Episode 59 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.

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

And challenging our resident quiz champions are Dazed And Infused.

This team are all tea tasters and between them have drunk over four million cups of tea.

-Let's meet them.

-Hi, I'm Paul, I'm 27, and I'm an assistant tea buyer and tea taster.

Hello, I'm Katy. I'm 50 and I'm a tea taster.

Hello, I'm Nigel, I'm 55, and I'm a tea taster.

Hi, I'm Philippa, I'm 32, and I'm a tea taster and tea buyer.

Hi, I'm Zoe, I'm 25, and I'm a tea taster.

Welcome, Dazed And Infused. Four million cups of tea between you!

That is more than any of us will get through in a lifetime.

-How many do you get through in a day?

-On average, we get through 500, maybe more, depending on the job.

What is the purpose of tea tasting?

People will say, "It's a pretty standard taste. Why do you have to keep re-tasting the leaves?"

We have to maintain consistency in the blends. Some tea comes from parts of the world

where they only grow tea for three months, like Assam. In Kenya, they have different weather patterns.

Fascinating subject. We'll talk more about it as we go through the quiz.

The Eggheads are storing away every nugget of information, thinking, "It'll come up in a quiz some time."

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

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

So, Dazed And Infused, the challengers won the last game

and it means £1,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

Our first head-to-head battle is on Arts & Books.

So, in between all the tea tasting,

-who enjoys their arts and books most?

-Zoe is our arts and books expert.

-OK.

OK, Zoe, a little reluctantly, I think, just kicking off.

-You can choose any Egghead you like.

-What do we think?

-I'll try Pat.

-It's going to be Zoe and Pat playing Arts & Books.

To make sure you can't confer with your team-mates, could you take your positions in the question room?

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

-I'd like to go first.

Good luck, Zoe.

Your first question is this. "What a piece of work is a man" is a quote from which Shakespeare play?

Well, I haven't read any of them, so this is going to be quite tricky.

And I'm going to guess...

..Othello.

OK, "what a piece of work is a man" is a quote from Hamlet.

So, Pat, a chance for an early lead.

A Short History Of Nearly Everything is a book by which American writer?

I think that's a general book on science by Bill Bryson.

Bill Bryson. That's the right answer.

-Bill Bryson is almost an adopted Brit.

-He lives in Norfolk.

He's the Chairman of the Council for the Protection of Rural England.

You can't be more English than that.

-He wasn't so keen on Bradford.

-He did Notes On A Small Island.

He said that the only point of Bradford's existence

is to make every other place look good by comparison.

-It didn't go down too well in Yorkshire.

-Tut-tut-tut!

Bill Bryson gives you the lead, Pat.

Zoe, your second question.

Which Iain Banks novel tells the story of dysfunctional Scottish teenager Frank?

Again, I haven't read any of these

and I don't really know anything by this author.

Um...

I'm going...

-I'm going to go for The Wasp Factory.

-The Wasp Factory...

You went down that side before. The Wasp Factory is correct.

Well done. And Pat, your second question.

By what name did the house that Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin shared in Arles

later come to be known?

I think that's the Yellow House.

Van Gogh went to Arles first

and he was determined that Gauguin would join him, so he almost nested.

He did up a house and sent lots of letters,

imploring Gauguin to come south.

I think they spent a turbulent time in the Yellow House

before they went their separate ways.

-I think it's the Yellow House.

-That is the right answer.

You've got to get this, Zoe.

Auguste Rodin's well-known sculpture The Thinker was originally conceived as a representation of which poet?

I can picture the sculpture in my head.

-I think I'm going to go for Dante.

-OK...

-Yeah, Dante.

The Thinker, originally conceived as a representation of Dante.

It's the right answer. So you're still in it.

You've got to hope Pat doesn't get this. Which literary figure said,

"If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to"?

Who said, "If you want to know what God thinks of money,

"just look at the people he gave it to," Millionaire winner Pat?

You can imagine all of these people firing out a quip like that.

Mark Twain was a quip machine,

so on a percentage basis, I'll go for Mark Twain.

"If you want to know what God thinks of money,

"just look at the people he gave it to" was said by Dorothy Parker.

