Episode 108 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, where five quiz challengers attempt to beat

possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain. Their pedigree is well-known as they have won

some of the toughest quiz shows. They are the Eggheads.

Taking on our quiz Goliaths today are The Halse Players.

They are in an amateur dramatics group based in Halse in Somerset. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Rod, I'm 63 and I'm a salesman.

Hi, I'm Andy, I'm 59 and I'm a company director.

Hello, I'm Dawn, I'm 40 and a transportation engineer.

Hello. I'm Barrie, I'm 62 and a retired accountant.

Hello. I'm Matt, I'm 45 and a civil servant.

Rod and team, welcome. You all put on plays in Somerset.

-That's correct. North of Taunton.

-Is it just actors we've got here or a variety?

-There's four actors and one supporter.

-What are you rehearsing?

-John Mortimer's A Voyage Round My Father.

-Which is a great play. Is that a one/two person operation?

-You mean...

-People on stage.

-No, there's a total of about, with small parts, five or six.

-And it's fun to do it?

-It's hard work, but rewarding, hopefully, in the end, yes.

-Do you put it on at the same place each time?

-Yes, the village hall.

-Is that where you quiz as well?

We do have quizzes there. Also in the local pub, which we participate in.

-Are these Eggheads legends in Halse?

-Oh, yes.

-They're legends in the minds of some of us!

-That's good enough for us!

Every day there's £1,000 up for grabs for our challengers.

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

So, Halse Players, the Eggheads have won the last 10 games,

-That means £11,000 says you can't beat them. Like to try?

-Oh, yes.

The first Head to Head is on Arts and Books. Who would like this?

Perfect, isn't it?

Right. How do we go? What's part of our strategy?

-That this wouldn't come up first!

-That was our strategy!

-It was.

There's a problem here.

- I think, yes... - I'm the fall guy, am I?

- OK. - Good luck, Matt.

Matt, choose one of them.

-Em, Barrie, give us a clue.

-I would go for Barry.

-Barry.

-Barrie says Barry.

-Yes.

So Matt takes on Barry from the Eggheads on Arts and Books.

To ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions in the Question Room.

I'll ask each of you three multiple choice questions in turn. Whoever answers the most is the winner

-and goes through to the final. Matt, first or second set?

-I'll take the first set, please.

In 2010, which leading London gallery exhibited Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's work Sunflower Seeds,

that consisted of 100 million imitation porcelain sunflower seeds spread across a large floorspace?

I seem to remember that. I believe that was Tate Modern.

Tate Modern is the right answer. Well done.

-You could walk on them.

-Until Health and Safety...

-What was the issue?

-Hindrance and Sabotage!

-What was the issue?

-The dust coming up.

Barry, The Sign of Four is the title of the second novel featuring which detective?

It's Sherlock Holmes. Not much else you can say.

Sherlock Holmes is right. That was the basis of one of the remakes on television recently.

OK, Matt, the best-selling novelist Sidney Sheldon was born in which country?

Having lived in South Africa I don't remember him as an author.

Between the other two, I'll have to plump for one and I'll plump for New Zealand.

You plumped the wrong way. He's American. USA is the answer.

Barry, to go ahead.

In which career did Scottish artist Jack Vettriano begin working life?

Oh, what an excellent question.

I can't imagine him being a farmhand somehow.

Of the other two, I'll go for mining engineer.

Well done. You've got it right. I don't know how you did it.

So over to you, Matt.

You need this. In the 1960s, what name was given to conceptual art events,

pioneered by Allan Kaprow and others, that prefigured performance art?

Once again, you've caught me on the hop,

but something's drawing me to Happenings.

-Is that your answer?

-Yes, it is.

-Happenings is correct.

Well done. It's like what we have now with flashmobbing, don't we?

Barry, your question. Get this and you're in the final.

Which American author's works include The Invention of Solitude?

I don't think it's John Updike. He was more famous for the Harry Angstrom Rabbit novels.

And The Witches of Eastwick.

I've never heard of that in connection with Philip Roth, so I'll go for Paul Auster.

Paul Auster is the right answer. Well done.

Sorry, Matt. You're knocked out. Barry will be in the final.

Both please come back and rejoin your teams.

The challengers have lost one brain while the Eggheads have lost no brains so far.

The next subject is Science.

Have we got a scientist here?

Yes, but he's just played!

-Now I understand.

-I'll volunteer myself for that.

- Dawn, how are you on science? - I'm not good.

-Go for it.

-It's me.

-Rod. Against which Egghead?

-Anyone but Barry.

-If sport comes up, it's Judith or Chris.

-OK. Give us a recommendation, then.

-Judith, I think.

