Episode 117 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 a team of five quiz challengers

attempt to beat possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain.

They have 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 Travelling Mulberries who all know one another

through the Mulberry Street Bar in Glasgow where Colin has been hosting a quiz night for six years.

-Let's meet them.

-Hi, my name's Gordon. I'm 47 years old and I'm an environmental health officer.

Hi, I'm Jim. I'm 58 years old and I'm a delivery driver.

Hi, my name is Colin, I'm 47 years old and I'm a charity project manager.

Hi, I'm Jen, I'm 34 years old and I'm a scientist.

Hi, I'm Derick, I'm 62 years of age and I'm a retired chartered accountant.

-So, Gordon and team, welcome.

-Thank you.

-Is the quiz night at the bar a tough one?

It can be, but Colin has a habit of repeating questions, so that makes it easier for us.

-He repeats the questions?

-It does happen, but we still forget.

-You mean not as he asks them, but a week later or something?

-Several months.

You've got a whole range of different professions and interests and that's got to be good.

Hopefully, that'll help us in our challenge here today

as we all come from different backgrounds and walks of life.

Our one weak point, and we hope it doesn't come up, is Sport.

Sport? OK. That can happen.

Let's see. Every day, £1,000 is up for grabs for our challengers.

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

Travelling Mulberries, the Eggheads have won the last 19 games,

which means £20,000 says you can't beat them today.

-Shall we get cracking?

-Hmm.

The first head-to-head battle is on Film & TV.

Who would like this?

-That'll be me.

-I think you're the one. Colin, you're the chosen one.

-Choose an Egghead.

-I think Judith.

-Colin from the Travelling Mulberries against Judith from the Eggheads.

To make sure there's no conferring, please take your positions in the question room.

Good luck in this round. Three multiple choice questions on Film & TV.

-You can choose the first or second set of questions.

-I'll go first.

All the best to you, Colin.

Here we go.

"Ah, go on, go on, go on" was the catchphrase of which character in the TV sitcom Father Ted?

Well, this used to be a programme I really, really enjoyed

and that would be Mrs Doyle.

Mrs Doyle is the right answer. Well done. OK.

Judith, Pete Bennett, Rachel Rice and Anthony Hutton

have all been winners of which reality TV series?

Well, maybe it's Big Brother. I don't know. I've no idea.

-Big Brother.

-Big Brother is the right answer. Well done.

OK, Colin...

Nick Ross was the original presenter of which show

when it was first broadcast as a programme in its own right in 1985?

I thought the options were going to include something else,

so it caught me a little bit by surprise,

but I think Nick Ross was an original presenter on Watchdog.

Watchdog is correct.

Judith,

who starred as the title character in the 2010 film adaptation of Gulliver's Travels?

I think that is Jack Black

because there's also a commercial he's in, isn't there, as Gulliver?

So, Jack Black.

Jack Black is correct. So playing well here, two points apiece.

Colin, back to you. What surname is shared by the director of the 1984 film Ghostbusters

and his son who directed the 2009 film, Up In The Air?

Well, I know that the director of Ghostbusters was Ivan Reitman

and I think his son is Jason, so the name is Reitman.

Very impressive. Absolutely right. You gave us the whole lot.

-You're playing someone who's pretty good, Judith.

-I know.

Ray Harryhausen made his name in film as an expert practitioner in what area?

I really have no idea.

What about sound effects?

Sound effects. Let's see if an Egghead knows. Anybody?

-Stop-motion animation.

-How do you all know?

His famous films were Clash Of The Titans and Jason And The Argonauts.

-He was just the best at the time.

-Judith, it is stop-motion animation.

You've been knocked out by Colin.

Well done. You're in the final. The Mulberry quizzers will give the Eggheads quite a run, I sense.

Both of you come back and rejoin your teams.

So, as it stands, the challengers have lost no brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have now lost a brain.

The next subject is Politics.

Not Sport.

-Who wants this?

-Derick or Jim.

-Derick?

-OK, short straw time.

