Episode 110 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 quiz shows.

They are the Eggheads.

And taking on the might of our quiz Goliaths today are the Coalition.

As their name suggests,

this team features members of two separate groups coming together.

In the case of this particular coalition, it's two families

combined by the marriage of team members Dave and Fran.

So let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Melody, I'm 59, and I'm a pastoral support manager.

Hi, I'm Nick, I'm 21, and I'm a student, studying acting.

Hi, I'm Fran, I'm 22, and I'm training to be a teacher.

Hi, I'm Dave, I'm 23, and I'm a learning support assistant.

Hi, I'm Helen, I'm 53, and I'm a social worker.

-So Melody, welcome.

-Thank you.

-And team, of course.

And it's Dave and Fran just here.

-You're married, that's the crucial thing?

-Yes.

And then the two mums, Helen on the other end, one of the mums. OK.

-And Melody, and then, you're the brother of Fran.

-Yeah, that's right.

So the marriage at the middle, Fran and Dave, have you got a plan

of who takes what so you don't fall out with each other?

Um, not really. We have really opposite knowledge.

He's all very science-y and food and drink,

and I know nothing about that.

And you know about your music and arts and books and all that?

-Attempting geography, but...

-No, that's good.

Being very different on that, firstly, is good for life, isn't it?

But it's also good for Eggheads as well, so good luck to you.

Every day £1,000 is up for grabs for our challengers, however,

as you know, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads

the prize money rolls over to our next show.

Now, Coalition, I can tell you that the Eggheads have won

the last 12 games, so £13,000 is on the table,

and it says you can't beat the Eggheads today!

First head-to-head battle is History.

THEY GROAN

-Who wants History?

-Nobody!

-DAVE:

-Right, um, what shall we do?

-I know nothing about history.

I think Dave or Nick, probably.

-I'm in danger of failing miserably, but I will...

-Go, go, go!

-You can do it!

-So Dave from the Coalition, against which Egghead?

-I'd go for CJ.

-Really?

-I'd go for CJ, myself.

-OK, sure. CJ, I'll take.

-Dave from the Coalition, CJ from the Eggheads,

and to ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in the Question Room?

CJ, you've had a haircut!

Yes, it was to try and streamline myself for a quick getaway.

And this is in preparation for a film role, I gather,

in Last of the Mohicans?

Yes, it is. I want to give as fearsome an appearance as I can.

OK, well, you are looking frightening. I can confirm that.

So, well done to the hairdresser. Dave, don't be put off by him.

History is the subject, so you can choose whether you want the first

or the second set of multiple choice questions.

I am not sure how much difference it'll make, but I'll go first.

Here we go, Dave, good luck to you.

The heavily-armed German cruisers built in the 1930s

to circumvent limitations imposed by the Treaty of Versailles,

were commonly known as what?

Trying to think what would be in the Versailles.

I'm leaning towards basket frigates, even though that sounds nothing like

a battleship, but then, that might be a good thing.

Um, yeah, OK, I'll go with basket frigates.

It's not basket frigates. Eggheads, help us here?

ALL: Pocket battleships.

Pocket battleships, so they were doing the work of battleships,

but technically too small to be covered by the Treaty.

-Is that right, Barry?

-Correct, yes.

-OK, CJ, your chance to go ahead.

Elizabeth Talbot, wife of the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury,

was known by what name?

Well, Bess is a name normally associated with Elizabeth,

and Bess of Hardwick is reasonably well-known,

so let's go for Bess of Hardwick.

Bess of Hardwick is correct.

OK, Dave, your question.

When Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte became Emperor

of the French in 1852, what regnal name and number did he assume?

Right, OK.

Napoleon the...

Napoleon III.

Anyone know on your team?

-I think that's what I'd have gone for.

-You're right.

Melody's right, you're right, Dave. Well done. Napoleon III it is!

-Good stuff!

-Great!

-CJ, your question.

The train ambushed in the infamous 1963 Great Train Robbery

commenced its journey in which city?