-Judith?

-Judith, please.

-Some very mean tactics being discussed here.

-OK, interesting.

-I couldn't hear!

It's better that you didn't hear. So it's Rod from the Halse Players against Judith from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions now.

I'll ask each of you three questions on science in turn. Whoever answers the most correctly is the winner.

-Rod, the first or second set?

-First, please.

Here we go.

Good luck. Which colour did Isaac Newton identify between blue and violet,

often omitted in descriptions of the visible spectrum?

Right. Em... The simple answer is that I don't know.

-And I will go for fuchsia.

-Er, it's not. It's indigo.

-Is it?

-That famous Richard of York...

-Gave battle in vain.

-Red, orange, yellow...

-Green, blue, indigo, violet.

No one talks about indigo any more.

Judith,

which creatures form the biological class called aves?

-Is that A with a V after it?

-It's simply spelt A-V-E-S.

-A-V for violet.

-A-V for violet-E-S. Aves.

-Aves. Birds.

-Birds is correct.

Rod, back to you.

The corpus callosum, which takes its name from the Latin for tough body, is in which part of the human body?

I will...

-I would say that's the stomach.

-Stomach is your answer?

-It is.

-Let me ask the Eggheads.

-It's the brain.

It's the connected fibres that connect the two hemispheres.

Very interestingly, Kim Peek, who Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man was based upon, didn't have this,

which is very rare. So it might be to do with both halves developing independently,

-which provides all that knowledge for autistic savants.

-Fascinating.

Brain is the answer, Rod.

Judith, your question.

In which year did the leading physicist Lord Kelvin state that,

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible"?

I think heavier-than-air flying machines had taken off by 1895, hadn't they?

-So I imagine it must be 1875.

-1875 is your answer.

They'd taken off by 1915, but not by 1895, which was when Lord Kelvin said it.

What's the first? Bleriot?

-The Wright brothers in 1903.

-The first aeroplane flew when?

-1903, Judith, I'm told. The Wright brothers.

-Right.

So it had to have a 19 in front of it to be airborne. Rod, she's got one wrong. That's handy.

Put the pressure on. In kilometres per second, what is the approximate escape velocity required

at the surface of the Earth to leave the planet's gravitational field?

Is it... This is kilometres per second.

-I'd say that's 0.1.

-You say 0.1 kilometres per second?

-I do.

-No, it's 11.

-Well, there you go.

Is that fast, 11km per second?

-That's very fast.

-100 miles per hour?

No, is it 17,500 miles per hour? Something like that.

Rod, the answer is 11 and so there's no way back for you.

Judith, you will be in the final. Do both of you please come back here and let's play the next round.

The challengers have lost two brains from the final round, the Eggheads still haven't lost a brain.

The next subject is History. Which of you would like it?

-Barrie, Dawn or Andy?

-Andy's just said, "That'll be me," So...

-A volunteer. Good.

-Andy, OK. Against?

-What do you reckon? Daphne?

-I'd like to play against Daphne. I wouldn't mind losing to Daphne.

-Andy would like to play Daphne.

All right, Andy from the Halse Players against Daphne

and to ensure there's no conferring please take your positions now.

-I'll ask each of you three questions on history. Andy, the first or second set?

-I'll take the second.

Let's see how this goes.

Thutmose the First was the ruler of which ancient empire in about 1500BC?

He was one of the Egyptian pharaohs.

He was indeed. Egyptian is right, Daphne.

OK, Andy, your question.

What was the main use of the Byzantine invention of Greek fire?

Forging steel doesn't seem to come into it.

Em, the Byzantines wouldn't have been into heating their palaces.

They probably were hot enough. The Romans only got into that

when they came to cold places like Britain, so I think it's a device for attacking ships.

Attacking ships is spot-on. Well done. Daphne, back to you.

In 1619, King James I established a factory at Mortlake near London for the manufacture of what?

It was tapestries.

-How do you know that?

-Em...

-You've been there?

-No.

-I just obviously read it somewhere.

-That's your answer to everything.

Tapestries is the right answer.

Andy, back to you.

She's not thrown off that easily. The Radcliffe Line was drawn up

to form the border between which two countries?

I don't know the answer to this one.

Em...

The border between Canada and USA is a line of latitude anyway.

Em, Poland and Germany I think are divided by a river.

So I'm going to say India and Pakistan.

That is completely right. Nice one.

Daphne,

two-all at the moment.

The 15th-century leader known as Skanderbeg became a national hero for which country?

That's Albania.

Albania is the right answer! You're very good, I have to say.

You've not lost it.

The members of which noble family were the hereditary rulers of the Italian city of Mantua

between 1328 and 1708?