Dorothy Parker.

It's happened, Zoe. You've had a rare let-off from an Egghead there.

We go to sudden death. We take away those options. I need an answer from you.

The Virgin Of The Rocks is the title used to describe two similar works

in the National Gallery and the Louvre by which Renaissance painter?

I really have no idea. Um...

-No, sorry, I don't know.

-Do you know, Pat? It could have been your question if Zoe put you in first.

-Leonardo da Vinci, I think.

-It's da Vinci, yes, Leonardo da Vinci.

If you are to win, you've still got to give me a correct answer to this.

Andre Breton, the poet, essayist and critic,

was the chief theorist and exponent of which artistic movement?

It's either Surrealism or Dada.

I'm not entirely sure.

-I think I'll go with Surrealism.

-Surrealism...

-You're thinking of Dadaism as well.

-It could just be Dada, but on balance, I think it's Surrealism.

Which is the right answer, Pat. Yes, Surrealism.

You went into sudden death, Zoe, but you didn't quite do it.

You won't be playing in the final round. Pat, you will be. Would you both come back and join your teams?

As it stands, one brain gone from Dazed And Infused, all the Eggheads there.

Our next category today is Geography. Who'd like to play this?

-Katy?

-Yeah.

-You, Katy?

-Yeah.

-OK, Katy.

And which Egghead? You can't play Pat, but any of the other four.

-I'll play with Barry.

-You'll play with Barry!

We've got some games in there - ludo, tiddlywinks(!)

OK, let's have Katy and Barry into the question room, please.

So, Katy, in tea tasting, I suppose it's a bit like wine.

Is it a good idea to get to see and know where the leaves are grown?

Yes, you have to know that and one thing we do as part of our training

is we spend about nine months to a year in tea-growing countries getting familiar with it.

We do that when we've been with the company about three years.

-So what are the main places you visited then?

-India, of course. Kenya, Malawi, Indonesia.

China is a big tea-producing country, but it doesn't export a lot of tea.

Although we've been there, that isn't a place we visit that much.

A lot of travelling - it could stand you in good stead in this round.

-Do you want the first or second set of questions?

-I'll go for the first.

Right, the first question concerns the UK.

I'm almost certain they don't grow tea anywhere near here. Here you go.

The Sidlaws, the Ochils and the Campsies are ranges of hills in which part of the United Kingdom?

I don't think I've visited any of these. I may have visited the Ochils.

But I'm pretty sure they're in Scotland.

Scotland? It's the right answer. Well done. Good start.

The nickname Chianti-shire was used to describe which region of Italy, popular with English holidaymakers?

Calabria is in the south of Italy.

That would be too hot to grow the grapes in Chianti-shire.

Lombardy is in the north of Italy, but Chianti-shire is Tuscany.

Is the right answer. Chianti-shire, AKA Tuscany. OK, Katy.

Your second question. Bulawayo is the second largest city in which country?

All three of those countries grow tea and I have visited two of them.

And I have been to Bulawayo.

And when I last visited, it was in Zimbabwe.

It hasn't moved. It's the right answer, yes, Zimbabwe for Bulawayo.

Barry, Cape Comorin is the southernmost tip of which country?

We really are sticking to tea-growing countries.

Cape Comorin is the southernmost tip of India.

Yes, Cape Comorin is the southernmost tip of India.

So, two each.

Katy, your third question.

The archaeological site of Baalbek lies in which modern-day country?

I've not been to any of these countries,

but one of my friends has visited Baalbek.

If I remember the conversation correctly,

it was in Lebanon.

Lebanon is correct. Well, sailing through those three questions.

If Barry hits the rocks here, you're out.

Piton De La Petite Riviere Noire is the highest point on which island?

It's certainly not Madagascar. Mauritius is in the Indian Ocean.

But the Pitons I associate with the West Indies,

so that leaves me with Martinique.

OK, Martinique for Piton De La Petite Riviere Noire...

You have sailed the Good Ship Barry on to the rocks. It's Mauritius.

You're out. Well played, Katy.

Well, three questions, three straight answers there, didn't hesitate.

You're straight into the final round. No place for you, Barry. Come back and join your teams.

