Episode 128 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 hoping to beat our quiz Goliaths today are the DJs.

This team of friends all know one another through

working for the civil service.

Let's meet them.

I'm Diane, I'm 56, and I'm a retired civil servant.

I'm John, I'm 50, and I'm a civil servant.

Hi, I'm John, I'm 35, and I'm a civil servant.

I'm John, I'm 39, and I'm a civil servant.

Hello, I'm also John, I'm 54, and I'm also a civil servant.

Diane, welcome. And the interesting thing about your team

is that everyone else is called John.

-That's right, yes.

-So you could have been Diane and the Johns?

We could've been, but we were entering a music quiz,

so the DJs seemed appropriate and the name just stuck.

Cos you were thinking maybe Diana Ross and the Supremes, Diane and...

It would've been nice to be Diana Ross and the Supremes,

but I'm not sure they really fit the bill!

All right.

Well, let's wish you well in this quiz. 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, the DJs, the Eggheads have won the last three games,

which means £4,000 says you can't beat them today.

-Shall we go for the first set of questions now?

-THEY AGREE

OK, it's going to be on the subject of Arts and Books.

-Oh, well...

-Arts and Books.

We already know that's me.

That's Diane.

You're saving the Johns. You can choose any Egghead.

-I don't know!

-Chris?

If you want to, let's go Chris.

Let's go for Chris.

-Right, Diane from the DJs, Chris, looking scholarly there.

-Yeah.

Rodin lives, yeah.

OK. Chris from the Eggheads.

And to ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in the Question Room?

Chris, Arts and Books, any particular favourite areas for you?

Well, no, not really.

I know what I know and if that ain't good enough, tough!

OK! I'll ask each of you three multiple choice questions

on Arts and Books in turn.

Whoever gets the most right goes through to the final, the other person is knocked out.

And Diane for the DJs, would you like to go first or second?

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

OK, here we go. Good luck to you.

No Dress Rehearsal and Nothing Bad Ever Happens in Tiffany's are books

by which writer?

Oh, gosh! This isn't the sort of thing I read!

Erm...

I don't think it's Marian Keyes,

but of the other two I'm going to plump for...

Jacqueline Wilson.

Jacqueline Wilson is your answer. Let's see if Chris knows. Chris?

I think it's Jackie Collins, Joan's sister.

No, it's not, actually.

It's Marian Keyes.

Marian Keyes is the answer, Diane. OK, Chris, over to you.

Subtitled My Story, what is the title

of comedian Michael McIntyre's autobiography, published in 2010?

Woah!

Life and Laughing's a bit prosaic, isn't it?

I don't think he can say he'd title it Experience and Excellence,

but Fun and Fatherhood seems like a snappy title,

so that's what I've got to go with.

Eggheads?

-EGGHEADS:

-Life and Laughing.

Life and Laughing, Chris.

Ah, well, there you go!

OK. Diane,

which creatures appear in the famous classical sculpture

Laocoon and His Sons in the Vatican Museum?

Erm, I have been to the Vatican Museum but it was ages ago,

so I can't remember.

I don't think it's wolves.

I'm just going to have to guess, actually, cos I really don't know.

I'm going to go for sea serpents.

Sea serpents is the right answer.

-Oh!

-Well done!

OK, Chris, over to you.

Tom Paulin, who appeared regularly on BBC Two's Late Review

found fame as a practitioner in which of the arts?

Ah, I honestly don't know, Jeremy. I don't think he's a poet.

And I don't think he'd get very far in fashion design.

I think he was a painter. Painting.

-No, he's actually a poet.

-Is he?

-Yeah, very much so.

OK, this is a high-scoring round!

Diane, you get this one right, you've knocked him out, OK?

Just get this one right.

Which of the pilgrims in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

tells the story of a cock being captured by a fox?

OK, I don't think it's the Man of Law.

Oh!

I'm really not sure, but I'll go for the Nun's Priest.

Let me check with an Egghead. Anyone know? Chris?

I think she's right.

-You are right, Diane!

-Oh, wow!

Well done! The Nun's Priest it is!

Very inspired work there in the...