Another one I don't know.

Now, do they all sound Italian?

The ones that end in "a" sound less Italian than the others.

I'm going to go for Farnese,

but it is an outright guess.

There is a bit of logic and deduction there.

Let's see if Daphne knows that one.

-Gonzaga.

-Gonzaga is the right answer, Andy.

I'm afraid she's taken the round

and you're knocked out. Please rejoin your teams.

So the challengers have lost three brains from the final round whilst the Eggheads have not lost a brain.

The last subject before the final is Film & TV.

I think this is good for actors.

-Yes, it is.

-So who would like this?

-Dawn would like this.

-Dawn would love this!

-LAUGHTER Yes, she would.

-You'd love it.

-Who do you want to pick? Who do you think?

-Um...

-Chris, I think.

-Chris.

-Chris.

-OK, Dawn from The Halse Players against Chris, the Egghead.

To make sure there's no conferring, go to the question room.

-Three questions on Film & TV in turn and Dawn, you can choose the first or the second set.

-I'll go first.

Here we go. The plot of the 2010 film Made In Dagenham is concerned

with events in which type of establishment?

I don't know the film, but I do know there's a car factory in Dagenham,

so I'll go for car factory.

Car factory is the right answer. Well done.

Chris, your question.

Sophie Raworth became a well-known television personality in which role?

Well, I only know her as a newsreader,

so that's what I'll go with - newsreader.

I'm so relieved you got that right. Newsreader is right.

If you'd said "comedian", I don't know what I would have said to her.

Who wrote and presented the four-part TV documentary series, The American Future: A History?

I don't think it was Richard Dawkins

I'll guess at Neil Oliver.

Let me ask your team. Do you know, team?

-I'd have gone for Schama.

-Schama is the right answer, not Neil Oliver.

OK, Chris, over to you, your chance to take the lead.

Who starred opposite Ellen Barkin in the 1989 thriller, Sea Of Love?

It doesn't sound like my kind of film at all.

Ellen Barkin and Dustin Hoffman, no.

Robert De Niro, Ellen Barkin, no.

I'll use the Judith method - Al Pacino.

Incredible.

-So the Keppel technique...

-Always works.

-..has worked for you.

Al Pacino is the right answer. Going down the right.

How do they do that?

-Down the right, but not all the time.

-No, very selective.

It's a certain moment you'll do it and it will always work.

-You say it's not your kind of film and I know you haven't been to the cinema...

-Since Blazing Saddles.

-It is a great film, that.

-Is it?

So the situation is this, Dawn. Chris has two and you have one.

You need to get this one right.

-Yeah.

-Which actor played a successio of leading roles in biblical epics,

including Samson in Samson And Delilah in 1949

and Demetrius in The Robe in 1953?

I just... I don't know the answer.

Um...

I'll go with the right-hand side as that works for the Eggheads.

I'll go for Charlton Heston.

Charlton Heston was in a lot of biblical stuff.

-He was in Ben-Hur and all that.

-And El Cid.

-El Cid.

This one, though, was Victor Mature.

-OK.

-Victor Mature, Samson and Demetrius...

A black-and-white Hollywood actor we're talking about.

A long time ago. Chris, you've won the round. Dawn, sorry, you haven't and you won't be in the final.

Let us play the final now. Both of you please come back to us.

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

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

so, Rod, Andy, Dawn and Matt from The Halse Players, would you please now leave the studio?

So, Barrie, you're not one of the actors in The Halse Players, is that right?

No, I'm one of their groupies.

-One of their supporters.

-I meet them in the bar afterwards.

-They're not supporting you now.

-Bunch of losers!

Well, you can still turn it around for them. You're playing to win The Halse Players £11,000.

It'll be interesting to see how it's split if you get it!

Daphne, Chris, Barry, Pat and Judith, you are playing for the Eggheads' reputation.

As usual, I will ask each team three questions, all on General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer, or at least, they are. They've got people to confer with.

Barrie, the question is, is your one brain better than the Eggheads' five?

-Do you want to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please.

Good luck. It's been done before.

At which football tournament was the England team involved in the "dentist's chair" celebration?

Ooh! I can remember it, I know what it is.

And not something I'd want to go through.

I think Italia '90 was a bit early.

And I wasn't actually watching it in USA '94,

so I would have to go for Euro '96.

Euro '96 is the right answer. Well done. Eggheads, over to you.

In the USA, G-Man is a term particularly used for employees of which organisation?

-FBI?

-FBI, Government Man.

-FBI?

-Yeah.

Hoover was in charge of the FBI.

-FBI?

-Eliot Ness and all that.

We think that's FBI, Government Men.