I'm not absolutely sure, but I'm going to try Glasgow.

Glasgow is the right answer.

Well done. So Dave you need to get this one right,

otherwise you will be knocked out.

Which Holy Roman Emperor drowned while trying to cross

the Saleph River on a crusade to the Holy Land in 1190?

Early-Roman, so I can presume Otto is from the Ottoman Empire,

which wouldn't be Roman.

Maximilian certainly sounds like a Roman kind of name.

Frederick, I'm not sure, so I'm going to have another stab at Maximilian.

-The answer is Frederick.

-Right.

Dave, sorry, you've been knocked out by CJ

and his frightening haircut, and you won't be in the final, and CJ,

you will. Please, both of you, come back and rejoin your teams.

As it stands,

the challengers have lost that one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost no brains.

The next subject is Arts and Books.

Now, who from the challengers will be playing in this one?

-We all look to Mum.

-Helen.

-I think that will be me.

-OK, Helen on Arts and Books, against which Egghead?

-Can't be CJ.

I think, on the basis of his lovely Irish accent,

I'm going to go for Pat, please.

Right, so Helen from the Coalition versus Pat from the Eggheads.

And to ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions.

OK, so we're going to do Arts and Books now, and Helen, you can

choose the first or the second set of multiple choice questions.

Could I have the first set, please?

Here we go, and good luck Helen.

Which French term translates as "workshop,"

and specifically refers to the studio of an artist or sculptor?

OK, erm, I think it may be atelier, which I believe is French for attic,

because artists quite often worked in an attic.

I'm going to go for atelier.

Atelier is the right answer, well done.

Pat, which famous sculpture is located at the top

of the Daru staircase at the Louvre?

I had thought that The Thinker was outside. I don't know why.

I don't know much about Laocoon and His Sons.

It sounds like, perhaps, a Bernini work.

I do think the Louvre has the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

I think that's in the Louvre.

So I'm not very confident here,

but I'll go for the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace is absolutely right, well done.

Impressive amount of knowledge there. So, one point each.

Back to you, Helen. The British illustrator, Martin Handford,

is the creator of which popular series of children's books?

OK, I can remember spending many a wet afternoon with my children

with these books, and it's Where's Wally?

where you have to scour this very crowded scene for Wally.

-So, my answer is Where's Wally?

-Where's Wally? is absolutely right.

And did you ever find him before your children? Because I never did!

I think I did a couple of times, yes.

-And the dog, you can only find by the tail!

-That's right, yes.

-OK.

Over to you, Pat.

Who would be most likely to use a burin in their daily work?

I think this is sort of like a chisel,

but it's got a very fine point,

so my first thought is that it would be an engraver.

Yes, I think it's engraver.

An engraver does indeed use a burin.

Well done, you've got it. So Helen, back to you. If you get this right,

you put a bit of pressure on Pat.

Which writer became editor of the magazine The Woman's World in 1887?

Gosh. Um...

I think 1887 would be a little bit early for Rudyard Kipling.

Herman Melville, I don't know why, I think maybe because he wrote a book

about a big whale, I can't imagine him editing a woman's magazine.

I think I'm going to go with Oscar Wilde.

Oscar Wilde is your answer. Is she right, Eggheads?

I think it's Kipling.

I thought I knew everything about Oscar Wilde. It's Oscar Wilde!

Yeah! I've never heard about this period of his life. Extraordinary!

So there we are, well done! Good play!

Brilliant process of elimination there.

Pat is under pressure, and if you get this wrong, Pat, you are out.

Of whose work did Truman Capote once famously quip,

"That's not writing, that's typing."

Well, I suppose he could quip at anybody's expense.

I don't think he'd have quite enough front to say it

about Joyce or Tolstoy.

I think it's about Jack Kerouac, who wrote On the Road

on what was effectively a giant roll of, well, not quite loo paper,

but continuous paper.

So I think it's Jack Kerouac who was at the receiving end

of Truman's sarcasm.