It's all-square - one brain gone from each side so far.

And our third subject today is Film & Television.

Who'd like to play this? Film & Television. It can't be Katy or Zoe.

-If Sport or History come up at the final round, what would you rather do?

-I'll play, Dermot.

Which Egghead would you like to play? It can't be Barry or Pat.

-Judith, please.

-Let's have Philippa and Judith into the question room.

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

-I'd like to go second, please.

Changing the tactics from the first two rounds

and putting the Egghead in first. That Egghead is Judith.

To whom does the "Eric" refer in the title of the 2009 film Looking For Eric?

Oh, I've seen a trailer of that. It's Eric Cantona.

Do you know what his profession was before he became an actor?

-Well, he used to kick a ball about, didn't he?

-That kind of thing, yes.

-Eric Cantona...

-Not for Arsenal.

No. Do you know who for?

-Manchester United.

-Judith!

-He did that funny thing

-about the seagulls and sardines.

-You know everything about him.

-And he's French.

-Even more information!

It's the right answer. Eric Cantona in the Looking For Eric film.

Philippa, your first question. In which US state is the TV series Baywatch mainly set?

Well, I've been very lucky to go there with work,

so I'll go for California.

-Are they big tea growers or drinkers?

-Big herbal tea drinkers.

It's the right answer as well. Yes, California. Judith...

Cyberdyne Systems is a fictional corporation that features in which series of films?

"Dine" at the end of "Cyber" is D-I-N-E, is it? "Cyberdine"?

D-Y-N-E. But that's all one word.

-Cyberdyne Systems.

-It doesn't help, I must say.

-OK.

I don't think it's Star Wars.

I just think they'd have something more...elaborate and...

I think it might be Batman. I have a sort of instinct about Batman.

That was my original instinct which I then doubted.

Probably rightly.

It's Terminator. It's Terminator, Cyberdyne Systems.

A chance for you to take the lead, Philippa.

Who announced in June 2009 that they would be stepping down from their role in the TV series The Apprentice

to concentrate on the academic study of Ancient Egyptian manuscripts?

Um, I don't think it's Alan Sugar.

I've seen he's up to other things at the moment.

I'm going to go with, um...

..with Nick Hewer.

OK, Nick Hewer...

It is Margaret Mountford. Margaret Mountford giving up on the show.

No score for each of you there, so it stays all-square.

Judith, your third question. David Simon is the creator and co-writer of which US TV drama series?

Oh, dear, I don't know.

-The Wire.

-The Wire?

-Yes.

-Is the right answer.

-Oh, phew!

-So a bit of a turnaround in your fortunes.

Philippa, you're now facing ejection if you don't get this.

So, whose was the voice of Sir Hiss in the 1973 animated Disney film Robin Hood?

Um, I remember seeing the film.

I know Peter Ustinov is very good at putting on accents,

so I'm going to go with him, Peter Ustinov.

Peter Ustinov for the voice of Sir Hiss.

It's Terry-Thomas. Which means Judith got the second one wrong,

but you're still through to the final round there.

Would you both come back and join your teams?

Judith knocking Philippa out there gives the Eggheads the advantage,

one of their brains missing and two of Dazed And Infused.

Judith, what's your - let me guess - favourite tea? Earl Grey?

-I also like Lapsang.

-OK.

-But for breakfast, I like stronger stuff.

-Brandy?

-Well, no, tea.

I like breakfast tea for breakfast which is stronger.

But there is a huge increase in this Earl Grey phenomenon.

-I just think it's like putting after-shave in your tea.

-Dermot!

-It's not naturally flavoured, is it?

-It's adding this oil, this bergamot.

-It is flavoured with bergamot oil.

There we are. You might as well get some after-shave and put it in your tea, as Judith does in the morning!

-It's not everybody's cup of tea!

-Very nice there, Nigel.

Let's play another round, shall we? Our last subject today before the final round is History.

Who'd like to play this? Nigel is available or Paul.

-Are you all right to do this?

-OK.

Which Egghead would you like to play? Kevin or Chris?

-Chris, please, Dermot.

-OK, "Chris, please".