I won't say guessing. Quizzing, we call it! Quizzing.

Knowledge and guesswork, and you did brilliantly. You're in the final, Chris, you've been knocked out.

Do, please, both of you, rejoin your teams.

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

The Eggheads have lost a brain.

The next subject is Food and Drink,

so who wants this? It has to be a John!

-Diane!

-Yes, it does have to be a John.

Do you want me to take it?

-Yes, I think John C.

-John C.

-I'm going to take it, Jeremy.

-John, can you find an Egghead there

who looks as if they've never been fed?

-Who do you think we should take on?

-CJ or...?

Who do you reckon?

I really don't know.

-It's eenie-meenie-miney-mo.

-You choose, John.

We'll try CJ, please.

OK, so John C from the DJs versus CJ...

This is going to be fun! ..from the Eggheads.

Please go to the Question Room now.

CJ, it's been ages since you did Food and Drink.

I can honestly say I'd actually prefer to play Sport.

It's been 128 games, I'm told, since you last did this category.

That's cos Kevin's usually here!

That's probably true! All right, so I'll ask each of you three questions

on Food and Drink in turn.

Whoever answers the most questions correctly is the winner,

-and John, you can choose the first or the second set of questions.

-I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go John, good luck to you.

What is the term for increasing the nutritional value of food

by adding vitamins?

I don't think it's solidifying.

Um, and out of the other two, um, it's more likely to be fortifying.

So I'll go with that one, please. Fortifying.

Fortifying is the right answer, John. Well done.

Good start! OK, CJ.

The process called deveining, CJ,

is used to refer to the removing of the intestinal tract,

a thin black line, from the back of which seafood creatures?

I do actually watch a couple of cookery shows

and I think it was on Masterchef that Michel Roux Jr

was really laying into some of the contestants

for not removing the vein from the prawns.

Prawns is the right answer.

Well done.

Second question to you, John.

On an Italian restaurant menu,

an item listed as impanato will be coated in what?

Impanato.

Don't think it's cherries.

I'm not sure syrup features too much on an Italian menu.

I'll go with breadcrumbs, Jeremy.

Yeah, the pan bit of the word is the clue.

Breadcrumbs is right. Well done, you got it!

Two points to you.

Over to CJ.

The 17th-century French writer, Madame de Savigne,

is popularly credited with starting the custom in Europe

of drinking tea with what, CJ?

I have heard of her.

Um, I don't think it's biscuits.

I mean, tea wherever it's grown and, I think, originally here,

was always drunk black.

Um...

And I think that's about the right time.

Yes, I think it's milk.

Milk is the correct answer. So he's on your tail, John.

Throw him off! Get this one right.

The early career of which TV cook included a stint

as the deputy literary editor of the Sunday Times?

Hmm, not sure on that one.

I think...

It's going to be a complete guess, so I'm going with Sophie Grigson.

No. Anybody?

I'd have gone for Nigella Lawson.

Nigella Lawson is the right answer, John.

OK, CJ, if you get this right, you've got the round,

otherwise we go to Sudden Death on Food. What a thought!

Tatsoi is a Chinese variety of which vegetable?

Potato and carrot have a lot of different varieties, but...

I thought those varieties were, essentially, grown everywhere,

whereas there are variations of cabbage

which are most closely associated with China.

I've got nothing else to go on, so on that basis

and the fact it ends with the same two letters as bok choy,

I'll try cabbage.

Cabbage is the correct answer.

You have won a place in the final. Sorry, John!

More Johns to come, I know that, but you won't be in the final.

Please, do come back to the studio and rejoin your teams.

Well, bad luck John C.

And CJ, that's good going for you, isn't it?

Well, I was petrified when Food and Drink came up cos I thought,

"I'm not going to win this," cos I knew if I won that, then,

for the series so far, my percentage is now 75%.

So I think I've played 32 head-to-heads and won 24 of them.

-Do you measure yours or everybody's?

-Oh, I don't care about that lot!

The challengers have lost one brain from the final round

and the Eggheads have also lost a brain.

It's interestingly poised. The next subject is History.

Who would like this? Which John?

It's John, John or John.

