Episode 6 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 pits

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 the might of our quiz Goliaths today are

the Not Very Civil Servants.

The team all know each other from working in the same tribunal service in Bristol. Let's meet them.

I'm Steve, I'm 54 and I'm a business analyst.

I'm Alison, I'm 46 and I'm a civil servant.

I'm Caroline, I'm 41 and I'm an insurance manager.

Hi, I'm Alex, I'm 45 and my job is Head of Strategy and Planning.

Hi, I'm Ian, I'm 48 and I'm a civil servant.

Welcome to you, Not Very Civil Servants.

Who's not very civil to each other?

It's you, Caroline, isn't it? And Ian.

Can't possibly say.

Alex has been put in between us to separate us.

Keep you apart. Do you sit beside each other at work?

We sit across the office, quite a distance from each other.

I think that was organised by Alison.

Absolutely!

I just turn up once a week to intervene when there's a squabble.

-So a bit of banter passes between you. Is this verbal or electronic or both?

-No, verbal.

-Commit nothing to email these days.

-No.

And tell me about the quizzing, Steve.

Have you put the team together? Have you quizzed together as a team?

Yes, we've not quizzed together as a team.

We've got reasonable records individually in local quizzes but we're a fairly new team.

But we've got ourselves together what I believe to be a good team,

one that'll be a reasonable challenge for the Eggheads.

And a range of disciplines, a range of subjects.

A good range, all-round knowledge, yeah.

OK, well, let's see what comes up. Best of luck to you today, Not Very Civil Servants.

Now, every day there's £1,000 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.

Not Very Civil Servants, the Challengers actually won the last game, proving it

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

And our first head to head battle is on the subject of music.

Any one of you can play this.

We've decided that Alison will play music.

Good on you, Alison. Which Egghead would you like to play?

Any one of them you like.

-I think I'd like to play Chris, actually.

-OK, Chris.

Let's have Alison against Chris. The subject is music.

Could I ask you both to take your positions in the Question Room?

Well, Alison, you're playing music.

I believe you play a mean saxophone.

Oh, I love the saxophone.

I don't play in a band or anything, I just play at home to annoy my children and neighbours, really.

-And does it work? Does it annoy them?

-Oh, it does.

It gets everyone in the street out their houses and far, far away.

Making the cats meow and the dogs howl.

OK, Alison, would you like to go first or second?

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

Good luck. Here you go.

First question to you, Alison.

Rabbit and Ain't No Pleasing You were UK top ten hit singles during the 1980s for which duo?

Well, I think Pepsi and Shirlie were the backing singers for Wham!

Renee and Renato, I don't think it was them,

so I think it was Chas and Dave.

Chas and Dave. Um... it is the right answer.

Yes, Chas and Dave.

Chris, a big fan, are you, Chris, of Chas and Dave?

Well, Dave Peacock actually came from Ponders End where I came from.

All right. Well, your first question, Chris.

The musician and singer George Benson is best known for playing which instrument?

Benson...

Yes, he accompanies himself on the piano, I believe.

OK. I'm sure he's good on the piano, but he's best known for playing the guitar.

Is he, begad?

Begad! Very good start, Alison. See if you can go two-nil up.

The euphonium is most closely related to and most resembles which other brass instrument?

I should know this but I can't picture it at the moment.

I don't think it would be a trombone or a cornet.

I think I'll try the tuba, please.

The tuba. Euphonium.

Certainly not saxophone. It is tuba.

It is the right answer.

OK, it's two-nil to you. It means Chris has to get this.

Chris, who co-wrote the song Stuck In The Middle With You, famously used in the film Reservoir Dogs?

Hmm.

He was half of the Humblebums with Billy Connolly, wasn't he?

Also wrote Baker Street. Gerry Rafferty.

OK. You seemed stuck for a moment or two and then it all flooded out.

That's the right answer, yes.

Gerry Rafferty, co-writer of Stuck In The Middle With You.

Two-one to you, Alison, which means you go through to the final round if you get this.

What was the first name of the English composer Finzi, born in 1901?