Not entirely sure. Nigel and Chris into the question room, please.

-So, Nigel, how long have you been tea-tasting for?

-36 years now.

And decaf - what is the process, does it affect the flavour

and is there an awful lot of caffeine in tea?

Answering your last question first, there is not an awful lot of caffeine in tea.

Decaffeinating it can change the taste a bit,

but people like ourselves work very hard to make sure that when we deliver a cup of decaffeinated tea,

it tastes as good as the real thing.

Let's ask some questions about History. Do you want the first set or the second?

I could do the first set on the last lot of questions,

-so I'm going to go for the first set on this lot.

-Good luck, Nigel.

This is your first question. What name was given to the 1640 Parliament summoned by Charles I,

the first to be summoned for 11 years?

That's not a question I know the answer to immediately.

And I'm going to have to guess Short Parliament.

It was the Short Parliament. Well done. How short, Eggheads?

-Just a few months. It was succeeded by the Long Parliament.

-Ah!

OK, first question, Chris.

What name is given to the period of history from 1378 to 1417

when there were two and later three rival Popes in Europe?

One of whom was based at Avignon. It was the Great Schism.

You're a "skism" man? I like "shism".

The Great Schism is the right answer, anyway.

OK, Nigel...

The Svinfylking or "boar formation",

consisting of a wedge of heavily armed warriors, was a tactic typically used by which people?

Your pronunciation makes it sound vaguely Scandinavian,

so I'm going to go with Vikings.

Thank you for identifying all the effort I put into that.

It's the right answer. Svinfylking - "boar formation".

What nationality was Abel Tasman, the navigator after whom Tasmania is named?

-He was Dutch.

-Yes, he was. Two to you. Straight away, back to Nigel.

"My policy is to have no policy" was a phrase often used by which US President?

It's very tempting to say Ronald Reagan, isn't it,

but I don't think it's Reagan.

I don't believe Lincoln would have, so I'm going to go with Roosevelt.

"My policy is to have no policy" was actually Lincoln.

Lincoln. So a chance for Chris here.

Which ancient British tribe occupied England's southwest peninsula at the time of the Roman invasion?

Yeah, well, that's...

Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset these days, isn't it?

And I think that was the stamping ground of the Dumnonii.

It's the right answer, Chris, so you are through to the final round.

Just made it past Nigel there.

Come back and join your teams.

This is what we've been playing towards, the final round, which, as always, is General Knowledge.

I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads can't take part,

so Nigel, Philippa and Zoe from Dazed And Infused

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

So, Paul and Katy, you're playing to win Dazed And Infused £1,000.

Chris, Pat, Judith and Kevin, you're playing for something money can't buy - the Eggheads' reputation.

I'll ask each team three questions in turn. They're all general knowledge and you may confer.

Dazed And Infused, the question is, are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

-Paul and Katy, would you like to go first or second?

-We'll go first.

Dazed And Infused, this is your first General Knowledge question.

What term is often used to describe the fashion and cultural scene in London in the 1960s?

Well, um...

I think it was Swinging.

I think so. I've never heard of Groovy London or the Groovy Sixties.

-I think Swinging London.

-I agree.

-Swinging London.

-Swinging London is the right answer, yes.

Eggheads, the England footballer Rio Ferdinand plays in which position?

Can we just hear from Judith?

-Defender.

-Defender is correct.

I knew it without them telling me.

I just wanted to show you in top light on sport. It's one-all.

Second question, Dazed And Infused.

The cable-stayed bridge which spans the River Thames between Dartford and Thurrock

is officially named after which member of the Royal Family?

This is the one that the M25 goes over. That's the QE2 Bridge.

-That's what it says on the travel news every morning.

-It does, yeah.

-We're going to go for Queen Elizabeth II.

-Right answer.

Queen Elizabeth II for the cable-stayed bridge. More swinging!

Second question, Eggheads. In the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009,

which phrase became popular to describe assets

like sub-prime mortgages which had become ruinous for institutions that held them?

They... By analogy to the effect of poison - toxic debts.

Toxic debts is the right answer, Eggheads, so it's two-all.

And a third question...

