Episode 106 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 pedigree is well-known as they've won some of the country's

toughest quiz shows. They are the Eggheads.

And taking on our awesome quiz champions today are the Ex-Bats.

Now this team are all members of Ward End Unity Cricket Club

in Birmingham, and despite their playing days being,

let's say, a few years behind them now,

they do still enjoy the social side of the club.

Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Ken, I'm 69, I'm a primary supply teacher.

Hi, I'm Jeff, I'm 71 and a retired sales representative.

Hi, I'm Dennis, I'm 66 and I'm managing director.

Hello, I'm Charles, I'm 81,

I'm a management consultant and still working.

Hello, I'm Ray, I'm 77

and I'm a retired estates and wayleaves officer.

-So, Ken and colleagues, welcome.

-Thank you.

And you go to the cricket club still, but maybe not to play?

-We do, we do, we're still involved.

-It's a good place?

Excellent. Good social side, good little club.

OK, and you have a drink there, and maybe discuss life?

-Days past.

-Discuss days past? Is that what you do?

-We do!

Erm, but you're all pretty active, I mean, still working a lot of you.

-Enjoying it! My wife won't let me stop!

-OK, now, are you quizzers?

Have you taken on anything like what you're looking at now before?

Nothing like that!

We used to have a quiz team down at the club, you see,

-so we got together again specially for this.

-Terrific!

And how's the quizzing at the club?

-Non-existent now.

-Is it?

Since we left, yeah.

But we've got the crack-quizzers of the cricket club here?

-That's our story!

-Without a doubt!

-OK, good.

Every day there is £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.

So, the Ex-Bats, the Eggheads have won the last eight games.

How about that?

So £9,000 says you can't beat them today.

Would you like to try?

-Definitely.

-All right, we'll get straight down to it.

The first head-to-head is on the subject of Music.

Which one of you wants this?

-THEY DEBATE

-Ray, you going to do Music?

-Yeah, you fancy it, Ray?

-Yeah.

-Ray. All right, OK.

Against which Egghead? Who is striking a bum note?

I'll take Barry, I think, Jeremy.

-Very good. Decisive. I sense you've watched the programme.

-A few times.

Right, Ray from the Ex-Bats against Barry from the Eggheads.

And just to ensure there's no conferring,

would you take your positions in the Question Room?

-Ray, I know you love your music.

-Yes, I do.

And you play keyboards, but not from reading notes, just from ear.

That's right. Keyboards and the guitar, in fact.

And your record collection goes from Beethoven up to where?

Ah, my range is 1920 to 1960, really, Jeremy,

but, erm, up to about 1980.

-Oh, really? Right.

-The '20s to the '80s!

-Oh, good for you!

OK, so you've got a bit of bop in there, have you?

Well, latterly, yes.

Yeah, and some Visage and Motorhead and all that?

-Well, yes, yes.

-I won't probe too closely!

Good luck in this round, Ray. It's Music, OK?

It's multiple choice to start off with and you can choose

-the first or second set.

-I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here's your question, Ray. Good luck.

Who came to fame as the lead singer with the band Roxy Music?

Ah. Elvis Costello...

Roxy Music.

I think Elvis Costello, Jeremy.

No, it was actually Bryan Ferry who came to fame with Roxy Music.

Barry, your question. What is the usual English title

of the German carol, O Tannenbaum?

I remember singing this carol in primary school,

so that's a while back, and I believe it is O Christmas Tree.

O Christmas Tree is correct, you're in the lead. Back to you, Ray.

Which band were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2010

for their album Sigh No More?

I have no idea, Jeremy, I'm afraid.

It must be a guess, I'm afraid.

Stereophonics.

Not the Stereophonics, I'm afraid, it's Mumford & Sons. Tough question.

-I've never heard of them either, if that's any consolation!

-Ooh, oooh!

-Should I say that?

-Yeah, it's all right. It's OK. New folk, new folk.

New folk? Lovely. Barry, your question.

The American recording artist, Richard Melville Hall,

became famous under which single-word name?

I believe he's a direct descendant of Herman Melville,

so his name would be Moby, as in Moby Dick.

Moby is the right answer. Is that true? Amazing!

-Yeah, it's true.