I must admit I'm not really familiar with someone called Finzi.

I'm going to take a guess at George.

-George Finzi?

-Yes.

-OK.

It's not the right answer. First one incorrect.

No, it's Gerald. Gerald Finzi.

Didn't get it, Alison, and gives Chris a chance to get back in the game with this.

Nourabad, Leila and Zurga are characters in which opera?

Set in what used to be called Ceylon, it's The Pearl Fishers.

It is. He's back in the game.

That's all square, two-all, and we go to Sudden Death, then, Alison, and remove those multiple choices.

Just got to hear an answer from you, this is your sudden death question.

Alf was the debut solo album by which British female singer born in 1961?

Absolutely fantastic singer by the name of Alison Moyet.

It is, yes, Alison Moyet.

And Alf was her nickname, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

-And this is your question, Chris.

In which UK city is Opera North based?

Hmm.

Not Leeds, and it's not Liverpool.

Wouldn't be anywhere obscure like Huddersfield.

I've an idea it's based on St George's Hall in Manchester.

Manchester.

So you instantly wrote off Leeds which is where Opera North is based.

-Is it indeed?

-Leeds.

Which means, Alison, you're through.

Everyone very pleased about that. That's cracking. Great start for you, Not Very Civil Servants.

Alison, you'll be playing in the Final Round.

Could I ask you both, please, to come back and join your teams?

May not be very civil servants, but very good quizzers on the early evidence anyway.

Congratulations to Alison. You're through to the Final Round.

It means one Egghead has gone. That Egghead is Chris.

And here's another opportunity for you to knock another Egghead out.

This subject is science, and who'd like to play this.

Can't be Alison, remember. Science.

We're going to play Alex.

OK, Alex, who would you like to play from the Eggheads?

It can't be Chris.

OK, I'll take on CJ, please.

Let's have Alex and CJ into the Question Room, please.

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

-I'll go first, please.

Good luck. Here you go, Alex. What term is used to refer to the

process of gaining unauthorised access to a computer system?

Well, I wouldn't have thought it's digging.

Leave that you the garden, and the weeding to the garden,

so I think I'll go for the hacking, please.

Yeah, hacking is the right answer.

CJ...

In astronomy, what term refers to the measurement of the brightness of a star or other celestial body?

That would be its magnitude.

It would be. That is the right answer. Well done, CJ.

And back to you, Alex.

Which planet in the solar system has the widest range of daily temperatures?

Er, OK, let's think about this.

Well, we've got Mercury pretty close to the sun,

Mars a bit further out, and Neptune further still.

So I would have thought, theoretically,

it should be the one closest to the sun so I'm going to go for Mercury.

Logical mind... getting the right answer.

Well done.

Yeah, it's that proximity to the sun that presumably then leads to this

huge range of temperatures when the dark side comes round.

-It's got ice at the poles.

-Ah.

OK. And, well, I suppose still on temperature for this question for you, CJ.

Baron Kelvin of Largs, the mathematician and physicist who developed the Kelvin scale of

temperature measurement was born in which city?

Ah.

Oh, dear. I'm been hunting around for a biography of Kelvin for quite some

time and there doesn't seem to be a decent one written.

He was born William Thomson...

-but you're not going to give me the point for that, are you?

-No.

Er, I'm not sure.

I don't think it's Belfast.

Um...

but I really don't know between the other two.

I just associate him mainly with Glasgow.

I really don't know this but I'm going to go for Birmingham.

Birmingham. Baron Kelvin of Largs was born in... Eggheads?

-Belfast.

-Belfast.

He's right about the Glasgow thing because he actually lived most of his life, a long life,

and did most of his work in Glasgow.

Hence Kelvin.

Born in Belfast and not Birmingham as CJ was hoping.

It means, Alex, you go through if you give me a correct answer here.

The Varroa... V A R R O A...

The Varroa mite has had a destructive effect on which form of British wildlife in this century?

OK, this is not familiar,

so again I'm just going to try and work through the options.