Are you going to take one for the team or not?

-I'll do one for the team, shall I?

-Are you sure?

-It's got to be you or you.

-Yeah.

-One or the other.

-Do you want to go with me?

I'll go whatever. Kings and queens, but I'll give it a go.

-Yeah, give it a go.

-John M.

-Now, choose an Egghead if you can.

-Who have you got a feeling for?

Met him on the way down, so Pat.

Nice reason!

Met you on the way down the stairs.

OK, so John M from the DJs against Pat from the Eggheads.

And to make sure there's no conferring, please go to the Question Room now.

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

-and you may choose the first or the second set.

-I'll take the first set.

Here we go, all the best to you.

Where was the famous Kohinoor diamond put on display

for several weeks in 1851?

Ooh, the Kohinoor diamond.

I've never associated that with the House of Lords, I must admit.

1851.

I think that was around about the time of the Great Exhibition,

so I'll go for the Great Exhibition.

Great Exhibition is the right answer, well done.

Over to you, Pat.

In which year after World War II did Allied-occupied Austria

regain its sovereignty?

It was...

Yes, obviously occupied with the fall of Germany

and The Third Man and all that.

'75 seems very, very late

and, in fact, so does '65.

I can't imagine there were still Allied troops

occupying Austria in 1965.

I think I'll have to go for 1955.

1955 is correct.

OK, over to you.

John M.

In 1830, France invaded which African country?

Algeria used to be a French colony.

I've never associated France with Egypt.

Um, Libya...

I'm not certain that there are French connections with Libya.

So I will go for Algeria.

You've got it 100% right. Well done. Algeria it was.

Pat, your question.

Which figure from British naval history was the first Englishman

to navigate the Straits of Magellan?

I think Horatio Nelson confined himself mostly to standard

Royal Navy military operations.

The Atlantic and the Med.

And a part of the Straits of Magellan is called

the Drake's passage, so I'll have to go for Francis Drake.

Francis Drake is the right answer.

So you both have two points. Third question now for you, John.

What was required for an individual to gain a divorce in England

prior to the setting up of divorce courts

under the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857?

I can't see them going through all the hassle of going

for an Act of Parliament for a divorce before then.

I'll go for the Mayoral Decree.

Well, you won't believe this, but it's the one you ruled out -

it's an Act of Parliament.

That is the answer.

So it was that rare and unusual to get one before 1857.

Act of Parliament is the right answer, which means, Pat,

you have a chance to take the round with this question.

Until 1949, what was the name of the region

east of the river Jordan that now forms the main part

of the Kingdom of Jordan?

Jordan-Turkey doesn't ring any sort of Bell.

British Jordan has some plausibility,

the British were present right across the Levant.

But Transjordan...

I'm pretty sure I've read about Transjordan in the past,

and it just means "across the Jordan,"

so the other side of the river from Israel, so I'll go for Transjordan.

Is he right, Eggheads?

-ALL: Yes.

-They say you are, Transjordan is the answer,

you've taken that round, sorry, John, you've been knocked out.

If you come back to us, we will play the next round.

OK, so now the Challengers have lost two brains from the final round,

the Eggheads have lost one brain, and we have our last subject

before the final, and it is Sport.

-Is this good?

-That's easy.

-That's a given, isn't it?

-It's this John.

-It's John L, OK.

-Daphne, do you reckon?

-I think, yeah, Daphne, please.

So, John L from the DJs against Daphne from the Eggheads.

Do both of you please go to the Question Room now.

-So, John, you're a taxman?

-Yes, I am.

OK, I dare you to beat him, Daphne.

-You know there'll be trouble.

-Get my revenge!

HE LAUGHS

OK, good luck to you both.

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

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

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Good luck to you, John and the DJs, here we go.

Which football player made his first team debut for Liverpool

against Blackburn Rovers on 29 November, 1998?

1998...

I'm pretty sure that's far too late for Robbie Fowler.

I'm pretty sure it's too late for Jamie Redknapp.

Looking at where Steven Gerrard is now in his career,

I'll go for Steven Gerrard, please.

Steven Gerrard is the right answer, well done.

