Episode 127 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.

Challenging the awesome might of our quiz champions today

are Bear-ly Knowledgea-Bull.

This team of colleagues

all work for the same stockbroking firm in London.

Let's meet them.

Hi, my name's David, I'm 37 and I'm a systems administrator.

Hi, I'm Ian, I'm 50 and I'm a database consultant.

Hi, I'm Sian, I'm 29 and I'm a team leader.

Hi, I'm Craig, I'm 29 and I'm a marketing manager.

Hi, I'm Jim, I'm 39 and I'm a broking director.

-So, David and team, welcome.

-Hello.

-Just to go through the name - Bear-ly Knowledgea-Bull.

-Bear and Bull.

-Yes.

-Remind us what they mean in a stock context.

Basically, it's to do with how the stock market is performing.

You'll have a bear market when things aren't going so great,

then you'll have a bull market when...people are buying

the stocks and the shares and the market's doing well.

That's cos the bear is going like that, and the bull is attacking?

Yeah, the bear will go down when it's fighting with its enemy,

and the bull, when it charges, comes up and...

Fascinating. So, with this enemy, bear or bull?

Hopefully both!

Bit of both. OK. 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.

So, Bear-ly Knowlagea-Bull, the Eggheads won the last two games,

which means £3,000 says you can't beat them today.

First head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film & TV.

-Who would like this? Er.

-I think, Jim's specialist subject, isn't it?

-Yeah, Jim, you going to take this one?

-Jim, OK.

-I'll take this one.

-Against which Egghead?

-Daphne, probably.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, you think Daphne?

-OK.

-Daphne's the one we should go for.

-OK. I think it's going to be Daphne.

-Jim from Bear-ly Knowlagea-Bull

against the sweet, smiling Daphne from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, would you please take your positions in our Question Room?

So, Jim, your ambition is to learn an instrument, I understand.

It is, yeah.

Something I...perhaps regret not doing when I was at school,

but actually getting round to it, haven't quite got there yet.

I've got exactly the same thing - every single year, my New Year's resolution -

I'm going to play the guitar. Since university, and it's never happened.

-Maybe we should get joint guitar lessons.

-Maybe, yes.

-Would you do guitar, or something else?

-Er, maybe guitar or piano.

-Are you playing air guitar at the moment?

-Er, not quite that confident.

-JEREMY LAUGHS

-OK, good luck in Film & TV.

-Thank you.

Against Daphne, it's three multiple-choice questions.

Whoever wins the round goes through to the final, and Jim, you can choose the first or the second set.

Er, I'll go first, please.

Here we go with your first question. In which year was the TV show the X Factor first broadcast in the UK?

The X Factor.

Often, with these, they've been on longer than you think they have.

Er...

It's definitely not 2007.

I think...

I don't think it's been on for ten years.

I think, therefore, the answer is 2004.

2004 is the right answer. Well done. Jim, first point to you. OK.

Over to Daphne.

Which actor has appeared in the films Batman Begins, Unforgiven

and Se7en?

The only one I've seen is Se7en, which was horrible.

-Er, Morgan Freeman.

-Morgan Freeman is the right answer, Daphne.

OK, your question, Jim.

The character Pinhead features in which horror-film series?

HE SIGHS

I'm not, er... I'm not confident about this by any stretch.

Er...

I'm pretty confident it's not Nightmare On Elm Street.

I don't think it's Friday The 13th, so I'm going to go with Hellraiser.

Hellraiser is the right answer. You haven't seen that one?

-I don't believe so.

-Have you seen it, Daphne?

-No!

-LAUGHTER

Just don't, OK? Here's your question.

The 2001 TV mini series Band Of Brothers

is set during which conflict?

It's set during World War II.

World War II is the right answer, so two points each,

and we go back to you, Jim.

Keep the pressure on.

Which actor starred in the 2010 film The Sorcerer's Apprentice?

Oh, I haven't got a clue here.

I'm reasonably sure, having said that, that it's not Daniel Craig.