A mite suggests to me that it wouldn't be attacking a fish so I'm going to rule out salmon.

A mite could be difficult to attach to bees.

I don't know whether it could attach itself.

I'm going to go for falcons, I think, Dermot.

OK, the Varroa mite has had a destructive effect on... Eggheads?

-Bees.

-Bees.

Alex, bees not falcons,

which means you can get back in the game, CJ, if you get this.

Which chemical element at number 72 in the periodic table is named after

the Latin name of the city in which it was discovered in the 1920s.

It would help if I could remember what number 72 was.

It's a bit less than 73.

Er...

I'm not going to go for Rhenium, I don't think, which means that's

certainly going to be the right answer.

Apologies to the others but I really don't know this.

Simply going on "dub" sounds more Latin to me, I'll go for Dubnium.

He apologised there. Was he right to apologise?

Yeah.

-Copenhagen.

-Hafnium, Copenhagen.

-Oh, Hafnium from...

-Hafnia was...

Hafnia, Copenhagen. Hafnium. Copenhagen in Latin is?

-Hafnia, I think.

-Hafnia.

Hafnium. So there we are, the sorry tale of CJ's round, there.

-Alex, you're through to the Final Round as well.

-Yeah!

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Well, the good start just got better.

The Eggheads have lost two brains from the Final Round. Not Very Civil Servants are all there.

And we move on to our next subject today.

This one is geography, and who wants to play this from Steve, Caroline or Ian? Geography.

Well, our geographical expert,

for want of a better term, is Caroline,

so we're going to play Caroline.

OK. And which Egghead? Chris and CJ have played.

We're going to go for the big one. We're going to take down Kevin.

Take down Kevin.

Well, he's been taken down pretty recently, so let's see how you do, Caroline.

Could I ask you both, please, to take your positions in the Question Room?

-Well, Caroline, do you want to hear Kevin's record in this subject?

-Um...

I'm not quite sure whether I want to hear it or not.

It's pretty good, as on most subjects.

Played 22 times and of those lost twice, so a one-in-eleven chance on that record of beating him.

Let's see if this is the time he's going to lose.

Caroline, would you like to go first or second?

I think I'll go first, please, Dermot.

Very best of luck to you, Caroline. Here's your question.

The English town of Lowestoft is located on which major body of water?

Um... I don't think it's the English Channel.

I think Lowestoft

is probably in the east so, on that basis,

I'll go with the North Sea.

The English town of Lowestoft, East Anglia...

Yeah, it's the right answer. North Sea. Good start.

Kevin, Pont Neuf, the construction of which commenced

in the 16th century, is the oldest bridge in which European city?

Famously ironic because it's called the New Bridge,

but it is the oldest. It's Paris.

Paris is correct, yes, Kevin. One each.

Caroline, McMurdo Sound is a bay lying just off which continent?

Gosh, I haven't actually heard of McMurdo Sound,

so I will take a guess...

and I'm going to guess Antarctica.

Antarctica... is the right answer.

Well done, Caroline.

Kevin's second question.

Stazione di Santa Lucia is the main railway station in which Italian city?

Stazione di Santa Lucia is the main railway station in which Italian city?

I've been to all three of those and I've been to two of them by train,

or a train has been involved in part of the journey,

but that's not helping, unfortunately.

You didn't look at the stations you arrived in.

Not as such, no. No.

I don't think it's Milan,

so I'm definitely ruling out Milan.

So Rome or Venice...

On the basis that I haven't been to Venice by rail,

I'll have to go for Venice.

You're going for Venice.

-Yeah.

-Well, done, Kevin.

Venice is correct. Stazione di Santa Lucia in Venice.

Caroline, your third question.

Little Burgundy is a famous district in which North American city?

Again, I'm not sure about this at all.

Um...

my instinct would say probably not Detroit.

I think, because of the French influence, I'll probably...

I'll go with Montreal.

OK, on the French influence, well, don't forget New Orleans

and its massive French quarter,

but you got the right one! Montreal. Correct.

Well done. OK, Kevin,

Pico Turquino...