An easy one to get wrong, actually.

Daphne, what is the maximum

permissible circumference of a cricket ball?

You saw my jaw drop!

It's... I have no spatial awareness, um...

I don't know.

Nine inches.

Yeah, nine inches is correct, nice one.

John, who was the first British tennis player

to win the men's singles competition at the French Open?

I know Fred Perry was the last one to win Wimbledon,

I know Bunny Austin, I'm pretty sure he got to the final

after Fred Perry at Wimbledon.

I'm going to dismiss Lawrence Docherty,

and I'm just going to plump for Bunny Austin, I think.

That's the wrong answer.

Fred Perry is the correct answer, John.

Bad luck.

All right, Daphne, get this right, you pull ahead.

In 2006, Sandy Park became the home ground of which Rugby Union team?

I think that's the Exeter Chiefs.

Right?

How do you know that?

I'm sure I read it recently.

Exeter Chiefs is correct, Daphne, you're in the lead.

So, John, you really need to get this one right.

The annual Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race traditionally starts

on which day of the year?

Sydney to Hobart race...

Sailing isn't a strong topic for me.

Boxing Day, I'm sure they start a Test match on that day.

Good Friday doesn't seem to be the sort of day you would start

that sort of thing, so I'm going to plump for Australia day.

It's not Australia Day, it's actually Boxing Day.

Which means we don't need to ask Daphne a third question,

because she has taken the round.

Daphne, you'll be in the final, John, sorry, you won't,

and if you both rejoin your teams we can play that final round.

So, this is what we've been playing towards,

it's time for the final round, which is General Knowledge.

But I'm afraid those who lost your Head To Heads

won't be allowed to take part in this round,

so that's John, John, and John from the DJs,

and Chris from the Eggheads -

would you please now leave the studio.

Good luck, Diane and John, you're playing to win the DJs £4,000.

CJ, Daphne, Barry and Pat,

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

the Eggheads' reputation.

As usual, I will ask each team three questions,

the questions are all general knowledge,

you are allowed to confer.

So, DJs, the question is,

are your two brains better than the Eggheads four?

Diane and John, do you want to go first or second?

We're going to go first, Jeremy.

Here we go.

In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet,

what is the name of the father of Laertes?

Laertes...

It's, um, Polonius, I'm sure it's Polonius.

Well, we'll just doublecheck - Rosencrantz is a friend...

I would have ruled out Rosencrantz for starters, anyway.

I'm sure it's Polonius.

Polonius, OK.

We're going to go with Polonius, Jeremy.

Absolutely right, well done.

Who died in a horrible way.

-Stabbed behind the arras.

-He was stabbed behind the arras.

OK, Eggheads...

Which Hollywood actress has also pursued a career as a rock singer,

fronting the band's The Licks and The New Romantiques -

spelt R-O-M-A-N-T-I-Q-U-E-S?

I think The Licks is Juliette Lewis.

It's not a bad band, at all, actually, and it's Juliette Lewis.

Juliette Lewis is correct.

OK, over to you.

The French colonial governor Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac

was the founder of which American city?

Right, I think I'd immediately rule out Pittsburgh, because

I don't think there's any French connection with that at all.

Do you think it might be Detroit, with 'Cadillac' and cars?

-We'd anglicise it as 'Cadillac'.

-Detroit being Motor Town.

The Cadillac's made in Detroit, so that would be...

And I've been to Chicago - well, I think I've been to all three,

but I don't remember it coming up, so...

I don't think it's Pittsburgh, anyway.

Yeah, Detroit looks like the more right answer.

We are going to go with Detroit, Jeremy.

Detroit is the right answer.

-Two out of two, you're playing well.

-Logic.

Eggheads, back to you.

What were issued by the British Post Office

for the first time on 1st October, 1870?

-Postcards.

-Postage stamps were 1840...

-It's postcards.

-You think it's postcards?

-Yes, I've just got this memory.

You know, they had those prepainted postcards with the stamp on.

-Do you remember sending one?

-Look, you're getting as bad as CJ.

I think it's postcards.

Daphne believes it is postcard,

and I wouldn't dream of arguing with Daphne, so postcards is our answer.