The English scholar Thomas Robert Malthus,

who lived from 1766 to 1834, was particularly influential in the study of which topic?

-Malthus...

-Malthus. I think I did this in Geography at school.

I believe he felt that if world population got too big,

we'd all run out of food

and start fighting each other and killing each other,

so I think it's population growth.

It is the right answer. Eggheads, you've got to get this.

Ramsey Theory is a branch of which subject?

He was the brother of an archbishop.

And it's, um...

You know the question, "How many people randomly collected in a room

"do you need to have before you have a 50% chance of a shared birthday?"

I think it's 27. These were the sort of questions Ramsey investigated.

-It's mathematics?

-Mathematics.

-It's mathematical.

-Yeah. After saying that, it's biology, is it(?)

Maths is the right answer. Ramsey Theory there explained by Pat.

OK, after three questions each,

as you know, Dazed And Infused, we go to sudden death and this is your question.

The troubled region of Darfur is located in which African country?

The troubled region of Darfur is located in which African country?

-That's Sudan, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-The answer is Sudan.

-Sudan?

-Yeah.

-Is correct. Back to the Eggheads.

Again you've got to get this.

By what three-letter abbreviation was the Soviet Union's Committee for State Security known in the West?

That was the proper title in translation of the KGB.

-What did it stand for in Russian then?

-Komitet Bezopasnosti Gosudarstvennoy? Anyway...

Pretty close, actually. KGB was all I needed, anyway.

KGB is correct. Another pair of questions.

Dazed And Infused, how many men walked on the moon during NASA's Apollo series of space flights?

How many men walked on the moon during NASA's Apollo series of space flights?

-Hmm...

-Time to get the calculator out.

-Yes.

I think 10 or 12, something like that?

If there were seven...

Yeah, maybe we should go for 12.

-OK...

-How do you feel about that?

I think there were quite a few, so, um...

-We're going to go for 12.

-12?

-Yeah.

Seven missions, two apiece, but you've got Apollo 13 that didn't make it.

It is 12. It's the right answer.

Eggheads, again another question you must get.

Which car company produced the ill-fated Edsel models in the United States in the 1950s?

Which car company produced the ill-fated Edsel models in the United States in the 1950s?

That was Ford.

-Ford?

-Yeah. It was supposed to be their great hope and it was a failure.

-It's the right answer.

Correct, Eggheads. This question is for you, Dazed And Infused.

Who became tournament referee at the Wimbledon tennis championships

after Alan Mills' retirement in 2005?

-I don't know this one.

-I don't either.

Um...

The former captain of the Davis Cup team was John Lloyd. Would he have been involved in that?

That's the only name of an English, British tennis player or tennis personality I can think of.

I have no idea. I don't believe it was a tennis player, but we'll struggle with names.

-We'll just say a name.

-Yeah.

-John Lloyd.

-John Lloyd?

Probably too busy in the commentary box most of the time at Wimbledon.

It's not John Lloyd. It's Andrew Jarrett.

Let's see what happens with this next question.

If the Eggheads don't get it, the game continues. At which English Palladian mansion in Wiltshire

are the follies of King Alfred's Tower and the Temple of Flora?

Stourhead is the one that's known for the follies and I'm sure the...

I'm sure King Alfred's Tower is there and the Temple of Flora, pretty sure.

-It's most likely to be Stourhead. It's full of follies.

-Yeah, yeah.

-There's lots of places in Wiltshire.

-It's a good bet.

OK? Happy, yeah...? We'll go for Stourhead.

-Stourhead?

-Yeah. Lots of follies there.

King Alfred's Tower and the Temple of Flora, follies at an English Palladian mansion...

It is in Stourhead. You've won.

It took a couple of tricky questions to separate our teams today.

Well played, Dazed And Infused. Very, very close indeed.

Thank you so much for telling us all about the wonderful world of tea.

I will never look at my cuppa in a non-descript way ever again. I will savour each and every taste.

Thank you for playing. Congratulations to the Eggheads.

They reign supreme over quizland once again.

You won't be going home with £1,000 which rolls over to the next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team have the brains to defeat the Eggheads. £2,000 says they don't.

Until then, goodbye.

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