Pico as in P I C O and Turquino...

T U R Q U I N O.

Pico Turquino is the highest point on which Caribbean island?

Well, that sounds pretty Hispanic, so...

I don't think... We'll rule out Jamaica on that basis because...

I don't actually know the names of the highest points in any of those, unfortunately.

Should do maybe, but...

I can't choose between them.

Both Spanish-speaking.

All right, on the basis that possibly I might be slightly more likely to

have heard of it if it was Cuba,

I'll have to go for Puerto Rico, but it could be either.

Pico Turquino is the highest point in Cuba.

It's incorrect, Kevin. Another one bites the dust!

Caroline, you're through to the final round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

As it stands, the Eggheads have lost three brains from the Final Round.

The Not Very Civil Servants haven't lost any.

Can they make it four out of four?

Our last subject before the Final Round is food and drink and, Steve or Ian, one of you to play it.

Well, we'd already decided beforehand that one of Ian's specialist subjects is food and drink,

as you can see.

And on that basis,

it's going to be Ian.

I thought you were going to switch there. Ian, stay with us.

You've got to choose from Daphne or Judith, one of our female Eggheads.

-Yeah, I think Judith. You think Judith?

-Yeah.

My captain says I'm playing Judith.

We're playing Judith.

OK, well, to be more specific, Ian, you're playing Judith.

Let's have you both into the Question Room, please.

Well, Ian, how well has it been going for you lot up to this point?

Let's see if you can keep it going. Do you want to go first or second?

I'll go second, please.

OK, switch of tactics, hoping for a slip-up from Judith.

Your question.

In Chinese cuisine, what name is given to a small dumpling consisting

of a wrapper with a savoury filling that's usually boiled, fried or served in a soup?

Well, I think that is wanton.

-I hope.

-Think you know.

Going for wanton.

Wanton soup and all the others. It's the right answer, yes.

Well, done. Good start. And, Ian, your first question.

What is the term for pre-baking a pastry case

before adding any filling to prevent the base becoming soggy?

Well, food and drink is not my specialist subject, regardless of what my captain said.

I haven't done much cooking in the kitchen.

I would say it's baking rough.

Baking rough...

pre-baking the pastry case so it doesn't go soggy.

A bit of a soggy answer. Not the right one.

It's baking blind. Baking blind.

Would you have been better off with wanton?

-No.

-OK, well, that's some comfort to you, then.

All right.

Judith, in which city did Britain's first marmalade factory open in the late 18th century?

I'm fairly sure it's... just Dundee.

I think it's Dundee. I don't know why I think that but I think it is.

-Dundee?

-Mmm.

The answer is Dundee. It's correct, yes. First marmalade factory in

Britain opened in Dundee in the 18th century, so you have two points and, Ian, you need to get this, then.

Maipo Valley and Casablanca Valley... Maipo, M A I P O...

are wine-growing areas in which country?

Well, for some reason,

I've got South Africa on the mind.

The Casablanca... I may be wrong, going down the wrong track, but I'm going to go with South Africa.

OK, South Africa

for those two valleys.

The Maipo and the Casablanca

represent wines grown in...

-Chile.

-Ahh!

It's Chile. When you said you didn't like the subject, you've just proved, Ian, that...

you tried your best, you can certainly say that.

It means, though, that you won't be playing in the Final Round, and the first Egghead gets through a head to

head to the Final Round. That's Judith.

Would you both come back and join your teams?

This is what we've been playing towards.

The Final Round which, as always, is general knowledge, but I'm afraid those of you who

lost your head to heads won't be allowed to take part in this round.

So, Chris, Kevin and CJ from the Eggheads, and Ian from the

Not Very Civil Servants, would you leave the studio now, please?

So, Steve, Alison, Caroline and Alex, you're playing to win the Not Very Civil Servants £1000.

Judith and Daphne, you're playing for something money can't buy...

your rather battered 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.

Not Very Civil Servants, the question is, are your four brains better than the Eggheads' two?

I think so.

You think so.

-We'll see!