OK, I asked "What were issued by the British Post Office

"for the first time on 1st October, 1870?"

The answer is postcards.

-Well done.

-Well done to Daphne with her inklings.

Diane and John, who made her film debut as Emily Monroe Norton,

the first wife of Charles Foster Kane,

in the 1941 film Citizen Kane?

Films isn't really my thing.

Um, Citizen Kane...

The only one I've heard of is Jeanne Moreau,

but I don't know if that helps at all.

I don't know.

I was thinking of Dolores Costello, but I don't know why.

I have seen the film, but...

..I'm just not sure why it would be a French person.

OK, we'll go with your inkling, then.

Shall we go with your inkling?

Ooooh!

OK.

We're not too sure on this one, Jeremy, it's a bit

of a stab in the dark, but we'll have a go at Dolores Costello.

If it's any consolation, you were knocking it

between the two wrong ones, actually - it's Ruth Warrick,

is the answer, Ruth Warwick.

Now you have to hope they get theirs wrong.

If you get it wrong, Eggheads, we go to Sudden Death.

Bitis is the scientific name for a genus of what type of creature?

-Barry?

-Oh, I've not heard of that one.

Do ants have many genus?

Yes, Hymenoptera and lots of different ants.

Lots of different snakes, lots of different birds.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of each of those.

Are we going to do rock-paper-scissors?

I read a lot about snakes, several years ago,

it doesn't ring a bell, but that could mean I didn't read enough.

Well, for what it's worth, my first instinct,

my first two-penneth worth would be for ants, but I don't know.

Ants caught my eye, but with no real evidence to back it up.

It's just that it doesn't strike me for snakes,

and not really for birds, although there are thousands.

Yes, snakes and birds might be more familiar,

so I'm happy for ants.

All right, well we don't know,

and we've all decided we're going to go for ants.

Bitis is the scientific name for a genus of snake.

How about that?

So, you're equal after three questions.

We go to Sudden Death.

Sudden Death means I don't give you alternatives, OK?

Shula Hebden Lloyd, Jack Woolley and Linda Snell

are characters in which long-running drama?

It's my favourite radio programme!

It's The Archers.

Good, The Archers is right.

They may get harder.

OK, Eggheads, in 1913, the French physicist Charles Fabry

discovered what form of oxygen in the atmosphere?

-It was ozone.

-Ozone, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Charles Fabry discovered ozone.

Ozone is correct.

Sudden Death we're on, £4,000 you're playing for.

Who was named Minister for Sport and Olympics in May, 2010?

2010?

The Conservative administration.

Sport and Olympics...

-So it's in the coalition government?

-Yeah.

What does Andrew Lansley do?

I think it might... Or is he culture?

-No, Jeremy Hunt's culture.

-Of course he is.

It might be Andrew Lansley, then.

-I can't think of anyone else.

-Shall we go with Andrew Lansley?

Yeah.

A bit of a stab in the dark, again, Jeremy,

we're going for Andrew Lansley.

I'm afraid you're wrong, the answer is Hugh Robertson.

I'd never have got that.

OK.

This is your question, Eggheads,

if you get this right you've taken the contest.

Which veteran film star won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar

for his part in the 1976 drama All The President's Men?

-Jason Robards?

-I think he won two best supporting actors.

-Well, he's in it.

-He's definitely on it.

And he's won more than one, as well.

-We'll happy with that?

-Yeah.

We're reasonably certain on this, we believe it is Jason Robards.

Playing the Washington Post editor, Ben Bradlee, Eggheads,

it was Jason Robards - congratulations, you've won.

And they can fold before that,

so you take them into Sudden Death, but commiserations to you.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-I hope it was fun.

-It was.

We haven't had four Johns in one team before.

That's a bit of history.

-And CJ on Food and Drink, an unusual contest today.

-Yes, strange one.

Thank you very much for coming in.

Commiserations to you, the Eggheads have done what comes naturally

and they reign supreme over quizland still.

I'm afraid that means your team won't go home with the £4,000,

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 - £5,000 says they don't.

Until then, goodbye.

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