-I never knew that! I've seen him live! Incredible!

Barry, you've taken the round. Sorry, Ray.

You can't come back from there. He's got two and you got your two wrong,

but still hope for this team, it's very early days.

Please, both of you, come back and rejoin your team-mates.

Ray, bad luck, bad luck there. Just didn't get the right questions on...

-No, too modern, Jeremy.

-Yeah.

-I was hoping for a 1920s or '30s question!

Well, or Beethoven, who I know is also one of your favourites,

so, er, there we go. And do we know,

what's the cricket analogy we use here? One wicket's gone.

-Er, yeah, Four to bat.

-Four to bat.

As it stands, the challengers have lost one brain,

the Eggheads have lost no brains.

Let's play the next round, and it's on Politics. Who wants this?

THEY DEBATE

What other subjects have we got to come?

We don't know, Charles, so you've got to decide if...

You do Politics, and I'll take anything else. Go on.

It looks like I'm going for it.

Charles, you look slightly reluctant there!

Not reluctant, no,

just wanted to stay to make sure I got something for the team.

Sure, understood. Now, which Egghead would you like to pulverise?

-Ken, you've done the studies, which one do we go for?

-CJ, possibly.

They're all good, though, aren't they?

-CJ.

-CJ.

OK, good, Charles from the Ex-Bats against CJ from the Eggheads,

on Politics. I think you like your politics, don't you?

-I prefer US to British, but I don't mind Politics.

-Yeah, OK.

To ensure there's no conferring, please go to the Question Room now.

-So, Charles, you're still working?

-In employment law.

-Employment law?

-And you keep abreast of politics, do you?

-I try to.

It's a somewhat strange business.

It alters all the time, methinks, but I do my best.

CJ, your interest, as you say, mainly American?

Yeah, I've always found the history of American politics,

the fact that so much power and authority is concentrated

in one particular person,

slightly more fascinating than the English model.

OK, I'll ask three questions on Politics, in turn,

multiple choice, and Charles,

-you can choose to go first or second.

-I'll go second.

Here's your question, CJ.

In the 1970s, Betty Williams

and Mairead Corrigan were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

for their attempts to bring peace to which part of the world?

Apologies to the two ladies,

but I haven't actually heard of their names.

But the second lady certainly sounds Irish,

so I'll have to assume it's Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland is the right answer.

Over to you, Charles.

Which problem experienced in the House of Lords led to a debate

in the chamber on the subject in March 2010?

I'm looking at all three of them and I've got...

a suspicion which one it is, but woodworm doesn't seem right,

although where they are, it's been there a long time.

Mouse infestation would seem to be something that might upset

the Lordships, and a leaking roof would definitely do that.

So I'll go for mouse infestation on the basis it's the most likely one.

Terrific, you're right, Charles. It is mouse infestation.

CJ, what name did David Cameron

and the Conservatives give to their 2010 plan to enable

members of the public to have a greater say

in how communities should be run?

They called it big society.

Big society is right.

Charles, which former Conservative Defence Secretary appeared

in a TV advertisement for a blackcurrant cordial drink

as a child?

Going to have to be a guess.

I would suspect that Malcolm Rifkind wouldn't want to be telling people

things about his childhood.

Michael Heseltine probably would.

Michael Portillo, I think, always likes the publicity.

Michael Heseltine.

-Do your team know?

-Portillo?

-Portillo is the answer!

-Ah!

-Michael Portillo did.

-I was close to picking him.

You were. I thought you were going to, actually, for a second.

Can I go back to where we were then?

OK, so, CJ, it's your third question.

If you get this right, you're in the final round.

Sebastian Pinera became president

of which South American country in 2010?

-Chile.

-Chile is correct, CJ. Well done, you're in the final.

Charles, sorry, the wicket has fallen, I'm afraid.

-These things happen.

-These things do happen.

Do, both of you, please, come back to your teams.

-OK, well, now's the moment.

-We're one for two wickets, Jeremy, we are.

As it stands, the challengers have lost two brains

from the final round, whilst the Eggheads have so far lost no brains.

The next subject, Ex-Bats, is Sport, and I'm thinking this is good.

Who would like this? Definitely, Dennis!