Jack Kerouac is correct.

Oh, dear, Helen! You nearly had him there and now we go to Sudden Death.

It's a little more tricky cos I don't give alternative answers.

Here's your question.

In September 2010, which BBC news journalist made headlines

when an overturned lorry left 15 tonnes of his book

The Making of Modern Britain spread across the A4 Bath road in Theale?

I hadn't heard about the accident, and I'm not entirely sure,

just working on a hunch,

because I think Andrew Marr did a series about modern Britain,

and he's a journalist, obviously,

so I'm going to say Andrew Marr.

Andrew Marr is the right answer.

Over to you, Pat. Who took over from Laurence Olivier

as artistic director of the National Theatre in 1973?

First thought in my head is Sir Peter Hall.

I'm just trawling around to see

whether there are any other outstanding candidates.

I think the dates are reasonably good for Peter Hall.

Peter Hall is correct.

Helen, Victory Boogie-Woogie is the title of a painting left unfinished

at the time of which artist's death from pneumonia in New York, in 1944?

(Oh, gosh!)

I don't actually know this,

so I'm going to have to see whether I can put together an educated guess.

There's the American artist who did a lot of illustrations

for the Picture Post, I think I'm right in saying,

and I'm just trying to remember his name.

He did a lot of iconic paintings of American life and particularly

during the war period.

And I'm desperately trying to remember his name

and can't think of it.

I can see the paintings,

and I can see he did a self-portrait once,

so I can see his face,

and I can visualise the book that my parents

used to have of his stuff in the house, but can I think of his name?

I just cannot think of his name.

-OK.

-I'm sorry, no, it's gone.

-The answer is Piet Mondriaan.

-OK, that wasn't what I was thinking of!

Who was it? A great mystery. Who was it, Eggheads?

-EGGHEADS: Norman Rockwell.

-Oh, Norman Rockwell you were thinking of?

-Yes.

-But Mondriaan, is he very modern, like lines and squares?

-He also

painted Broadway Boogie-Woogie a few years earlier.

Pat, your question to take the round.

Which 18th-century painter who reputedly loved pug dogs

because he thought they looked like him,

owned a pug called Trump who often appeared in his paintings?

18th century, 1700s, painter.

I'm not sure that the pug is a particularly English breed,

but this sort of sounds like an English painter.

Hogarth painted lots and lots of crowded urban scenes.

He could certainly have hidden a dog, quite easily, into them.

Of course, it could be any one of a dozen 18th-century painters.

I think I'll go for William Hogarth.

William Hogarth is your answer and it's right!

Sorry, Helen, you've been beaten by our Egghead,

so you're knocked out, you won't be in the final and Pat will be.

Do, both of you, rejoin your teams, and we'll play on.

As it stands, the challengers have lost two brains,

but the Eggheads have lost no brains.

The next subject for you is Sport.

-Do we have a sporting brain?

-Yes, we do.

-Nick.

-Nick?

-Yeah.

Which means I'm going to get left with something horrible!

-His moment has come!

-Don't say that!

-Nick against which Egghead?

-Um, Judith?

Judith, please.

-Sorry!

-That isn't even a smile.

Nick from the Coalition versus Judith from the Eggheads, on Sport.

-Ha-ha!

-So mean!

-Favourite subject! And to ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in the Question Room?

So Judith, we're putting a bit of a run together on Sport, again.

Run in the wrong direction, though!

You won a round recently, didn't you? Maybe the last one!

I really can't remember. I put it right out of my mind.

Oh, no, you got a question right. Sorry, I got confused!

-Thanks so much, Jeremy!

-Sorry!

-Honestly(!)

All right, I'll ask each of you three questions on Sport in turn,

and Nick, you can choose the first or the second set.

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

Good luck to you and here we go.

Which cricketing statistic is found by dividing a batsman's

total number of runs by the total number of innings

in which he was out.

I'm a big cricket fan, actually, um,

so I'm pretty sure it's the batting average.