FBI is the right answer. One each. Back to you, Barrie.

A snickersnee is an archaic term for a type of what?

I think I've only heard of "snickersnee"

in relationship to Alice In Wonderland,

which I think was one of the phrases in that,

so I'd have to go for a knife.

You kind of grimaced when I said the word

as if the question was a low blow.

-Hmm.

-But then you got it absolutely right. Well done. Knife, it is.

Eggheads, how is the letter "A" expressed in Morse Code?

Dot dash.

Dot dash.

I'm assured by my Morse Code operative that it's "dot dash".

Well done, Daphne. "Dot dash" it is. Would you have got that?

-No.

-If you don't know it, you really don't know it, so it's good you went first.

-You've had two questions and you've got two right. They couldn't have asked any more.

-That's my average.

Get this one right and you put some pressure on them.

The French recipe "hachis parmentier" is most similar to which traditional English dish?

Can you spell the words?

Sure. H-A-C-H-I-S, that's the first word - "hachis".

"Parmentier" - P-A-R-M-E-N-T-I-E-R.

I'm guessing that...

it's something associated with mashed potatoes,

so I'll rule out steak and kidney pudding.

I'm not sure if the French have got an equivalent of shepherd's pie.

But I think I will go for shepherd's pie.

It's interesting the way you did that.

You got the mashed potato thought, you ruled out steak and kidney,

you swerved away from shepherd's pie, then you came back on to it.

Shepherd's pie is right. Three out of three.

What that means is, looking at the expectation behind you here,

if they get this wrong, you've won £11,000.

You don't have to do any more. However, you are ranged against all the Eggheads.

Here's your question. Who was design assistant to Stella McCartney

before succeeding her as creative director

for the fashion house Chloe in 2001?

Phoebe Philo.

-Are you sure?

-Absolutely sure.

That's Phoebe Philo, Jeremy.

-That came from Judith, did it? A sudden answer?

-No, I knew it.

The correct answer is Phoebe Philo. Very well played.

So, three-all, we go to Sudden Death.

It's not multiple choice. You have to give me the answer. I don't give you options. It's that bit harder.

First time in this game we've been on Sudden Death. You're playing really well.

Which former international rugby union player, who made his full England debut in 1997,

shares his name with a British sports car maker which was set up in the 1950s?

Oh, that would be Austin Healey.

Austin Healey is the right answer.

Eggheads, get this wrong and they've won £11,000.

What You See Is What You Get is a 2010 autobiography by which businessman?

Alan Sugar, I think.

-It sounds like his sort of thing.

-I think he's right.

-Yeah?

-I'm happy with that.

We think that might be Alan Sugar.

Alan Sugar is correct. Sudden Death. £11,000 we're playing for.

Back to you, Barrie. In 1972,

the monarch of which Asian country declared that his nation's priority was its gross national happiness

and not its gross domestic product?

I think that was Bhutan.

It was Bhutan. Very well done.

Excellent.

You've got five in a row correct, so credit to you for that. Let's see if they fall over now.

The operators of the first successful co-operative store

were known as the Pioneers of which town in northern England?

-Rochdale.

-Rochdale.

Rochdale, Jeremy.

In December 1844, a group of 28 weavers opened their store

in Toad Lane, Rochdale, with a capital of £28. Rochdale is the right answer.

Phew!

We need a break from this. It's tense.

OK, your question, Barrie.

Which famous acting teacher was nominated for an Oscar

for his performance as Hyman Roth

in The Godfather: Part II?

HE SIGHS

I'm afraid I have no idea. I don't have any acting teachers at all.

I can't even hazard a guess.

I vaguely remember there's an acting teacher beginning with H. I can't even recall that.

-So I'm afraid I'm...

-You want to pass?

-I'll pass.

-OK.

-Let's see if they know.

-Lee Strasberg.

-Lee Strasberg is the answer. You haven't lost yet.

Eggheads, you've got to get this one right to win.

Which British economist wrote the 1817 book

entitled On The Principles Of Political Economy And Taxation?

-David Ricardo?

-Ricardo.

-David Ricardo.

It was David Ricardo, not Adam Smith

-David Ricardo.

-1817 is a little early for Adam Smith.

- Adam Smith is the only one I know. - David Ricardo.

We think that's David Ricardo.

The British economist who wrote that book is David Ricardo. Congratulations. You've won.

Bad luck. You played great at the end there.

Sometimes the challengers get the first Sudden Death question right and that's the end of it.

-So, commiserations. Have you enjoyed it?

-It was a good day.

-It's been great to have you.

Well done. The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them and their winning streak continues.

You won't be going home with £11,000 which rolls over to the 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.

£12,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

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