Um... I don't even think I've heard of the film.

I think I'd know if it was Nicholas Cage,

and on that basis, I'm going to go with Christian Bale.

Christian Bale is your answer. Your team-mates know, I think, do they?

-We think it's Nicholas Cage.

-Nicholas Cage, it is.

So, Daphne's chance to take the round here with her third question.

In which country was the actress Salma Hayek born, in 1966?

Well, before the options came up, I thought of Mexico

and now you've got Brazil.

Oh, well, first instinct. Mexico.

-Is she right, Eggheads?

-Yes, she is.

She is right. Well done. Three points to two.

You've taken that first round on Film & TV. Jim, sorry!

She does tend to do that, our Daphne.

So, you won't be in the final and she will.

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

So, as it stands, the challengers have lost one brain

from the final round, whilst the Eggheads have lost none.

And the next subject is Sport.

Is this a good one for Bear-ly Knowledgea-Bull?

-We all like sport.

-Yes. Er...

-I guess it's between myself and...

Between you and me. Er...

-Craig or David.

-What do you think?

-I'll go for it.

-Yeah, you go Sport.

-Yeah, I'll take Sport, Jeremy.

-OK. Against which Egghead?

-Er...well,

they're all pretty good. I think I'll take Chris, please.

David from Bear-ly Knowledgea-Bull against Chris,

looking suitably aggrieved that he's been chosen on Sport.

Please go to the question rooms.

David, what led you to bring this team together and apply to the show?

Er, well, funny story.

Basically I was looking on the BBC website

for some Strictly Come Dancing tickets to go and see the show,

and, er, I came across the application form for the Eggheads.

And I watched the show, so I said to Craig, "Do you fancy

-putting a team together?" We went from there, really.

-Nicely done.

And people can apply, go online and they can send us a suggestion for a team,

-and you got a reply and here you are!

-Yes, yeah.

OK, good luck to you, and to Chris.

And David, you can choose the first

-or the second set of questions.

-I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. Very best of luck, David.

Which British athlete won a decathlon gold medal

at the 1983 World Championships?

OK. I'm pretty confident with this one.

It's definitely not Linford Christie, he was a 100m runner.

Kriss Akabusi, I believe...

he did... He did a track event,

200m or 400m.

Er, the answer's Daley Thompson.

Daley Thompson is quite right.

Chris, over to you.

Which position is most associated with

the Dutch footballer Ruud van Nistelrooy?

Mmm. Well, the object of the game

is to score goals, and that's done by a striker, so I'll say striker.

Striker is the right answer.

David, back to you.

During the 1980s, Jamie Salmon played rugby union

for England and which other international team?

Well, I'll rule out France, it's not a French-sounding name.

Er...I can't remember...

..anyone of that name playing for New Zealand.

I'll go for Wales, Jeremy.

It's New Zealand.

So Chris, you have a chance to take the lead. In which year

did the tennis player Arthur Ashe

win his first Grand Slam singles title?

Yeah, I remember Arthur Ashe.

Er...sixty...

I think '63 is a bit too early.

I don't connect him with the Kennedy assassination

and all that sort of stuff.

And I think he was around about 1970, so that makes '73 too late,

so we'll go down the middle for '68.

'68 is the right answer!

Chris, well done, you've taken the lead. Back to you, David.

-You need to get this one right, OK?

-Yeah.

Or it's curtains.

Kristi Yamaguchi, born in 1971,

became a famous name in which sport?

Again, I really haven't got a clue. Er... I haven't got any sort of

logic to go on either. Er...

I'm going to rule out swimming,

so 50/50 between figure skating and gymnastics.

I'm going to say gymnastics.

-Eggheads?

-ALL: Figure skating.

-Figure skating,

they all chorus. Sorry, David.

-Chris, you've won on Sport!

-Good grief!

-Should we have

a bottle of champagne and invite everyone to a party?

Well, a bottle of Newkie Brown and a cheese sarnie, maybe. LAUGHTER

Please both of you come back here and rejoin your teams.