-Dennis, do you fancy it? Dennis is going to take Sport.

-OK, against?

-Chris.

-Against Chris.

-Sorry, Chris!

Wow, straight to it! Dennis from the Ex-Bats versus Chris

from the Eggheads, and please go to the Question Rooms now.

Dennis, how about your cricket, then?

Eh, how about it, Jeremy?

I gather you scored a century at the club?

-Well, a century that wasn't recorded.

-How so?

I was playing against one team on the other side of Birmingham,

and they told me I needed one run, and unfortunately,

a gentleman came in and hit a six, so I finished on 99.

When we got to the club, our colleague, who is actually

an accountant, added it up, and he said, "Oh, blimey, Dennis!

"You got 110!"

So I'd got 110, but only 99, so I missed me club tie on that!

-You get a club tie if you get a century?

-Yes, yes.

And the club tie when you get a duck, and I got one or two of those.

Well, hopefully, you'll have a cricket question in here.

-Er, and other sports you like, or not?

-Yes.

I like me soccer, I follow West Bromwich Albion,

-and I enjoy my rugby as well.

-Great stuff.

So three questions on Sport, and you can choose, Dennis,

-the first or the second set.

-I'll go first.

Here we go then.

At the 2008 Olympic games,

Wendy Houvenaghel won a silver medal for Team GB in which sport?

I'm not too conversant with this one,

but cycling is not a sport I'd associated with that.

Obviously, you get into judo.

And shooting would be another, but shooting's more of an alpine one.

Erm, I'll go for judo.

It's not judo, it's cycling.

Chris, the snooker player, Alex Higgins, came to England

from Belfast as a teenager in an attempt to launch a career

as which type of sportsman?

I can't see Alex Higgins playing tennis or cricket,

but being an Irishman, they tend to have a talent for horses,

so probably, he tried to start a career as a jockey.

Jockey is the right answer, Chris, so you're in the lead.

Heavy going here, for our Ex-Bats. Dennis, your question.

At the 2010 Wimbledon tennis tournament, how many players

were drawn in the first round of the men's singles competition?

If I looked at that and I thought of the size of Wimbledon

and look at how long the length of the tournament is,

how many courts they'd have...

..I would think 128.

128 is the right answer. Well done. Dennis, good stuff.

Chris, over to you. Which former England football captain

became the manager of the Thai national football team in 2009?

Didn't think Thailand had a football team!

Well, it's got to be a pure guess, Jeremy.

Er, how about David Platt?

-Not David Platt, no. Do you know, Ex-Bats?

-I think Tony Adams, no?

No, it wasn't actually, it was Bryan Robson. Bryan Robson it was.

OK, Dennis, your question, to put a bit of pressure on him.

Which racehorse, nicknamed Big Red

and often voted one of the greatest of all-time,

lost only one race in his career to a horse named Upset in 1919?

I don't think it was Seabiscuit, cos Seabiscuit, erm...

Tammany. Man o' War.

Man o' War is associated to boats.

Red Flag? Erm...

This would be a bit of a guess.

Trying to evaluate it, I'll go for Tammany.

No, it's not Tammany, it's Man o' War.

Man o' War. Chris, you get this one right, you're in the final round.

In North America, shinny is an informal version of which sport?

I doubt you could have an informal version of American football.

And baseball, like cricket, is very, sort of, rule-bound,

but hockey is very like the Irish, well, Scottish game of shinty,

which could have been metamorphosed into shinny in America.

So I'll go with hockey.

Chris, you're right. It is hockey, and you are in the final.

Dennis, I'm sorry, you've been knocked out by an Egghead there.

Do, please, both of you, come back and rejoin your teams.

So as it stands, the challengers have lost three brains

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

-We're getting worried now.

-We are a little bit.

-Maybe we've lost our brains!

-We're into the tail now.

We're into the tail, unfortunately.

The last subject is Geography. Who's the geographer?

-Jeff or Ken?

-I've got no idea on Geography.

Well, look, Ken, we've got to get the General Knowledge one.

I'll have to bite the bullet, I know nothing about it. Can you change it?

We're keeping the general knowledge, and Ken's separate.

I'll bite the bullet.

Jeff, a reluctant geographer, against which Egghead?