-Yeah, I guess that's me, Jeremy.

-Derick, it's you. Which Egghead, Derick?

I would love to go up against Pat.

OK, Derick from the Travelling Mulberries against Pat from the Eggheads.

To make sure there's no conferring, please take your positions.

Derick, all the best to you. Do you like your politics?

-Can I answer that later?

-Sure. Let's ask at the end of the round.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-First, please.

Here we go.

Ed Miliband's last position in Gordon Brown's administration was Secretary of State for what?

I don't think he was Energy & Climate Change.

I'm not sure of Children, Schools... I don't know, to be honest.

I'm going to plump for Communities & Local Government.

It's not, actually. It's Energy & Climate Change.

OK, over to you, Pat.

The book in which MPs declare any extra income or gifts

which they receive and could influence their decisions is the Register of Members' Financial what?

I think it's a Register of Interests.

Interests is the correct answer.

Derick, second question.

Barack Obama spent four years of his childhood in which Far East country?

I'm going to plump for Indonesia, but I don't know why.

-Indonesia.

-Sometimes not knowing why doesn't matter

and it doesn't matter here. You're right.

Indonesia is the answer. Nice one, Derick.

So, Pat, to keep the lead, in a 1992 speech,

President George HW Bush famously said

that American families should be more like the Waltons and less like who?

This didn't go down very well at all.

He reckoned they should be more like the Waltons

and less like the Simpsons,

but in fact, the Simpsons enjoy an enormous popularity.

The Simpsons is correct.

Derick, your question.

You got your first one wrong, so you really need this one or you're not in the final.

What item is required to be placed on the table in the House of Commons before any business can take place?

Again I'm not absolutely certain.

I don't think it's the Woolsack and I don't think it's the box.

I do believe it's the mace, Jeremy.

Mace is the right answer.

Not the spray, gentlemen, right?

The ceremonial thing.

OK, Pat, this for the round.

The National Assembly of People's Power is the English name

of the main legislative authority of which country?

I don't know anything about Sierra Leone's governmental arrangements,

so I'll just abandon that and I'll have to pick between Italy and Cuba.

Something about the way it's phrased,

National Assembly of People's Power, leads me to have a guess at Cuba.

You've got the right answer, Pat - Cuba.

You've taken the round as well.

Derick, getting that first question wrong was fatal. You won't be in the final.

Pat will. Please come back and rejoin your teams.

The challengers have lost a brain from the final round. The Eggheads have lost a brain as well.

Your next subject is Music. Who wants this?

-Would you be confident? I don't mind doing it.

-I'm not doing it.

You're usually quite good.

I'll have a go at Music.

-I was going to stay to the end, but...

-OK, which Egghead? It cannot be Judith or Pat.

-Barry perhaps?

-I think Barry.

-I'll take on Barry.

-OK, Gordon from the Travelling Mulberries against Barry on Music from the Eggheads.

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

I'll ask each of you three questions on Music and you can choose the first or second set of questions.

Eh... I shall try and go first.

Here we go. "You walked into the party like you were walking on to a yacht" is the first line

of which 1970s UK top ten hit single?

Not particularly brilliant on lyrics,

but it is a very famous first line

of a great song

which I believe was written about... Was it James Taylor?

It was Carly Simon that sang it and I think it's You're So Vain.

You're So Vain is right. I don't think we ever found out

who it was written about. Warren Beatty, I heard.

-Any offers on Warren Beatty?

-Yeah, I heard that. Also Mick Jagger.

She's never said.

Barry, when they participated in The X Factor, how many members were there in the group JLS?

Oh, it's certainly not two.

JLS, just trying to picture the line-up. Was it four or six?

Six just seems too many. I'll go for four.

Four is correct. Gordon, back to you.

Which American singer at the age of 20 won a Grammy for Album of the Year in 2010 with Fearless?

I'll rule out Lindsay Lohan immediately. She's an actress.

It's between Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood.

I don't know the music. It's a guess.

I'd have to say... I'll go for Taylor Swift.