So, David, bad luck there.

-Yeah. They were tough questions.

-They were! They were.

You know your sport, but Sport is such a big subject.

-Yeah.

-And it goes back,

you know, till, I suppose, Roman times.

-Absolutely.

-You could go back to sort of throwing

-bits of stone around.

-Ancient China. Yeah.

What's the earliest Sports question you've ever had?

-I don't know, it'd probably go back to something like that.

-Creation of chess?

-Yeah.

They're interesting company, aren't they? The Challengers

have lost two from the final round, the Eggheads are still in one piece.

The next subject is Arts & Books. Which of you wants this?

THEY CONFER

-Ian, I think!

-Oh, no.

-Is it going to be me?

-Yes, er...

-All right.

-Ian.

-The one we've picked.

-OK. From Bear-ly Knowledgea-Bull.

-Here we go. Against which Egghead, Ian?

-Who do we think?

-They're all very strong on everything.

-Yeah.

-I'd take CJ on it.

-You think so?

-Yes.

-The clash of the bright shirts.

LAUGHTER

He doesn't even recognise his shirt is bright, that's the sad thing.

Ian from Bear-ly Knowledgea-Bull against CJ from the Eggheads,

and please go to the question room now.

You're right, Ian, it is the contest of the shirts here.

Yes. One would like to take on CJ

and sort of try and outdo him in bright-coloured shirts.

So tell us about you. You campaign for real ale?

That's correct. I like taking people to fine architectural pubs.

They are wonderful places to go and have a drink in.

Also help run beer festivals to promote real ale to the public,

and currently I'm doing campaigning for real cider.

I'm thinking, CJ, that description of an event

is almost as far away from the world you inhabit as it could be.

You would never go to a real ale event.

It wouldn't be anything that would interest me,

-having never tasted alcohol in my life.

-Yeah.

So don't even try with that one, Ian, he's not going to go there.

-Fair enough!

-Er, tell us about

the toilet you designed on your allotment.

A few years ago, the committee identified a need for

a convenience for our plot-holders.

We're having more families coming on to the site

and needed somewhere to go.

There's a lot of books on alternative sewage systems,

but there's none which actually details how to design one.

So I designed one from spec and project managed and commissioned it,

and it's been so successful that I've had lots of other

allotment sites and councillors

come and have a look at the construction to see it in action,

so to speak...

Well, maybe not!

So it's a compost toilet for your allotment.

It's a free standing, self-sufficient loo.

Correct, yes, indeed.

What a great idea!

Would you build one for the Eggheads?

I'd certainly take that challenge on.

-And I shall succeed.

-OK, let's see how we do,

three questions on Arts & Books

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

Erm, I'd like to go first, please.

If Only They Could Talk and It Shouldn't Happen To A Vet

are books published under which writer's name?

Erm, I know Terry Nutkins but he didn't do it.

Trude Mostue, I don't recall that person, but I do know

it's James Herriot.

James Herriot is the right answer.

Well done, you're off the blocks.

CJ, which Irish playwright's home in Ayot St Lawrence

in Hertfordshire has been preserved as he left it by the National Trust?

Oh, dear.

I've been to a few playwright's homes but this isn't one of them.

I suppose it could be any of them

but Oliver Goldsmith is quite a long time ago.

I mean the most famous of those is obviously GBS,

he only died in 1950, so...

..it could've been taken over by the NT and preserved, I suppose.

I can't imagine it was Goldsmith cos he's just

so much before the other two.

I don't know this but I'll try George Bernard Shaw.

I think the Eggheads know this, what's the answer?

-Shaw.

-Yes, it's right.

Your colleagues say you're absolutely right.

Yeah, he fell out of a tree at St Lawrence and died

in his 90s.

-Did he?

-I don't know what he was doing up a tree at that age.

George Bernard Shaw's the right answer, CJ.

Back to you, Ian.

What is the profession of the character Lew Archer

in the series of novels by the writer Ross Macdonald?

Erm, I'm completely at a loss on this one,

I'm going to have to go for a guess

and I'll go for private detective.

Private detective is correct, Ian, nice one.

Guessing well is a big part of this game.

CJ, in typography what name is given to any part of a lower case letter

that extends below the baseline?

OK, so this is two in a row I've not known.

Descender makes sense, I suppose.

Dropper or deposer...

Typography do like very fancy words, don't they?

I have really got no idea so I'll just try descender.

Descender is correct. You lucky thing.

Ian, here's your next question.

Which 19th-century muse famously posed

as Ophelia in the painting of the same name by John Everett Millais?

I vaguely recollect the painting but the muse I don't recall.

Erm...

I'm just going to, yet again, have a guess.

And go for Effie Gray.

Effie Gray is your answer, Eggheads...?

ALL: Elizabeth Siddal.

Did I hear a story about her suffering pneumonia?

Caught pneumonia cos Millais had her lying in a bath for hours

while he painted her.

Elizabeth Siddal is the correct answer, Ian.

Gives CJ the chance to win the round,

let's see if he can.

Treen is the name given to simple household objects

made out of what material, CJ?

I think Daphne might know this because in one of her 15 to 1

grand finals her and her main rival kept nominating each other.

Yes.

And the last question he got wrong was this very one.

And treen is made from wood.

Well, I must go to Daphne on this, is he right?

Yes, he's absolutely right. Sorry, Matty!

THEY LAUGH

Nice work, Daphne and well done, CJ, wood is the answer.

Ian, sorry, knocked out by out our Egghead

and let's see how your team responds in the next round.

Do come back to us.

So, as it stands, the challengers have lost three brains

from the final round. The Eggheads have still not lost a brain.

So, we need a heave at the Eggheads now, knock one of them out.

The last subject is Politics.

Every time I say a subject, Sian, you say, "Oh, no." Who wants this?

-Sian or Craig?

-What shall we do?

Er, well, I think we'll leave Craig till the end -

-he's our secret weapon.

-Are you two not engaged - is that my imagination?

-We are.

OK, so someone needs to make sure there's no argument now.

-The wedding's only a couple of months away, so...

-Don't fall out!

It's Sian, against which Egghead? Kevin or Barry?

-One end or the other end.

-What do you think?

-It's up to you.

-There's no easy choice.

-Let's go for Kevin.

-Kevin.

-Kevin, Sian says.

So, Sian from Bear-ly Knowledgea-Bull against Kevin who is quite knowledgeable.

Please go to the question room now.

So, Sian, you're getting married soon.

I am, yeah, just a few months away now.

All the best for that, and I know you're not in the firm

with the rest of the team, so you do something else.

-I'm a team leader for a pension annuity company.

-Good work?

Yeah, a really enjoyable job.

-Everyone terrified about their pensions?

-It depends.

Sometimes they are, sometimes not.

We're all going to have to play Eggheads till we're 89, aren't we, Kevin?

At least! Triple figures could be coming up.

I'll ask each of you three questions on politics in turn.

-Sian, would you like the first or second set of questions?

-I'll take the first ones, please.

Here we go, best of luck. In which decade did Jawaharlal Nehru

become the first Prime Minister of India?

I have got absolutely no idea about Indian politics at all. Er...

-I'm going to take a complete guess at 1940s.

-1940s is your answer.

Is this question, Eggheads, about Indian independence, essentially?

-That's right. 1947.

-'47, so you're absolutely right, Sian, well done.

When it became independent, he was the first Prime Minister.

Kevin, Andrew Lansley was appointed Secretary of State

for which Government department in May 2010?

Yes, when the coalition came in,

he became the Secretary of State for Health.

Health is the right answer.

Sian, how old was Margaret Thatcher

when she first became Prime Minister?

Ooh, they're all quite close together. Um...

I'm going to go for 53.

Again, brilliant work. You're right. 53's right!

Kevin, Alfred Deakin who died in 1919 was Prime Minister

of which country on three separate occasions?

In the early part of the 20th century he was Prime Minister of Australia.

Australia is the right answer. OK, Sian, if you get this right

you put Kevin under pressure and

if you can get him out, that would really help your husband-to-be.

In October 2010, Harriet Harman made a public apology

after calling Danny Alexander a what...?

It's going to have to be another complete guess. Um...

I'm going to go for Blond Assassin.

-I thought you might. Can you picture him?

-Not at all!

He has famously got very red hair. It was Ginger Rodent.

As with all jokes, you have to apologise for them in politics.

And the apology came a few hours later.

Kevin, if you get this right you're in the final.

Which British Chancellor of the Exchequer died in office in 1943?

Hugh Dalton was Chancellor later than that...

..under Atlee's Labour administration, so not him.

I think John Anderson was Chancellor... Or was he?

I think this is Kingsley Wood.

It is indeed Kingsley Wood. Well done. You've taken that round.

Clean sweep for the Eggheads. Sorry, Sian.

Kevin is very good.

Please both come back to us,

rejoin your teams and we'll play the final round.

I was going to ask if there was a change of strategy now

but I guess it's too late.

We did agree to leave Craig till last, he's got good all-round

general knowledge. Hopefully he can turn it round for us.

And you've been unlucky in one respect,

-they haven't got a single question wrong in this game.

-So far!

It's unusual, even for them. This is what we've been playing towards.

It's time for the final round which, as always,

is General Knowledge but those of you who

lost your head-to-heads won't be allowed to take part in this round.

David, Ian, Sian and Jim from Bear-ly Knowledgea-Bull

would you please leave the studio?

Craig, you are playing to win Bear-ly Knowledgea-Bull £3,000.

Kevin, CJ, Daphne, Chris and Barry,

you're playing for something money can't buy -

the Eggheads' reputation.

As usual, I'll ask each team three questions in turn, this time

the questions are all general knowledge and you are allowed to confer.

So, Bear-ly Knowledgea-Bull,

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

-And would you like to go first or second?

-First, please.

Craig, good luck.

Who had a UK number one album in 2010 with

The Defamation of Strickland Banks?

Well, I'm smiling because I've got this album.

I'm going to get one right! The answer is Plan B.

Glad you didn't say Michael Buble.

Plan B is it. Well done!

Over to you, Eggs.

Svetlana Savitskaya was the first woman in history to do what?

THEY CONFER

She was a Soviet cosmonaut who was the first woman to walk in space.

She did indeed walk in space and she was the first. Well done.

Back to you, Craig. Keep pressing.

The 2010 films entitled The Last Song

and Dear John are both adaptations

of novels by which American writer?

I can't even work my way towards

any logical reason for the correct answer.

I'm going to have to have a guess and go for Rachel Gibson.

-Let's see if the Eggheads know this one. Eggs?

-Nicholas Sparks?

Nicholas Sparks is the answer.

So, they have a chance to take the lead.

What informal name is given to the emergency

shutdown of a nuclear reactor?

-Scram.

-All happy with Scram? Yep,

we're all happy with this answer.

We believe it's Scram.

Scram is the right answer. So, they've taken the lead.

You need to get this question right or the contest is over.

It's your third question, Craig.

It'd be a great story for the wedding...if you turn them over.

In American mythology,

what is the name of Paul Bunyan's giant ox?

In American mythology, what is the name of Paul Bunyan's giant ox?

Again, it's another gap in my knowledge.

Babe doesn't sound like the name for a giant ox to me.

Belle the giant ox? Buddy the giant ox?

I'm going to plump for Belle, the giant ox.

-Shall I see if they know? Eggheads?

-ALL: Babe!

-The one I ruled out!

Sorry, Craig. It is Babe.

And with that wrong answer you've given the contest to the Eggheads

and we say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

It was only two or three games ago that they lost

so they're not allowed to look that smug!

Well done for playing. Thanks for coming in.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

And they still reign supreme over quizland.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £3,000.

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.

£4,000 says they don't. Until, then, goodbye!

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