Either, let's see, Daphne or Kevin, you've got left.

I am to world geography what CJ is to British geography.

Oh, yeah, sorry, does it matter?

Daphne, at least I'll see a nice smile, won't I?

-You don't get that from Kevin!

-Are you saying Kevin doesn't smile?

Now you've said this, I think you're a secret geographer! I think you'll win the round.

Jeff versus Daphne from the Eggheads.

And please go to the Question Room now.

So, Jeff, come on,

why is your global geography as bad as CJ's British geography?

Cos I love travelling, but I never seem to take anything in.

I can tell you specific places that I've been and seen things,

but the overall picture, I can never remember

and I've never been that interested in geography for geography's sake.

Just like to travel and see different things.

30 years as a sales rep though, didn't you? Did you go outside...?

-No.

-All in Britain, was it?

It was all round the West Midlands, occasionally down to Wales

but no, not abroad, I'm afraid.

OK, how about you, Daphne?

Did your career as a banker take you abroad?

No, I was a secretary to a bank manager.

So he didn't take you abroad at all?

No, no, not at all. Only quizzes.

Right, OK.

Good luck to you both. Geography is the subject, and three questions,

and Jeff can choose the first or second set.

I'll go first, please.

Here we go. Which French city is located around 20 miles

from Germany's Black Forest?

Dunkirk's on the coast as far as I recall.

Dijon's further.

It is a bit of a guess, but I think I'd rule Dunkirk out.

As I say, I believe that's on the coast, really.

I'm not sure, so I'll go Strasbourg.

Strasbourg is the right answer.

How about that?

OK, Daphne.

De Pijp, literally meaning "the pipe," is a Bohemian district

in which European city?

It's spelt, by the way, D-E and then, new word, P-I-J-P.

Well, I've never heard of it,

but from the spelling I would assume it's Dutch.

-Amsterdam?

-Amsterdam is the right answer.

Hang on in there, Jeff.

-We're willing you on here.

-Come on!

The Mandinka are a large ethnic group found in which

part of the world?

I have heard of them and I'm fairly sure it's not Canada,

and I don't think it's Asia. I think they're African,

so I'll go for West Africa.

West Africa is correct.

You're knocking the ball over the boundary here! Well done!

Daphne, your chance to draw level.

Aguas Calientes is the closest town and access point

to which South American tourist attraction?

I don't know. Machu Picchu.

You're guessing!

I'm afraid Daphne is an inspired guesser.

We don't really understand it, but always just smack on.

Machu Picchu is correct. Barry, you've been there?

-I've been there, yes.

-So did you recognise the town's name?

I did, indeed. It's a bit of a dump.

It's not really a town, it's a railway line with some shops

and some hotels on either side of it,

but it's the base camp for Machu Picchu.

OK, your question now, Jeff, and if you get this right,

you're putting a bit of pressure on Daphne.

The Indian tourist trail that comprises Delhi, Agra and Jaipur,

is usually referred to by what name?

I wouldn't have thought Eternal Triangle.

I've been involved in one of those and I don't miss that! Joking!

I would go for the Golden Triangle.

Golden Triangle is right! Three out of three.

See? You're playing like a demon after saying you know no geography!

Daphne, if you get this wrong, you're out.

San Polo, Santa Croce, Cannaregio and Castello

are four of the six historic districts of which Italian city?

I don't think my guessing's going to help this time.

Milan?

Milan...

Hang on, we've got a big reaction from CJ here.

Is that shocking, CJ?

Er, yes, Santa Croce is definitely in Venice.

Venice is the answer, Daphne. Well done, Jeff, you've done it!

What about that? I don't want to get carried away here, but listen,

after all the protests that he knew nothing about geography,

Jeff, well done, you're in the final round.

And, Daphne, you're not. You've been knocked out, I'm afraid.

Please, both of you, come back to us here.

How about that? I thought something was going to happen.

Well done, Jeff. How does it feel?

-Great!

-You beat an Egghead! So this is what we've been playing towards.

It is time for the final round which, as always,

is General Knowledge.

Those who lost your head-to-heads

can't take part in this round,

so Dennis, Charles and Ray from the Ex-Bats,

and also our own Daphne from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

So here you are, Ken and Jeff. Good luck to you.