I've heard of that name, not the other name.

Taylor Swift is the right answer. Well done.

The only thing I've got with Taylor Swift in my own mind

-is something with Kanye West at an awards ceremony.

-It was the Grammys.

-She was given an award and he came up and said, "You shouldn't have got it"? Was that her?

-That was her.

OK, Barry, your question to keep up.

Which jazz musician and band leader composed the score

for Otto Preminger's 1959 film Anatomy Of A Murder?

Oh, gosh! I'm afraid I haven't a clue on this one.

I don't even recall the film,

so I can't think of whose musical style would be best suited to it.

I shall go for Duke Ellington and keep my fingers crossed.

You got it right. Well done. Duke Ellington, it is.

OK, Gordon,

this is a close-fought round and contest.

What type of musical instrument is the Turkish kudum?

This is something I should know.

My brother lives in Turkey and he's got a Turkish wife.

I might have heard of the name of the instrument before,

-but I'm stabbing in the dark here.

-Let me read it to you again.

What type of musical instrument is the Turkish kudum?

A stab in the dark...

A pair of drums.

Yeah, nice answer. A pair of drums is right. Well done.

It's funny, the second time I read it and I said "kudum",

the word makes a drumming sound.

-You've never seen your brother's wife playing the kudum?

-No.

-I don't think she plays an instrument.

-Barry, if you get this wrong, you are out.

Which French composer, who died in 1979,

was renowned for having taught composition to many important 20th century composers,

including Aaron Copland, Philip Glass and Elliott Carter?

Of those three, the name I associate with teaching other people

is Nadia Boulanger, so that's my answer.

It was indeed Nadia Boulanger.

So we go to Sudden Death and it gets a bit harder, Gordon.

Well done on your three correct answers. They were multiple choice. Now I don't give you options.

For what does the letter R stand in the name RCA Records?

I think the "CA" stands for Columbia Associates.

And the R...

It's an old company associated with the old days of the radio, so I'm going to guess Radio.

Radio is bang-on. It's actually Radio Corporation of America, but you got the word "Radio".

Barry, if you get this wrong, you are out.

Dennis Locorriere and Ray Sawyer,

the latter sporting a trademark cowboy hat and eye patch,

were the lead vocalists of which band who had a string of hits in the 1970s?

I'm not sure on this, but it sounds like Dr Hook and the Medicine Men.

Dr Hook is right. It's Medicine Show but I was looking for Dr Hook.

Back to you, Gordon.

Bobby Darin's version of which song won the 1959 Record of the Year Grammy Award?

The only song that I think he sang that I know is quite well-known

was Mack The Knife, so I'll say Mack The Knife.

Mack The Knife is correct.

All right, Barry, if you get this wrong, you're out.

Which band of the 1980s and '90s was formed by the Scottish musician, Roddy Frame?

-Roddy Frame... Could you spell the surname, please?

-Frame.

F-R-A-M-E.

Gosh, I'll try and think of some Scottish bands.

I don't think it's these, but I'll try Aztec Warriors.

You got close with that! How did you do that? Where did that come from? It's Aztec Camera.

-Oh!

-Aztec Camera, not Aztec Warriors.

I was trying to remember that name.

What a splendid effort! I didn't think you'd get anywhere near it.

Aztec Camera with Roddy Frame. Brilliant songwriter.

-Gordon, you've done well.

-Thank you.

-You've got yourself a place in the final.

-Scraped through.

You've done more than that. Barry's been knocked out. Please come back to your teams now.

The challengers have lost one brain from the final round whilst the Eggheads have lost two brains.

The last subject is Geography. You missed out Sport.

-You were lucky there. Who wants Geography?

-I think Jen perhaps.

-I'll take Geography.

-Jen's going to have a go at Geography.

-Against?

-I'll let Gordon choose who I go with. He's team captain.

-Pressure!

Em...

-Kevin?

-Kevin. Is that what they call a hospital pass?

-I think you could call it that.

Jen from the Travelling Mulberries against Kevin from the Eggheads, please go to the question room now.

So I will ask each of you three questions on Geography in turn.

-Jen, would you like the first or second set?

-I'll go first.

Good luck, Jen. The largest lake in England is in which county?

It's a part of the world that I love

and I've travelled a lot in the Lake District.

-It's Lake Windermere in Cumbria.

-You're right on both.

Cumbria is right.

Kevin, Luanda, the capital of Angola, is a port on which ocean?

Angola is on the west side of Africa, so it's the Atlantic.

Atlantic is correct.

Jen, what name is given to a cylindrical mass of solidified lava formed in the vent of a volcano?

Again volcanology is something that I enjoy

and I've taken an Open University course in it.

It's called a plug.

Wow, bang-on!

Plug is right. So we just have happened on your two interests -

-lakes and volcanoes!

-Something like that.

-I wonder what the third question is going to bring?

Kevin, the River Otter flows through Somerset and which other county?

It flows to the... It rises in Somerset,

then I believe it flows south through Devon.

So there's Ottery St Mary in Devon. Yeah, it's Devon.

Yes, Devon is the answer. Jen, your question.

Lake Winnipeg drains into Hudson Bay via which river?

The geography of that part of Canada I don't know very well,

but I'm sure Jim would be shouting out the answer.

It's a wee bit of deduction,

trying to think about who explored that part of the world.

I'm going to go with Montgomery River.

I should ask Jim, shouldn't I, as you are Canadian?

-I don't know.

-You don't know! He doesn't know.

-It's a big country.

-Kevin, do you know?

-It's the Nelson.

-It is the Nelson, Jen.

So we have to hope that Kevin slips up.

Panaji, Kevin, also called Panjim, is the capital of which western Indian state?

Orissa is an eastern Indian state, so we'll knock that one out.

The other two, though, are both on the west coast.

I'll have to say Goa, I think.

If you've got this right, you are in the final. Do the Eggheads know?

-It is Goa.

-Barry says it is Goa and he's absolutely right.

Kevin, you have won the round. Jen, you're out, but only just.

Do, both of you, return to us and we will play the final.

What a great contest this is!

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 can't take part,

so Jen and Derick from the Travelling Mulberries and Barry and Judith from the Eggheads,

would you please leave the studio?

Gordon, Jim and Colin, you are playing to win the Travelling Mulberries £20,000.

Pat, Kevin and CJ, you are playing for something money can't buy - the Eggheads' reputation.

I'll ask each team three questions, all General Knowledge, and you are allowed to confer.

So, Travelling Mulberries, are your three brains better than the Eggheads' three?

-Would you like to go first or second?

-We'll go first.

Good luck. £20,000 at stake and you've played really well so far.

London's Albery Theatre was renamed in 2006 in honour of which playwright?

Albery is spelt A-L-B-E-R-Y.

-I think Terence Rattigan rings a bell.

-Mm-hm.

-Or it's John Osborne.

-What are you thinking?

-Terence Rattigan.

-What's that based on?

-I don't know. I know it's not...

-I don't think it's Noel Coward.

-I don't think it is either.

John Osborne's... I don't know.

-It's the Osborne Theatre or the Rattigan Theatre?

-Yeah.

Neither of them really rings a bell.

-The first one that came into my mind was John Osborne.

-Yeah.

-Me as well.

I'll defer. Osborne's fine with me.

-On you go.

-John Osborne, Jeremy.

-John Osborne is your answer.

Let's see if the Eggheads know.

-Noel Coward.

-Noel Coward is the answer. You got it wrong.

-So wrong.

-Yeah, you ruled it out quite emphatically there.

-Yeah.

The Douglas fir is named after David Douglas, the Scottish botanist

who introduced it to Europe from which continent?

-North America.

-North America.

-Yeah.

-It's where it comes from.

I mean, he certainly travelled and collected in North America.

I don't think he was anywhere else.

We're finally giving the public what they want - it's my turn to speak.

-North America.

-North America from an ever modest CJ

is the correct answer. They've pulled ahead, but don't give up.

Your second question. What was the name of the pillar-shaped rock

that until it collapsed was part of The Needles off the coast of the Isle of Wight?

-Lot's Wife...

-Does it mean anything to you?

-No.

It doesn't mean anything to me either,

but Lot's Wife makes some sense with the reference to the pillar of salt.

-Hercules' Spine is...

-No. And Simeon's Mansion?

Simeon's Mansion?

Do we all tend towards the first one, Lot's Wife, do you think?

-SIGHING AND LAUGHTER

-I know!

Have you got a three-sided coin we can toss?

I can't see the Isle of Wight being called Hercules' Spine.

-It's more likely to be a biblical reference.

-Go for Lot's Wife.

-OK.

Jeremy, Lot's Wife.

Bang-on, well done. Lot's Wife is the right answer.

Great, irresistible logic.

Eggheads, brothers Bernard and Geoffrey Hunt represented Great Britain in which event in 1963?

It's not the Ryder Cup.

Only two sets of brothers have ever played in it.

The Garridos. I don't recognise their names.

I think tennis players is the most unlikely.

Surely one of us would have heard of them if they'd played for Britain.

The crew of an America's Cup boat are normally low-profile guys.

-Yeah.

-You don't hear very much about them. Maybe nowadays you do.

-But it could be... It could be the Ryder Cup.

-Yeah.

I think only two sets of brothers have played,

-but that could be only since the Europe era.

-Right, OK.

America's Cup, I think, is the...

-There are more people...

-Yeah.

-But represented Great Britain,

does that more imply they were the only ones?

I have a tiny preference for Ryder Cup, but I have no evidence.

-We're just ruling out the Davis Cup?

-Yeah.

I think we'd have heard of them.

With the America's Cup,

do they compete as Great Britain, apart from anything else?

-I mean, it's tended to be badged...

-Yeah, just as the boat.

With a name sponsored by a particular individual like, going back a bit,

-Tommy Lipton and...

-'63, you said?

Bernard and Geoffrey Hunt represented Great Britain in which event in 1963?

-In '63, it was Great Britain in the Ryder Cup.

-Yeah, OK.

On the basis that if it was Davis Cup, we would have heard of them,

we don't think perhaps Great Britain,

as an entity, compete in the America's Cup,

so in '63, Great Britain was competing in the Ryder Cup,

so we'll try Ryder Cup.

It's the correct answer. Well done. Ryder Cup, it is.

Bad luck, guys.

I could see the right answer and I thought they weren't going to get it.

That's how they work. It's like detection.

So you need this one.

What was the title of Cecilius Calvert

who received a charter from Charles I of England for the new colony of Maryland?

-North America, Jim.

-Thank you(!)

I'm from the north.

-I've not heard of...

-Isn't Baltimore in Maryland?

-They're all in Maryland.

-They're all cities there.

Annapolis is a kind of...

I've never heard of any of those titles,

although something in my head says Rockville.

-But I've nothing to base that on.

-We've got to have an answer.

The obvious one would be Baltimore. I don't want to rule it out.

-Is Baltimore the capital?

-No, Annapolis.

-Annapolis is the capital.

So maybe that's the answer because it's the state capital of Maryland?

-Maybe that's more likely to be... You know?

-OK, gentlemen?

-Yeah.

Jeremy, Lord Annapolis?

The title of Cecilius Calvert,

who received a charter for the new colony of Maryland,

was Lord Baltimore.

So, congratulations, Eggheads. You've won.

-It's almost the more knowledge, the more difficult it is.

-Yeah.

If you didn't know America, you'd think it was Baltimore.

-And I was certain they were going to go against Ryder.

-So were we.

-Amazing sleuthing by the Eggheads!

Commiserations, challengers. You really gave them a run for their money.

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

You won't be going home with the £20,000, so the money rolls over.

Eggheads, very well done again. I wonder who will ever beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£21,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd 2012

Email [email protected]