-Ohh, it's going to be a very good round, I think.

Now, Not Very Civil Servants, would you like to go first or second?

On the basis that I think we did better when we went first,

we shall continue in that manner and take the first question.

First question to Not Very Civil Servants.

Number Wang and The Snooker Commentators

are regular sketches in a comedy series starring which double act?

Now, I'm quite confident on this one, having seen it on a regular basis.

It certainly isn't French and Saunders, it's not Hale and Pace.

-It's the marvellous Mitchell and Webb.

-Mitchell and Webb.

That's Number Wang. It is the right answer. Well done.

Oh, well done.

OK, Eggheads, the Pyramid Stage is an integral feature of which music

and arts festival which usually takes place in June in Somerset?

The Pyramid Stage is an integral feature of which music and arts

festival which usually takes place in June in Somerset?

That would be Glastonbury.

Glastonbury? Have you ever been?

-No. No.

-Too muddy.

You could hold a more refined one on your land, couldn't you, Judith?

Well, it would be drier.

Glastonbury is the right answer. Well done, Eggheads.

OK, Not Very Civil Servants, Alfred Wainwright devoted much of

his life to mapping and describing which area of the British Isles?

Alfred Wainwright devoted much of his life to mapping and describing

which area of the British Isles?

I have no idea.

I don't think it's the South Downs.

-Wainwright's Walks in the Lake District.

-OK.

-Wainwright's Walks rings a bell with Alex. Lake District you said?

-Yeah.

We're going to go for the Lake District.

Lake District? It's been a very successful TV series, hasn't it?

Wainwright's Walks with Julia Bradbury,

and she has been walking around the Lake District.

It's the right answer.

So, Eggheads, you need to get this.

In which city do the Dutch football team Feyenoord play home games?

Feyenoord. Something north.

-I've no idea.

-Nor have I, not a clue.

Oh, dear! We could do with one of the boys here.

I think I'd go for Rotterdam because it's the biggest,

but I have absolutely no idea.

OK. Well, I'll go with you.

Well, we're...

On the basis that Rotterdam is the largest, we're going

to go for Rotterdam, but we have no idea, Dermot.

Yeah, I heard that. So no idea. Wondering if one of the boys knew.

Any of you male Eggheads know?

-It's Rotterdam.

-It is Rotterdam.

It is the right answer.

She's a brilliant guesser.

Just seeing how well those head to heads worked for you there.

Well, another question to you, Not Very Civil Servants.

Haven't struggled with any of yours so far. Third question.

Which French fashion designer was awarded the title of Commandeur de la Legion d'honneur in 2009?

We've got pretty much four gut feelings here.

Four. That's good. So you've added an extra one.

We could've done with a fifth gut, but what we're going to do is we're

going to go with our gut instinct and go for Jean-Paul Gaultier.

Jean-Paul Gaultier. Legion d'honneur was awarded in 2009 to...

-Sonia Rykiel.

-Ohh!

Oh, no, so a miss there.

Well, you were going so well, and the Eggheads wobbling on the

last one, but they have a chance just to nick it.

Well, Eggheads, can you tell me,

in finance, which term refers to the practice of selling a security you

do not own in anticipation of its price falling?

In finance, which term refers to the practice of selling a security you

do not own in anticipation of its price falling?

-Short selling.

-Short selling?

-Yes.

It's correct. Eggheads, you've won.

Well, Not Very Civil Servants, up to that point, I would've been short selling the Eggheads.

You did everything you could do in those head to heads.

Fantastic performances from nearly all of you. Poor Ian got

lumbered with that food and drink round he didn't want to play.

But really knocked those Eggheads about in the head to heads,

and they just nipped in there.

But very good team. Very good to see you, Not Very Civil Servants.

I think, on another day, could have done it but not on this particular one.

-But thank you very much indeed for coming along to play.

-Thank you.

So the winners are the Eggheads.

They've done what comes naturally to them, and they reign supreme over quiz-land once again.

You won't be going home with £1,000 which means the money rolls over to our 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.

£2,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd