Episode 104 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

attempt to beat possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain.

Their quiz pedigree is well-known as they've won

some of the country's toughest quizzes.

They are the Eggheads.

And challenging our resident quiz champions today

are X Appeal.

This team all work together

at Xaverian Catholic Sixth Form College in Manchester.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Matt, I'm 28 and I'm a teacher of history.

Hello, I'm Terry, I'm 62, I'm the IT coordinator.

Hello, I'm Elaine and I'm 53 years old

and I'm an additional learning support tutor.

Hello, I'm Pat, I'm 32 and I'm a teacher of religious education.

Hi, my name's Phil, I'm 28 years old and I teach film and media studies.

-Matthew and team, welcome.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

And Xaverian spelt with an X is what?

It's a college that originally started off taking its name

from a saint, which is Saint Xavier.

And it was run by a religious order for quite a while

and then we took it over.

Now we run it as a sixth form college.

And what do we know about Saint Xavier?

I think he went to India with Saint Ignatius Loyola. I think.

-He was Portuguese, Spanish.

-He set up the Jesuits.

Anyone else add to Saint Xavier?

He was known as the Apostle of the Indies.

-So, he was a Jesuit who went to India.

-OK, there we are.

Worrying amount of knowledge on that side, as always.

But we know about them, don't we?

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.

The Eggheads have won the last six games

which means £7,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

-Shall we give it a go?

-Yes.

First head-to-head is on the subject of Science.

-I think Elaine was quite confident.

-I know, yeah.

-Also, Matt, you'd do quite well.

-Yes, that's true.

-Elaine, OK.

Which Egghead?

You've got the pick of the crop.

I'm looking at either Daphne or maybe Pat, I don't know. Maybe.

-How about Pat? Please.

-OK, Elaine.

Elaine from X Appeal against Pat from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring,

would you take your positions in the Question Room?

-OK, good luck, Elaine.

-Thank you.

Three multiple-choice questions on Science in turn.

Whoever answers the most questions correctly

is the winner and goes through to the final.

Elaine, choose the first or second set.

I'll go first, please.

Best of luck to you. Here we go.

What nationality was the scientist Max Planck?

P-L-A-N-C-K.

That sounds to me more like a German name than a French or an Italian.

So, I think I'll have to go for German, please.

German is the correct answer, well done.

Pat, the boll weevil is a serious pest to which crop?

Well, I think, on the cotton plant, it develops a boll

which, I think, explodes, then and releases the fibre.

So, the boll weevil is a big menace to cotton.

Well done, cotton is the right answer.

Elaine, your second question.

Dorcas and Thompson's are species of which creature?

Dorcas and Thompson's.

I'm trying to think which of those choices

have a lot of different species.

Right.

I think I'm going to go with gazelle.

Well done, gazelle is completely right. Two points to you.

Pat, which bone in the human body is the closest

to a chicken's wishbone?

Not something I've thought about very much.

Um.

My first thought is that I remember there being

a single wishbone in a chicken.

Where we, obviously, have two clavicles which are our collarbones

and two scapulas - our shoulder blades.

So, that suggests pelvis.

I'm just trying to remember the last time

I prised one of these from a chicken.

It is a funny, Y-shaped bone so it could almost be two fused,

clavicles or scapula.

There is only one wishbone.

So, if it is, in fact, two fused bones, I'm in hard luck.

I'm going to go for pelvis.

Pelvis is your answer. CJ looks excruciated. What's wrong?

-Not sure but I would've gone for clavicle.

-It's the clavicle, Pat.

Lovely bit of logic, but led you astray. So, Elaine, how about this?

Get this right, you've knocked him out.

He's never lost in Science before. Your third question.

Who was the first British woman to win

a Nobel Prize in any of the science categories?

Er. Right.

Well, looking at those ladies' names,

the one name that rings a bell with me

is, but it could well be wrong, is Rosalind Franklin.

So, I'll choose Rosalind Franklin, please, Jeremy.

I'm afraid you're wrong. It was Dorothy Hodgkin.

Won it for chemistry in 1964.

OK, Pat, your question.

Get this wrong, you're out.

What shape is each face of a regular dodecahedron?

I think the faces are pentagonal.

Pentagonal is the right answer.

Well, so we go to Sudden Death.

Sorry, Elaine, it's never quite that easy.

It's harder as I don't give alternatives.

Here's your question.

The Cavendish laboratory is the physics department

at which university?

Right, well, I'm going to just have to take

a bit of a pot luck guess, here.

I'm going to go for Manchester University.

No, it's not Manchester, it's Cambridge.

Pat, if you get this right,

you're through.

In the human body, which muscle contracts to make the elbow bend?

Hm.

That must be the main muscle in the upper arm.

What are those muscles called?

Biceps and triceps, yes, they are.

They're in the arm, aren't they?

When you pump iron, when you lift weights

over and over again and build up your upper arms.

It's the front muscle.

Cos it has to contract to pull up the lower arm.

So, I think it's the biceps.

Biceps is the right answer, well done. Triceps is the back.

So, Elaine, sorry,

you came very close to historically knocking Pat out

on Science but you didn't quite make it.

And he is now in the final. And, I'm sorry to say, you're not.

Both of you, come back and rejoin us here.

The challengers have lost one brain

from the final round while the Eggheads have lost no brains.

The next subject for you is Geography.

Which challenger wants this?

I don't know whether you want to go for this or not, Pat.

I can if you want?

I feel OK about going for it

but you've specified that you want to do it.

-I can do it.

-You'd be better at Geography.

Jeremy, I'm going to go for geography.

OK, Matthew against anyone but Pat. Geography. Who looks...?

-I don't know, I don't know whether CJ is good.

-Don't think so. CJ.

-Let's go CJ.

-OK. Yeah, maybe CJ, I think.

He's on a run with geography at the moment, actually.

I've been playing it an awful lot.

Matt from X Appeal against CJ from the Eggheads.

Just to ensure there's no conferring, please,

then go to the Question Room.

I'll ask three questions, multiple-choice, Matt,

and you can choose the first or the second set.

I think I'll do the same as Elaine

and go for the first set, please.

Here we go, Matt, good luck. The county of Cumbria has a coastline on which body of water?

OK, I'm trying to visualise it in my head. At the moment.

Um.

It's not the English Channel because that's between France

and the south of England.

I think it's the west side, it's above Manchester.

I'm going to go for the Irish Sea, I think, Jeremy.

Nicely done. You got there. Irish Sea is correct.

CJ, your question.

U-shaped and V-shaped are types of which geographical feature?

Presumably, they are shaped like that

because of the forces that created them.

Presumably, a U-shaped would be caused by a glaciation.

So, I'd think they're valleys.

Valleys is correct.

Back to you, Matt.

Marchmont and Portobello are areas of which UK capital?

For some reason, Edinburgh's in my head.

I'll just see if I can get rid of the other two.

I've been to Edinburgh.

My mind's gone blank on whether I've actually,

kind of, seen those places on a map

but I think I'm going to go with Edinburgh, I think, Jeremy.

Well done. Edinburgh is correct. Playing well, Matt.

CJ, the Masai Mara Reserve borders which national park?

It's not Kruger. I don't know where Chobe is.

Well, Serengeti's in the right area so I'll have to go for that.

You've got it right. Serengeti it is.

Third question. Try and get this right, Matt.

The Republic of Vanuatu is in which region

of the Pacific Ocean?

The only one I think I've heard of, unless I'm making this up,

I think, is Polynesia.

I could sit here for about half an hour

and still, probably, only go will that guess.

I'm going to have to go with Polynesia.

I'm afraid it's wrong, it's Melanesia.

CJ, your question to take the round.

Which river joins the Euphrates to form the Shatt-al-Arab?

I don't know the name of the area you described.

The Tigris, I believe, does join the Euphrates.

Um.

I don't know, I'll go for the obvious and hope it's the Tigris.

You've got it spot-on, CJ. Well done.

You've taken the round as well.

Matt, you've been knocked out and you won't be in the final.

Please, both of you, come back to your teams now.

So, the challengers have lost two brains now.

The Eggheads have still not lost a brain

and the next subject is Film & TV. Who would like this?

-I think it's really obvious.

-I think I'll go. Obviously, no pressure.

I think we'll have to go with Phil, seeing as he teaches it.

Exactly, I thought you would, actually.

So, Phil, against which Egghead?

-What do you think?

-Judith, maybe.

-Judith, yeah.

-Yeah, I'm OK with that.

-OK. I think we're going to go for Judith.

-Right.

Phil from X Appeal against Judith from the Eggheads.

Do, if you can, go to the Question Rooms now.

Let's see how we go here.

Three questions on Film & Television. And, Phil,

choose the first or second set of questions.

Absolutely the first, please.

Here we go.

In the 1963 film The Great Escape, which actor tries to get away

from the Germans by jumping a motorcycle over a barbed wire fence?

Well, I can't imagine Richard Attenborough doing that,

to be honest, the cuddly, old guy from Jurassic Park.

Donald Pleasence, no.

I remember the iconic image, I used to have a poster of it, actually.

So, I'm going to say Steve McQueen.

-Is this the one with the baseball glove?

-This is the one.

Steve McQueen is the right answer, well done.

Judith, which children's programme, which began in the 1970s,

featured a puppet called Zippy?

I don't know. I can't remember any children's programmes, ever.

I think it might have been...

It's always, the first question's always an obvious one. Magpie.

I'm afraid you're wrong. Rainbow is the right answer.

Catastrophic answer from Judith, there.

Phil, which actor played Julian Chapman in Casualty

and Paul Dangerfield in Dangerfield?

You see, Michael French, I think he was in Eastenders as well

and then went into Casualty.

But I'm not sure if he was Dangerfield or not.

But Clive Mantle is ringing a bell for me, also.

I think I'm going to go with Clive Mantle.

You were bouncing around between two wrong answers.

-It was Nigel Le Vaillant.

-Fair enough.

What can you tell us about Mr Le Vaillant?

-You've mentioned it all in the question.

-Yes.

If he's watching, he'll be devastated.

OK, so, Judith, your chance to catch up.

Which actress played Mickey Rourke's love interest

in the 2008 film The Wrestler?

I didn't see it, needless to say.

I think it was Mira Sorvino.

I think it wasn't. It was Marisa Tomei.

Oh, that was the one I was going to say.

Phil, your question.

The TV series The Beiderbecke Affair and its sequels

were works by which writer, Phil?

Could I have the last question? Is that OK?

Can we swap those around?

I don't think it's Alan Bennett.

Alan Plater, I'm not familiar with his work.

I'm going to say Alan Bleasdale just because I know, I don't think

it's Bennett and I don't really know Plater, so Bleasdale.

It's not Alan Bleasdale, it's Alan Plater.

So, it's one point to you and it's zero to you, Judith.

-I think they might be obscure questions, don't you?

-They might be.

Here's your question.

Peter Capaldi played Oldsen and Denis Lawson played Urquhart

in which 1983 British film?

I don't know.

High Hopes. High Hopes, that's a good...

High Hopes, I have high hopes of High Hopes.

Saying it a number of times

won't make it more likely to be correct, I'm afraid.

High Hopes is wrong. It's Local Hero. So, well done, Phil.

You'll support your team in the last round.

A bit of a breakthrough.

-Unusual round with one correct answer.

-Yes.

Judith, you are knocked out.

And if you wouldn't mind, both of you, please, come back

and rejoin your teams.

The challengers have lost two brains from the final round.

But the Eggheads have, now, lost a brain as well.

The last subject before the final is Politics.

-Don't we have somebody who's good on this?

-It has to be me.

-Would you like to confer?

-We'll need you last.

-You know, you're quite good at politics.

-You'll be fine.

We'll stick to our original and have Patrick.

Patrick, OK. And which Egghead would you like to take apart?

-If we could get rid of Kevin.

-Try and go for Kevin?

-I think so.

-OK, unlikely, but we'll try Kevin, please.

-Nice work.

Many players hurl themselves at Kevin

before the final, just to see if they can knock him out.

OK, Pat from X Appeal versus Kevin from the Eggheads,

please go to the Question Room now.

Right, three questions on Politics in turn and, Pat,

you can choose the first or second set of questions.

Well, I'm wondering whether to break with tradition but, I don't know,

I should just go first, really, just like all the others. Follow suit.

Here's your first question. Good luck.

In 2005, Ed Miliband became MP for which constituency?

Right, well, I think, I know, Bethnal Green,

I was working round there at that time

and I think Oona King and the George Galloway fight

was going on at that time, or near enough that time.

So, I think George Galloway might have been there.

Doncaster North.

It's probably more likely to be

a bit of a Labour stronghold than Oxford East, I think.

So, I think, maybe, it's probably Doncaster North.

Nice work, Doncaster North, it is. Not an easy question.

Kevin, which building, opened in 2001,

was built to provide extra space for MPs and their staff?

It's just on the other side of Westminster Bridge Road

from the Houses of Parliament and it's Portcullis House.

Portcullis House is the right answer. Well done.

Back to you, Patrick.

Between 2001 and 2007,

Julia Hartley-Brewer served as the political editor

of which newspaper?

News of the World, I do, sometimes, read the News of the World

to get the football scores and, inevitably, you do flick through

other pages as well and I've never seen that name before.

So, I think going to rule out the News of the World.

I think the Mail, I always associate with a certain type of person.

If I can remember the question you just asked me,

the woman had a double-barrelled surname. Is that correct?

Julia Hartley-Brewer.

Yeah, and I think, for that reason,

I'm going to go for the Mail on Sunday.

-Your answer is?

-The Mail on Sunday.

-Mail on Sunday, OK.

-No, that's wrong, actually. It is the Sunday Express.

-Right.

So you got that one wrong. Kevin, your question.

According to one version of his last words,

which prime minister died with veal pies on his mind?

Yeah.

Yeah, as you say, it's one of those famous last words

with more than one version of what he said at the end.

He's supposed to have said, "I think I could eat one of Bellamy's

"veal pies." It's William Pitt the Younger.

William Pitt the Younger is quite right. Well done.

OK. Patrick,

you need to get this one right, now.

In 2002, which children's TV favourite appeared before

a congressional committee to urge more spending on music in schools?

SpongeBob SquarePants was, probably, at his peak,

maybe, in the early noughties.

I think, maybe, SpongeBob, I'm going to go for, Jeremy, please.

It wasn't SpongeBob SquarePants. It was Elmo, Patrick.

Which means, I'm afraid, you have been knocked out by Kevin.

Return to us and we will play the final round.

This is what we've been playing towards, it is time

for the final round which is General Knowledge.

I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads

won't be allowed to take part in this round.

So, Matt, Elaine and Pat from X Appeal and also

Judith from the Eggheads, would you please, now, leave the studio.

Terry and Phil, you are playing to win X Appeal £7,000.

Pat, Kevin, CJ and Daphne, you are playing for something

that money can't buy, the Eggheads' reputation.

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

The questions are all General Knowledge

and you are allowed to confer.

So, Terry and Phil, the question is

are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

-Would you like to go first or second?

-Let's stick to going first.

Continue the tradition, we'll go first.

All right, all the best to you both. In 2010,

Karren Brady became vice-chairman of which football club?

-It's West Ham, isn't it?

-I'm pretty certain it's West Ham.

I saw her. I think she was on The Apprentice

talking about that. I think it's West Ham.

Yes, we're going with West Ham.

West Ham United is correct.

The Irish name Seamus is the equivalent of which English name?

-James.

-James.

-Is it?

-James. That's James.

James is the right answer, Daphne, well done.

Back to you two.

What type of craftsman is most associated with Flemish bond

and English bond?

-It's some sort of pattern or something.

-OK.

-I don't think it's windows so not a glazier.

-Tiling.

I think it's either tiling or bricklaying.

And I think I've heard of this,

-I think the different ways that you can lay lines of bricks.

-OK.

-Let's say bricklaying.

-We'll say bricklayer.

Bricklayer's absolutely right, well done.

OK, Eggheads,

let's see if you stumble, fall off your wall.

In Greek mythology, who cleaned the Augean Stables?

It was the first of Heracles's 12 labours, wasn't it?

-It wasn't the first.

-No?

-Yeah. That's Heracles.

That is correct, it's Heracles. Well done.

OK. If you get this one right,

we've seen it happen many times before,

the Eggheads, they look cool but they start to sweat.

Just get this one right.

The Potala Palace is the former home of which spiritual leader?

-It's P-O-T-A-L-A, as you'd expect.

-Potala Palace.

-The Potala Palace.

The Dalai Lama, I don't know why but I've got an idea.

You've got an idea.

-I've an idea it's the Dalai Lama.

-You've an idea?

-For some reason I can't explain.

-OK.

-Shall I say?

-I'm happy to go with that, yeah.

-We'll try the Dalai Lama.

-Can you explain your glimmer, Terry?

-Not really.

I'm almost sure it's not the Pope.

I don't know about, I've just, something at the back of my mind.

I just feel it's the Dalai Lama.

You're absolutely right. Three out of three for your team.

So, if they get this wrong, you've won £7,000.

You wouldn't need to do any more work at all, run out the studio,

I'll explain to them.

-We don't know where they are.

-We're going to Mexico.

They'd go to the Potala Palace.

Eggheads, it's you. You get this wrong, it's over.

Which American humorist wrote The Devil's Dictionary?

-Ambrose Bierce.

-Yes.

Ambrose Bierce.

Correct. Ambrose Bierce is right.

Three points each, you're playing well -

both teams and both of you.

It goes to Sudden Death.

It's a bit harder, I don't give you alternatives.

Who wrote the 1956 novel Pincher Martin?

It's the same man who wrote the Lord Of The Flies.

-Who wrote the Lord Of The Flies?

-It's about a seaman who drowns.

-OK.

And it kind of goes back through his life as he's drowning.

It's William Golding.

That is correct. Well done.

Eggheads, you get this wrong, they've won £7,000.

Whose recording of Answer Me

was banned by the BBC in 1953 for including the phrase "Lord above"?

-Well, I tell you where that's nasty.

-Why?

Because there were two versions

which, I think, both got to number one in the charts.

-Oh, Lord.

-Of that song.

-Yes.

-In 1953.

-There was Frankie Laine and there was David Whitfield.

-Yes.

Ah.

Well, shall we think about this logically, then?

-If it's Frankie Laine or David Whitfield, you say?

-Yeah.

-Frankie Laine is...

-The bigger name.

-..the bigger name.

And the most known. We don't know it.

If both of them were cover versions in that year,

I think we have to give for Frankie Laine.

-That probably makes sense.

-OK.

Well, we are debating between Frankie Laine and David Whitfield

but we feel it's Frankie Laine.

OK. You've said Frankie Laine as your answer.

You're absolutely right, Frankie Laine is the answer. Well done.

Respect to that.

So, Sudden Death, hang on in there because, as you see,

you can be an ace away from it.

Here's your question. What is the lowest prime number over 1,000?

-Take your time.

-Don't need to rush. No need to rush. Just think.

There's no way you can work that out, is there?

Could be 1,003.

-What makes you think that?

-1,001 is seven times 11 times 13.

-It's not a prime.

-OK.

It could be 1,003. It's obviously not 1,005

cos that's divisible by five.

-I don't know.

-Yes.

-I'd say 1,003.

-Right, yeah.

-You can't do them in your head without a calculator.

-No.

That's good logic.

We'll try 1,003.

I'm sorry it's not a prime. What do you think is?

-I'd have gone for 1,001.

-No. That's not a prime either.

-1,007.

-Nope.

-It's 1,009.

-Oh.

-Right.

-That's surprising.

The lowest prime number over 1,000 is 1,009.

All right.

So, you're in their hands now, bad luck.

Eggheads, what was the name of the American cooking expert, author

and television personality

whose championing of traditional French cooking

was chronicled in the 2009 film Julie & Julia?

-Julia Child.

-Julia Child.

-Julia Child.

-Child or Childs?

-Child, yes.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

She's Julia Child.

You're absolutely right. It is Julia Child.

So, congratulations, Eggheads. You've won.

Bad luck. I sense the tension on your side.

You were playing really well, really well.

-And you came very close.

-Prime numbers.

-Yeah.

I think we're all going, you're going to go back with a calculator.

Commiserations, challengers. The Eggheads have done what comes naturally

and their winning streak continues.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £7,000.

Which means that that money now 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.

£8,000 says they don't.

Till then, goodbye.

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