, as well.

Lou Carpenter

played by Tom Oliver. You've got to get this, CJ.

Rooster Cogburn is the sequel to which 1969 John Wayne film?

I've never actually seen a John Wayne film in my life.

I don't know this, but my instinct before I saw the options

was True Grit, so I'll have to go for that.

OK, you think Rooster Cogburn is the sequel to True Grit

and you're right.

OK.

So it's all square and, again, Sudden Death.

Rob, the term "jobsworth"

was popularised by which long-running TV consumer-affairs programme?

I think...

I can see John Stapleton and his wife,

and I think - I think - it's Watchdog.

It's not, Rob.

It's incorrect and it's the other one.

-It is, CJ?

-That's Life!

That's Life!

-Ah.

-That's Life! where "jobsworth" was bandied around

and has passed into popular parlance.

So it means CJ's got a chance to win the round.

CJ, which Alfred Hitchcock film was remade in 1998

by director Gus Van Sant and starred Vince Vaughn, Julianne Moore and Anne Heche?

Not seen the original, not seen the remake, but I know that Gus Van Sant remade Psycho.

-So that's my answer.

-That's your answer.

It is correct.

You're in the final round, CJ,

and knocked out, I think, a very,

very good player there, Rob.

Just caught out by That's Life!

Thought it was Watchdog, but would have been a great asset in the final round.

He's silenced for that final round.

CJ, you're there. Rob, you're not.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Another tight round, but the Eggheads just squeezed it there. CJ knocked Rob out.

It means it's all square in terms of players after two rounds

and our third subject today is Sport.

Who'd like to play this,

Lisa, Steve or Kevin?

I don't mind being sacrificial.

Depends what we get last.

I think we're going to have Kevin for this.

OK, Kevin, and you can choose from Chris, Barry or Pat.

I would go for Chris myself on sport.

They're all difficult, aren't they?

-I'll go for Pat, please.

-Pat, OK.

Your team-mates were thinking of Chris, but you've chosen Pat.

It's your prerogative, unless the team captain wants to overrule you!

It's Kevin and Pat, heading for the Question Room, please.

OK, Kevin, do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, if I may.

You may and this is your question.

In which position does footballer Paul Scholes usually play?

Of course, now living in Lancashire

and Manchester United being such an important part of that old county -

of course, it's now Greater Manchester -

I would be in deep trouble if I was to get this wrong.

I'm absolutely certain he's not the goalkeeper.

And I'm sure he's not a defender. He's a midfield player.

Yes, he is. And do you support any particular team now, Kevin,

or is that a bit dangerous?

No, it's not dangerous at all.

-My true allegiance is always with Leeds United.

-Ah!

Paul Scholes, midfielder, of course.

One to you. And, Pat,

in which country was the swimmer Michael Phelps born?

He's a native of Baltimore, Maryland,

so he was born in the United States.

It's the right answer. USA for Michael Phelps.

Another couple of questions coming up.

This yours, Kevin. In which year

did the golfer Jack Nicklaus win his third and final Open title?

Golf is definitely not my sport.

Erm, I'm torn between 1968 and 1978.

But he did play do well for so long,

I would like to go for 1978.

'78, last Open title for Jack Nicklaus.

Correct. Well done. Worked that out.

The Eggheads normally know these things.

Where was the Open in 1978, then?

-Britain.

-Good...

-LAUGHTER

-OK, Pat, your second question.

In May 2009, which cricketer became the fifth England batsman

to score centuries in three successive Test-match innings?

I think, in that time period,

I think Ravi Bopara had a slightly lean time,

if I recall correctly, so it's between Alastair Cook and Ian Bell.

I think it's Alastair Cook.

Guess what, Pat? It's Ravi Bopara.

-Oh!

-Ravi Bopara.

This gives you a real opportunity, Kevin.

Into the final round if you give me the correct answer.

In which track and field event did the Swiss athlete Werner Gunthor win

three consecutive World Championship gold medals between 1987 and 1993?

It has to be a guess,

and therefore

I must go for shot put as a shot in the dark.

-Anything will do there!

-I'm afraid so.

-That is called clutching at straws!

-It is.

It's also called booking your place in the final round. It's right!

Shot put. Well, you know,

even the Eggheads guess -

and guess successfully, usually, don't they, Daphne?

Well done there, Kevin.

You're in the final round. Pat, you won't be there.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Well, another blow to the Eggheads there, inflicted by Kevin.

Millionaire winner, Pat, gone and the Eggheads again on the back foot.

Will they fight back in our last head-to-head before the final round?

This one is Food & Drink. And who'd like to play this?