Well done, batting average is the right answer.

Here we go, Judith.

The golfer, Stewart Cink,

who won the 2009 Open, was born in which country?

His surname is spelt C-I-N-K.

Um, I really should know this.

I'm sure I did know it last year.

-I think it's the USA.

-I think it is, you're right, USA.

Back to you, Nick.

In rugby sevens,

how many players from each side bind together to form a scrum?

Rugby sevens...

I'm not too knowledgeable in rugby sevens.

I'm going to go for three, I think.

Anyone here, Eggheads?

-I think it's three.

-Three is right. Three is right, Nick, well done!

Good, good stuff.

Judith, which former Scotland international

resigned as the manager of Middlesbrough football team

in October 2010, after less than a year in the role.

Well, they're all good Scottish names.

I think Gordon Strachan, for some reason, rings a bell,

so I'm going to say him.

Gordon Strachan is the right answer.

All right, your question now, Nick. See if you can shake her off.

English swimmer, Liam Tancock, won two gold medals

at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, swimming which stroke?

Realised I should have done my Commonwealth Games research

last night.

All I know is it was in Delhi, which isn't a great help in this,

I don't think.

Um, just going to have to be a wild guess.

I'm going to go with butterfly.

-No, it's not butterfly, actually, it's backstroke.

-Ah, OK.

Judith, if you get this right, you've won the Sports round

and your reputation in this particular category will spread throughout the world.

Which South-African-born tennis player won the Australian Open

in both 1981 and 1982?

Um, again, not quite sure.

Um, I'm going to try Johan Kriek.

-And out of interest, why? Or maybe I shouldn't...?

-Cos I think, I mean,

like the Strachan, it twanged a bell somewhere.

Johan Kriek is the right answer, Judith. You've won the Sport round!

-Nick, sorry!

-No worries!

-How did that happen?

-I don't know. Bit of a disaster, wasn't it?

-No, not at all!

-You played well!

-I actually knew that one!

Yeah, well, there's something very intuitive about Judith's guessing.

Same with Daphne. It's really remarkable.

Well done, Judith. You will be in the final round.

Nick, you've been knocked out. Please, both of you, come back, rejoin your team-mates.

As it stands, the challengers have lost three brains now

from the final round, and the Eggheads have still lost no brains,

so let's see what you can do with Music. Music is the subject.

(Yep.)

-This is Fran, now.

-That's me, yeah.

-Against which Egghead?

-Barry.

-OK.

Fran from the Coalition versus Barry from the Eggheads,

on Music. Please take your positions in the Question Room.

OK, we're up against Barry here.

I'll ask each of you three questions on music in turn,

and Fran, you can choose the first or the second set.

I think I'll go first, please.

Good luck to you.

"There's a little ditty they're singing in the city"

is a line in the song Oom-Pah-Pah from which musical?

OK, Oom-Pah-Pah.

Um...

I'm going to go for Mary Poppins, but I think that's wrong!

But I'll go for it!

-It is wrong. Anyone on your side know?

-Oliver!

-Oliver! is the answer, Fran.

-Oh! Oh, gosh!

Barry, your question.

With which characters did Father Abraham reach Number Two

in the UK Single's Chart in 1978?

Well, the Wombles were a creation of Elisabeth Beresford,

and the Muppets were Jim Henson,

but Father Abraham is well-known for creating the Smurfs.

The Smurfs is the right answer.

Not a particularly nice record.

Fran, what is the title of Phil Collins' debut solo album

released in 1981?

Um, I do like Phil Collins,

but I've only ever listened to his greatest hits and stuff,

so, trying to think. 1981.

Um...

I'm going to go for No Jacket Required, I don't know why.

I think, yeah.

OK, No Jacket Required is your answer?

-I think that is a Phil Collins album.

-Oh, no!

Um, it's not the first, though. The first solo one was Face Value.

It's tough, but sorry, Fran, you got it wrong.

Barry, your question.