-You're still playing cricket, Jeff, aren't you?

-Yes.

-How about you, Ken?

Occasionally, not as often as Jeff. Jeff's a regular for the club.

But have we got... The lesson of this is that the two people

who are playing the cricket have wound up in the final

-and the three who've stopped...

-Obviously kept the brain active!

Good luck. You're playing to win the Ex-Bats £9,000.

Kevin, CJ, Chris and Barry, you're playing for something

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

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

This time the questions are all general knowledge,

and you are allowed to confer. So Ken and Jeff, the question is,

are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

-Don't have to answer that.

-We shall find out.

Just tell us whether you want to go first or second.

-First, got to be first.

-We're going to go first. Get it over with.

Good luck. Here we go.

What normally powers the mode of transport known as a landau?

It's horses, definitely.

You get them in Blackpool and my wife's been on one.

-So I'm sure...

-Pulling it, or...?

-Not pulling it, in it!

We're pretty sure, thankfully, it's horse.

Horses is your answer and it's right. Well done! The landau.

OK.

Rosemary Shrager is a well-known name in which field?

Cookery, yes? Cookery? She with the irritating voice?

-Oh, that's her, is it? Yeah, it's cookery.

-Oh!

That would be cookery, Jeremy.

She's just been filleted by your discussion!

Cookery is the right answer. Well done.

Right, over to you.

Which Oscar-winning actor was one of the original producers

of the stage musical We Will Rock You?

We Will Rock You?

Which Oscar-winning actor was one of the original producers

of the stage musical We Will Rock You?

-I can't see it being Sean Penn.

-I don't think it's Russell Crowe.

I suppose Penn's into... He sounds, for...

I think it's more likely him, than...

-If it's a rock idiom, yeah.

-Yeah, cos it's rock. It's rock.

Erm, shall we go for it?

Yeah, I haven't got a definitive answer, so why not?

We're not falling out, but we feel, as it's rock, the only person

who might fit the bill more than the others would be Sean Penn.

Sean Penn is your answer. Let's see if the Eggheads know this.

-I would have gone for Russell Crowe.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Anyone else?

It's tricky! I don't think I've ever been told this.

You're all wrong, it's Robert De Niro.

-CJ:

-Oh, dear!

-And that's kind of unguessable.

OK, here we go, guys.

Your question, Eggheads, to take the lead.

Which French writer disappeared in a plane crash

in the Mediterranean in 1944?

THEY CONFER

Yeah, it's Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

-Famous for writing what?

-The Little Prince.

-The Little Prince, yep.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery is the right answer.

So they're ahead of you now.

-That means...

-We have to get it.

..you've got to get this one right or you've lost,

and there's no way of sugar coating it.

What type of plant is the Joshua tree?

I know Joshuas.

I've been to America and I've seen Joshua trees all over the place.

Isn't the yucca an inside plant? A house plant, yucca?

-No, it's an outside plant.

-Is it?

I can see a Joshua. I know the shape of them, but what does it class as?

It wouldn't be cactus, then, would it?

It grows where cacti grow.

Joshua tree. Where's that... That was in the Bible, wasn't it?

It could be a palm, cos it was... Do you think palm, then, because...

Do you think palm, because...

It wasn't a Joshua tree that went up in smoke, was it? In the desert?

They grow in a warm place too. So does cactus.

-Erm...

-I wouldn't say yucca, I wouldn't say yucca.

-A cactus.

-I think it's a palm.

-Yeah, I mean, cactus isn't...

I've seen plenty of them, Jeremy, but even in spite of that,

we're not sure. If anything, a palm is our answer.

Gentlemen, it is yucca, I'm afraid,

so you got that answer wrong and there's no way back.

Congratulations, Eggheads. You've won.

What do we do now? We have orange segments or something?

A pint of bitter, I think, is the answer.

-You have a nice big tea.

-A nice big tea, that's a good idea!

Thanks for coming and commiserations.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them

and they reign supreme over quizland.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £9,000.

The money now rolls over to our next show. Eggheads, congratulations!

Who will beat you? I wonder. Join us next time to see

if a new team of challengers have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£10,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.

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