Food & Drink, and it's got to be Lisa or Steve.

-Going to be me, isn't it?

-It would have been me, but...

Yes. Well, you go again!

Can I go again?

-Wish you could. I'm sure you'd win...

-Have a second go!

-I'll give it a go.

-It's Lisa.

-OK, Lisa,

and who would you like to play from the Eggheads, Barry or Chris?

-Chris or Barry?

-Go for Chris.

-Yeah.

-You happy with that?

-Yeah, all right. Chris, please.

Chris. OK. Lisa and Chris, into the Question Room, then, please.

Lisa, now, do you want to go first or second in this Food & Drink?

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

This is your question. What is the world's most widely grown cereal grain?

Right, I don't think rye's terribly popular.

Well, wheat you would grow for bread,

and I would think bread, daily bread,

that's the sort of staff of life, isn't it?

-So I'm going to guess at wheat.

-Wheat?

Yeah. It's the right answer.

A widely grown cereal grain.

Presumably the most widely grown crop is rice?

Rice, yeah.

OK, Chris,

which word, from the Hindi for "fried vegetables",

is given to a ball or small, flat cake of vegetables fried in batter?

Well, a samosa is like a little vegetable package

in pastry that's fried. I don't know what a muruku is,

but a little ball of fried vegetables is a bhaji.

Eaten a few in your time, Chris?

I'm quite partial, yeah.

Especially the onion bhajis!

It's got to be done! It's the right answer, yes. Well done.

And, Lisa,

the name of which creature is sometimes used for a female lobster, crab or salmon?

I can't imagine mare being used for that.

A sow or a hen...

Sow or hen...

I think hen tends to be used possibly more generically,

or possibly not, but I'm going to guess at hen.

Well done. It's the right answer. Hen.

Relief there spreading across Lisa's face.

Well worked out. And, Chris,

the Italian dish fegato alla veneziana is made with which principal ingredient?

Well, Venice is on the sea,

which inclines me to believe it might be based on seafood,

so I'll have to go with prawns.

Prawns for fegato alla veneziana.

It's made principally with liver.

Liver. And again, same position as Kevin

and as Paul was. He didn't make it at this point,

but if you get this, you're in the final round, Lisa.

Neroli oil, which is used in confectionery, is obtained from the flowers of which type of fruit?

Erm, I've never heard of neroli oil being used in cooking.

However, I'm pretty sure that

neroli comes from what we would call "mock orange",

so I'm hoping that the answer's bitter orange.

A bitter blow for the Eggheads. You're through to the final round!

Another victory.

3-1 in the head-to-heads. Lisa, prepare to play.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

So, this is what we've been playing towards -

the final round, which, as always, is General Knowledge.

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

won't take part in this round.

So, Rob from Loiners By Proxy, and Daphne, Chris and Pat

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

Lisa, Paul, Steve and Kevin, you're playing to win the Loiners By Proxy £5,000.

CJ and Barry, you're playing for something which money can't buy.

It is the Eggheads' reputation.

As usual, I'll ask each team three questions in turn.

The questions are all General Knowledge and you can confer.

Loiners By Proxy, the question is, are your four brains better than the Eggheads' two?

And, Loiners By Proxy, would you like to go first or second?

-First, as we've gone all the time, yeah?

-We'll go first. Yeah.

Best of luck.

General Knowledge, as I said, and you can confer.

Which British actress shouted, "Oggy, oggy, oggy, oi-oi-oi,"

on receiving a Best Supporting Actress Bafta in 2003?

Catherine Zeta Jones is the Welsh one, isn't she?

Yes, she is, absolutely.

Kate Winslet isn't Welsh, is she?

And Keira Knightley would have been an embryo in 2003,

anyway, wouldn't she?

I'd go for Catherine...

It's a Welsh connection.

We think it's the Welsh connection. Catherine Zeta Jones.

Catherine Zeta Jones. Oggy, oggy, oggy, oi-oi-oi.

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

And first question

to the Eggheads.

A sit up and beg is an old-fashioned type of what device?

My first thought would be telephone.

Do you remember those stand-up telephones with the handles on?

That rather looks like a dog sitting up and begging.

-I can't imagine...

-I've never heard it for a bicycle.

I can't imagine a bicycle that would give that mental image.

Washing machine? They're all square boxes, aren't they?

Yeah, the twin-tubs and things.

But you can see it for the shape of the old telephones, can't you?

-Haven't heard it...

-No.

I can't think of anything else it could be.

I'll go with it. I'm not particularly happy -

I don't know it, but I think it's got to be.

Well, we'll go on similarities in shape.