If you get this one right, you've taken the round.

The UK Number-One single in May 2000, Bound 4 Da Reload,

by Oxide and Neutrino, was based on the theme tune of which TV drama?

Gosh. I have heard of this.

I've heard of this as a question before,

but I can't recall the answer.

Reload could suggest guns and The Bill, but I'm going for Hollyoaks.

It's not Hollyoaks, it's Casualty.

Fran, well done, you're still alive!

So, try and get this one right if you can,

and then we've got to hope he slips up.

Which member of the Monkees was originally hired to be the drummer?

Oh, gosh!

If you'd given me something Beatles related, I'd have been fine!

Monkees? OK.

I really have no idea, so I'm going to have to take a stab.

I'm going to go for...

Mike Nesmith.

-The answer is Micky Dolenz.

-Oh, my goodness!

-Bad luck, Fran.

-It's fine!

-I think he's taken the round.

Barry, with your point, you're in the final, and Fran, you're not.

And if you both come back to us, we will play the final round.

So this is what we've been playing towards.

Time for the final round which, as always, 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, Nick, Fran, Dave

and Helen from the Coalition, would you please now leave the studio?

Melody, good luck. You are playing to win the Coalition £13,000.

Barry, Pat, Judith, Kevin and CJ, you're playing for something

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

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

this time the questions are all General Knowledge and you are allowed to confer.

So Melody, the question is,

is your one brain better than the Eggheads' five?

And would you like to go first...

Did they say something at the back, there? Yes, they say!

They're cheering you on! Do you want to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please.

Best of luck to you.

Ruy Lopez is the name of one of the most popular openings in which game?

Right.

Well, I don't think it can be snooker, cos I think you just break,

don't you, in snooker, and that's the same every time.

I've never played contract bridge.

I honestly don't know, but I know that you have various

opening strategies for chess, so I'll go for chess.

Well done, Melody, it's the right answer. Chess, OK.

Eggheads, your question.

Rocha is a variety of which fruit?

R-O-C-H-A?

R-O-C-H-A is a variety of which fruit?

-Pear.

-Pear?

-I think pear.

-OK, yeah?

That's a pear, Jeremy.

Pear is the right answer.

Your question, Melody.

For what does the letter O stand in the acronym SWOT,

as used by businesses in SWOT analysis.

That's S-W-O-T.

I'm stunned into silence here. I've never heard of it.

I don't even know what the S, the W or the T stand for!

I have absolutely no idea.

I would have thought that there would be analysis of overheads,

so I'll go for Overheads.

Overheads is your answer. Anyone, Eggheads know what the answer is?

Opportunities. Stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

So you do Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis.

SWOT. So opportunities is the right answer. Sorry, Melody.

Eggheads, your chance to take the lead.

The 1851 race won by the Schooner America that gave it's name

to the America's Cup competition

took place on a course around which island?

EGGHEADS: Isle of Wight.

That was the Isle of Wight, Jeremy.

So annoying that you all know it!

Isle of Wight is the right answer.

Melody, here's your question. Get this one right. Stay in it!

If you get it wrong, it's over.

In 1965, the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett released a film

called Film, starring which silent movie star?

Right.

Well, as far as I know...

I don't know if Charlie Chaplin had some sort of Irish connection.

Wasn't he married to an Irish actress or lady?

I really don't know very much about silent movies.

I don't like silent movies.

But basing it on the fact that he might have been married

to an Irish lady, I shall go for Charlie Chaplin.

The actual answer is Buster Keaton. Congratulations, Eggheads.

You've won.

Commiserations, Melody, and to your team.

And Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin,

looks like it might have stumped them. No?

You've got Buster Keaton, it was not long before he died

-but, funnily enough, in the last couple of years before he died, he was very active.

-OK, all right.

There was a logic to it.

-Yes, well done.

-Thanks for coming in and playing. Commiserations.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally and the winning streak continues.

I'm afraid that means the Coalition don't go home with the £13,000,

so 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.

£14,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]