The only one that comes anywhere close

is the old-fashioned telephone, so we'll go for telephone.

Telephone, sit up and beg.

Telephone?

You should see the looks on the faces of your team-mates!

And, I suspect, of our millions of viewers at home

that there's something the Eggheads don't know.

Sit up and beg - an old-fashioned bike.

-Never heard of it.

-There we are,

what a great start!

Nothing for the Eggheads. Those three behind you, they are banging

their heads against the screen!

-They shouldn't have lost their rounds, then.

-Exactly.

You look like you'll lose the money, though, between you.

Well, this will put you in a 2-0 lead if you get it.

What is the meaning of the nickname Botticelli,

by which the Renaissance painter Alessandro Di Filipepi is usually known?

Botti...

Celli is the little bit, isn't it?

Is it barrels?

Could it be...he does all the little cherubs, doesn't he?

Does lots of little cherubs.

-They could possibly be barrel-shaped.

-Shall we have a vote on it?

I would go barrels.

We could sit here for the next half an hour, really, couldn't we?

-Barrels it is.

-Yes, we've decided,

I wouldn't even say by a process of elimination,

but we think barrels is probably the least silliest.

Least silliest! Well, there are many ways of

working out correct answers with those choices,

and least silliest is the route you've chosen.

Botticelli translates as little...

-barrels. It's correct.

-Yes!

-Yes!

So, Eggheads.

You know you need to get this, or you will be losing and losing on one of your lowest all-time scores.

Tanggula,

home to the highest railway station in the world, is located where?

We all know what you two are thinking -

why, oh why, oh why isn't Chris here?

Because he lost his head-to-head.

-Certainly not New Zealand.

-Forget New Zealand

first of all.

There is a very high

railway in Tibet.

Most of Tibet is about 10,500 feet high.

I know there's one very high railroad.

It goes up the very...shallow incline of a mountain.

Having been up in the Andes,

I don't think there is anything much higher than 9,000 feet in Peru,

so I'm more inclined to go for Tibet.

That was my first instinct.

I'm wondering if it's just a false memory,

but I think I've heard something about,

there was this railway going up a fairly...

gentle incline and it was described as the highest railway in the world.

But whether I'm just misremembering that...

but going on the language, the word sounds more Tibetan than Peruvian.

We know it's either Peru or Tibet, but we're going for Tibet.

I'm hoping Chris

is not tearing out his remaining hair behind me.

Or all three of them.

Tibet. Chris?

Peru.

It's not, it's Tibet!

Just as well you didn't have him there!

It shows what sixes and sevens you're at.

He would have talked you into Peru.

But it may just be a little interlude on the way to your victory

because your fate is in your own hands because of their mess-up on the first question.

This wins you the money if you give me a correct answer.

The Boulevard Ring and Garden Ring

are ring roads in which major European city?

For £5,000.

Well, Paris is the Peripherique, isn't it? Has it got another name?

Boulevard Ring.

It's French, but it's pretty international, isn't it?

Boulevard Ring, Garden.

Berlin has the Tiergarten, doesn't it?

-That's beside the point. It's of no consequence.

-No.

-Does Paris have more than one ring road?

-Does it?

-Yeah.

I've never driven in France.

-The Peripherique's the big one.

-Peripherique, yeah.

I've driven around that.

-Are we just being too...

-Trying to read too much into it?

Boulevard would suggest that it's French.

But Garden sounds...

Well, it's none of them, is it?

-Garden.

-I'd say go for Moscow.

-Going on that, would you think that...

Moscow perhaps has had more money put into it and built

since the fall of the Berlin Wall,

so therefore they might have adopted foreign names? It's rubbish.

-You mean Western names.

-I've been to Paris and Berlin.

I never noticed the terms.

It's nothing I've heard of, because I've never driven abroad.

That doesn't help, sorry.

-Moscow seems to be filtering to the top.

-Yes, it does.

By a process of elimination.

Well, we have been through them all.

-Several times!

-Through the mill!

Yeah, we've been on a verbal journey around the whole of Europe.

We're plumping for Moscow.

Moscow,

for the Garden Ring and the Boulevard Ring.

The answer is...

-Moscow. You've won!

-Yes!

LOINERS BY PROXY CHEER

Fantastic!

What a hoot!

-How does that feel?

-Fantastic.

That was just almost a perfectly conceived plan,

a perfectly executed game.

You beat the Eggheads more or less in every head-to-head and in the final round,

and you deservedly take the money home, one of our best teams.

Thank you very much for playing

and congratulations to the Loiners By Proxy, £5,000 richer.

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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